This document is a winter project report submitted for a Master's degree in Management Studies from the University of Mumbai. It studies how social media is being used as an important recruitment tool. The report acknowledges that more businesses are successfully using social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to find and recruit qualified candidates. While social media provides opportunities to engage with a large pool of potential applicants, companies must also balance maintaining traditional successful recruiting strategies. The future of recruitment is increasingly connected as social media usage continues to grow.

1. A
Winter Project Report
On
“Social Media Recruitment - A Study?”
In the fulfilment of the Degree of
Master of Management Studies under the University of Mumbai
By
Mr. Pagidimarri Gurunadham Ramulu [Roll No: B-45]
Under the Guidance of
(Prof. Shiji Lyndon)
(Internal guide)
Ghatkopar [W], Mumbai-86
2010-11
1|Page

2. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I am fortunate enough to have got an opportunity to do my final project on
“Social Media Recruitment – A Study on How It is an important tool for
recruitment?”
The project has been very useful for me in understanding the various aspects
and trends and critically analysing the same.
I would also like to express my gratitude to Prof. Shiji Lyndon (AMSIMR) for
her assistance and constant motivation.
I am very thankful to all of them who have guided me for my project.
(Gurunadham R Pagidimarri)
2|Page

3. TABLE OF CONTENT
Sr. no. Particulars Page no.
1 Acknowledgment 2
2 Abstract 3
3 Objective & Scope 3
of Study
4 LITERATURE REVIEW 4-7
5 VIRTUAL STRATEGY 8-9
6 SOCIAL MEDIA: 10-11
CREATING RICHER
RELATIONSHIPS IN
THE WORKPLACE
7 FINDINGS 11
8 KEEPING YOUR TOOLS 11-12
IN CHECK
9 THE FUTURE IS 12
CONNECTED
10 PERSPECTIVE OF 12
SOCIAL MEDIA:
11 RECRUITER’S 12
PERSPECTIVE:
12 APPLICANTS’ 13
PERSPECTIVE:
13 COMMON MISTAKES 13-14
COMPANIES MAKE
USING SOCIAL MEDIA
TOOLS IN RECRUITING
EFFORTS
14 SOCIAL MEDIA 15-16
RECRUITMENT
TRENDS IN INDIA
15 Considering SMR as a 16-17
Replacement for
Traditional
Recruitment.
16 Conclusion 18
17 BIBLIOGRAPHY 19
3|Page

4. ABSTRACT
This study deals in understanding the more and more businesses are stepping into the social
media arena to recruit viable candidates for positions at their companies—and having great
success, according to social media gurus.
A CareerBuilder survey of more than 2,500 employers, released in August of this year,
indicated 35 percent of respondents use social media to promote their companies. Of those
employers, 21 percent are using it to recruit and research potential employees, and 18 percent
are using it to strengthen their
employment brands.
Companies that don't embrace social media as a recruitment tool might risk losing quality
candidates to their competition that is focused on such outreach.
"Other companies are doing it, and if you're not, you're missing out on a large candidate
audience and top talent." In this new millennial cult of web browsing, socialization through
Social Media Websites has become the new trend. Befriending someone who is sitting at
other part of the world in front of computers with the help of internet, sharing ideas and
thoughts, expressing views, supporting others views on issues of common interest, have
become the new order among Internet users. As a recruiter needs the most talented, qualified
and largest applicant pool, leveraging on the SMW to tap potential talent is called Social
Media Recruitment.
It is all about engaging with Internet users through social media blogging to source and
recruit talent. Websites like Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, StumbleUpon, Reddit, Digg,
Delicious are some of the most popular SMW among the Internet users. Social media is
interactive media such as blogs; social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo! Groups and
Linkedln; and video hosting Web sites like YouTube. It facilitates open and free discussion
among users, allowing them to connect personally, albeit through technology. With more
than 75 million users on Linkedln, 100 million registered users
on Twitter, and a whopping 500 million users on Facebook, companies are beginning to
realize the value and drawbacks of using such mediums—particularly for recruiting purposes.
4|Page

