Social media has become the new standard for recruitment by providing access to a much larger pool of candidates than traditional CV databases. Recruitment companies can use social media to deeply research candidates' online habits to identify the best matches and directly contact them. While social media opens new possibilities, recruitment still requires specialists to properly leverage social networking, assess candidates, and combine digital outreach with traditional headhunting methods. The company discussed in the article has found success using these techniques to source candidates in Russia.

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25.04.2013
SOCIAL MEDIA RECRUITMENT
Interview with Samuli Pesu, Partner of Awara Group
There is a lot of talk about using social media in professional recruitment, but some claim
it’s all hype. Has anything really changed? If so, what and why?
Database CV collection is dying. Recruiters may boast of voluminous CV databases, but this
method is becoming redundant. CVs in such databases get outdated fast and even the biggest
recruitment firms can only cover a fraction of the market.
Worldwide, one in five people were regular social network users in 2012. By 2014, this figure
will increase to one in four (eMarketer). Social networks are today's CV databases. They have
the edge on traditional databases and job portals because the pool of candidates is much larger
and of higher quality. The secret is they’re not looking for a job per se.
What do we mean by social media in a Russian context? What does it include and how does
it differ from social media in the West?
Russians spend nearly twice as much time on social networking sites as Americans. Russia is the
third most engaged social networking market in the world. The average user spent nearly 9.6
hours on social networking sites in November 2012 (2012, comscore). The fact is 41.9% of the
population use social networks.

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From a headhunting standpoint, this obviously means that usage of social media networks in
Russia is far more important than in most other countries. You can determine, target and find
candidates by monitoring the sites they visit. Russians tend to prefer local social networks, like
Odnoklassniki, Vkontakte, MoiMir @ Mail.ru, and also of course Facebook.Additionally, they
use professional networks, like Professionali.ru, Linkedin, E-xecutive and Moij Krug.
So if social media is such a perfect platform for recruiting, then why would anybody need a
recruitment company anymore?
What’s the value of a recruitment company if it’s so easy to do it now through social media
networks?
Social media networks haven’t really affected the way headhunters operate. As in the past, they
still rely on their personal network and contacts to find the best people. The added value of social
media networks is in providing a way to search, identify and contact potential candidates from a
wider pool. Everything starts with in depth analysis of online habits, and only a specialized
social media recruiter, such as Awara, knows how to do this and define search criteria, how to
attract candidates’ attention, and how to target paid ads to get the right people. In short, things
must be done correctly. You really need to be a top class specialist to leverage all the
possibilities. And at the end of the day you still have to do all the traditional recruiter tasks:
assess candidates, persuade them to change, and guide them through the process.
It’s a fallacy to assume that posting a vacancy on social media networks will bag your ideal
candidate. Sure, it’s an important part of the process, but not the primary method. To find the
best people, you still need to combine social media recruitment with traditional headhunting.
Can you tell us about any success stories you have had with this new social media
recruitment approach?
We find great talent for our clients through our dedicated and specialized social media
recruitment. The bottom line is that we can access the largest pool of candidates in Russia. For
example, for a client in Sochi we were able to source several world-class candidates from social
media networks in just two weeks. Pretty good going!
Our formula for success is simple. First, we analyze where potential candidates spend time
online. Then we identify the best people and contact them directly. Finally, we assess them and
try to find the best match for our clients’ requirements.

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What’s your view on the future of using social media networks for recruitment?
We believe that job portals will eventually disappear and recruitment companies will stop using
internal CV databases. The future for candidate search is in social networks. Why limit yourself
to lower quality in job portals and small numbers in databases? Choose the best by combining
extensive knowledge of candidate research in social media networks and professional
headhunting. The fact is job searching has changed and now many people use social networks to
find and apply for jobs.
How does Awara Direct Search use social media for recruitment?
We use a variety of popular social media networks in Russia, including Vkontakte and Facebook
and some niche ones. We especially use professional social networking sites such as
Professionali.ru, and of course Linkedin itself. These sites provide a wide candidate base and the
best filtering options for candidate searching.
For each assignment we conduct extensive research, analysis and direct search activities. We also
target advertising in social media networks to reach only the most suitable candidates in highly
segmented groups.
We are members of various industry focus groups in different social media networks. Here we
network with lead-generating experts who may also be potential candidates for us. We actively
take part in conversations, share free and useful information to attract talent and build long-
lasting and effective relationships. We believe that 80% of our website and social media network
content is useful for our followers. Push marketing is dead, long live pull marketing! Today it's
about creating personal, timely and relevant communication.
Our strategy has paid off. Awara Direct Search is now a leading social media recruitment
company and one of the most followed in Russia on Linkedin.
This article was originally published in The Moscow Times (Job & Careers, Spring 2013)
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/upload/J&C2013spring.pdf