Is social recruitment becoming a real thing?

It is no secret that social media has become a significant part of our daily lives. We recognise this as Facebook becomes the first social network to surpass 1 billion registered accounts.

So as people flock to these social sites, professionals are constantly doing the same.

Here I’ll suggest the involvement of recruitment agencies and their attraction to these sites – as for recruiters, why not use these platforms where candidates are most accessible.

The term ”social recruiting” is a buzz phrase used throughout the HR world, which can be defined as “harnessing the evolution of Web 2.0 technologies and social media tools to communicate, engage, inform and recruit our future talents”(Jacobs 2009).

The use of such social networking websites allows recruiters to connect to a broad array of talented and capable candidates in niche communities (Jacobs 2009).

Jobvite’s 2014 Social Recruiting Survey revealed that 93% of recruiters are using social media in their outreach. The top social sites searched by recruiters are LinkedIn at 92%, Facebook at 66%, and Twitter at 52%. According to respondents, 73% or recruiters hired successfully with social media, 42% companies acknowledge that candidate quality has improved and 20% say it takes less time to hire.

In the recent case of Karl & Peluchette, job offers have been rescinded and internships terminated on the basis of pictures and messages posted on Facebook.

In their Jobseeker Nation Study 2016 (PDF), Jobvite found that job seekers are aware and are becoming more careful about what their profiles reveal.

As statistics and studies tell, social recruitment drives results and is here to stay.

Written by: Tooka Myanga

Tooka Myanga is part of the marketing team at Akolade, specialising in database and direct campaigns. Tooka is currently pursuing her bachelor’s degree in Commerce. Tooka grew up in Mongolia, where she has acquired many incredible stories to share.