This document summarizes key findings from a report on social media usage in recruiting. It finds that: 1) LinkedIn is the most widely used and connected social network for recruiters, followed by Twitter and then Facebook. 2) Twitter is being used more than Facebook for recruiting. Recruiters are adding followers faster on Twitter than other networks. 3) LinkedIn drives the most views and applications per job posting. However, Twitter followers are much more likely to apply to jobs than connections on other networks. 4) The report provides data on network sizes, growth rates, and user interactions for recruiters on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook to evaluate their effectiveness for recruiting.

1. THE 2012
SOCIAL RECRUITING
ACTIVITY REPORT
THE DEFINITIVE LOOK AT SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE IN RECRUITINGG
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FEBRUARY 2012
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2. This report takes a look at the current social media activity
of recruiters and job seekers across the “big three” social
networks — LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. The report
presents key findings and benchmark data pulled from the Bullhorn
Reach user network of over 35,000 recruiters. We will explore which
social networks are utilized most often and how effective each network
is for sourcing candidates. The following data does not represent a
subjective projection, but an objective summary of the actual activity
pulled from the Bullhorn Reach user database during calendar year 2011.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Since social recruiting has proven found that LinkedIn is driving the most
to be a rapidly growing category, we views and applications per job posted
expect increased social engagement on the “big three” social networks, our
from recruiters. This report evaluates analysis shows that Twitter followers are
the current social network activity much more likely to apply for a job than
among recruiters and suggests several connections on LinkedIn or friends on
interesting insights. First, our findings Facebook. Overall, Twitter and Facebook
suggest that recruiters are connected to appear to be highly under-utilized
all three social networks, but are using networks for recruiting, but we expect
LinkedIn and Twitter much more than that behavior to change during 2012.
Facebook to recruit talent. While we
THE 2012 SOCIAL ACTIVITY REPORT • FEBRUARY 2012 2

3. LIST OF FIGURES
1.0 HOW CONNECTED ARE SOCIAL RECRUITERS? 5
1.1 MEDIAN NUMBER OF NETWORK CONNECTIONS PER RECRUITER 6
1.2 MEDIAN NUMBER OF NETWORK CONNECTIONS:
AGENCY VS. CORPORATE RECRUITERS 7
1.3 NETWORK SIZE DISTRIBUTION AMONG RECRUITERS 8
1.4 AVERAGE NUMBER OF CONNECTIONS ADDED PER WEEK BY NETWORK 9
1.5 AVERAGE NUMBER OF CONNECTIONS ADDED PER WEEK:
AGENCY VS. CORPORATE RECRUITERS 10
1.6 HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE RECRUITERS TO DOUBLE THEIR NETWORK SIZE? 11
1.7 HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE RECRUITERS TO DOUBLE THEIR NETWORK SIZE?
AGENCY VS. CORPORATE RECRUITERS BY NETWORK 12
1.8 RELATIVE COMPARISON OF VIEWS PER JOB POSTING BY NETWORK 13
1.9 RELATIVE COMPARISON OF APPLICATIONS PER JOB POSTING BY NETWORK 14
2.0 RELATIVE COMPARISON OF APPLICATIONS PER CONTACT BY NETWORK 15
2.1 RELATIVE COMPARISON OF APPLICATIONS PER CONTACT:
AGENCY VS. CORPORATE RECRUITERS BY NETWORK 16
THE 2012 SOCIAL ACTIVITY REPORT • FEBRUARY 2012 3

