Can your Facebook profile page indicate your character and personality?
Yes. In fact, it can be a stronger indication for job performance and academic success than personality surveys.
A new survey lead by Professor Don Kluemper of Northern Illinois University’s College of Business, found that a 10-minute review of Facebook pages provided a stronger prediction of a candidate’s likelihood to excel in a job than the personality survey that many companies require candidates to complete.
They also found that the Facebook profiles of students were better predictor of future academic success than personality and IQ scores combined.
The study suggests that Facebook can be used as a reliable job-screening tool, because users are less likely to fake their personalities.
For all its apparent advantages, Kluemper is not advocating the replacement of existing test with Facebook or adopting it as an HR tool, because the study is first of its kind and needs to be proven valid. Secondly, there are many potential legal issues associated with it.
Still, it’s no secret that many HR departments troll the Facebook profiles of potential candidates. So, job seeks must be careful and resist from putting anything online that they don’t want an employer to see.
The study was published this week in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology.
