Advertisement

What Recruiters Look for on Social-networking Sites

Jul 12, 2006
This article is part of a series called News & Trends.

Recruiters surveyed by ERE Media were asked, if they were using social networking sites to aid in recruiting efforts, what kind of information they were hoping to find. Qualities and characteristics range from the basic (job skills and contact information) to loftier attributes such as integrity and level of professionalism.??

They answered as follows:

  • Job skills and contact information
  • Titles and career history
  • Experience and endorsements
  • Qualifications
  • Right job function
  • Presentation skills
  • Intelligence, integrity, effective communication skills
  • Good judgment
  • Communication skills, industry knowledge, expertise, personality
  • Innovation
  • Interests
  • Written skills and content knowledge
  • Professional approach
  • Professionalism, past companies, linear promotions, club/association affiliations, number of connections
  • Continuous learning
  • Integrity
  • Outgoing, personable, friendly
  • Someone that posts what type of employment they have or are looking for
  • Company of employ, title, who they know
  • Great profile
  • Experience and education
  • Level of professionalism, character
  • Creativity, well-thought-out ideas, job stability
  • Professional history or skills
  • Strategic thinking
  • Basic information (location, work, education), personality type, level of activity

Says one telecommunications recruiter, “The only qualities that are important are the ones that relate to a position. There is too much of a gray area with the type of information on those social sites/blogs. Even if you did turn someone down based solely on the qualifications presented, knowing information such as birth date could open an organization up for some legal issues.”

This article is part of a series called News & Trends.
Get articles like this
in your inbox
Subscribe to our mailing list and get interesting articles about talent acquisition emailed weekly!
Advertisement