Job Seekers Not Likely to Hunt via Social Media

Job seekers still lean towards traditional methods of job hunting despite the push towards recruitment via social media, according to a specialist recruitment company.

The report:Understanding the role of social media to complement attraction strategies, was released by recruitment consultancy Robert Walters and assessed the role of social media in recruitment. 

The results revealed only four per cent of job seekers used LinkedIn to look at job advertisements, while only one per cent used Facebook to find their next job.
Twenty-four per cent of professionals would apply for roles that appeared in their Facebook and Twitter newsfeeds, the report found.

Meanwhile, almost 80 per cent of job seekers still used jobs boards or registered with a recruitment agency.

About 10 per cent called on their existing professional networks and five percent applied directly through an organisation’s website.

The report found jobseekers mostly used an organisation’s social media profile to find more information on the insights and culture of the organisation.

Robert Walters Associate Director Peter Bateson said there was a strong public conversation taking place in support of recruiting via social media but it was important to find a balance between testing new things and relying on proven, traditional methods.

“With research indicating social media still isn’t a common job hunting method, a measured approach must be taken to prevent an excess of time and money being invested to push career opportunities in a place where no one is job seeking,” he said.

The report also revealed 62 per cent of hiring managers used social media as part of their screening process to check on prospective employers before hiring them and only nine per cent of hiring managers would directly approach or headhunt a potential candidate through their personal social media profiles.