According to a 2014 survey by Jobvite, 86% of job seekers have at least one social network account. These job seekers, now known as social job seekers, are younger (40% are ages 30-40), more highly educated (68% have some type of college education) and more likely to be employed full-time.
There is an interesting disconnect between job seekers and recruiters when it comes to using social networks for the job search.
Job seekers utilize Facebook for their job search, whereas recruiters prefer LinkedIn when it comes to searching for candidates. However, 76% of social job seekers found their current position through Facebook, possibly suggesting that recruiters should focus more of their efforts there.
Not only do job seekers turn to social media for employment opportunities, they also use social media as a way to evaluate companies. According to Glassdoor, 80% of job seekers turn to social media for employer brand promotion. Employer brand image is important to job seekers to the point that 69% of them would not take a job with a company that had a bad reputation, even if they were unemployed. Recruiters should keep this in mind when it comes to their company’s social media and online presence because if they are not watching what they post, the best candidates may be turned away from the company.
Social recruiting is very beneficial for recruiters if they strategize correctly. Social recruiting enhances the way companies find and get candidates by saving time and increasing candidate quality and quantity.
