By Alison Doyle, About.com Guide results of its 2012 Social Recruiting Survey
The survey reports that social recruiting continues to grow among U.S. companies with 92% planning to recruit through social media this year, up from 89% in 2011.
The survey also reports that using social networking sites to recruit is working. 73% of survey respondents hired through social networks in 2012, up from 63% in 2011.
LinkedIn continues to be a dominant recruiting network with 93% of surveyed employers using it to recruit. Facebook and Twitter have seen major growth in the past year. 66% of companies now recruit through Facebook and 54% use Twitter to find new talent. Overall, on a very positive note, 89% of companies report plans to increase hiring this year.
As always, it’s important to be careful what you post and tweet. Employers do notice and it can work in your favor or it be held against you – and they are looking. 86% of recruiters are likely to look at online profiles. Here’s what the survey reports:
- 80% of respondents reacted positively to seeing memberships to professional organizations, while 2/3 like to see volunteering or donating to a nonprofit.
- Content that recruiters especially frown on includes references to using illegal drugs (78% negative) and posts of a sexual nature (67% negative).
- Profanity in posts and tweets garnered a 61% negative reaction, and almost half (47%) reacted negatively to posts about alcohol consumption.
- Recruiters and hiring managers tend to be neutral in their reactions to political opinions (62% neutral) and religious posts (53% neutral).
To be competitive in a hiring environment that is increasingly social, it’s important to position yourself to job search where companies are recruiting.