The Future of E-Recruitment

This is part 5 of a 5-part series on E-recruitment. Resource Management sponsored the “RPO and E-recruitment Forum” which took place on the 29th September.

Last week we had a look at whether e-recruitment was really worth it or whether it was just a passing bandwagon. This week, we look at how important social media will be in the future, and sum up the best tips for leveraging e-recruitment.


The Future of E-Recruitment

According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), companies should:

• Align human resources, PR and marketing, and be clear on core organisational values
• Find ways to connect with the passive job seeker
• Broker and make use of peer-to-peer relationships
• Use web 2.0 technologies (blogs, web-based communities and social networking sites) to build personalised relationships online

All of these factors need to be considered in order to capitalise on the growing use of e-recruitment, especially the latter.

A survey conducted by Yasni.co.uk found that “32% of Business managers and HR people in Britain have searched for applicants online, using social media websites”.

Also, of the 68% of business people who had not searched for applicants’ online, 44% admitted that they probably would in the future.

According to the CIPD, marketers believe that the relationships formed with candidates and jobseekers will be an important factor in success with e-recruitment in the coming years. This is as companies begin to focus on branding and consumer insight in order to build loyalty and grow their businesses using social media.

Have a look at our tips below:


Top Tips for E-Recruiting

• Develop a policy with management on how you use social networks and company job-boards. This is one of the most important first steps as it will ensure that all employees are aware of what can and can’t be posted, and how to deal with applications received online.


• If you are looking for a social network to start on, begin with Linkedin. It’s a professional network so you’re more likely to get good results using the company profile job board, and discussion boards.


• Research other networks and decide which ones are best for your company. Twitter may work for you, or it may not. Include in this research, where the best place to find candidates might be.


• Even if you can’t source any quality candidates straight away, it doesn’t mean there aren’t any, or that social networks aren’t right for your company. Continue to use existing methods like posting to job boards whilst you try out social media.


• As mentioned earlier in this series, always provide candidates and jobseekers with other means to contact you i.e. a phone number or an email address.


• Don’t use jargon, as this will alienate potential candidates.


• Monitor how you are using social media and get feedback from candidates about their experiences of using it. If they are having problems, you need to address this straight away.


• Also remember that only 1 in 4 job hunters are reported as using social media in their job search. Whilst this figure is changing all the time, it’s not yet ubiquitous, but soon might be.

Any important ones we've missed? Share your tips for leveraging e-recruitment in the comments below.


Image source: Flickr Creative Commons - (p_a_h)

Social Media – The Emperor’s New Recruitment Tool?

This is part 4 of a 5-part series on E-recruitment. Resource Management sponsored the “RPO and E-recruitment Forum” which took place on the 29th September.


Last week, we went back to basics and highlighted some of the problems with e-recruitment, and what to do about them. This week, we have a look at whether social media as a recruitment tool is really worth the effort.

Just a fad?

A recent discussion spreading across the web has debated whether social media is just a passing fad, or more of a revolution (See this video on the Social Media Revolution). So is recruitment via social media just another bandwagon to jump on?

The general consensus on social media platforms, especially Twitter, is that they are here to stay. There will always be a place for micro-blogging, socialising and networking online given the rate of growth for each platform. Linkedin for example, racks up approximately a million new users every 15 days.


But what about e-recruitment?

According to a recent survey by Aftercollege.com, graduates felt that using social networks for job seeking was ineffective compared to more traditional methods such as job boards. (71.9% of the 670 students surveyed said they would simply search a job board for a job.) In fact, social media applications like Facebook and Twitter were ranked last of a choice of 15.

However, this survey appears to be at odds with the trend of job seekers rushing to social networks reported by “My CV and Me” who claim that 1 in 3 now use Linkedin, Facebook, and Twitter to find a job. However, social networks and job boards did rank second to “finding a job through professional contacts”, which came in at 40% of the study’s participants.


The demographics

Almost three million people in the UK are now unemployed, with almost a third of those under the age of 24. Given social media is a relatively new concept in technology, one would assume that the younger generations would be quickest to take it up. Not exactly.

The 35 - 54 age group is the largest demographic of Twitter uptakers, (accounting for almost 30% of its overall users), however, they are being rapidly caught up by the 18 – 34 age group.

(Source: comScore Media Matrix)


However, does the age of our job seekers really matter? If we can target the 35 – 54 demographic with e-recruitment, then surely it must be worth doing?


Combining strategies

The social media sphere is still growing rapidly, making it a great target for Twitter and Linkedin-based recruitment, however at this stage, its use should be combined with other methods, including job boards and press advertising.


Next week we look at the future of social media and e-recruitment.

[Image credit: Shuttrstock]