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[forum admin]

It occurred to me that with the relatively recent phenomenon of social networking sites like Facebook & Twitter and now recruiters branching out into trying to appeal to potential employees through these avenues, are recruitment agencies very slowly becoming a thing of the past?

I mean, in a few months or years if an employer wants to recruit a new employee or several, couldn't they just advertise somehow on Facebook (or reach out to friends of current workers) and bypass the recruitment agency process altogether?

[Robin Tetley]

Very fascinating question and topic here.

I don't know enough about this area myself but it strikes me that if more and more companies and employers are looking at recruiting through things like Facebook how could it NOT have a negative effect on recruitment companies or the recruitment industry as a whole?

I'd be very interested to see what other people think on this matter.

[Bob]

But is Facebook really a viable option for recruiting people? I mean, does anybody here know of anyone that has done this?

[Robin Tetley]

I don't know Mary on here uses it.

Anybody have an opinion on this topic?

[great]

yeah the social networking sites are helpful in recruitment.

[Bob]

But should they be used in that way?

[Robin Tetley]

I don't see why not. Facebook and similar sites are covered in advertising so it's not like they aren't business places as well as social network sites. I say use every tool at your disposal.

[NurseJobsUK]

What you're missing here is that AGENCIES can use Social networking for recruiting.  they can build up a large amount of fans or group members and still charge out to clients who want to recruit and haven't the time and resources to build up a social media presence.

[Bob]

That seems a bit cheeky to me though. Almost like cutting out the middle man.

[steven123]

Everyone thinks that they are missing out when it comes to social networking. The reality is it take a lot of time and resource to carefully grow your presence on any of the leading networking sites. Don't get me wrong, it can bring enormous benefit too if it builds momentum though.

[ClassQuick]

Personally, and this is not me being the only one doing this, all you have to do is search for a group relative to the placement you need eg. engineering join the engineering groups and then post in them the positions that you have available.

Also works better if you have a female profile set up.

Morally wrong but highly effective.

[forum admin]

Welcome Class Quick to the forums here!

[Derek]

I think there is definitely a place for social networking but many of our target market do not use and are more likely to use "Linked In" rather than facebook.

I think it helps but in reality I can't see it replacing a traditional process. In my opinion industry sector word-of-mouth is a bigger thread to going down the recruitment agency route than trying to find candidates on Facebook is.

[forum admin]

Isn't LinkedIn simply about collecting contacts? Almost like an online directory if you will?

[Derek]

Not at all, there are lots of discussion and support groups on LinkedIn for various industries and topics.