SURVEY – Recruiting with Social Media Pierce County, WA June, 2010

The WorkForce Central Business Connection 4650 Steilacoom Blvd, Bldg 19 Lakewood, WA 98499 253-583-8800 www.TheBusinessConnection.net

SURVEY BACKGROUND AND HIGHLIGHTS The Workforce Central Business Connection’s 2010 Survey on Recruiting with Social Media was conducted in May, 2010.

Pierce County companies that currently use The Business Connection’s recruiting, testing, and training services, and additional area employers, were invited to complete the web-based survey.

Among the Pierce County employers who responded:

73.1% do not use social media or online networking to recruit

50.0% are concerned about confidentiality or security issues

25.8% suggest social media use may impede productivity

35.5% have accounts on Facebook and LinkedIn

16.1% have a Twitter account

25.40%

73.10%

1.50%

Do you or your company use social media or social networking as part of your recruitment effort?

Yes

No

Don't know

Opportunity

Employers who include the use of social media as part of their candidate search can gain a major competitive advantage by reaching job-seekers that other firms will never know about. Other research has shown that a firm’s social media ‘absence’ can be interpreted as a lack of industry or market leadership.

Data

About one quarter of respondents are actively seeking employment candidates on social media services such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Surprise

Over two thirds of respondents are not engaging with job seekers by using social media, even though it is rapidly becoming a preferred form of communication.

50.00%

33.30%

18.20%

25.80%

18.20%

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

What concerns do you have about using social media or social networking as part of your recruitment

effort? (select all that apply)

Opportunity

Employers can incorporate compliant methods on social media platforms to court candidates of comparable quality that are ignored by most firms.

Other concerns indicated:

No need for it; we are very small; just haven’t used it; quality of candidate; don’t use it; haven’t really used it; we get enough response without it; generates spam; computer viruses; poor quality of candidate; not sure enough people look there.

Data

Most respondents have concerns about either confidentiality or security. Some have no familiarity with social media.

Surprise

Some employers fear computer viruses or candidates inferior to those that can be sourced via traditional methods.

0.00%

35.50% 35.50%

0.00% 0.00% 0.00%

16.10%

3.20%

51.60%

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

Biznik Facebook LinkedIn MySpace Ning Second Life Twitter YouTube Other (please specify)

Which social networking sites are you using to find candidates? (select all that apply)

Opportunity

Employers who understand and utilize proper social media engagement techniques as part of their overall recruitment effort will establish stronger rapport with candidates who use social media in their job search.

Other social networking site used:

Kindred web site, Craigslist, Newspaper ads, Employment agencies, Craigslist.

Data

Facebook and LinkedIn are the two most popular platforms used by respondents who employ social media in recruiting.

Surprise

Majority of respondents view social media as no different from advertising. Virtually none use YouTube for recruiting.

25.60%

2.30% 2.30%

48.80%

34.90%

2.30%

41.90%

32.60%

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

Attend networking

events

Author a blog

Comment on blogs or networks

Email friends and

contacts

Make contacts through

social network

Post recruiting

videos online

Tap into current

employees' professional

or social networks (includes referrals)

Other (please specify)

Which social networking techniques are you using now as part of your recruitment effort? (select all

that apply)

28.90%

2.60% 2.60%

50.00%

42.10%

10.50%

50.00%

28.90%

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

Attend networking

events

Author a blog Comment on blogs or

networks

Email friends and contacts

Make contacts through

social network

Post recruiting

videos online

Tap into current

employees' professional

or social networks (includes referrals)

Other (please specify)

Which social networking techniques do you plan to use more of in the future as part of your recruitment

effort? (select all that apply)

Other techniques used or planning to use:

Unemployment office, newspaper, Craigslist, Worksource, help wanted ads, attend onsite university campus, Craigs List, community events.

Opportunity

Incorporating use of social media could increase job-seeker perception of the employer as a market leader, and enhance all other recruiting efforts.

Data

Responses suggest that most employers are using referral-based techniques to generate candidate leads.

Surprise

Almost none of the respondents are actively creating content to establish their position as industry leaders.

20.00%

10.00%

26.00%

36.00%

56.00%

4.00%

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

Find out who is looking for a

position

Headhunt specific candidates

Make new contacts that

might be useful

Promote open positions

Don't use online social networks

Other (please specify)

How do you use social networks for recruiting? (select all that apply)

Other social network recruiting methods specified:

Don’t use social networks; just recently did.

Opportunity

Employers could include appropriate* research of candidates via social media platforms to reduce number of unqualified candidates for consideration in the normal recruiting process.

Caution must be exercised to ensure protected classes of information are not revealed to those making hiring decisions. *

Data

Most respondents either don’t use social media to recruit, or they may list job openings as a traditional advertisement.

Surprise

Only 1 in 10 respondents actually leverage social media platforms to find candidates that match specific needs.

81.70%

3.30%

3.30%

1.70%1.70%

8.30%

What percentage of candidates for positions at your company have come from social networking sources?

0-10%

11-20%

21-30%

31-40%

41-50%

51-60%

61-70%

71-80%

Over 80%

Don't know

Opportunity

Employers could experience up to 700% increase in successfully identifying qualified job candidates with effective use of social media outreach and research in their recruiting process.

Data

Over 80% of respondents report only 1 in 10 candidates for employment have come from social networking sources.

Almost 2% of respondents indicate over 70% of candidates were sourced from social networking sites.

Surprise

Slightly less than 10% of all employers are unaware of how significant a part, if any, social media networking may contribute to their current recruiting efforts.

8.80%

10.30%

1.50%

1.50%

5.90%

5.90%

10.30%

7.40%

11.80%

5.90%

11.80%

19.10%

Select your primary industry category:

Construction

Education & Health Services

Financial Activities

Government

Information Technology

Leisure & Hospitality

Manufacturing - Durable Goods

Manufacturing - Nondurable Goods

Professional & Business Services

Transportation & Utilities

Wholesale & Retail Trade

Other (please specify)

SUMMARY Only 1 in 4 Pierce County employers uses any kind of social media networking as part of their overall recruiting strategy. There is confusion about what is or is not social media; in fact, most employers consider LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter to be similar to a newspaper or online classified ads. Despite being the 2nd most popular search engine in the US, employers mostly ignore the role YouTube could play in their overall recruiting strategy. Blogging is virtually unrecognized as a tool for establishing market/industry expertise and leadership. An employer who includes a deliberate, compliant, and effective social media component in their recruiting strategy could likely dominate the market, quickly create the image of a “preferred employer”, and source qualified job-seeking candidates before non-social savvy competitors knew those candidates are available for hire.