How social media is shaping the recruitment landscape

According to a recent article by Onrec, the recruitment landscape is facing significant changes with the rise of social media as a tool to recruit and search for jobs. Social media continues to grow and now reaches over 175 million users. An estimated third of companies use social media as a business tool, with many enterprises taking advantage of social platforms to support the recruitment process. In addition, according to a survey of 1,200 senior executives across Europe, the most successful country in terms of social media based recruitment is Germany, with over 30 per cent of companies recruiting using online networks. Contrary to what some may think, business is personal. With a click of a mouse, recruiters scan your Facebook profile, see who you’re connected to on LinkedIn, peruse your holiday photos via Instagram…and so on. But is social media simply an information gathering tool or a genuine mechanism for recruiting staff? “Both,” says managing director, Wayne Brophy, of specialist recruitment company CAST UK. “We are seeing social media being used more and more by recruiters and candidates.” Topping the social recruiting leader boards is LinkedIn, as 94 per cent of recruiters use the professional networking platform to vet candidates before inviting them for an interview; trailing closely behind is Facebook at 65 per cent and Twitter at 55 per cent. “LinkedIn, as an example, has transformed the way people interact with recruiters. We are seeing companies asking for candidates to apply for jobs by simply using their LinkedIn URL rather than sending a traditional CV. Equally, candidates are using LinkedIn as their online CV and are investing time in developing online profiles to increase their marketability. At Cast UK we are recognising this shift in candidate application trends and are investing in new parsing software to capture this information,” said Brophy. While LinkedIn remains a popular tool for obtaining information about professional experience, length of tenure and hard skills, platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Google+ are used for understanding personalities to ascertain cultural fit and how a candidate virtually interacts with people. “Social media platforms are also useful as an information source, as they help to inform us about a candidate’s personality to try and assess whether the person will mesh well with the company culture. This personality fit may not seem important, but as research has shown that 90 per cent of terminations and resignations are due to personality clashes, it’s not something that should be seen as secondary,” concludes Brophy.