Social Recruiting Is Still The Next Big Thing

Jobvite recently released its 2014 Job-Seeker Survey, speaking to 2,135 adults both in and out of the labor force. I’ve read the report and discovered that social and mobile recruiting are still trending upwards, just as they were in 2012.

So who is looking for work? Everyone. 35% of respondents said they change jobs at least every five years. Only 47% have stayed at a job more than 10 years. In addition, 51% of employed workers are actively seeking or are open to a new job. That includes 26% of workers making $100,000 or more, proving that no one is safe! All together, Jobvite considers 71% of the entire American workforce to be “on the job market.”

College grads go to the following places to vet a prospective employer’s company culture: 23% LinkedIn; 19% Facebook; 19% Google Plus; 16% Instagram; 13% Twitter. It’s hard to believe, but this is one of the few categories LinkedIn actually wins.

Image courtesy of Jobvite

For example, 40% of those surveyed found their “favorite or best” job through a personal connection. The next biggest category was social media but Facebook comes in first at 10%, followed by LinkedIn at 6% and Twitter at 5%.

Facebook virtually ties LinkedIn in the social network used by job-seekers to look up contacts that are employees of a prospective employer.

76% of “social job seekers” (those dependent on social media for job searches) found their current job on Facebook. Almost the same percentage shared an opportunity with a contact, or had a contact share one with them, on Facebook as on LinkedIn. This has to make LinkedIn executives scratch their heads.

It gets worse for LinkedIn. While 94% of recruiters are active on the network, only 36% of job-seekers are. In fact, the social site specifically designed for professional networking comes in last of the four major social channels: 83% of job-seekers are active on Facebook, 40% on Twitter, and 37% on Google Plus. 

Not to pick on LinkedIn, but it loses in the mobile category as well. 12% of job-seekers said they’ve search for a job on Facebook using their mobile device. Only 7% have done a mobile search with LinkedIn.

Image courtesy of Jobvite

Let’s talk about mobile for a moment. 43% of job-seekers have used their mobile device to engage in some type of job-search activity. (Perhaps the biggest indication that times are changing is that 17% of full-time workers have searched for job on their phone at their current workplace.)

This carries over into the application process as well. 27% of job-seekers say it’s “important” to be able to apply for a job directly from their mobile device. 55% say it’s “important” that they’re able to view job listings without having to register first.

It seems that job-seekers are wising up, as well. 93% of recruiters say they’re “likely” to look at a candidate’s social profile (whichever one they can find). In response, some job-seekers have untagged themselves from photos, deleted specific content — and 17% have actually deleted a social media account.

Image courtesy of Jobvite

You can see that social and mobile recruiting aren’t fads, and they’re moving from ancillary tactics to being full partners in an integrated online strategy.