What're your ideas about social recruiting?

Social recruiting is becoming the gold standard for finding the top quality people for all types of professional positions. Please tell us your ideas and finish the survey here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PN867XH

Here are the questions:
1. Do you use social media or network in your recruiting?
Yes/No

2. For what purpose do you use social recruiting?
A. Syncing jobs to social media
B. Employee or social referrals
C. Sourcing applicants from social media and social networks
D. Other (please specify)

3. What social media aspect do you use most frequently during the recruiting process?
A. LinkedIn
B. Facebook
C. Twitter
D. Social bookmarks: Digg, Stumble Upon, delicious
E. Other (please specify)

4. What are the difficulties when you ask for candidate referral?
A. Contact management: Knowing whom to ask
B. Payment: Difficulties in determining the monetary value of the referral
C. Quality Analysis: not knowing the value the referrer places on the referral
D. Other (please specify)

5. What is your main source of referrals?
A. Other employees
B. Other recruiters
C. Facebook
D. LinkedIn
E. IM friends
F. Email contacts
G. Other (please specify)

6. What are difficulties you encounter with sourcing from social networks?
A. Difficult to search and save a profile
B. Difficulties in contacting the candidates
C. Syncing social media profiles to appropriate jobs
D. Credibility issues with the social media profile
E. Other (please specify)

7. Tell us about the pros and cons of social recruiting (open):

Please tell us your ideas and finish the survey here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PN867XH

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jerry Albright on May 5, 2010 at 10:08am

Sorry Jack - but I just couldn't make it through your first sentence. "Social recruiting is becoming the gold standard for finding the top quality people for all types of professional positions."

While Social Recruiting may be many things to many people - it has a looonnnnggggggg way to go to hit that mark.

The most successful recruiters I know may use Linkedin from time to time - but they've already seen just how worthless most other tools are when real results are demanded.

The bigger my Facebook friends list gets - the more junk I find my eyes sorting through each day. It's quickly becoming a mountain of worthless links, updates, trivia and games.

My last 8 placements were all from either personal contact or job boards. This other stuff is all smoke and mirrors.......for now.

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Permalink Reply by Sandra McCartt on May 5, 2010 at 12:35pm

Ditto ...What he said.

If truth is in fact an aggregate of experience, my truth after wasting a lot of time with social recruiting is that i am totally bored with people promoting one more gathering of recruiters to talk about social recruiting. It remains to be seen if any kind of valid productive network can be built by people typing a list of @'s.

The scientists and docs and CFO's that i recruit are not tapping away on twitter so perhaps social recruiting is as one person put it...people yelling partial sentences at other people in cyberspace. It's not my truth but it's great to find out the weather in Nebraska.

By the by Jer. Did you notice the blog that purported that "Real Recruiters do not Post Jobs" and went on to say that those who do are inexperienced slackers. My last five placements were from Linkedin, job boards and personal contacts also.

If it is the "gold standard", mine is tranished and is turning my finger green. :)

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Permalink Reply by JackChang on May 5, 2010 at 4:07pm

Thanks Jerry,

What I mean about social is more than social media/social network, which include social/employee referral. Maybe it is confused, yeah, I think so. Therefore, as you mentioned here: my last 8 placements were all from either personal contact or job boards. ... in some points, those from personal contact fall into what I mean social recruiting...

Jack

Jerry Albright said:

Sorry Jack - but I just couldn't make it through your first sentence. "Social recruiting is becoming the gold standard for finding the top quality people for all types of professional positions."
While Social Recruiting may be many things to many people - it has a looonnnnggggggg way to go to hit that mark.
The most successful recruiters I know may use Linkedin from time to time - but they've already seen just how worthless most other tools are when real results are demanded.

The bigger my Facebook friends list gets - the more junk I find my eyes sorting through each day. It's quickly becoming a mountain of worthless links, updates, trivia and games.

My last 8 placements were all from either personal contact or job boards. This other stuff is all smoke and mirrors.......for now.