5. "You start to engage a candidate in a way you never could with recruiter because of (social
media's) scalability and the ability to have a two-way dialog".
"You can showcase the company with pictures and videos and give candidates an idea of
what it feels like to work there."
At the same time, companies have to surrender some highly regarded control to such
mediums, a research and advisory firm in Boston focused on enterprise learning, talent
management and talent acquisition.
The Kind of traffic these websites experience is tremendous and statistics are mind-blowing:
over two-thirds of Internet population visit SMW, It is 4th preferred online activity ahead of
personal email, average users spend around 55minutes per day on these sites. Facebook,
Twitter and LinkedIn together account for 535 Million Users. Among the above, Facebook is
in the forefront with 7,00,000 users per day and is the most popular in the students segment.
Twitter and LinkedIn are mostly used for professional blogging.
It is like finding, Introducing and collaborating with qualified professionals on the SMW
whom the organization is looking for, and who are needed to work with, achieving the goal of
recruitment. Simply tweeting on the internet will give some viable results but making sure
that it reaches the target audience is important to cultivate the personality of the employer
early on.
The use of social media as a source is the ideal recruitment and retention tool in this era of
blogging, infact, most of the fortune 500 companies are already following it.
5|Page

6. OBJECTIVE:
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY:
To know how much one is familiar with Social Media Recruitment (SMR) concept and to
critically evaluate the same.
To know how it can replace the job fairs and newspaper advertisements.
SCOPE OF STUDY:
To know the current trends in SMR and target the Management graduate, among working
professionals and online recruiter.
To understand the various aspirations of job seekers in social media & how it is different
from other sectors.
The current trends in SMR in India.
Common mistakes companies make using social media tools in Recruiting efforts.
6|Page

7. LITERATURE REVIEW
What is Social Media Recruitment?
As a recruiter needs the most talented, qualified and largest applicant pool, leveraging on the
SMW to tap potential talent is called Social Media Recruitment. HR managers and recruiters
these days click on the web and open a page on Facebook or Twitter not to update their
friends or chat with the know circle, but to search for a talent pool to match their company’s
requirements.
SMR is becoming a major source for recruitment and a buzzword in the corporate world.
Increasingly, companies are taking to the social media arena to get the right and viable
candidates for positions at various levels. In just a few years, newspapers advertisements
shall almost be replaced by online job boards. Now, active recruiting at job fairs has met its
competitions in the social media. This new system of finding, screening, and recruiting
employees has unbelievable power to advance goals at a value price. If people think that
youngsters these days are surfing social networking sites for entertainment, they may be
wrong. On the contrary, they may be genuinely exploring the new job opportunities on such
websites. Besides personal association with friends and relatives , websites such as Facebook,
LinkedIn and Twitter are promising as effective job search tools for Indian job seekers. They
use these sites not just to check on job openings, but also to understand the prospective
organisation work culture, system, founder, objectives, policies and activities, so that they
know the company when they attend interviews. Strategies and tactics, but instead should
supplement the solid recruiting practices companies already have in place.
"I do believe in integrating traditional recruiting strategies with social media strategies".
"It's important to maintain the pieces that have resulted in successful hires to date. Social
media is meant to fuel your other strategies."
Linkedln
On Linkedln's most basic level, companies can search for talent and establish relationships
with potential candidates for free. To get started, a firm must simply create a profile for its
business on the Web site. Companies may go a step further, though, and purchase a business
account for bonus features like posting jobs;
sending private messages directly to any Linkedln user regarding career opportunities; saving
and managing profiles of prospects; and asking for introductions to people inside target
companies. It also offers an exclusive corporate recruiting package with additional custom
options and account management. Further, the company offers webinars on how to better
leverage Linkedln to acquire talent on its Web site. Linkedln discussion groups
specific to real estate management or a position that needs to be filled is one effective way to
scout potential candidates. Posting jobs on Linkedln necessitates clear and accurate job
descriptions, said Darin Hartley, director of client management at Intrepid Learning Solutions
in Seattle, and author oí 10 Steps to Successful Social Networking for Business. He said hiring
managers wanting successful results must truly understand the desired qualifications for a
position before posting a job. "The beauty of Linkedln is there are more than [75] million
users; the detriment of Linkedln is there are more than [75] million users," Hartley said.
"Your net could be so broad; you could wind up with 5,000 candidates. Be very clear what
you're looking for."
7|Page