4. TWITTER EXCEEDS FACEBOOK
FOR SOCIAL RECRUITING
• Recruiters use Twitter more often than Facebook for social recruiting. Despite the fact
that recruiters have fewer connections on Twitter, 19% of recruiters are connected to
both LinkedIn and Twitter while 10% are connected to both LinkedIn and Facebook.
• Recruiters add more Twitter followers to their network per week than Facebook and
will grow their Twitter networks much faster than their networks on Facebook.
• Twitter drives almost twice as many job views per job as Facebook and three times
more applications per job.
LINKEDIN DRIVES THE MOST
JOB VIEWS & APPLICATIONS
• LinkedIn drives more job views per job than Twitter and Facebook, sending 3 times the
amount of views of Twitter and 6 times the amount of Facebook.
• Recruiters that post jobs on social networks are likely to receive more applications
from LinkedIn than the other two networks. LinkedIn drives almost 9 times more
applications than Facebook and 3 times more applications than Twitter.
TWITTER FOLLOWERS MOST LIKELY
TO APPLY VIA SOCIAL NETWORKS
• A Twitter follower is almost 3 times more likely to apply to a job posting than a
LinkedIn connection and 8 times more likely to apply than a Facebook friend.
• Recruiters receive almost 3 times more applications per contact from Twitter than
from LinkedIn and 8 times more than Facebook.
• Agency recruiters receive 11 times more Twitter applications and 3 times more
LinkedIn applications than corporate recruiters using the same channels.
THE 2012 SOCIAL ACTIVITY REPORT • FEBRUARY 2012 4

5. KEY FINDINGS
HOW CONNECTED ARE SOCIAL RECRUITERS?
48%
10% 19%
21%
1% 1% 1%
Note: The chart above represents recruiters who have connected figure 1.0
their Bullhorn Reach accounts to at least 1 social network
While 21% of recruiters are connected to all three social networks, the
data shows that 48% of recruiters are using LinkedIn exclusively and are
not leveraging the other two networks for social recruiting. Known as the
“professional network,” LinkedIn has over 135 million active members who
use the site to search for jobs and manage their professional identities. Not
surprisingly, we found that LinkedIn is the most widely used network for social
recruiting, followed by Twitter and then Facebook.
Our data reveals that Twitter usage exceeds that of Facebook for social recruiting
and that recruiters are rapidly ramping up their use of the network. With more
than 100 million active users, Twitter has become the second most adopted
network among recruiters with 19% using it in combination with LinkedIn for
recruiting. Known as the world’s largest social network, Facebook is the network
least connected to by recruiters, with only 10% using it in combination with
LinkedIn for recruiting. Our data supports the fact that recruiters are using
LinkedIn and Twitter more often than Facebook for social recruiting.
THE 2012 SOCIAL ACTIVITY REPORT • FEBRUARY 2012 5

6. MEDIAN NUMBER OF NETWORK
CONNECTIONS PER RECRUITER
700
616
600
500
400
300
245
200
100
37
0
figure 1.1
The dataset above reveals that recruiters have the highest number of network
connections on LinkedIn versus Facebook or Twitter — the typical recruiter
having 616 LinkedIn connections, 245 Facebook friends and 37 Twitter followers.
LinkedIn, known as the “professional” network, was adopted much earlier
for recruiting, which is why recruiters have smaller networks on Facebook
and Twitter. Data that you’ll see further in the report reveals that recruiters are
adding fewer followers per week to their Facebook and Twitter networks, which
reflects a slower adoption rate for recruiting on these two networks (see Figure
1.4). Facebook is the second most connected network for recruiters, but has
the lowest adoption for recruiting. Although recruiters have a lower number of
network connections on Twitter, we still found that the social network drives
almost 3 times more applications per job than Facebook (see Figure 1.9).
THE 2012 SOCIAL ACTIVITY REPORT • FEBRUARY 2012 6

7. MEDIAN NUMBER OF NETWORK CONNECTIONS:
AGENCY VS. CORPORATE RECRUITERS
700
610
600 568
500
400 Agency
Corporate
300
209 228
200
100
36 37
0
figure 1.2
Looking at the median number of network connections among agency recruiters
versus corporate recruiters, we found the numbers to be fairly consistent.
Agency recruiters tend to have slightly more LinkedIn connections, while
corporate recruiters tend to have more Twitter and Facebook connections. In
this case, agency recruiters may rely on LinkedIn more than corporate recruiters,
who may rely more on other sources such as employee referrals to recruit talent.
Despite the numbers being similar, we found their network activity to be different.
For example, we found that agency recruiters generate more applications from
their networks than corporate recruiters do (see figure 2.1).
THE 2012 SOCIAL ACTIVITY REPORT • FEBRUARY 2012 7

