An industry-related article titled,“10 Things the HR Department Won’t Tell You,” by Kimberly Fusaro, consists of the ten most effective tips to increase your chances of being hired as well as retaining your current employment.

The first tip references a controversial topic for Human Resources professionals: the growing use of Internet-based background screening via review of social network profiles. As an alternative to relying solely on traditional background checks, some HR professionals are now conducting their own screening by first looking up their potential new hire on the Internet any searching social networking sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. Once they have identified their applicant’s profile, they review photos, text, and posts on the profile, looking for red flags. The article advises job seekers to remove any potentially damaging information from their profiles, such as references to violence, substance and/or alcohol abuse, racism, sexist, or obscene images. Is this fair to applicants? Should private, unrelated to work websites like Facebook be allowed as the basis for hiring decisions?

The second tip may come as a surprise to many that are under the impression that arriving early to an interview is always a good thing, which may not be true. The author explains that applicants who arrive extremely early for a job interview lack consideration for the manager who is performing the interview and hurt their chances of being hired. The author recommends applicants arrive no earlier than fifteen minutes before the scheduled interview start time. This allotted time frame allows applicants to be on time, demonstrate their professionalism, and not require Human Resources to babysit them.

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