8. Facebook
While Facebook might seemingly have a reputation as a site where long lost friends connect,
businesses are using it for recruiting purposes, particularly to promote their employment
brand and excite people about possibly working at their companies. Facebook offers a variety
of mediums for companies to communicate their message and corporate culture—from
simple text and mini blogs, to photos, and video and audio clips, to polls and surveys.
Facebook is optimal for engaging people. Aside from promoting corporate culture,
companies are also posting jobs on their Facebook pages, or at least linking users back to
their corporate Web site for career opportunities and applications. A fairly high conversion
rate exists from expressions of interest in a position posted on Facebook, to clicking on the
job, to filling out an application, to moving into an interview. To be effective, though. Hartley
said companies need to actively attract "friends" by keeping their content fresh and engaging.
Facebook offers advice on building a presence on the site on the "resources" section of its
"about" page. "Facebook is tbe largest social media site in the world. If candidates are
'friends,' then we have access to the largest pool of candidates possible."
Twitter
Twitter might be overrun with celebrities' and prominent individuals' 140-cbaracter-long
thoughts and musings, but businesses are using it in a variety of ways, including to recruit
talent. Many companies simply post open jobs to their Twitter account with a compressed
URL for the corporate Web site, which followers can link to for more information.
Businesses may also search for talent on Twitter, just not to the level they can on Linkedin,
Hartley said. Still, companies are able to identify candidates by querying for competencies,
companies, activities or key words; as well as sending direct messages to potential
candidates. Twitter offers a special guide called Twitter 101 for businesses on bow to use the
site to their advantage, along with best practices and case studies. Tbe information is
available on the Twitter Web site. Determining Twitter's effectiveness might be difficult,
however. Despite today's more than 100 million registered users, a study released in January
from RJMetrics indicated about 10 to 15 million accounts are actually active. At the time of
the study. Twitter had 75 million registered users—25 percent of which had no followers; and
upward of 40 percent had one to five followers. Hartley said companies who use Twitter must
actively tweet to earn traction: Occasional random posts simply won't have an impact, be
said. "I recommend active communication, especially during the job posting process," he
said. "You have to respond. Otherwise, it doesn't set the company up for success."
8|Page

9. VIRTUAL STRATEGY
Successful social media recruiting requires a strategy—not just knowledge of how the various
sites work, experts said. First, the sites a company chooses to utilize and the content it posts
should reflect the culture of the company. The company's brand should also be reflected on a
social media site—even if it's just a picture of the brand or logo. "People want to know what
the company is about and what its purpose is because it's going to reflect upon them as
individuals. Companies must develop content for social media sites that is going to help
candidates learn more about the company or inspire them to work there. To educate users,
collaborate with them about their wish lists from an employer. Use a mix of mediums, such
as text, video and direct responses that create a back-and-forth dialog. "The best way to create
content is to make sure you're providing people with information rather than just self-serving
posts. “It’s more than just broadcasting jobs, it's engaging people, starting conversations and
making connections." To avoid becoming bogged down with going to each social media site
to check for inquiries or provide updates, companies should streamline their social media
strategy. Social media aggregators, such as Flock, Friend Feed and Streamy, provide a single
point of reference whereby users can check all the sites from one place, as well as update
posts on all the sites at one time.
Active Facebook profiles, frequent blogs and constant Twitter updates are quickly becoming
the norm among techsavvy youth. Indeed, statistics show that 42 per cent of teens and college
students use Twitter, and spend an average of 11.4 hours per week on Facebook. As numbers
such as these grow, social media will play an increasingly
Bigger role in recruiting. If HR departments approach this new reality with a positive mind-
set, social media could become an ever more powerful way to connect people in the business
world. The success of SMR largely depends on how a company motivates the candidates to
follow the network and also spreads message about open requirements to others. The
suggested strategies for SMR success are:
1. Build a Rich User Experience for Social Networkers: Set up a Facebook page or
tab for recruiting. Establish a Twitter account for the company’s HR department.
Include links to the corporate web page, featuring rich, inviting content geared
towards, and potential employees. Make it easy for them to learn about your
company. Ensure that the look and feel of the social media sites is consistent with
branding efforts.
2. Make the social networking pages transparent: Use a Facebook page to show
prospective applicants what it is like to work in the organization.
3. Open the conversation: These sites are used to converse with potential employees.
Post opening in Twitter and respond to inquiries. Allow people to comment on the
recruitment process and learn.
4. Build Your Network: Provide tips on the job market, good resumes or networking to
enhance the chances that top talent will engage with the content and apply for a job
with the company.
5. Leverage the web, but don’t rely on it exclusively: It should not the only source
they should also look at others.
6. Move Fast: Top candidates move quickly delays cause to end up with second rate
hires. One has to monitor daily.
7. Ask for help: One can tweet it post it on Facebook which will help followers to
inform about an opening for the same.
Recruiting quality employees in long-term care is an on-going challenge and administrators
and human resource (HR) personnel are just starting to tap social media's potential to find
9|Page

