A recent poll from Jump Start Social Media found that three-quarters of hiring managers use LinkedIn to research credentials of job candidates.
The poll, which was completed by Digital Brand Expressions and InterBiznet, surveyed 100 hiring managers at various sized companies on how they use social media in the hiring process.
Of the hiring managers surveyed, 75 percent said they use LinkedIn, 48 percent said they use Facebook and 26 percent said they use Twitter to research potential candidates before making a job offer. When it comes to sourcing candidates, 66 percent of hiring managers use LinkedIn, 23 percent use Facebook and 16 percent use Twitter.
“Social media is not only a great networking tool, it’s also a way for employers to perform reference checks on job candidates,” Veronica Fielding, president of Digital Brand Expressions, said. “Because LinkedIn is the most professionally oriented of the three, it tends to attract hiring managers who are doing due diligence.
“While social media sites are ideal ways of gaining more information on job candidates, hiring managers generally use job boards and more traditional methods of finding suitable resumes,” Fielding added. “Whether or not you are job hunting, you should be aware that your public profile is easily accessible so be sure to maintain a professional personal brand.”
Popularity: unranked [?]
June 16th, 2009 at 11:26 am
75% of hiring managers search linkedin, AFTER reading through your traditional resume. This means linkedin profiles are an opportunity to say more about yourself and showcase your expertise more than you ever could with a standard resume. How would you suggest applicants use their profiles to create a more in depth, attractive image of themselves, rather than just reiterate whats already on their paper resume?
Patrick Ambron
blog.brand-yourself.com
pambron@brand-yourself.com
@brandyourself
June 16th, 2009 at 11:41 am
As a head-hunter I generally have to agree with the survey stats. Hiring managers always go to LinkedIn, Facebook, Myspace to look-up someone who look to be fit based on the information on the resume and they like to move forward with a phone screen.
But as a recruiter it is very difficult to source candidates starting from these social networks. Because those public profiles are not resumes. I need their full resume to match against the hiring manager’s requirements.
WizTalent (recruiting software from WizioTec) has been helpful in quickly source candidates starting with profiles from LinkedIn and other social networks. I am looking forward to next release coming out in next few days. I heard it has lot more features which will help me to utilize emerging social media.
June 16th, 2009 at 4:17 pm
I recently asked over the weekend if someone had looked at my profile because their name came up on my list of browsed profiles. The hiring manager said, “She doesn’t use LI for recruiting.” She basically just told me good luck and she uses it to keep in touch with the people she had placed in the past.
This was a shocker to me! I was trying to get my name out and trying to network. I didn’t know what to say, so I didn’t respond.
June 16th, 2009 at 9:03 pm
I think I’m going to hope that a recruiter finds my resume on LinkedIn after my interview. Then I can sue them, as it’s totally illegal to source a site like that for background information. Any recruiter who has a decent HR department should know this. Bruzzy smells cash money out of this one.
June 17th, 2009 at 6:45 am
The other piece of the Linked-in research is that it tends to be professionals with incomes in excess of $100K who network there.
June 17th, 2009 at 8:23 am
linkedin is definately the first stop for the reasons mentioned – twitter and Facebook will be used more in the future – still too new, but the numbers and populations on the those sites are just too large to ignore from a recruiting stand point
June 17th, 2009 at 8:57 am
LinkedIN really needs to figure out its identity. I like LinkedIN a great deal, but Bruzzy is right. It could get messy.
June 17th, 2009 at 11:44 am
Bruzzy,
Its up to you to make your LinkedIn profile public. If you do so, it is not illegal for someone to view that information. You can’t sue someone for Googling your name, and if they do your LinkedIn profile will show up.
So, if you plan on getting rich by suing someone, you should do it the old fashioned way and jump in front of a car.
Btw…if you feel that suing someone for doing their job w/ no harm meant to you…then you wouldn’t be the type of person I would want to hire. So, suing someone would probably be the best way for you to become “successful”.
June 18th, 2009 at 9:29 am
SEM,
If you’ve ever interviewed or hired anyone then you should know that going to Facebook, MySpace or LinkedIn and drawing hiring conclusions from that information is illegal.
Think about it, anyone can create a profile and put whatever information they want on that site, so for an employer to use that is illegal. However, let me know what chop shop you work for and I’ll come interview, then I can get my cash money when you illegally draw improper conclusions.
Bruzzy is all over it, he is.
June 18th, 2009 at 9:35 am
26%! Give me a break. I can’t believe that 26 percent of hiring managers use twitter. Are these managers hiring bloggers? Jump Start Social Media has a business of selling companies services around social media, so of course they want to make the numbers look big.
As for the 48% that use Facebook, Lou Adler has a survey out right now: http://www.zoomerang.com/Shared/SharedResultsSurveyResultsPage.aspx?ID=L23VLYDDPH5L
Basically, it says Facebook and Twitter are pretty useless, and LinkedIn is essential. That completely matches my personal recruiting experience, and the experience of everyone I’ve ever talked to.
June 18th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
It’s not surprising that websites such as LinkedIn are so popular with recruiters and managers. Social media is a quick and proficient tool for recent graduates and anyone else looking for work. Although, it is surprising to learn that 48% use Facebook to recruit, since that website is generally associated with students to network socially with friends.
Another facet that hiring managers (as well as job seekers) might want to look into are other, more recent social networks that concentrate on career building such as OneCubicle.com, which bridges the gap between LinkedIn and Facebook. Each member has their own profile that they can update with their work history and skills, but they can also include information about their interests, hobbies, and etc to add a personal touch. I’ve used this website to browse for job listings and internships. As a soon-to-be college graduate, I’ve found it to be interactive and easy to use.
June 19th, 2009 at 4:21 pm
Lou Adler? Are you kidding me, there is no bigger no nothing douche in the industry than Lou Adler. He’s about 90 years old, I’m sure that print advertising is cutting edge to him let alone anything connected with a cord.
June 20th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
Well Linkedin has helped us also in a great deal to find the best talent. I am sure that it is going to gain pace in the coming times !!
June 22nd, 2009 at 3:30 pm
people are visiting LI on a less frequent basis though:
http://bokardo.com/archives/everyday-app/
June 24th, 2009 at 6:38 am
I’m so impressed with the kind of social networking platform that LinkedIn has. Aside from its resume style profile pages, it has other venues like answers, discussions, and groups where you can actually see how knowledgeable candidates are, complimentary to what their profile says about them.