75% of employers will turn down job-seekers with offensive language on social media – New study shows

African American woman taking an interview of a woman. Photo: iStockphoto A new YouGov survey of business decision makers reveals what social media mistakes can get a candidate...

African American woman taking an interview of a woman. Photo: iStockphoto

A new YouGov survey of business decision makers reveals what social media mistakes can get a candidate turned down for a job.

YouGov is an international Internet-based market research firm, headquartered in the UK, with operations in Europe, North America, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific.

Results from this research among business decision makers reveals that nearly one in five employers (19%) have turned down a candidate for a job at their company because of their online activity.

Employers at large organisations were the most likely to have turned someone down at some stage along the application process because of their online activity, with 28% having done so.

This is likely linked to the fact that larger organisations are also the most likely to check candidates’ social media accounts – only 20% of employers at large organisations say they would not or do not check prospective employee’s social media activities, compared to 27% at medium organisations and 40% at small organisations.

Candidates’ LinkedIn and Facebook accounts are the most likely to come under scrutiny. Almost half (48%) of employers said they either would check or do check an applicant’s LinkedIn profile, while similar numbers (46%) said the same for Facebook.

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