10. good candidates, "Social recruiting," as it's called, is a tool that complements more traditional
search methods, such as online job sites and print media classified advertising. Facebook,
Linkedin, and Twitter have more than 535 million combined active users. There's a wealth of
potential hires out there for your business or facility. Still, a recent CareerBuilder survey
reports that while 26% of healthcare employers are using social media to promote their
company, just 14% are using it currently to recruit potential employees, "More healthcare
organizations need to harness the reach of social media to not only promote their
organizations, but to help recruit top, skilled talent," says Ben Jablow,
managing director of MiracleWorkers,com, CareerBuilder's healthcare jobs site. Lisa Nice-
Graham of Companion Health Services LLC, Guthrie, Oklahoma, is director of HR for
several nursing homes and assisted living facilities. She uses social media regularly in her
recruiting efforts, "Social media is one of the most effective means ot recruitment there is,"
says Nice-Graham. "I've found many CNAs and nurses through Facebook, MySpace,
Linkedin, and Craigslist, as well as administrative and support staff," Nice-Graham says that
compared to traditional recruiting methods, social recruiting is superior, "Usually I find a
better quality candidate because they're more passive job seekers versus the newspaper,
which usually has (responses from) people who are unemployed—and often are unemployed
for a reason." •
Linkedin is considered the professional's social networking site and a key resource for both
recruiters and job seekers, while you can post a job for 30 days for $195,'lLinkedln offers
plenty of free resources if budgetary constraints are an issue. For example, start building
connections to people and groups that can offer potential leads, like clients, former co-
workers, and long-term care groups. You can 'also use your network activity box to announce
hiring status updates. ' The Facebook directory allows you to search forusers, groups, pages,
and applications, and you can post jobs free of charge in the Facebook Marketplace, Or, for a
tee, you can target a specific group of people with a Facebook ad. You can choose a pay-per-
click option, pay per impression and budget how much you wish to pay. You can also post
job openings on your facility's or company's page. Social media also serves recruiters as a
vetting tool. Before she responds to a candidate who has contacted her from Facebook,
for example, Nice-Graham checks out their Facebook page, "If there's profanity all over their
page or they badmouth past employers, I'm not going to call them," she says. Nice-Graham is
a big fan of oodle,com,, a large classifieds aggregator of national and local sources. It's easy
to use and the results are plentiful, "The awesome thing about oodle," says Nice-Graham, "is
I can go there and post in one place and then link it to my other pages. For example, I have
my Twitter, Craigslist, and MySpace all linked to oodle, so I don't have to post to three sites.
It's free, too." Of course, social media can't replace traditional face-to-face networking or a
simple phone call, maintains Bernie Reifkind, CEO,
Premier Search, Los Angeles, a healthcare executive search firm and Long-Term Living
contributor with his "Staffing Solutions" column, "I use social media but only as one of many
tools. None of it matters if you don't pick up the phone and make human contact."
10 | P a g e

11. SOCIAL MEDIA: CREATING RICHER RELATIONSHIPS IN THE WORKPLACE
Perhaps social media's problem in the workplace is its name. Somehow 'social' sounds
frivolous (a la 'I'll have a chardonnay to be social') or dangerous (e.g., 'be careful of social
diseases!'). Let me first rebrand and redefine social media for the workplace. Then, I'll come
back and defend why 'being social' is key to developing an engaged workforce and why that's
all business. Let's think of social media differently. Call it Utility Media— digital workforce
platforms to drive engagement. Here are three ways you can make it useful:
1. Recruitment Relationship Marketing — A common practice for some companies is to
blast mass reaching approaches to 'fish in the ocean' for talent when needs arise. Utility
Media like Eacebook, Linkedin or Plaxo allow companies and recruiters to cultivate
relationships with potential hires over time. These deeper relationships before hiring logically
lead to more of the right people coming onboard. These platforms allow companies to
manage relationships with whole segments of your candidate pool (think of it as group
intimacy) as one might have had in the days of rolodexes and phone calls with individuals
(kind of like the executive search world today). Remember, though, if you want to build a
relationship it has to be two-way: You'll need to give to get. To earn these folks' attention
you'll need (technology-led) listening skills and a content-creation machine to attract their
attention, encourage connectivity and build a vital relationship. More like dating and less like
fishing!
2. Enterprise Learning — Every company with which I've worked since the 1980s has
talked about sharing best practices. Now we have sharing technologies, and yet we still are
reluctant to use them. Ironically, one popular use of technology in learning is recreating a
classroom experience on the PC. I have very few fond memories of classroom learning. So
the thought of trying to recreate an imperfect
setting seems crazy. Rich experiences like online gaming should be the success criteria for
formal training, while mobile applications should be explored for quick fix Q&A. Leveraging
social media is
not about cut-and-paste sharing, but rather dynamic and SOCIAL learning, people to- people,
enabled and enhanced by technology.
3. Employee Engagement — We like to say that in every company there is a string of
connectedness between the CEO and every employee. And in strong companies that string is
very short. When employees know the business purpose, why the goals are important and
their vital role in making them happen, employees are well on their way to higher
engagement. Getting people to participate in the company's communications through online
techniques like story-telling, chat and video sharing allows them to both understand and
OWN the company's aspirations. From there, engagement soars and businesses more
profitably achieve outcomes. This shortens AND strengthens the string. Okay, so why is
'social' important.' TNS Employee Insights, the global engagement study powerhouse inside
research giant TNS, tells me that relationships with co-workers are an essential element to the
kind of productivity- driving engagement smart companies aim toward. TNS's studies
(numbering in the millions of employee surveys per year) have shown that in the hierarchy of
employee needs, collaboration and other relationship measures rank just after the basics
around job satisfaction and relationship with manager/boss. Employees connecting with co-
workers using social media are a huge boon to richer relationships in the workplace. Bringing
a new aspect to communications opens new possibilities for building trust, loyalty, sharing
11 | P a g e

