In this age of e-recruitment, the focus of talent recruitment is increasingly shifting from online job boards to social media networks. In fact, considering the 2011 global statistics of active users, the adoption of social media as a “talent pool” is an obvious and necessary choice for recruiters.
How Do Recruiters Use Social Media Sites As Talent Pools?
In the past few years, recruiters’ interest in social media has dramatically increased.
In a 2011 global HR Professionals survey by StepStone Solutions, it was noted that over 96% of recruiters believed that social media has a role to play in recruitment because it’s one of the best ways to reach out to potential employees worldwide and build new talent pools, especially for high demand skills like mobile application developers or managers with experience in emerging markets. And over 82% of candidates responded positively for contact via facebook, twitter and linkedin.
Thus, social networking sites feature a huge network of recruiters and job seekers that are looking to connect with each other online.
What Role Does Social Media Play in the Recruitment Process?
In a 2010 Vault.com survey that Recruitment IT included 150 companies and 3,500 job candidates, it was revealed that – while 93% of employers did not care what people did outside work, almost two-thirds of them actually looked into candidates’ social networking profile during the recruitment process. Nearly 28% of companies confirmed that they use social media to “spot check” on candidates.
Over the past few years, many recruiters have started to leverage social networking sites like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter in creative ways to source talent and build relationships with fans that may one day be candidates. LinkedIn is known to be the most popular professional networking site and has proven to be a great resource for recruiters.
According to Jobvite survey of U.S. Human Resources & Recruiting Professionals, social media has played a significant role in the recruitment processes of several companies. The number of companies that use social networking sites for recruitment has increased from 68% in 2009 to 80% in 2011. And the number continues to grow. From 2010 to 2011, companies that have successfully hired through a social network have increased from 58% to 64%.
Naturally, these numbers will continue to escalate during 2012 and beyond. What remains uncertain is the extent to which social media can transform from a connecting tool to a recruiting tool…
Why Do Companies Need A New Social Media Recruitment Strategy?
Considering the extensive number of active users, it has become increasingly challenging for recruiters to screen the right candidates. It is indeed difficult to pick the “most interested” or “best fit.” However, a number of recruitment apps have been developed to specifically enhance recruitment on Facebook and LinkedIn.