How passive job candidates respond to social networking site screening

Abstract

Employer use of social networking sites (SNS) to screen job candidates is raising concerns about privacy, fairness, and withdrawal intention. Since passive candidates are more desirable in the global workforce market, this study proposed a mediation–moderation framework for understanding how and when passive job candidates’ perceptions of privacy violation and procedural injustice interact to predict their intent to withdraw from the selection process in the context of employee use of SNS screening. The valid 201 data from Taiwan employed users of Facebook were analysed using Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). The results indicated that a candidate who can better control his/her SNS information is less likely to perceive that his/her privacy has been invaded during SNS screening by potential employers, thus mitigating his/her perception of procedural unfairness. Moreover, when SNS screening is more transparent, the candidate is less likely to perceive the selection procedure as unfair, which will reduce his/her intention to withdraw from employment selection.