FAQs

Business

What will your report show me?

The Social Index will give you a greater understanding of a candidate’s ‘fit’ within your company and industry. The report highlights what a candidate shares about themselves online. This includes their skills, interests, relevant networks (including the number and types of connections they have), when the candidate posts (productivity indicators) and the sentiment that is associated with their postings.

All this helps to determine whether a candidate is the right cultural fit for you

How does it work?

At the heart of The Social Index is a sophisticated algorithm based indexing program. With the candidate’s permission, it gathers their relevant, publicly available social media data and delivers it in an easy-to-read format, providing consistent and actionable employment insights to assist you in the recruitment process.

We can adjust the algorithms and search criteria to identify the style and attributes of candidates with sentiment scores and networks most closely aligned to your brand and industry. The Social Index is fully compliant with Australian privacy and employment regulations, giving both the candidate and your company peace of mind.

What companies use The Social Index?

The Social Index is a solution for any company hiring! We partner with businesses of all sizes and offer standard reporting as well as bespoke solutions, depending on your needs and situation. No company is too big or too small to use The Social Index.

How much does it cost?

The Social Index pricing appeals to any business. Depending on your needs we can offer a standard report for a single candidate through to completely tailored, bespoke solutions for large companies. To find out what’s best for your business please contact us at info@thesocialindex.com.

What happens if you are unable to identify an individual or they are not online?

If an individual does not have any online presence (the majority of professional Australians do), we mark their report as “no-hit” in our report display.

Given the sophisticated algorithms and analysis, and the permission-based approach, we are confident that there are no risks of mistaken identity.

Why can’t I just google my candidates?

Google doesn’t provide a structured, consistent and relevant analysis of social media. This lack of transparency and inconsistent view of a candidate can lead to potentially biased decision-making. It can also create unnecessary privacy and reputational risks for your company.

The Social Index ensures that you stay compliant with relevant legislative frameworks, and that you have a candidate’s ‘full story.’ Our algorithms would take an average person hundreds of hours to collect, quantify and score.

We make sure that your data selection is part of our analysis so that you can be confident that you are getting the relevant data for your decisions in an appropriate, relevant, consistent and professional report

Candidate

What happens to data and postings I made before I changed my privacy settings?

f you’ve only recently changed your privacy settings to restrict public reviews, anything before this change has the potential to be searchable and visible

Why should I agree to this report being generated?

Your digital persona can significantly and positively impact your career. Essentially, it confirms your leadership in the online universe and confirms how your online reputation aligns with your offline presence.

Having a clear insight on how your reputation aligns to a company is just one of the steps in any recruitment or promotion process these days.

Our reports won’t provide any details that aren’t relevant to the workplace and with our proprietary index analysing your profile, ensures that your privacy is respected.

How do you create my report?

Our platform and proprietary analytical tools deeply research and analyse publically available social media data to present your company (or future company) with a statistical summary of your digital footprint. For example, this will include social media platforms, network size, activity levels etc – things you already know. A snapshot of a report is on our website and to help reassure you, you will receive a sample report when you are asked to complete our process so you can be confident that your privacy is respected. This is also why we use social logins to ensure we are able to identify you and separate you from any unknown but similiar web or social media references. It also means that we will never need or ask for your passwords.

I’ve heard of the term ‘digital persona’. What is it?

Your digital persona or personal brand is how your online social activities reflect you..

What does my “digital landscape” include?

The digital landscape includes all your online activities – where you leave digital footprint. It includes your communication in blogs, in social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and any other online means of interacting with people and businesses.

Can I choose which social profiles I use in the report?

Our platform and proprietary analytical tools deeply research and analyse publically available social media data to present a statistical summary of your digital footprint.

An average Social Index report includes data from multiple social media platforms, and uncovers detail on your network size, activity levels, time of day communication. It also offers scores for brand salience, brand risk and positivity. The scores are weighted for different industries.

A sample report is found on our homepage so that you can see what the end result looks like.

How can you be sure you have found the right person?

Our bespoke research platform, rigorous analytic tools and social logins help to ensure that your report reflects only your footprint online. All of our reports are generated after a candidate gives consent, and our additional search analysis includes a range of ID verification processes that continually qualifies and validates the data.

 

How do I change my report to make it more appealing?

The Social Index report shows you what your complete personal online brand looks like, and suggests how this can affect any current employment options. All data is completely independent and we do not apply any additional layers of information other than what is on public record.

Because the algorithm collects data that you have distributed through your social networks, we can’t change what content exists. If there is existing commentary or any other content that you are unhappy with, we suggest you talk to the interviewing company during the interview process to help them understand the context.

We offer regular candidate tips and articles to help you understand the role of creating a positive personal brand through social media. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn to find out what you can do, and how to do it.

Why is this necessary, I keep my online activities separate from professional life?

Great, you’re already well on your way to managing your online reputation. However, part of building an effective online reputation and one that may have significantly positive impacts on your career, is how your online reputation aligns with your offline presence. Getting this fit ‘right’ helps you and your new or current company create the best career and business opportunities for both parties. So having a clear insight on how your reputation aligns to their business is just one of the steps in any recruitment or promotion process.

Our reports won’t provide any details that aren’t relevant to the role or business and with our proprietary index analysing your profile, ensures that your privacy is respected.

What happens if something appears in my report that I posted a long time ago but is no longer reflective of what I do now?

We only analyse data that is relevant for the role and only access this with your consent. If you’re concerned about something and you feel it may be an issue, then we’d encourage you to proactively discuss this with your current or future employer.

I don’t like my report so can I delete the information?

The report you have been asked to contribute to is for the sole purpose of an individual role at a specific company. It will not be used again or be resold. As social media content changes each day, so does a person’s online footprint. A new report would be generated for another prospective employer, after you grant them permission.

If you have some concerns about how to manage your online presence check out our insights page or drop us a note at info@thesocialindex.com.

I’ve just applied for a job but haven’t heard back from them since I completed the report, can I get a copy of the report?

As part of the recruitment process, you will receive a summary copy of your report at the time of completion, at the same time as the hiring company does. This is to ensure that you are as prepared as possible for your interview or promotion.

There are lots of reasons why you may not have heard back, not all related to your report. Each company has many steps to consider in selecting candidates and our report is just one of them.

If you haven’t received a copy of your report, please contact us at info@thesocialindex.com and we’ll help you access a copy.

I have the tightest privacy settings on my social profiles, are you seeking to access these details to share with a business?

We will only review publicly available data, which means the postings, tweets and other data you may have shared with your network. If any content is locked behind a privacy wall, we can’t access it we won’t be able to share it (and no-one else outside your network can either).

However if you’ve only just updated your privacy settings or your content has been tagged and reposted across the globe, your digital footprint may be far bigger than you thought.

Is my information kept secure?

We take your privacy and data security very seriously. We make every effort to ensure your data is secure through encryption and secure storage, and we work within the highest standards of the privacy legislation. We will never resell or remarket your personal data, or ask for passwords.

You are in complete control of the data that is selected to be analysed. Our privacy policy is on our website but to make it easy for you to find, here is a link.