12. ideas and developing a stronger culture. Last, ask yourself, do you want social people in your
company? I walked by the employee entrance to the W Hotel on Lexington Avenue yesterday
and there was an awning over the entrance (I assure you it is not the norm in NYC to have an
awning to protect employees from the elements.) Printed in bold white letters on the chic
black awning was: Stage Door. Being social is a prerequisite at the W and they want
employees to turn it on the moment they walk in the door. Quashing social media within their
employee base, rather than embracing it, would be like stopping politicians from kissing
babies it's unnatural. Who knows, if you need social employees maybe your company should
have a prerequisite for the number of Facebook friends for new hires.
Findings:
Top three social media tools
Facebook LinkedIn Twitter
Facebook.com Linkedin.com Twitter.com
Registered users – 800 Registered users – 100 M Registered Users - 175 M
millions
Characteristics Characteristics Characteristics
Personal, Informal, & Business-like, Formal & Text Fast Moving, direct,
Multimedia Base Minimalist.
Some other Social sites for Plaxo with Simply hired Jobster
finding a Job.
Craigslist MyWorkster with indeed Visual CV
Job Fox Ecademy
“What we found with our social media recruitment piece is that our recruiters get to engage
themselves in the communities that they support,” says Josephine Quercia, manager of Talent
Systems and Programs, Corporate HR at TD. “They are able to connect with groups that they
may not have connected with before.” In addition to promotional videos on its Careers web
page, TD puts its recruiters in the limelight by featuring them on a LinkedIn page which now
boasts more than 36,000 followers. “It’s a great way of putting a face on who our recruiters
are, and a face to the bank,” says Quercia, “so that potential candidates can really feel that
connection and get a good sense of what TD stands for.”
KEEPING YOUR TOOLS IN CHECK
Companies need to use discretion, however, particularly when they gather information. If
they don’t have solid policies in place, a simple candidate background check can quickly
become an invasion of privacy. Reading somebody’s Twitter posts, for example, is
reasonable. But paging through Facebook photos of a candidate’s family vacation is probably
going too far. The law offers few guidelines here.
Since social media sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter are all considered public
domain, employers are free to search them for publicly displayed information, regardless of
how embarrassing or misleading it may be. “The courts have been pretty clear. When you put
information onto the Internet, that’s not private, that’s public,” says Constantine Karbaliotis,
privacy lead with Toronto-based HR consultancy Mercer Canada. “This is an area where the
law and people’s expectations aren’t lining up.” Accuracy is another concern. While social
media can provide valuable information about potential employees that would be hard to find
elsewhere, social media can also convey misleading, or even false, information. Consider, for
example, a potential hire who has a lot of Facebook photos that show him holding a glass of
12 | P a g e

