IT recruiters favour social networking sites

IT recruiters believe trawling social networking sites is a more effective way to fill technology vacancies than advertising in newspapers or trade publications, according to a survey by the Association of Technology Staffing Companies (ATSCo).

The survey of consultants from 30 top UK IT staffing firms revealed that 58 per cent think that sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and MySpace are more useful for recruitment than print advertisements. According to the ATSCo survey, 83 per cent of IT recruiters use social networking sites to find potential candidates, while just 19 per cent use blogs to advertise jobs and discuss skills issues.

Such sites are even catching up on internet banner advertising, as 49 per cent of respondents rated social networking as more useful than online ads - but job boards and cold calling are still the highest rated.

"The key distinction, which makes social networking sites so valuable to recruiters, is that they are not just another passive form of advertising. They offer something quite different: a dynamic, two-way dialogue between recruiter and candidate, which is very efficient form of communication," said ATSCo's chief executive Ann Swain.

She said that specialist groups on such sites are a good way to find candidates for a specific role, compared with the expensive, scatter-gun approach of advertising in print media.

"Social networking sites make it very easy for recruiters to become trusted advisers to candidates and genuinely get to know them. Candidates often reveal far more about themselves on these sites than they would do on the phone or in interview, and in this era of identikit CVs, psychological insight into candidates is a hugely valuable differentiator," she said.

As IT PRO reported earlier this year, a YouGov study showed that a fifth of firms had looked up potential employees online, and warned users of such sites to be wary what photos and information they leave public.

While Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn might be increasing in popularity for IT recruiters, 69 per cent still believe job boards are the best way to get the right candidates. Some 22 per cent think cold calling is still the best way to find quality IT professionals, while just nine per cent favour social networking.

"Job boards have proved a very targeted and cost effective way to harvest CVs, despite the initial fears that they would lead to less personal contact between recruiters and candidates," Swain noted.

Those surveyed don't see their preferences changing in the next five years, expecting job boards and cold calling to remain the top recruitment methods, ahead of social networking sites, print advertisements and online banners.

Despite the increasing importance of contact databases built up on social networking sites, some 74 per cent of the IT recruitment firms in the study said they do not write into consultants' contracts that such contact details are the property of the company.

"Contact databases are the lifeblood of the recruitment industry, but companies need to do more to protect these valuable assets," said Swain. "This is currently an area where contract law is lagging behind social trends and an area of risk that the recruitment industry needs to pick up on."

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