The Future of Social Media Recruitment: Does the stats add up?

To many people like me, the future of recruitment is actually social media. There is also a great chance that the traditional CV will be replaced by the resources provided by the different social media sites (and they keep growing).

But, what of the statistics? Does it really add up? Are all industry watchers fully agreed on this? Are we witnessing the death of the traditional CV and the face-to-face job interviews we are so used to any time soon?

The reality is that there is a diversity of views with regards to the EFFECTIVENESS of social media in recruitment as well as the role it is expected to play in the future.

According to a survey by Robert Half posted by +Laura Chamberlain,

More than half (55%) of HR directors believe that social media platforms are an ineffective recruitment tool and a further 15% are unsure of their effectiveness, according to a survey by recruitment firm Robert Half.

HR directors were also found to be pessimistic about social media's potential to change recruitment processes in the future, with 63% saying that they believed profiles on social networking sites, such as LinkedIn, will not replace the traditional CV in the future.

While the majority were doubtful of the impact that social media could have on their recruitment processes, just under one-third (32%) of HR executives said that they used social networking sites to communicate with jobseekers, with a similar number (30%) saying that they use social media to find candidates.

In addition, 22% of the 200 HR directors surveyed for the report admitted to checking candidates' profiles on these sites as part of the recruitment process, despite warnings against the practice from lawyers and recruiters.

 Click on link below for more details:

http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/20/03/2012/58422/hr-directors-believe-social-media-is-ineffective-for-recruitment-survey-finds.htm


To some others, the traditional CV will be replaced by video CV. I strongly believe this is a more likely possibility given the added feature it presents to the recruiter. That a recruiter is able to place a 'face' on a CV is quite valuable and makes the hiring process faster. No doubt, a lot of recruiters will still like to 'see' the candidate they are hiring before signing the dotted lines.

And wait for this! Google and Facebook to disappear entirely? See below link.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericjackson/2012/04/30/heres-why-google-and-facebook-might-completely-disappear-in-the-next-5-years/


My take is that whatever position you hold, it is best to take full advantage of technology as long as it suits your business. No two organisations are the same.

What do you think? Your comments are welcome.