13. beer or wine. Does he have a problem with alcohol? Perhaps, but it’s also possible that all
those photos were taken in a single night. Because social situations are more likely to be
photographed, an album might not accurately reflect the totality of the candidate’s life. “What
we found with our social Employers should keep in mind that recruitment is often the
beginning of a long-term relationship and that the rules for candidates should be the same as
the rules for employees. “You can’t turn employment into a sort of constant surveillance
state,” says Karbaliotis. “You’re not going to have positive relations with your employees
if they feel like they’re constantly being watched.” Transparency is also key, and Karbaliotis
points out that candidates and employees have the legal right to review and challenge the
information that companies collect on them. “The overall approach I would recommend is
say what you do, and do what you say,” says Karbaliotis.
THE FUTURE IS CONNECTED
Active Facebook profiles, frequent blogs and constant Twitter updates are quickly becoming
the norm among techsavvy youth. Indeed, statistics show that 42 per cent of teens and college
students use Twitter, and spend an average of 11.4 hours per week on Facebook. As numbers
such as these grow, social media will play an increasingly bigger role in recruiting. If HR
departments approach this new reality with a positive mind-set, social media could become
an ever more powerful way to connect people in the business world.
PERSPECTIVE OF SOCIAL MEDIA:
Though India has low penetration rate of only 6.9%, it is the 4th top country in the world in
internet usage with 81 million users. Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are some of the popular
social and professional media websites used by Indians.
According to David Fischer, VP, Advertising and Global operations, Facebook has over 25
Million users every month in India. Indian users are also spending more time (3 hours per
month) on Facebook when compared to other sites like Google, Yahoo, YouTube and MSN.
The site gets traffic of over 250 million users every day. Facebook has over 500 million
active profiles which surprisingly exceeds the number of active websites (90 million) in the
world. Though India has less than 1% of the world’s Twitter users, it was still among the top
10 countries in the world in terms of its usage. According to LinkedIn.com, on an average,
there are 2, 26,000 visits from India in 2011.
RECRUITER’S PERSPECTIVE:
There are many reasons to choose social media as a recruitment tool. Firstly, Social Media is
largely helps to get an overall view about a candidate who is on the lookout for a job. It may
also reveal some of the personal qualities and traits of a candidate in addition to the traits
ascertained from their resumes.
Secondly, SMR expands the options to search for talent pool and it accelerates the process of
recruitment. Also, the recruiters get to contact a broad range of job seeker from various
topographic areas, it also make the process more efficient by raising the accuracy of profile
searches. This function is of great advantage, especially given the fact that a vast majority of
SM users are the youth who would be the prime working force in companies.
Thirdly, it is an effective means which saves both time and cost involves in the recruitment
process.
13 | P a g e

14. APPLICANTS’ PERSPECTIVE:
SM facilitates job seekers increased understanding about policies of the company on
important information which may not be readily accessible on the company manual or
website. It also makes it easy for job seekers to identify job opportunities or openings in
various companies and at different levels. Therefore, SMR is redefining conventional
recruitment process of companies. It can go a long way.
COMMON MISTAKES COMPANIES MAKE USING SOCIAL MEDIA TOOLS IN
RECRUITING EFFORTS
While simply jumping into the social media space is relatively easy, it is not the panacea
many hiring managers may think. The most successful hiring strategies depend on a
combination of resources that include both high-tech and high-touch approaches.
Even in a job market with a large pool of available accounting and finance professionals,
finding individuals with the right set of skills can still be difficult. As companies that cut too
deeply in the early months of the recession recognize they can no longer hold off on refilling
key positions, some hiring managers are moving ahead, but they are also looking for ways to
make their recruiting efforts as efficient as possible. For some, this includes considering how
engaging in online networking communities might fit into their overall strategy for attracting
skilled candidates. As more people use social media, some businesses are interested in
incorporating tools such as Facebook and LinkedIn into their recruiting strategy. Although
these tools can help hiring managers expand their reach, there are pitfalls to avoid.
1. Thinking it’s risk-free to navigate “open” territory :
Job candidates are inviting employers to view their profiles on both mainstream social
networking sites (such as Facebook and MySpace) and more professionally-oriented social
networks (such as LinkedIn and Xing), hoping the information will help hiring managers see
a more complete view of the “real person” beyond the cover letter and resumé. However, this
level of openness can be dicey territory for employers. Candidates have sued companies
because they believe they were rejected for a job based on content posted on their personal
profile on a social networking site or elsewhere online. Still, many employers use these
profiles to screen candidates, and the information they find can influence their decision
making. In a recent survey of 2,600 hiring managers in the United States by online jobsite
CareerBuilder, 45 per cent of respondents said they had searched for applicants on social
networking sites. Of that group, 35 per cent said they decided not to hire a candidate based on
information found with those searches. Your human resources group and your legal
department can provide insight on navigating potential quagmires while using social media
tools and applications during the hiring process. They can also establish clear guidelines to
help interact with candidates online.
2. Thinking online recruiting can replace traditional interpersonal interaction:
This is one of the biggest mistakes of all. Too many companies that decide to use social
media profiles mistakenly see it as a “cure all” for their recruitment process. Social media
efforts should augment, not replace, traditional one-on-one contact, which includes outreach
to potential candidates through in-person networking events, as well as relationships built
with reputable recruiters. And there is ample reason why. The quality of a candidate’s
interpersonal skills are increasingly important to businesses – even in noncustomer- facing
positions such as many accounting and finance jobs, since teamwork and the need to offer
advice within the company has risen in importance. As a result, hiring managers need to
14 | P a g e

