May 20th, 2009
Survey shows influx of companies using social networks for recruiting
Jobvite, a recruitment solutions provider, today issued the results of its second annual Social Recruitment Survey. The data shows that employers are more and more extensively recruiting on social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter. It also shows that the companies appear more satisfied with these types of recruits versus the ones they find solely from job boards.
According ot the survey, due to these satisfaction levels companies are likely to invest more in these type of candidate sources in 2009, trimming down their spend with job boards and even search firms. Here are some more data points:
- 76 percent of companies surveyed plan to invest more in employee referrals
- 72 percent plan to invest more in recruiting through social networks
- 80 percent of companies are planning to use social networks to find or attract candidates
- LinkedIn use grew from 80 percent in 2008 to 95 percent in 2008
- Facebook use grew from 36 percent in 2008 to 59 percent in 2009
- Twitter ranked third at 42 percent
According to Jobvite, however, employee referrals and internal transfers are the most highly rated sources in terms of quality of candidates generated, however, employee involvement in referrals is still low.
More from the survey:
Additionally, recruitment and human resource professionals are using a variety of online sites to research candidates: LinkedIn (76 percent), search engines (67 percent), Facebook (44 percent) and Twitter (21 percent). Respondents reported that 24% of candidates disclose their social networking presence when applying for a job.
It appears based on Jobvite’s data that while cost savings of using social networks versus job boards and the like are a driver for this move, quality is a larger consideration. But are companies sacrificing a more human element by relying on social networks?
“It is my belief that recruiting is a dying profession in its current form. As the use of social media becomes ubiquitous, there will no longer be a need,” said Jennifer Wojcik, CEO of YouGuru LLC. “I often consult with my smaller clients on how to engage with candidates via these channels.”
Wojcik also says that she herself leverages social networks to find candidates and there’s rarely a need to pay for a job search board these days.
“Social media enables me to build that initial network and make connections thousands of times faster than picking up a phone book and a phone calling into my client’s competitors,” she said. “I also put calls out on Twitter when I have a position to fill…this basically enables my network to identify candidates for me that I would otherwise not had access to. Facebook serves a similar purpose.
“It is a rare case that I would be forced to actually advertise a position. Generally speaking, using my methods, I can have fully screened candidates for a client within two to three days. This is weeks faster than other agencies who use no social media and choose to advertise only.”
Read the full survey.
Jennifer Leggio, aka "Mediaphyter," writes about the "social business" side of social media - including enterprise, security and reputation issues. See her full profile and disclosure of her industry affiliations.
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