Social networking sites set become the most popular recruitment tool
David Woods, 15 July 2009
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1 comment on this article.The days of recruitment agencies could be numbered, as one in five managers would consider using social networking as their only method of recruiting staff.
According to online jobsite Hirescores, 63% of managers think social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook are positive methods of recruitment and only 13% are against the idea of using these tools when hiring staff.
Currently a third of 419 respondents use social networking for recruitment and 14% would rather use social networking than other online recruitment tools.
Lisette Howlett, the founder of HireScores.com, said: "Social networking and recruitment sites can also work hand-in-hand by attracting young, web-savvy candidates. University students still dominate sites like Facebook and employers are able to catch fresh graduates before they even hit the job market. Twitter now offers Twit Jobs, a free-to-use service that allows employers to update the site with their latest vacancies, reaching out to its 23,000-plus professional followers.
"But the key to successful recruiting via sites like Facebook and MySpace is to remember these sites are ‘social' and therefore any information retrieved online about an individual must be interpreted and used intelligently. Part of the ability to benefit from this data is our ability to use the data appropriately, not get caught in stereotyping and also be sure to set it in context.
"Engaging with the social networks takes a strategic plan - work out what you want and how to promote yourself and you stand a much better chance of getting a result."
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Henry Noteman - 15 July 2009
Back in the late 90's, when the world wide web was gaining popularity, it was hailed as the end for recruitment agencies and consultancies, and here we are still going strong 10 years later \(give or take a credit crunch!). Good recruitment specialists will be adept in finding candidates in difficult candidate driven markets, and they also provide a wider interaction between the client and candidate which can never be replicated or replaced by any computer system. No doubt the next 10 years will prove if I am right or wrong.
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