HR Tech News » LinkedIn

Social networking profiles more accurate than resumes?

Sam Narisi — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 11:00:26 +0000

In the debate about whether to search for candidates online before they’re hired, here’s another reason hiring managers may consider doing so:

Candidates are often more honest in their LinkedIn profiles than in the resumes they send employers.

At least that’s what LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman said at the Social Recruiting Summit held recently at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, CA.

His reasoning: Resumes are read only by a few people in a company, who know nothing about the candidate. On the other hand, candidates might have hundreds of LinkedIn connections, and in theory, know or have worked with all of them.

Reid’s point: It’s pretty hard to lie publicly in front of current or former colleagues.

Of course, LinkedIn profiles aren’t really replacements for resumes — most users don’t put the same detail into a profile, and there aren’t many versions tailored to different types of positions.

But some experts recommend finding a candidate’s profile to quickly make sure it matches the info the candidate sent to you.

Applicants say social networking sites aren’t effective job search tools

Sam Narisi — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 11:00:32 +0000

We’ve heard a lot of talk about how HR can use social networking Web sites to recruit employees. But a new survey says another method’s more effective:

Regular, old-fashioned networking.

A recent survey by AfterCollege.com asked recent graduates to pick the job-searching methods they found to be most effective. The top two options were searching job boards and applying directly through a company’s Web site, followed by various types of networking, such as:

talking to someone who works at an employer of interest
attending a job fair, and
talking to friends or family members.

Other preferred methods include asking professors for help, looking at ads in a newspaper and attending information sessions at a school.

Last on the list: using social networking sites like Facebook or LinkedIn, with only 11% of users finding them to be effective job searching tools.

What does it mean? While companies have been able to find employees through social networking sites, like any recruiting tools, they need to be used in conjunction with other strategies. Focusing too much on one avenue, especially a brand new one, limits the audience you can reach.

Candidates say social networking sites aren’t effective job search tools

Sam Narisi — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 15:54:05 +0000

We’ve heard a lot of talk about how HR can use social networking Web sites to recruit employees. But a new survey says another method’s a lot more effective:

Regular, old-fashioned networking.

talking to someone who works at an employer of interest
attending a job fair, and
talking to friends or family members.

Other preferred methods include asking professors for help, looking at ads in a newspaper and attending information sessions at a school.

Last on the list: using social networking sites like Facebook or LinkedIn, with only 11% of users finding them to be effective job searching tools.

Economy drives large numbers of job-seekers here

Sam Narisi — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 11:00:24 +0000

If your company is still hiring in this economy, here’s a place where you should be able to find a lot of candidates:

The social networking Web site LinkedIn.

The number of visitors to the site in January increased by 22% over the previous month, according to recent data from comScore, a firm that measures Web traffic. The amount of time all users spent on the site in January was double the number from December.

The probable reason: The large number of recently unemployed people have flocked to the site looking for employment opportunities.

What it means to HR: If you still have jobs to fill, you can likely find many qualified candidates on LinkedIn.

Useful new tool for online recruiting

Sam Narisi — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 11:00:13 +0000

If your company recruits employees through LinkedIn, there’s a new way for you to market your organization to candidates:

Creating a company profile.

LinkedIn has now made it possible for companies to set up profiles, in much the same as individuals do.

You can provide useful information for candidates, such as what business you’re in, where you’re located, how big the company is and — most importantly — why people should work for you.

Go here to set up a profile for your company.