Recruitment Software Provider Ponders Power of Social Networks

These days many companies are looking at how they can use social networking sites in addition to their current recruitment software.

Bullhorn, a provider of front office recruitment software, recently released “How Bullhorn Sees it: Six Tips for Using LinkedIn and Other Social Networks for Recruitment Success,” a white paper advising recruiters on how to use LinkedIn and other social networks for recruiting purposes.

The company said it produced the paper in response to growing anxiety amongst recruiters who often think that LinkedIn could threaten the industry by giving employers direct access to candidates.

“With every member recording their career history and displaying recommendations from colleagues, clients and suppliers, LinkedIn has effectively become one of the world`s largest databases of candidates, and much of this information can be accessed by anyone,” Barry Hinckley, president and founder of Bullhorn, said.

“The need for recruitment agencies, however, will remain or grow for two reasons: the obvious one is that LinkedIn now offers heaps more data to sift through,” he continued. “But secondly, and more importantly, are the relationships. Historically, the best recruiters are those who cultivate relationships and manage extensive networks of people. Many recruiters today have built vast networks on LinkedIn, and these are far more personal than those built on job boards. Employers will pay a recruiting fee to access relationships they do not have.”

During the five years since its creation, LinkedIn has expanded into a global network of more than 43 million users. Bullhorn and many other recruitment software providers think the best recruiters will use the social network’s power to their advantage.

The six points listed in Bullhorn’s white paper include:

1. LinkedIn works best if you modify your voicemail strategy
2. People on LinkedIn are not passive, they’re poised
3. LinkedIn is a good way to source names and find candidates, but don’t expect the network to do the work for you
4. LinkedIn is the second stop (after checking your internal database for active candidates) to get referrals
5. Facebook is a good site. It has a role to play, but currently it’s not ideal for sourcing
6. ZoomInfo is a great tool to generate new and better requirements