Are Recruiters Relying Too Much on Social Media?3 min read

Some recruiting experts and other trainers for interviews and advice on recruitment recommend adding social media accounts on your CV. Companies or recruiting agencies often want to learn more about the candidates’ non-professional life before interviewing them. They want to see what you are tweeting or other professional experiences you didn’t mention on your CV. Since most people look for a job online, it seems that recruiters have the obligation to look at your social media accounts. However, aren’t they relying too much on it? Is it really unavoidable? How did recruiters manage when social media didn’t exist? This is what we are going to deal with in this article.

Reading too much into social media

A very interesting article found on Recruitment Grapevine explains the situation very well. Some CEOs and recruiters believe that if you rely on social media too much, this could affect your recruitment campaign. And if you put things into perspective, what you see on social media can affect your decision and your opinion of a candidate that could actually be agood hire. This is especially  true for Twitter or Facebook because LinkedIn, even though some updates make it look like Facebook, remains the only professional social media. Nobody would put a picture of themselves drinking at a their birthday party as a profile picture. You may think that nobody puts their real name on Facebook, but recruiters will look for you even if your name is slightly altered for the site. And with Facebook latest job board feature, your profile will definitely be seen and examined by the companies and their recruiters if you use it for job offers. In the article, the CEO interviewed even adds that some recruiters could become “lazy” and could even eliminate a good applicant and stop the hiring process because of social media. There are good reasons for sure, but sometimes it is just an excuse.

How to properly use social media in recruitment?

In the digital era, it seems unavoidable not to take advantage of all platforms available to recruit the best talents. It also helps you save time and money. Social media is more than useful, however, recruiters should not rely solely on it. Let’s take an example: Mark Jury, a recruitment manager interviewed by Recruitment Grapevine explains that the telephone is still their most important recruitment tools, and that “in-depth telephone interviews are the best way to get a real feel for a candidate’s strengths, weaknesses, achievements and experience”. Have you ever wondered how recruiters before social media and internet used to hire the best? They used to get out of their office to meet people face to face, and this is the real social network.

So yes, social media makes recruitment easier and quicker, but it has to be used properly, not as a spying tool or something that could bias you, or form an opinion based on a superficial impression. Human relationships will remain complex, because if digital seems to be nowadays’ only response to all our problems, there is something it can’t control: humans.

Author: Anne-Marie