15. understand how individuals will mesh with the organization and its corporate culture. These
aren’t attributes an employer can accurately evaluate on a Facebook or LinkedIn page.
3. Not targeting the right online communities:
Some firms take a general approach, failing to acquaint themselves with many of the online
industry-specific networking communities designed for business professionals. These sites
may serve as more direct channels to qualified candidates than some of the more heavily
populated, general social networking sites. Not all communities are open for anyone to join;
however, you may need an invitation or meet certain requirements for acceptance. Be sure to
research how your competitors are using social media and what communities they engage in
to connect with candidates.
4. Stepping on toes:
Some employers who decide to represent their organization on a social networking site fail to
understand and heed the community’s etiquette, even though most sites have written policies
for user behaviour. You can easily “turn off” other members by being overt with your
recruiting efforts or overselling the merits of your company. You risk damaging your
company’s reputation by pressing your agenda and not respecting the community’s rules.
5. Being quick to judge:
Managers who judge potential hires too harshly based on what they find about them online
run the risk of unintentionally eliminating superb candidates. They forget that social
networking profiles are not resumés. You wouldn’t hire someone based solely on the fine
prose of a well-written cover letter, so don’t reject a candidate just because you raised an
eyebrow at the content posted on his or her profile. Some professionals invest time separating
and maintaining both “personal” and “professional” online profiles, but many more do not.
Gen-Y candidates, for example, who are particularly active in the social media space, are
typically comfortable with having their personal and professional lives overlap on the
Internet. Hiring managers need to be aware that Gen-Yers may share personal information
about themselves online more freely than other professionals.
6. Not recognizing the time commitment:
Social networking sites are communities, which means it can take months to build
relationships with users – especially if you are a business. Managers who go in without
considering the potential time commitment involved in forming useful relationships using
Facebook and other social media will meet with an unpleasant reality. While simply jumping
into the social media space is relatively easy, it is not the panacea many hiring managers may
think. The most successful hiring strategies depend on a combination of resources that
include both high-tech and high-touch approaches.
15 | P a g e

16. SOCIAL MEDIA RECRUITMENT TRENDS IN INDIA
Interestingly, Social Media as a channel for recruitment is still in its nascent stage. There is
no limit to how we can use it. Unquestionable, Social Media has a good potential in
recruitment the right candidates for companies, however, they must be on guard and take
appropriate measures in case of adverse situations.
HR firm, Kelly Services says, more than one-in-five job aspirants in India access
social networking sites to hunt for the right job. Another hiring major Ma Foi Randstad states
that about 87% if Indian Employees use social media to find information about an
organization’s work culture.
According to global workforce solutions leader, Kelly services latest survey with social
networking having caught on in a big way, going through classifieds, meeting prospective
employers over lunch, calling companies and getting connected to the HR department are all
routines that seem passé. Using bump on your smartphone to exchange professional details,
tweeting or posting on your Facebook walls are the new ways to hire or get hired. More than
one in five job aspirants surveyed in India accesses social networking sites to hunt for the
right job.
And interestingly, employees in the income brackets of Rs. 2 to 5 lakh p.a. and Rs. 5 to 10
lakh p.a. are seen the top users of these sites. Social Media has become a potential tool for
both employer and employees and as low cost high return options. Social networking has
completely revolutionized the way people look out for work and scout for information about
the work culture of an organization. However, there is also anxiety among many of these
folks about their potential career fallout from personal content on these sites. While social
media is active as an employment tool, the rampant postings on these sites can equally be
disastrous for careers.
“ Up to 2% of hiring takes place using social networking platforms but this figure will jump
to 10-20% in few years, MBA driven industries such as marketing and finance have latched
on to social networking for recruitment but the picture is set to change as more industries join
in.
The opportunities are there for you to explore and it goes both ways for the employer and
employee. Mr. Harsh Natekar, who got his big break in an IT firm through Facebook says, “ I
prefer using social networking to posting my CV on a zillion of job sites and getting job
alerts, I didn’t even apply for” a leading IT company messaged him on Facebook to forward
his CV and there was no looking back. Previously he gave first preference to traditional
hiring methods, like applying through job sites and newspaper classifieds, but after securing a
job via Facebook he does recommend it to others. Likewise you just have to be tactful how
you proceed after you have got a response. Despite the fact that most of the companies
choose social media for searching talent pool, industries such as Manufacturing, Oil and Gas
prefer traditional Recruitment methods because they need people with customized skill sets.
For jobs in the realm of media, technology, writing, producing and the like, the talent pool is
online. Though traditional ways of hiring will exits for a long time to come, third party
recruiter are hoping onto the social networking bandwagon to get the best of talent their
exists.
Social networking soon will be an indispensable part of hiring process. It is cheap, does not
require setting up of an office, saves on finances and is prompt and efficient. Many startup’s
are using social networking tools to hire. For them, money is dear and going viral online with
16 | P a g e