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Permalink Reply by JackChang on May 5, 2010 at 4:21pm

Sandra,

Maybe you can read here:
http://www.linkedin.com/answers/hiring-human-resources/staffing-rec...
You idea is the similar to Mr. Stephen Lytle...

Again...it's my fault to mix referral and social media sourcing together...

BTW, can you share some experience of your placement from linkedin/personal contact...You are an expert!

Thanks,
Jack

Sandra McCartt said:

Ditto ...What he said.
If truth is in fact an aggregate of experience, my truth after wasting a lot of time with social recruiting is that i am totally bored with people promoting one more gathering of recruiters to talk about social recruiting. It remains to be seen if any kind of valid productive network can be built by people typing a list of @'s.
The scientists and docs and CFO's that i recruit are not tapping away on twitter so perhaps social recruiting is as one person put it...people yelling partial sentences at other people in cyberspace. It's not my truth but it's great to find out the weather in Nebraska.

By the by Jer. Did you notice the blog that purported that "Real Recruiters do not Post Jobs" and went on to say that those who do are inexperienced slackers. My last five placements were from Linkedin, job boards and personal contacts also.

If it is the "gold standard", mine is tranished and is turning my finger green. :)

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Permalink Reply by Sandra McCartt on May 5, 2010 at 5:09pm

Jack,
Trust me when i tell you that none of us are experts. There are as many ways to recruit as there are recruiters. What works for me may not work for another recruiter and vice versa. I am an experienced recruiter. I don't believe that the way i do it is the right way for anyone else, it just works for me and my team.

If by social recruiting you mean personal referrals, that is the name of the game in my recruiting playbook.
Each person who contacts me or i contact becomes a source of personal referral when they know what i do and how i do it. I post jobs on job boards both to cast a wide net for candidates and also to let anyone looking know who we are ,where we are and what type of jobs and companies we represent.

Linkedin has been an excellent source for us in terms of people who post a profile who may be interested in opportunities if they are presented on an individual basis. I have had excellent referrals of other candidates from linkedin contacts based on people they know who may fit a position they may not be interested in themselves. I send job descriptions in full to individual contacts so they can forward on with my contact information. Just asking people to connect without a specific position is in my opinion an intrusion or just some recruiter trying to gather up followers. A well written job description with a personal note has yielded about 98% response and many future referrals. I get daily contact requests from people who have seen positions that we post on the internal group job boards. They may not fit any of them but they know what verticle we work in and will ask us to contact them about positions specific to their skill set when and if we have a fit for them.

I would say that a personal referral is what one gets when one makes a personal contact with another person. :)

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Permalink Reply by JackChang on May 5, 2010 at 5:12pm

Great, thanks.

Sandra McCartt said:

Jack,
Trust me when i tell you that none of us are experts. There are as many ways to recruit as there are recruiters. What works for me may not work for another recruiter and vice versa. I am an experienced recruiter. I don't believe that the way i do it is the right way for anyone else, it just works for me and my team.

If by social recruiting you mean personal referrals, that is the name of the game in my recruiting playbook.
Each person who contacts me or i contact becomes a source of personal referral when they know what i do and how i do it. I post jobs on job boards both to cast a wide net for candidates and also to let anyone looking know who we are ,where we are and what type of jobs and companies we represent.

Linkedin has been an excellent source for us in terms of people who post a profile who may be interested in opportunities if they are presented on an individual basis. I have had excellent referrals of other candidates from linkedin contacts based on people they know who may fit a position they may not be interested in themselves. I send job descriptions in full to individual contacts so they can forward on with my contact information. Just asking people to connect without a specific position is in my opinion an intrusion or just some recruiter trying to gather up followers. A well written job description with a personal note has yielded about 98% response and many future referrals. I get daily contact requests from people who have seen positions that we post on the internal group job boards. They may not fit any of them but they know what verticle we work in and will ask us to contact them about positions specific to their skill set when and if we have a fit for them.