8. NETWORK SIZE DISTRIBUTION
AMONG RECRUITERS
40%
35%
35% OF RECRUITERS
30% HAVE BETWEEN 1-10
TWITTER FOLLOWERS Facebook
25%
LinkedIn
20%
Twitter
15%
10%
5%
0%
0 -10 50 100 200 300 400 500 500 600 700 700 800 900 000 000 000 000 000 01+
1 11- 51- 1- 1- 1- 1- 1- 1- 1- 1- 1- 1- 1-1 -2 -2 -3 -4 40
10 20 30 40 50 50 60 60 70 80 90 1001 1001 001 001
2 3
figure 1.3
For a deeper understanding of network size among recruiters, we looked at the
follower size distribution of each social network and found that:
• 75% of recruiters have 100 or less Twitter followers
• 28% of recruiters have over 1,000 LinkedIn connections
• 21% of recruiters have 50 or less Facebook friends
The distribution of size by network is extreme. As expected, recruiters are
hyper-active on LinkedIn. This data reveals that many recruiters have very small
networks and very few have large ones. This reflects the early stages of adoption
of these networks as a whole. Looking at each network individually, Facebook is
more evenly distributed, closer to a bell curve, which shows a more consistent
adoption rate. Twitter has a drastic downtick in distribution for recruiters that
have more than 11-50 followers, which again reflects early adoption. Lastly, a
significant number of recruiters have very large (1000+) networks on LinkedIn
due to the fact the network was adopted earlier and is used most heavily
by recruiters.
THE 2012 SOCIAL ACTIVITY REPORT • FEBRUARY 2012 8

9. AVERAGE NUMBER OF CONNECTIONS
ADDED PER WEEK BY NETWORK
20 18.5
18
16
14
Connections (average)
12
10
8
6
4
3.1
2 1.5
0
figure 1.4
Despite earlier adoption among recruiters, LinkedIn continues to grow at the
fastest pace. Recruiters are adding significantly more connections to their
LinkedIn networks than Facebook or Twitter due to the fact they are using this
network most often. Recruiters tend to add twice the amount of Twitter followers
in a week than Facebook, adding an average of 1.5 Facebook friends, 3.1 Twitter
followers and 18.5 LinkedIn connections per week. This data is consistent with
the fact that LinkedIn and Twitter are the two networks used most often for social
recruiting and that Facebook is still being used primarily as a personal network.
THE 2012 SOCIAL ACTIVITY REPORT • FEBRUARY 2012 9

10. AVERAGE NUMBER OF CONNECTIONS
ADDED PER WEEK: AGENCY VS. CORPORATE
RECRUITERS BY NETWORK
20 19.0 18.1
18
16
14
Connections (average)
12 Agency
10 Corporate
8
6
4
2.9 3.3
2 1.2 1.9
0
figure 1.5
For a deeper understanding of the average number of social connections added
per week, we broke the dataset down by the number of connections being
added by corporate recruiters versus agency recruiters. One might think that
the average number of connections added per week would differ substantially
between agency and corporate recruiters, but once again, they are behaving
similarly in terms of ongoing network growth. We found that corporate recruiters
were adding slightly more Twitter followers to their networks each week, while
agency recruiters were adding slightly more connections to LinkedIn. However,
the numbers were very similar. This data is consistent with Figure 1.2, which
reveals that agency recruiters are using LinkedIn slightly more than corporate
recruiters, most likely because corporate recruiters rely on other sources for
candidates such as employee referrals.
THE 2012 SOCIAL ACTIVITY REPORT • FEBRUARY 2012 10

11. HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE FOR RECRUITERS
TO DOUBLE THEIR NETWORK SIZE?
40
35
33.9
30
Months (Median)
25
20
15
10 7.6
5
2.7
0
figure 1.6
The dataset above shows that recruiters will double their Twitter following and
LinkedIn connections in a much shorter time than they would their number of
Facebook friends. These values are a factor of a) the current size of someone’s
network, and b) how fast connections are being added. Recruiters will double
their LinkedIn network size in 7.6 months and their Twitter network size in just
2.7 months. It will take 33.9 months for recruiters to double their Facebook
network size. This data supports the fact that Facebook has the least amount
of usage activity among recruiters. Typical Facebook networks are moderately
sized, but friends are added slowly, whereas typical LinkedIn networks are larger
and grow faster. Twitter networks are growing the fastest of the “big three,” but
are small to begin with due to the fact it is still on the early side of adoption.
THE 2012 SOCIAL ACTIVITY REPORT • FEBRUARY 2012 11

12. HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE RECRUITERS TO
DOUBLE THEIR NETWORK SIZE? AGENCY VS.
CORPORATE RECRUITERS BY NETWORK
40 38.0
35
30 27.7
Months (Median)
25
Agency
20
Corporate
15
10 7.6 7.4
5
3.0 2.8
0
figure 1.7
While analyzing the time it would take for recruiters to double their network
size, we broke the dataset down by the length of time it would take agency
versus corporate recruiters to do so and found that the Facebook growth
rates varied the most. We found that it would take 38.0 months for agency
recruiters to double their Facebook network size, where it would take corporate
recruiters only 27.7 months. This analysis suggests that corporate recruiters
are more active on Facebook than agency recruiters, but still supports the fact
that LinkedIn and Twitter are used most often for social recruiting. Corporate
recruiters may be more active on Facebook leveraging their friends, alumni, etc.
for employee referral programs. Corporate recruiters are growing their Facebook
networks more rapidly than agency recruiters, but not necessarily
for professional reasons.
THE 2012 SOCIAL ACTIVITY REPORT • FEBRUARY 2012 12

13. RELATIVE COMPARISON OF VIEWS
PER JOB POSTING BY NETWORK
5.7x
1.9x
figure 1.8
In terms of overall effectiveness, LinkedIn is the most productive network overall
for driving job views*. Looking at relative views per job, the dataset above reveals
that jobs posted on LinkedIn receive more views than jobs posted on Twitter
and Facebook combined. For any given job posted on the social networks,
LinkedIn drives 3 times more views than Twitter and 6 times more views than
Facebook. Twitter drives almost twice the amount of job views than Facebook.
This suggests, not surprisingly, there are more job seekers looking for jobs on
LinkedIn than there are on the other channels. This data is consistent with the
fact that recruiters have larger networks on LinkedIn, which therefore drive more
views per jobs posted.
*A job view is defined as a job seeker’s view of a recruiter’s job on Bullhorn Reach, which requires
a click-through on the associated job posting on the social network. A view, however, does not
suggest an application.
THE 2012 SOCIAL ACTIVITY REPORT • FEBRUARY 2012 13

14. RELATIVE COMPARISON OF APPLICATIONS
PER JOB POSTING BY NETWORK
8.8x
2.9x
figure 1.9
Looking at relative applications* per job, we found that for each job posted on
the “big three” social networks, LinkedIn drives almost 9 times more applications
than Facebook and 3 times more applications than Twitter. In terms of overall
effectiveness, LinkedIn is the most productive for driving job applications. Due to
the fact that recruiters have smaller Twitter networks than LinkedIn, the relative
number of applications per job is smaller. Based on the dataset above, LinkedIn
remains the most effective network overall for recruiting, but Twitter presents an
opportunity to break through the clutter more efficiently and reach potentially
high quality candidates using its search functionality. Facebook appears to be
the least effective network given the nature of this channel and lack of ability to
search for jobs already buried in the newsfeed.
*A job application is defined as an event on Bullhorn Reach where the job seeker makes a
connection with a recruiter about a particular job.
THE 2012 SOCIAL ACTIVITY REPORT • FEBRUARY 2012 14

