#Happy: Job Seekers’ Personality, Happiness on Instagram, and Recruiters’ Evaluations of Hireability

As organizations increasingly use cybervetting as a tool in personnel selection, scholars have begun to consider how the information derived from social media sites (e.g., pictures of excessive drinking or demographic characteristics) shape perceptions of job seekers' hireability. Still, we know less about how more subtle forms of information, such as emotional expressions, influence this process and if any of these subtle cues indicate traits relevant to hiring. Thus, we argue how a job seeker’s extraversion, emotionality, and openness to experience relates to the intensity of happiness (a valued emotion in organizations and personnel selection) expressed on their social media site. To measure the intensity of happiness presented, we utilize an open-source deep learning algorithm to capture the facial expressions on 241 Instagram profiles. Next, we argue and show how the presentation of happiness on a job seeker's social media site shapes recruiters' assessments of hireability. Our findings support our hypotheses, extending knowledge on personnel selection in the age of social media.