17. job vacancies helps them utilize the finance in building the company. More than anything
else, this “ Quick and easy” method of recruitment as its own dedicated following. The
traditional way of hiring alarmingly boring and slow. Many a time, you apply for a job online
only to discover that the position is no longer available. On social networks things work in
real time, you know what you have applied for and are also aware that you will get a response
within a couple of days, in some cases in a few hours.
Considering SMR as a Replacement for Traditional Recruitment.
Many companies think rather perceive that SMR is a total solution to recruit the candidates,
to be precise they feel it will help to replace the traditional recruitment process. However,
SMR efforts should supplement, not replace the traditional interpersonal interaction because
the candidate’s interpersonal skills are increasingly important for businesses, even in
positions such as Accounting & Finance. So, HR managers should understand the role of
interpersonal interaction in the traditional recruitment to assess how individuals will fit with
the organisation and its corporate culture. These are not attributes a recruiter can exactly
estimate on Facebook or LinkedIn page.
Questionnaire Analysis:
Q1. Do you access internet daily?
A. Yes
B. No
Analysis: As people started using 3G technology and they have PC or Laptop with
introduction of Wi-Fi 100% people surf internet on daily basis.
Q2. Do you have your account in any of the following?
A. Facebook
B. Twitter
C. LinkedIn
D. Naukri.com
E. Monster.com
F. Any other please specify.
Analysis: 65% of the population have their account on Facebook which means Facebook is
one of the major social sites for individuals. And many of them access this site for updating
themselves chatting and updating their technology background.
Likewise 35% of working professionals as asked use LinkedIn and Twitter for networking
and also as it helps in updating themselves for any new opening in other organisations. Rest
10% uses are online job portal.
17 | P a g e

18. Q3. For what purpose you use Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn?
A. Chatting
B. Updating oneself with what is happening in and around the world
C. For Job openings
D. Searching for old friends on these sites.
E. Networking purpose with others for job
F. Any other Please Specify
Analysis: 60% of population who’s Age between 15-25years access Facebook just for
chatting and updating purpose and also for searching old friends. Remaining 40% working
professional use these sites for networking and job openings.
Q4. How useful are these social sites for searching jobs or for recruitment?
A. Very Useful
B. Less Useful
Analysis: 70% of the populations say that up to 2% of hiring takes place using social
networking platforms but this figure will jump to 10-20% in few years, MBA driven
industries such as marketing and finance have latched on to social networking for
recruitment but the picture is set to change as more industries join in. And remaining 30%
of population looks for print media.
Q5. Do you think these social sites will soon replace print media or job fairs?
A. Yes
B. No
Analysis: 66% of working populations says as per the usage of internet and these social sites
it will definitely replace the print media in context of jobs. People will find easy to search for
prospective candidates. And rest 34% will be of opinion that it won’t replace as it is in the
form of written records and still many of them don’t access online.
Q6. How frequently you use these sites?
A. Everyday
B. Once in a week
C. Once in a month
D. Once in a every six months
Analysis: 74% of the population visit daily to these websites for updating their profile. And
remaining 26% does visit due to busy schedule.
Q7. Do you about Social Media Recruitment?
A. Yes
B. No
Analysis: Only 40% of working population is aware about the social Media recruitment and
rest crowd has no idea about the same so it is good opportunity to make the awareness
among the masses.
18 | P a g e

19. Conclusion:
Social Media sites carries with it the distinct advantage of enabling companies to reinvent
themselves- Internally to employees, as well as externally as a means of sourcing the best
talent. The most successful use of social media lies not only in researching the integration.
While social media encompasses a host of corporate departments from marketing to customer
service, to public relations, human resources departments that are able to take corporate
applications of social media will enable their company to realize the greatest benefits in terms
of recruitment, research and impact. Gen-Y or Gen-Next job seekers, who are active through
social media sites, are typically happy with having their personal, and professional profiles
overlap on the websites. Recruiters, who try to make a decision on potential candidates
ruthlessly based on what they get about them online run the risk of rejecting outstanding
candidates, managers overlook that SM profiles are not well structured resumes. So, it is
essential for HR professionals to invest time separating and maintaining both personal and
professional online profiles of candidates.
19 | P a g e

20. Bibliography & Webligraphy:
1. www.ebscohost.com
2. www.iupindia.com
3. HRM Review Journal
20 | P a g e