Have You Integrated Your Staffing Software Into Your Social Media Hiring?

The year 2012 offers great news for recruiting firms and staffing agencies.  According to Jobvite’s 2011 survey, 67% of the 800 people surveyed said they plan to increase hiring this year.  That’s up from 55% in 2010.  Knowing that the hiring tide is beginning to swell, those companies that invest in recruiting and staffing software incorporating social media will be the leaders of the pack.

Why do we say this?  Consider this statistic from comScore:

Over the last 4 years, time spent on social media has increased from 1 in 12 minutes to 1 in 5.

It’s clear that for both candidates searching for positions and hiring professionals seeking to fill permanent and temporary jobs, social media is a channel that can’t be ignored.

For Hiring Professionals:

The Jobvite survey revealed strong trends toward increasing social media as a hiring tool.  These numbers help tell the story:

• 89% of companies say they will recruit through social media this year
• 55% will increase their budgets for social recruiting
• 64% have expanded their social recruiting to two or more channels

Of the top 3 networks (Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn), LinkedIn is the clear favorite for hiring professionals – 87% of respondents said they use LinkedIn. About 55% of companies use Facebook and 47% use Twitter.

These statistics reinforce the need for staffing software.  With its rich functionality of integrating social media into staffing processes, software automation makes connecting with candidates easier and faster.

For Job Candidates:

Whether temporary or full time, job candidates have found social media a powerful tool in their searches for new positions.  According to the Jobvite study, nearly 64% of companies found candidates through social media.

And as social media becomes more intrinsic to people’s lives through added apps and new platforms, the dominance of job boards and career sites may wane.  In 2011, candidate quality scores for those acquired through social networks measured 7.0 on a 1-10 scale, vs. 6.8 for hires found through career sites and 6.1 for candidates from job boards.

In other words, the higher quality candidates you’re seeking are more likely to connect with you via your tweets, Facebook and LinkedIn posts than ever before.

These numbers reinforce the 2012 mantra – social media for hiring professionals and candidates is not only popular, but smart.  The companies that incorporate staffing software with social media to stay connected to candidates and clients will have a leg up on their slower competitors.

And those candidates who use social media to find hiring opportunities will have better chances of beating other job seekers to the punch.

Interested in moving your recruitment firm or staffing agency to the next level?  For more information on how you can make your hiring processes more efficient, check out our blog post, Social Media Enabled Software That Drives Successful Staffing And Recruiting.