If you’re not using social media to complement your hiring efforts yet, then you’re seriously falling way behind the trend.

Earlier this summer, Jobvite unveiled its annual Social Recruiting Survey, which found that social media has become an essential recruiting tool for successful HR teams. Currently, 92 percent of companies are using social media to recruit new employees, which is up from 78 percent five years ago.

Survey results are based on answers from more than 1,000 human resources and other recruitment professionals who were asked about their social media recruiting activities and intentions.

Some key findings of the survey include:

  • LinkedIn remains the most popular social network among recruiters, with usage increasing from 87 percent in 2011 to 93 percent in 2012.
  • 66 percent of recruiters are using Facebook, up 11 percent from last year.
  • 54 percent of recruiters are using Twitter.
  • 73 percent of employes have successfully hired a candidate through social media, up from 63 percent in 2011 and 58 percent in 2010.
  • 89 percent of recruiters have hired through LinkedIn, 25 percent through Facebook, and 15 percent through Twitter.
  • 49 percent of recruiters have seen the size of their candidate pools increase since adopting social media.
  • 43 percent of recruiters think social media leads to better quality candidates.
  • 20 percent of recruiters say hiring through social media is quicker than through traditional channels.
  • 71 percent of recruiters consider themselves moderate to exceptional social recruiters.
  • 48 percent of recruiters always check a candidate’s social profiles.
  • 80 percent of recruiters like candidates who belong to professional organizations.

“The rise in social recruiting has allowed both candidates and employers an easier way to find the best match,” Dan Finnigan, president and CEO of Jobvite, said in a press release. “We continue to see social recruiting gain popularity because it is more efficient than the days of sifting through a haystack of resumes. It also increases quality referral hires, which our own data on Jobvite proves are hired faster and last longer.”

If you’re not using social media as part of your recruiting efforts yet, here’s some motivation: revenue from social networking sites is expected to rise a whopping 43.1 percent this year, hitting a total of $16.9 billion.

That’s according to a new forecast on social media revenue from Gartner, which examined past revenue from sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, and asked analysts how that revenue will grow over the coming years.

What does this have to do with recruiting? It means that more people are going to be using social media sites and more companies are going to figure out how to monetize the actions from those users.

So it only makes sense that you establish a presence on all the popular social media sites now, so you can interact with the online community and find some great candidates by advertising your jobs or tapping into your networks’ connections.

Here are some interesting facts from the report:

  • Social media revenue is expected to rise from $11.8 billion in 2011 to $16.9 billion this year, making for an increase of 43.1 percent.
  • Revenue from social networking sites should reach $34 billion by 2016.
  • Advertising accounts for the largest portion of revenue from social media sites, expected to hit $8.8 billion this year, followed by social gaming at $6.2 billion, and subscriptions at $278 million.
  • The number of people using social media will grow at a moderate pace as competition and new technologies keeps people engaged.
  • Marketing departments are going to spend more of their advertising budgets on social media sites.

“New revenue opportunities will exist in social media, but no new services will be able to bring significant fresh revenue to social media by 2016,” Neha Gupta, a senior research analyst with Gartner, said. “The biggest impact of growth in social media is on the advertisers.

“In the short and medium terms, social media sites should deploy data analytic techniques that interrogate social networks to give marketers a more accurate picture of trends about consumers’ needs and preferences on a customized basis,” she added. “In the meantime, however, they should also continue to exploit other channels of revenue like mobile advertising and social commerce.”

Twitter and LinkedIn are the most popular tools for the recruitment of top company executives. However, twitter sourcing has more benefits than LinkedIn. First, LinkedIn is not as popular as twitter. In the US, the number of twitter users is approximately 14,031,985 while LinkedIn users are approximately 12,699,785. Second, Twitter gives you access to some basic information that is not available on LinkedIn.

Twitter sourcing is one of the recent staffing developments in the world. Human Resource strategies and techniques are changing fast to catch up with hard economic times as well as utilize the most recent technology in the market. Recruitment is one of the most affected practices.

With the social media being the meeting place for job seekers and students, recruiters are using the various social networks to source for the most suitable candidates to fill vacancies in their organizations. The internet has made it possible for employers to carry out background checks for all candidates seeking to for an opportunity to work with their organizations. The following are some of the tools that employers are using to accomplish this goal:

Facebook

This is a social networking tool used to share ideas, and exchange photos. Facebook profiles are usually accessible publicly by those who have your email address. In Facebook, people post an observation, comment on posts by other people, upload photographs or videos and publish notes. The type of content you post on your Facebook wall, the comments you make on the walls of your Facebook friends, the types of images you upload and the notes you publish say a lot about you. For instance, posting confidential information on Facebook shows that you cannot keep secrets. Sharing useful links on a specific subject says that you can educate, inform and lead. Censoring the information you post on your wall and the comments you make shows that you are reliable, responsible, open minded and mature.

In addition, the frequency at which you update your status is also of great essence to the recruiter. If the job you are interested in a sales or marketing jobs, then you need to show your networking expertise. You should be able to reach out to many people. Warm personality and strong negotiation power is demonstrated by the number of comments your wall posts receive. Employers use this tool to recruit employees for entry level jobs.

LinkedIn

This tool is used to recruit executives. LinkedIn users are people who understand the meaning of professional networking and have a solid career path. This network enables employers to view your complete profile and recommendations from previous employers in order to establish your credibility. The types of groups that you have joined and people within your network say a lot about your career goals and ambitions. Employers use this platform to recruit middle level managers.

Twitter

Twitter is the best tool for carrying out employee background search. Twitter sourcing gives the employer access to information about all your internet engagements, including your publications. The employer can view what you do, and when. Twitter only links people who share interests, profession or those whom you know personally. Therefore, the number of followers and retweets can tell how influential and authoritative you are. In addition, Twitter uses a very compact language, and this is enough to tell people about your temperament and suitability for a certain post. Employers use Twitter to recruit company executives.

Tips for Twitter sourcing

In order to obtain the most appropriate information about a candidate, employers have to refine their search skills. All internet background checks begin at Google. Open the browser and then type the name of the candidate. Google will display all the internet engagements, photos, account information, blogs and publications. The results against the Twitter account are usually accompanied by a brief bio.

Twellow, TweetDeck, TweetGrid, Advanced search, X-Ray searching, and Power Twitter are some of the Twitter sourcing tools used to identify the right candidates for specific positions. The tool you use to search is determined by the kind of information you require. For instance, X-Ray search is the best Twitter sourcing tool for employers who wish to view tweets, location and the bio of potential employees.
Benefits of Twitter sourcing

Twitter and LinkedIn are the most popular tools for the recruitment of top company executives. However, Twitter sourcing has more benefits than LinkedIn. First, LinkedIn is not as popular as Twitter. In the US, the number of Twitter users is approximately 14,031,985 while LinkedIn users are approximately 12,699,785. Second, Twitter gives you access to some basic information that is not available on LinkedIn.

This information includes your previous tweets, some of which are links to your blog, articles or favorite content. Employers can follow links and see whether your interests match the expectations of the position you are applying for. Finally, employers can view geo data, personal information, tweeter activities and the skills of any user who fits within their search criteria. Of all the internet recruitment tools available, Twitter sourcing is the most convenient and efficient.