Googling Job Candidates: Five Practices to Avoid

Brian Finucane, the managing partner of the Kansas City office, provided commentary for the article “Googling Job Candidates: Five Practices to Avoid.” The article, which appeared on a blog from a company that provides web software for online interviewing, warned hiring managers to stop and think before using the Internet to access information about a job candidate. Brian advised employers to consider whether those actions could be crossing legal lines and putting  the company at risk of litigation. “This is the classic situation where lawyers can think of a lot of reasons not to do it, and non-lawyers can think of a lot of reasons to do it. Internet research opens up this idea of getting information that you’re not supposed to acquire through the application process.” Things like age, race and national origin can be easily found through a quick Google search, and “employers could be accused of using that information in their hiring decision.” He noted that it’s important to exercise discipline and control about what you’re finding and what you do with the information. “For an employer that is hiring, the information is out there, and the urge to look for it is going to be irresistible,”