Social networks – how useful are they as a recruitment tool?
With the labour market in Canterbury approaching full employment, many businesses are reporting difficulties finding talented staff. Increasingly we find clients are keen to try different methods, particularly social media recruiting tools (such as Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook), to reach potential hires.
But just how effective are social networks as a recruitment tool? Do job hunters prefer them to traditional job search tools such as job boards (e.g., Trademe and Seek) and print media? Well, it turns out that Trademe has commissioned some research to address those very questions. The research aimed to get an unbiased view of the relevance of job boards and of what other channels people use to find jobs. The results show that when it comes to searching for jobs, the majority of Kiwis (52%) turn to job boards, followed by word of mouth (22%), print (19%) and finally, social-networking sites (7%).
Our experience backs this up - by far the majority of our clients use Seek or Trademe or both to list roles. However, depending on the role – where it is located, how senior it is and how tight the labour market is in that particular area, it may be worth considering other options – particularly how you can improve your “word of mouth” ratings.