The Use of Social Networking Sites by Jobseekers

Transcription

1 #SOCIAL RECRUITMENT The Use of Social Networking Sites by Jobseekers A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Science. by Leah Taylor Honours Degree in Business Information Systems Cardiff Metropolitan University May 2014

2 DECLARATION I hereby declare that this dissertation entitled. Is entirely my own work, and it has never been submitted nor is it currently being submitted for any other degree. Supervisor s name Co-supervisor s name Candidate signature Date 2

3 ABSTRACT I undertook a study into how jobseekers use Social Networking Sites as part of their job seeking efforts following the statistic that 93% of employers now use SNS in their recruitment efforts. I chose this study as I found very little research on the jobseekers view of social recruitment in comparison to that of the employers and recruiters and as a graduate I it is interesting to see the potential of finding work via Social Networking Sites. Through secondary research I was able to find that 93% of employers now use Social Recruitment with LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter being Social Networking Sites of choice. Although components of the sites may vary, all allow employers to market themselves with a profile page, and use the power of contacts and networks to not only source potential candidates but to spread job opportunities far and wide. Using an e-survey I found that despite 100% of respondents having at least one Social Network profile only 34% of jobseekers have actually used Social Networking Sites as part of their job searching and instead still favour traditional methods of finding a job such as using friend and family connections, and using online career searching sites such as Monster.com questioning whether people are aware of the potentials of social recruitment. I also found that 66% of individuals would consider changing the information on their profiles on their Social Networking Sites if they thought that employers would be viewing them, which, when you think that 91% of employers have used a SNS to screen potential candidate, with a further 69% rejecting candidates as a result of doing so (Undercover Recruiter 2014) questions the reliability of Social Recruitment overall. 3

4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would firstly like to thank the University and in particular my project supervisor Stuart McNeil for their ongoing support throughout not only this research project but my final year at Cardiff Metropolitan. I would secondly like to thank my family for not letting me give up in the final stages of my degree. 4

5 CONTENTS #SOCIAL RECRUITMENT... 1 DECLARATION... 2 ABSTRACT... 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS... 4 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION LITERATURE REVIEW Introduction Background Dynamic vs. Static WebPages Social Recruitment Employer s Online Reputation and Social Presence Theory SNS Used For Social Recruitment LinkedIn And How It Is Used For Recruitment? When it comes to sourcing candidates, LinkedIn Recruiter has advanced search capabilities, via which employers can search for candidates by past or current employers, job titles, years of experience, seniority level, company size, interests, locations, schools, references from trusted recommenders, and even specific language in profiles. Employers can also search for employees through connections, including first and second connections Facebook And How It Is Used For Recruitment Twitter and How It Is Used For Recruitment Other Popular SNS Not Used For Recruitment On A Large Scale Benefits of Using Social Media for Recruitment Legal and Ethical Issues Surrounding Social Recruitment Screening of Candidates Discrimination Reliability Social Exclusion The Social Jobseekers

6 2.91 Active / Passive jobseekers Target Audience Generation Y METHODOLOGY Secondary Research Literature Review Primary Research E-Surveys Qualitative vs. Quantitative Data Sampling of Participants Other Methods Case Study Interview Data Analysis and Discussion of Results Constraints on research Ethics RESULTS If Employed, Would You Still Be Open To Another Job Should One Arise? Which SNS Profiles Do You Have? Have You Ever Used SNS to find a job? Preferred Method of Finding Employment Would You Alter Your SNS Profiles If You Knew Potential Employers Would Be Looking At Them? Employer s Brand and Reputation Job Loyalty SNS as A Job-seeking Tool? SNS Profiles Preferred Methods of Job Seeking Online Reputations CONCLUSION Introduction Original Aims and Objectives / Methodology Results Further Study CA: Sage APPENDICES

7 Appendix A Questionnaire Results

8 1.0 INTRODUCTION #Social Recruitment The impact of Recruitment via Social Networking Sites on Today s Jobseekers. The rise of Social Networking Sites (SNS) over recent years has brought radical changes to the daily lives of individuals and businesses alike. Moving from web information to web interaction (Verhoeven et al. 2009), they are changing the rules of social interaction and how business is conducted especially with younger generations (van Zyl, 2009). Many traditional media as well as ways of work and communication have embraced these new technologies including HR practices and recruitment. There are numerous benefits of recruitment via social networking but there are also many risks involved. This raises the debate of how effective SNS can be when it comes to recruitment. The aim of this research is to explore how today jobseekers utilise Social Networking Sites (SNS) in their job searching efforts. 8

