Most Submit Fearing Disadvantages
Separate Job-Seeking SNS Also Launched
'SNS Request Ban Act' Proposed in National Assembly
Companies are facing controversy over privacy invasion as they require social networking service (SNS) account addresses during the hiring process. Job seekers are forced to provide this information out of fear of being disadvantaged in document screening or create separate SNS accounts dedicated solely to job hunting.
On the 14th, a university student, Lee (25), said, “I recently applied for a marketing position at a small-to-medium enterprise, and when I asked if providing my SNS address was mandatory, I was told, ‘It’s not mandatory, but it’s better to include it to show that you are trendy.’ I reluctantly provided it, worried I might be rejected during the screening.”
Some create separate SNS accounts exclusively for job hunting. These accounts are used solely to showcase their work without exposing political views or opinions on social issues. University student Sung (25) said, “I created an SNS account to post my experience in external activities such as corporate press corps. I deleted my X account, which I had used for three years, because I had posted many personal opinions on private life and social controversies, so I decided to get rid of it entirely.”
In fact, companies are actively utilizing SNS during the hiring process. According to a survey conducted by the job platform JobKorea in April targeting 165 corporate recruiters, 60% of respondents said they conduct reputation checks during employee recruitment. Among them, 12.1% of recruiters said they use job seekers’ SNS and blogs as a method of reputation verification.
A bill called the ‘SNS Request Prohibition Act’ has been submitted to the National Assembly. The ‘Partial Amendment to the Act on the Fairness of Hiring Procedures,’ submitted by Kang Deuk-gu of the Democratic Party of Korea on the 25th of last month, focuses on restricting employers from requiring or collecting SNS information from job seekers as basic screening material. It is pointed out that SNS activity is a private domain and is not necessarily information essential for job performance.
Lee Byung-hoon, an emeritus professor of sociology at Chung-Ang University, said, “From the company’s perspective, requesting SNS information is a way to quickly grasp and assess all information about a job seeker,” but added, “Peering into an individual’s private domain can lead to issues of privacy invasion.”
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