Using Social media networks on recruitment

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Introduction


Current world population is estimated at 7,580,000,000 (7.58 billion) (Dupre & Vickstrom, 2019). As per the predictions made on world population growth it is estimated to have 9.7 billion of population in the year of 2050 and 10.9 billion population in 2100 (Nations, 2019).

Figure 1.0: Social Network users from 2010 to 2023 (in billions)
(Source: J.Clement, 2020)

It is evident as per the above data, 41% of world population is using social media platform in day to day life. Year by year this percentage is keep increasing. Hence, it is vital to understand the power of using social media platforms as a recruitment method (J.Clement, 2020).

Figure 2.0: Number of people using social medium platforms, 2019
(Source: Ortiz-Ospina, 2019)

Figure 2.0 shows the number of users using popular social media platforms by 2019. So, it has a great potential for using social media as a method of recruitment of employees in contemporary organizations. Kaplan & Haenlein (2010) define social media as ‘ a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content’. Internet has turned upside down the way of recruitment. Today employers should place well known and attractive e-recruitment method to recruit best candidates with in a short time and less cost  than their competitors in the market (D.Smith & Rupp, 2004).

Using Social media websites as a recruitment tool


People generally use social network sites to interact with their friends and families. Having seen the number of people engage in social network sites, it has become an important tool in job recruitment process. Job seekers can use these social network sites to find the job vacancies while employers can search these sites  looking for potential candidates (Broughton, et al., 2013). Apart from looking for recruitment and candidates, these sites can be used to get the background data of potential candidates who applying for the job. These information enormously help to employers to get to know true information about their potential candidates. Also this information will be available for free of charge in most social networking sites (Broughton, et al., 2013). Most of the youth generation tends to use social media sites to seek the jobs. As per the survey done by potentialpark (2011) among 30000 graduates in Europe, almost 100% would like to connect with employers via online. 48% of graduates would like to connect with LinkedIn while 25% would like to connect with Facebook as per this research (potentialpark, 2011).

Although recruiting via social network sites, offer many advantages , employer should be careful when using social network sites as recruitment method. ‘Social Network sites can be valuable ‘friends’ of  HR , but also have the potential to be dangerous ‘foes’ if used improperly’ (Davision, et al., 2011). Employer should be mindful to check the accuracy of information on social network sites and should not violate the privacy of information available on the social net work sites as it may damage their company branding (Broughton, et al., 2013).

Table 1: Commonly used social networking sites for recruitment
Social Networking Site
Description
Blog
Blogs are usually carried out by individual person or small groups. Blogs usually includes experience and work of individuals and small groups
Facebook
A most famous social network site that user or group can create individual profiles, share individual thoughts, share common thoughts and exchange messages with other people who use the same network
Google
Mostly uses as a search engine and contain other products like gmail and hangout where users can create profiles and exchange ideas
LinkedIn
Major business related social network where users can create their professional profiles. Also users can connect with other professional partners companies. Many companies use this as a professional recruitment site
MySpace
Similar to facebook, users can create their profiles and exchange their ideas
Podcast
A multimedia site,contains video, audio and pdf files for users to download and live streaming
Twitter
A social network site that users can create micro blogs and post them publicly called as “tweets”. Most professionals and VIPs are using this site to convey their messages to the public quickly and efficiently
You Tube
Video sharing site where users/companies can  upload their own videos, share others’ videos, watch videos and download videos. Youtube has 2 billion active users as at today
Instagram
An American photo and video sharing social network site
Yahoo
An American multinational internet co-operation which uses for social networking through chat group and email

(Source: Broughton, et al., 2010)

Conclusion


 Using social medial as a recruitment method is an emerging trend in todays’job market. Easy access to candidates, easy communication with candidates and reduction of recruitment cost are the key main benefits of this. Since billions of world population is connected to social networking sites it is important to understand the power of using them in employee recruitment. Also it is important to understand to check the accuracy of information on social networks, to identify legal and ethical barrier when using information on social networks and not to make harsh decisions on recruitment based on information available only from social network sites (Masa'd, 2015). 

References

Broughton, A., Foley, B., Ledermaier, S. & Cox, A., 2013. The use of social media in the recruitment process, Brighton: Institute for Employment Studies.
Broughton, A., Higgins, T., Hicks, B. & Cox, A., 2010. Workplaces and Social Networking, Brighton: The Institute of Employment Studies.
D.Smith, A. & Rupp, W., 2004. Managerial challenges of e-recruiting: Extending the life cycle of new economy employees. Online informaiton Review, 28(1), pp. 61-74.
Davision, H. K., Maraist, C. & Bing, M. N., 2011. Friend or foe? The promise and pitfalls of using social networking sites for HR decisions. Journel of Business and Psycology, 26(2), pp. 153-159.
Dupre, S. & Vickstrom, E., 2019. United Status Census Bureau. [Online]
Available at: https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2019/07/estimated-seven-point-five-eight-billion-people-world-population-day-2019.html
[Accessed 26 05 2020].
J.Clement, 2020. statista. [Online]
Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/278414/number-of-worldwide-social-network-users/
[Accessed 26 05 2020].
Kaplan, A. & Haenlein, M., 2010. Users of the World, Unite! The Challenges and Opportunities of Social Media. Business Horizons, 53(1), pp. 59-68.
Masa'd, F. M., 2015. Deployment of social media in the Recruitment Process. Journel of knowledge management, economics and information technology, 1(1).
Nations, U., 2019. world population prospects 2019. [Online]
Available at: https://population.un.org
[Accessed 26 05 2020].
Ortiz-Ospina, E., 2019. Our world in Data. [Online]
Available at: https://ourworldindata.org/rise-of-social-media
[Accessed 26 05 2020].

potentialpark, 2011. Talent interaction:Does Facebook beat LinkedIn?, stockhom: Potentialpark Communications AB.

Comments

  1. Salinda herathJune 1, 2020 at 7:58 AM

    Adding more to the benefits of the recruitment process via social media, this can boosts the productivity by leaving positions vacant for shorter periods of time. And it gives employers the opportunity to hire staff both locally and globally, significantly extending the reach of more traditional staff recruitment (Smith and Rupp, 2004).
    On the other hand as Bohnert and Ross (2010) show, unprofessional behavior such as related to alcohol consumption and/or drug abuse, displayed on a social network sites might significantly hurt a candidate’s chances of being hired and can even result in a lower salary offer.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hasithmalingaJuly 19, 2020 at 2:46 AM

      Thank you for your comment. Although social media recruitment offer many advantages, the employee should be mindful to check the accuracy of social media information before taking a decision on recruiting (Broughton, et al., 2013).

      Delete
  2. ArunikaJune 8, 2020 at 11:05 AM

    Agreed to the above said.
    By using social networks for recruiting, access is enabled to a wide range of candidates who are easily accessible at any given time. For example, LinkedIn now has 3 million active job listings. Moreover, utilizing social networks makes this access possible at an increasingly lower cost. It is especially the widely sought-after pool of very competent but passive candidates that social networks give recruiters access to. It is thus not surprising that recruiters and organisations regard social media and networks as attractive recruitment tools, which give recruiters a competitive edge in reaching their recruitment objectives when it is done effectively (Koch, Gerber, Klerk, 2018).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hasithmalingaJuly 19, 2020 at 2:49 AM

      Thank you for your comment. It is estimated that 41% of world population will use social media in their day to day life. Hence, it is a vital tool in future recruitment process (J.Clement, 2020).

      Delete

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