Social media becoming an important part of digital recruiting

Post date: Feb 02, 2017 10:30:16 AM

The number of digital jobs in London is on the rise – particularly in the Inner East London area, home of the Silicon Roundabout. Overall, more than half of tech companies across the United Kingdom expect their business activities to rise over the next 12 months, which suggests the uptick in digital recruitment will continue, according to the latest edition of the KPMG/Markit Tech Monitor UK report.

“More recruiters are turning to candidates’ social networking profiles.”

Social media influencing employers’ digital recruitment decisions

A new CareerBuilder survey found that an increasing number of companies on the hunt for the perfect digital guru to join their ranks are turning to candidates’ social networking profiles to get a sense of these individuals beyond the information provided by their CVs. CareerBuilder revealed that while 42 per cent of employers were put off hiring a candidate as a result of their findings, 45 per cent of hiring managers were actually positively influenced.

Inappropriate content (46 per cent), references to drinking and drug use (40 per cent), and negative comments about previous jobs or colleagues (34 per cent) topped the list of employer turnoffs, while sub-standard communication skills and discriminatory remarks rounded out the top five at 30 per cent and 29 per cent, respectively. Among employers whose perusals of social media garnered positive findings, 42 per cent were pleased by the cohesion between the information that the candidate posted and the professional expertise outlined on his or her resume. Professionalism, communication skills and creativity were also cited as positive findings.

Nearly four in 10 (38 per cent) of survey participants said social media enabled them to get a sufficiently strong idea of a candidate’s personality to conclude whether he or she would assimilate well into the company. This reflects the increasing focus on corporate culture that has emerged over the past few years. Back in 2012, Forbes contributor Erika Andersen highlighted a statistic that suggested up to nine in 10 failed hires don’t work out because of cultural misalignment, and it’s those types of figures that prompted many companies to place more of a focus on the issue. Gauging cultural fit is very much still a work in progress, but the fact that hiring managers are sizing up potential candidates’ personalities in this manner seems like a positive development.

Social recruitment on the rise

According to Randstad Sourceright’s 2015 Talent Trends Report, determining candidates’ suitability via their social networking profiles isn’t the only way employers are leveraging social media as part of their recruitment efforts, Staffing Industry Analysis reported.

“Finding the best talent available has become increasingly difficult in recent years, requiring employers to continuously adapt their recruiting strategies to keep up with changing demands,” observed Robert Lopes, president of recruitment process outsourcing for Randstad Sourceright.

With this in mind, half of surveyed HR leaders said they have plans to invest in social media and online community management to engage with a larger pool of talent.