Temporal Impacts of Problematic Social Media Content on Perceived Employee Hirability

Abstract

Job applicants’ social media postings and presence can impact employers’ perceptions during the hiring process. The current study expands this line of inquiry, exploring the effects of both message characteristics (i.e. post temporality) and individual characteristics (i.e. hiring manager’s view about individuals’ ability to change over time). Results of a 2 (problematic content: present v. absent) × 3 (post temporality: recent v. 2 years ago v. 5 years ago) experiment (N = 220) revealed the negative main effect of the presence of problematic social media content was moderated by the temporality of the post: More recent posts more substantively impacted perceptions of person-job fit. This moderation effect was further moderated by the manager’s incrementalism: the belief people’s personalities can change over time. Similar patterns of effects were not identified for broader perceptions of the applicant’s general employability.