CareerBuilder Study Finds Social Recruiting Continues to Increase
Social Media recruiting (social recruiting) is certainly not going away. Over 50% of hiring managers use social media to assess candidates according to the most recent CareerBuilder study of over 2,000 U.S. human resource and hiring managers ranging across industries and company sizes. Here’s the link to the press release.
FYI: These findings are more conservative than the Jobvite study, which found that 93% of hiring managers will review a candidate’s social profile before making a hiring decision. You can read more about that here.
What The Social Recruiting Study Found
As the study points out, 35% of employers said they would probably not consider interviewing a candidate without online visibility.
Rosemary Haefner, chief human resources officer at CareerBuilder said most recruiters, 60%, are “looking for information that supports their qualifications for the job.” This is what they are looking for:
- 56% of recruiters want to see if the candidate has a professional online persona
- 37% want to see what other people are posting about the candidate
- 21% admit they’re looking for reasons not to hire the candidate
Get inside the head of a recruiter/hiring manager/HR for just a second. They want to know as much about a candidate as possible before investing time in an interview. You do the same thing before you make a purchase, don’t you search for reviews online?
The Good News
32% of hiring managers found positive social network content which helped get the candidate hired. What made a difference?
- Candidate’s background information supported job qualifications –42%
- Candidate’s personality came across as good fit with company culture – 38%
- Candidate’s site conveyed a professional image – 38%
- Candidate had great communication skills – 37%
- Candidate was creative – 36%
The Bad News
48% of hiring managers said they found information that caused them not to hire a candidate. This number has decreased a bit from last year’s findings. What types of social networking findings turned them off?
- Provocative or inappropriate photographs – 46%
- Information about candidate drinking or using drugs – 40%
- Candidate bad-mouthed previous company or fellow employee – 34%
- Poor communication skills – 30%
- Discriminatory comments related to race, religion, gender, etc. – 29%
To learn more about what NOT to do, see 6 Things You Should Never Mention On Social Media.
At A Glance
Here’s a summary of key points from the CareerBuilder study.
(Click on image to view it larger)
I regularly write and speak about using social media to help build the right online presence because it is so critical to your career success. Here is a link to articles about social media.
Hannah Morgan speaks and writes about job search and career strategies. She founded CareerSherpa.net to educate professionals on how to maneuver through today’s job search process. Hannah was nominated as a LinkedIn Top Voice in Job Search and Careers and is a regular contributor to US News & World Report. She has been quoted by media outlets, including Forbes, USA Today, Money Magazine, Huffington Post, as well as many other publications. She is also author of The Infographic Resume and co-author of Social Networking for Business Success.
