The tracking software uses Social Media, such as LinkedIn, to detect if employees are looking for a new jobOnline usage by job hunters can be tracked by HR teams and recruiters from software that can flag up Social Media habits that suggest a person is on the hunt for a new job.
Tracking technology, such as those offered by Joberate, uses social networks to track employees by giving them a baseline score, with the technology flagging up if it thinks that an employee is using social media to find a new job to the employee’s bosses.
The company behind the tracking software Joberate describes itself as ‘technology that measures job seeking behaviours of the global workforce.’
An employer tells the company which employees it wants to track, who are then awarded a baseline score, based on their role, how long they’ve been at the company, and which social network sites they’re currently using to create a ‘Social ID’.
This Social ID then plots a typical usage pattern on Social Networks and if the employee follows a new company, or connects with a recruiter, then their ‘score’ increases, dependant on previous behaviour.
If a person regularly follows new companies or recruiters then less weight is given to the score, compared to someone who rarely uses their accounts starts using and following accounts.
The software analysis the data to establish whether the employee is looking for a new job before alerting the employer to how likely it is that the employee is looking for a new job, rather than categorically saying that they are looking for a new position.
Michael Beygleman, Joberate’s chief executive, told The Times that changing a job is ‘like buying a car, or getting married…but we actually know very little about how this event appears in social media.’
He added, though, that all of the data the technology uses is from public databases, profiles or sites. It can’t view the content of personal emails, for example, or log in to social accounts.
