A practical, CPD certified course that teaches you how to use social media in employment screening lawfully, proportionately, and with a clear, defensible process.
"We built this course because too many organisations are checking candidates' social media without a structured process, then finding themselves exposed to discrimination claims, privacy complaints, or decisions they cannot justify. In 1 to 2 hours, you will have a clear framework for lawful social media screening and earn your CPD certificate to prove it."
Vetting Hub Courses are CPD Certified Registration: 0006126
Vetting Hub is listed on the UK Register of Learning Providers (UKRLP)
Expert Built Social Media Screening Mastery
This CPD certified course teaches you how to incorporate social media into your employment screening process in a way that is lawful, fair, and proportionate. You will learn where social media checks sit within a wider vetting framework, what you can and cannot use, and how to make decisions that hold up under scrutiny from candidates, regulators, and employment tribunals.
The course covers the complete framework: legal grounds for conducting social media checks, data protection obligations under UK GDPR, defining what is relevant versus what is private, establishing a consistent screening methodology, recording findings objectively, and making proportionate risk assessments. You will also learn how to write a social media screening policy that protects your organisation and your candidates.
Each lesson includes real world scenarios that reflect the situations screeners actually face, from discovering adverse content to handling inconsistencies between a candidate's application and their online presence, teaching you how to respond when the right course of action is not immediately obvious.
To view and understand the course format scroll to the Course Content section.
Screen lawfully. Document properly. Decide defensibly.
Duration: 1 to 2 hours CPD Award: 1 Professional Development Hour
CPD Certified | Expert Developed | UKRLP Registered Provider
Why We Built This Course
We created this course because social media screening is one of the most misunderstood areas in employment vetting. Too many teams are doing it informally, without structure, policy, or legal awareness.
From 2006 to 2024, we ran our own screening businesses and saw first hand what happens when social media is used without clear boundaries. We dealt with clients who had rejected candidates based on personal opinions found online, organisations that had no policy governing what could be searched or recorded, and teams who could not explain their decisions when challenged. These are the situations this course was built to prevent.
What Makes This Different
Every lesson comes from checks we have personally conducted, not theory from a textbook. You will learn how to search, assess, and record social media findings within a lawful, proportionate framework that protects your organisation and your candidates. In 1 to 2 hours, you walk away CPD certified and confident your process is defensible. Built by practitioners, not trainers.
This course explains how social media screening works, how it should be used responsibly and how organisations can carry out checks in a lawful and ethical way. It provides clear guidance on good practice, legal requirements and how to avoid risks while using social media checks to support safe recruitment.
Built for professionals responsible for incorporating social media into fair, compliant hiring decisions.
You oversee hiring and need to know whether social media checks are being conducted lawfully and consistently. This course gives you the framework to set clear boundaries, guide your team, and reduce the risk of discrimination claims.
You carry out pre-employment checks and need to understand exactly what you can search, what you can record, and how to present findings objectively. This course equips you with a structured, defensible process for every social media review.
You are accountable for ensuring screening activity complies with UK GDPR and employment law. This course prepares you to review social media screening practices, identify gaps in policy, and ensure your organisation's approach is proportionate and documented.