Since late 2007, the term Web 2.0 has pervasively invaded strategic direction in marketing, information systems, recruitment and customer services in the business world. It is heralded as a powerful medium which will make the online experience for many richer, more interactive, more productive and more appealing. It is set to change the way businesses and consumers think, about themselves, about each other and about how they are portrayed in the online world. The rise of Web 2.0 technologies such as blogs, wikis, social media sites, search engine enhancements, online collaboration resources and online video has resulted in an revolution where traditional business models and marketing strategies have been challenged and in some instances overtaken by innovative companies who were quick to adopt the new medium of Web 2.0 and incorporate it into their business model.
This study aimed to ascertain attitudes towards the use of social media in recruitment in Ireland. To this end, we surveyed 194 people across four different groups including in-house HR and recruitment professionals, agency recruitment professionals, jobseekers and non-HR professionals. The largest group surveyed was the HR professionals group with 107 people completing the survey.
Across all group the majority of respondents indicated that they had a positive attitude to the use of social media in recruitment with 78.9% of all respondents indicating such. In the human resourcers groups, which combined both inhouse and agency professionals, 98.1% of respondents reported they used LinkedIn, with 86.6% of these using it at least once a week. 71.4% of jobseekers indicated they had a LinkedIn account, with 57.1% utilising LinkedIn in their job seeking strategy.
The results of the study indicate that the use of social media in recruitment is becoming mainstream with both employers and jobseekers exploring new technologies in their respective strategies including LinkedIn, Facebook and to a lesser extent Twitter. These technologies have not replaced traditional strategies, but have definitely added value to the process, securing their future place in the recruitment space.
The full study can be access here
The Use of Social Media in the Recruitment Sector in Ireland – An Exploratory Study