How Social Media Can Change Recruiters’ Evaluation of Job Applicants

Abstract

Social media screening—the search for applicants’ social media profiles—has become common practice in firms’ recruiting decisions. Despite its wide usage, little theoretical and empirical understanding exists of how this additional information impacts recruiters’ selection decisions when it is combined with more traditional resume information. To address this gap, we propose based on anchoring and adjustment theory that recruiters might examine available information in sequential and decreasing order of perceived importance. Specifically, we argue and empirically show in four experimental studies that recruiters form an initial evaluation of job candidates’ aptitude based on resume information and then adjust these judgements using subsequent social media information. The adjustment, however, appears asymmetric: a downward adjustment after exposure to social media information with negative valence is more pronounced when recruiters have prior exposure to excellent resumes compared to moderate ones. Moreover, an upward adjustment after exposure to social media information with positive valence does not appear. We also show that the observed anchoring and asymmetric adjustment process is more likely during economic expansions than in recessions.