9 The research objectives are to: - To investigate if and how social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter are actively used in job seeking; to evaluate the use of Social Networking Sites rather than traditional methods for job seeking; To identify the Legal and ethical issues associated with job seeking via social networking sites. I will be mainly looking at Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn for my research. Although I may draw reference to other SNS, these three sites will be my main focus as these are most widely used by employers in their recruitment efforts 9

10 2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction In this chapter I will be gathering background information Social Recruitment and Social Networking Sites (SNS). This will include looking at what are SNS and how do they differ from other web pages. I will then look at what Social Recruitment is, and how SNS Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are used for Social Recruitment. I will finally be looking at how jobseekers use Social Networking Sites for finding work as well as the legal and ethical issues surrounding such practices. 2.2 Background Back in the day, employers relied heavily on classified ads to announce their search for new employees. In a hope of attracting potential employees on a regional or national scale, job campaigns advertisements may have been used in newspapers and professional publications. However despite their efforts, their reach was decidedly limited and there were likely hundreds or thousands of potential job applicants who never even heard about the positions. (Lin Grensing-Pophal. 2012) 10

11 Then the internet emerged. The internet undoubtedly quickly and dramatically changed the way the recruitment industry worked, allowing recruiters to advertise job vacancies worldwide on their own corporate websites and through online recruitment tools and websites such as monster.com and career builder.com. (Lin Grensing-Pophal. 2012) Then came Social Networking Sites (SNS). There is no doubt that social networking plays a very important role in both people s personal and professional lives with almost half of the 33 million current UK internet users using social networks on a daily basis. (Woolaston, V. 2013) These dynamic web-based platforms allow individuals to build social networks and genuine relationships among people who, for example, share interests, activities, backgrounds or real-life connections via social interaction and the construction of words, pictures, videos and audio (Anvil Media 2009) Examples of SNS include Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Twitter, and Instagram. One survey found that 93% of employers now use SNS in their recruitment efforts. (Jobvite Survey, 2013) 2.3 Dynamic vs. Static WebPages SNS are known as Dynamic websites. These dynamic SNS allow users to write and contribute to the site content through statuses, likes, photo and video uploads creating a user generated virtual community. ( O Reilly 2005) Static websites display the same information for all visitors similar to a printed brochure. Although they may be manually updated by their page author, they provide consistent, standard information, video, pictures and audio that are generally non-interactive. ( O Reilly 2005) When it comes to sourcing candidates, although static corporate websites and websites such as Monster.com and Careerbuilder.com gave employers the ability to attract a much wider market, they still don t match the abilities of dynamic websites such as SNS in terms of reaching a large audience. The technology of SNS has rapidly enabled worldwide communication and community building at the click of a button. With more than half of UK 11

12 jobseekers now using SNS to assist them in their job searches (Simply Hired 2012,) it is safe to say that employers, HR professionals and recruiters have not missed this trend. (Lin Grensing-Pophal. 2012) Advantages offered by SNS compared to traditional employer media include Transparency in shared information, allowing for personalised communication, engaging with target audiences, and reaching a wider audience (Laickand and Dean 2011). Jeffery (2011) emphasises the importance of this two-way communication. The key is allowing people to have transparent, trustworthy two way communication with your company. And yes, a relationship. While there are design differences between the various SNS available, the basic components are the same (Smith, 2010). LinkedIn however stands out as recruiting tools. This use of social media channels and SNS in aid of recruitment is known as Social Recruitment. 2.4 Social Recruitment Social recruitment is concerned mainly with sourcing candidates for jobs via social media channels and networks. The process (although it may vary slightly depending on the SNS) can take two different paths. The first Social Currency. This involves increasing reach by spreading jobs via peoples social networks to spread the jobs far and wide. The second is actively searching for potential candidates via publicly-available information on social networks. (Alder, 2011) 2.5 Employer s Online Reputation and Social Presence Theory 12

