How Recruiters Use Social Media in 2014 [STUDY]

How Recruiters Use Social Media in 2014 [STUDY] A new Jobvite study has unveiled how competitive  the labour market is today, and the tactics companies  use to find, engage and retain the best candidates. The sourced survey  was completed by 1,855 recruiting and human resource professionals, spanning across various industries. Participants were both Jobvite customers and non-customers. Jobvite last year revealed  How Social Media is Used for Recruiting in 2013. Here are some of the main takeaways: Recruiters: 69% of recruiters expect competition to increase in 2015. LinkedIn remains the recruiters network of choice, although 83% of job seekers are on Facebook. 73% of recruiters said that to compete against other employers they highlight company culture. Better benefits is used to compete with others at 51% Flexible hours is at 45% While 46% of recruiters hire passive candidates. Job seekers are always shopping for the next best opportunity. Employees generally leave a company due to high compensation elsewhere (61%). Long-term growth potential is the second reason why employees turned elsewhere (44%). Recruiters want to fill the following job openings this year: Engineering (38%) IT (48%) Operations (49%) Marketing (41%) Sales (50%) LinkedIn continues to be the most popular tool for recruiting, 94% of recruiters using it. Facebook is second at 66%. Shockingly, only 18% of recruiters consider themselves experts at social recruiting, 31% considering themselves novices. Mobile: Recruiters plan to invest more in social recruiting (73%), referrals (63%) and mobile (51%). Mobile being  just  51% is shocking  considering its global dominance. Recruiters utilise mobile to find candidates in the following ways: 22% post jobs. 36% search for candidates. 41% contact candidates. 30% post jobs on social. 40% forward candidate resumes to colleagues. 43% of job seekers use mobiles in their job search, yet 59% of recruiters currently invest nothing into mobile career sites! surely this will  rapidly  change? Those that do embrace mobile see an increase in engagement: Improved time to hire (14%) Improved quality of candidate (13%) Improved quality of hires (19%) Improved quality of referrals (10%) Social Media: Social recruiting is now standard practice for recruiters â€" 93% use or plan to use social to support their recruiting efforts. Recruiters are taking social profiles more seriously than previous years â€"55% have changed their mind about a candidate based on something they saw on a social media profile. Be careful what you put online!   73% of recruiters have hired a candidate through social media, LinkedIn being the most popular at 79%. 26% of recruiters have used Facebook to hire candidates. 14% of recruiters used Twitter. only 7% hired through a candidate blog. 93% of recruiters will review a candidates social profile before making a hiring decision. Professional experience is what recruiters  view on  candidates most at 97% on LinkedIn, 20% of Facebook. Recruiters also look at length of professional tenure on 96% on LinkedIn, 14% on Facebook. Candidates industry-related posts are desired by 88% of recruiters on LinkedIn, 27% on Facebook. Some of the tactics recruiters use on social networks are: Facebook: Showcase employer brand (59%), Post jobs (48%), Generate employee referrals (51%)  Twitter: Showcase employer brand (44%), Post jobs (39%), Generate employee referrals (32%) LinkedIn: Search for candidates (95%), Contact candidates (95%), Keep tabs on potential candidates (93%) What are your thoughts on the study? Let us know in the comments! RELATED:  How Recruiters Use Social Media: By the Numbers [STUDY] #socialrecruiting