15. RELATIVE COMPARISON OF APPLICATIONS
PER CONTACT BY NETWORK
8.4x
3.0x
figure 2.0
Taking network size into account, Twitter is the most efficient at driving
applications. Looking at the relative number of applications per contact, we
found that a Twitter follower is almost 3 times more likely to apply than a
LinkedIn connection. This may be a result of people re-posting jobs to Twitter
more often than to LinkedIn or it could also be the nature of the channel
—
­ candidates can search for older job postings on Twitter more so than on
LinkedIn or Facebook. This suggests that a recruiter does not need a huge
following on Twitter for it to be effective. Therefore, increasing the network
size could be a valuable way for recruiters to focus their time spent on social
media. The data in this chart is consistent with the fact that Facebook is the
least effective channel for sourcing candidates.
THE 2012 SOCIAL ACTIVITY REPORT • FEBRUARY 2012 15

16. RELATIVE COMPARISON OF APPLICATIONS
PER CONTACT: AGENCY VS. CORPORATE
RECRUITERS BY NETWORK
16.5x
5.2x 5.3x
Agency
Corporate
2.2x
figure 2.1
Agency recruiters are more effective at leveraging their networks on LinkedIn
and Twitter than corporate recruiters. When comparing the relative number of
applications per contact for agency recruiters versus corporate recruiters, we
found that agency recruiters receive 11 times more Twitter applications and
3 times more LinkedIn applications than corporate recruiters. This could be
a result of agency recruiters having a lot of connections that are active job
seekers (e.g. contractors/temps), whereas corporate recruiters may have more
connections with colleagues and others who are full-time employees, not actively
engaged in a job search. The discrepancy may also be a function of the volume
of jobs managed and posted by an agency recruiter versus a corporate recruiter.
THE 2012 SOCIAL ACTIVITY REPORT • FEBRUARY 2012 16

17. LOOKING AHEAD
As social networks evolve in 2012 might expect Facebook to
and the world becomes even grow as a recruiting network.
more connected through the “big Companies may begin to harness
three” social networks, agency and Facebook more to recruit potential
corporate recruiters will develop candidates (e.g. friends, alumni,
new strategies for recruiting etc.) through their demographic
candidates through social network and geographic relationships
connections. Based on current data with current employees. Expect
trends, recruiters could quadruple to see an increase in activity on
the size of their Twitter networks by Twitter among recruiters, especially
the end of 2012 and potentially add given the recent launch of the
approximately 1,000 connections to new Twitter business pages, and
their LinkedIn networks. Currently, plan on a greater adoption of
Facebook has the least amount social recruiting tools to manage
of network activity among agency the forever growing networks
and corporate recruiters. One of potential candidates. Finally,
would anticipate them to alter their we expect more networks like
strategies going forward to leverage Google Plus to increase their
the power of the largest social efforts for share of the recruiting
network (e.g. employee referral space or to develop strategies that
programs). Also, as more job attract certain segments of the
seekers look to leverage Facebook professional population.
as a professional network, one
THE 2012 SOCIAL ACTIVITY REPORT • FEBRUARY 2012 17

18. ABOUT BULLHORN REACH
Bullhorn Reach is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) social recruiting
solution, designed to help agency and corporate recruiters leverage
social media to source candidates, identify potential movers and boost
referral programs more efficiently. Launched in February 2011, the
Bullhorn Reach social sourcing suite offers robust recruiting solutions
that empower recruiters to engage as thought leaders, enhance
their personal brands, and increase their visibility online. With over
35,000 registered users worldwide, Bullhorn Reach delivers advanced
technology that brings recruiters, hiring managers and job seekers
together more efficiently than ever before.
Bullhorn Reach is a division of Bullhorn, Inc., the global leader in
software-as-a-service for recruitment. Headquartered in Boston,
Massachusetts with offices in London, United Kingdom and Australia,
Bullhorn’s recruiting ATS/CRM and social recruiting products handle over
150,000 monthly job orders and placements for more than 5,000 clients
and 45,000 users across 35 countries.
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THE 2012 SOCIAL ACTIVITY REPORT • FEBRUARY 2012 18
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