13 Not only are SNS used as a recruitment tool, SNS give recruiters the platform to market their company and brand as a place to work in order to be perceived as a desirable employer (Reichenberg 2009) Organisations have long depended on traditional media such as corporate websites and career brochures to promote themselves as first-class employers. However, over the past decade SNS are increasingly being used as a new medium for organisations to promote their employer brand. This importance on the way individuals represents themselves in their online environment is known as Social Presence. By making themselves present on SNS companies are indicating that they are willing to engage and connect with other persons in their online community and in doing so are representing their company s brand and reputation. Social presence is demonstrated by the way messages are posted and how those messages are interpreted by others and defines how participants relate to one another. (Kehrwald, 2008). High involvement in SNS makes a higher Social Presence. This means participating in chats, message boards, updating pictures and statuses which by doing so can give potential employees an insight into what working for that company would be like. (Kehrwald, 2008). 2.6 SNS Used For Social Recruitment There are many varieties of SNS but when it comes to Social Recruitment. LinkedIn in particular is popular with companies hiring directly, but Facebook and Twitter are catching up. (Snowdon, 2011) 2.61 LinkedIn And How It Is Used For Recruitment? Recruiters report they tend to lean towards LinkedIn and other business networks for networking, screening and recruiting. (Clements, A. 2012) Launched in May 2003, LinkedIn has 30 million users and is used purely for business and networking reasons (Bulik, 2008). One purpose of the site is to allow registered users to 13

14 maintain a list of contact details of people with whom they have some level of relationship, called Connections. Users can invite anyone (whether a site user or not) to become a connection. Employers can create a company LinkedIn profile from which they can share information about their products and services, link to their blog/corporate website and other social media websites, showcase their employees and testimonials, and highlight their career opportunities. Ideally, employers should also routinely post relevant and engaging content for their followers such as blog posts, articles, videos, and pictures. Similarly, via their personal profiles, candidates can highlight their resume, skills, experience, connections, and general influence in the field in which they interested. Jobs can be posted and applied for directly via the LinkedIn website. Employers can formally post jobs on LinkedIn to recruit candidates for a fee, or informally post them at no cost within applicable groups and via status updates. LinkedIn s "Sponsored Jobs" section gives job advertisements more attention on the LinkedIn homepage and shows the advertisement in a candidate's box. According to LinkedIn, members are three times more likely to apply for a sponsored job. LinkedIn is referral-friendly and contains features that allow individuals to identify who to connect with and suggest candidates as employee referrals. LinkedIn also makes it easy for employers to trace connections between job candidates and employees and to use employees' contacts to source candidates. A contact network is built up consisting of their direct connection which can be used to gain an introduction to someone a person wishes to know through a mutual contact. When it comes to sourcing candidates, LinkedIn Recruiter has advanced search capabilities, via which employers can search for candidates by past or current employers, job titles, years of experience, seniority level, company size, interests, locations, schools, references from trusted recommenders, and even specific language in profiles. Employers can also search for employees through connections, including first and second connections. 14

15 Active participation in LinkedIn groups linked to an organisation not only allows recruiters to interact with potential candidates and establish a LinkedIn presence but allows these candidates to build an interest in the organisation. LinkedIn s InMails also allows recruiters to personally reach out to candidates privately Facebook And How It Is Used For Recruitment When it comes to employer branding and talent communication, especially with students and graduates, many recruiters prefer Facebook. Facebook was founded in 2004 and offers the bigger audience: 200 million members in Europe, as against 23 million on LinkedIn (Clements. 2012) After registering, a personal profile is created from which individuals can add other users as friends, exchange messages, and receive automatic notifications when they update their profile. Additionally, users may join common-interest user groups, organized by workplace, school or college, or other characteristics, and categorize their friends into lists such as "People From Work" or "Close Friends". Users can create profiles with photos and images, lists of personal interests, contact information, memorable life events, and other personal information, such as employment status. Users can communicate with friends and other users through private or public messages, as well as a chat feature, and share content that includes website URLs, images, and video content These profiles can then contain an individual s up to date work profile and employers for potential employers to see as well as information hobbies, recent places of interests, your friend list (including mutual friends which is useful for recruiters looking to expand their network) When used for recruitment, Facebook firstly allows a recruiter to connect with more potential job seekers than other SNS because of the widespread use of Facebook; 70.2 percent of users cited this as one reason why Facebook is an effective recruiting tool. Approximately 96 percent of current users have established a company information page on Facebook where a potential job applicant can learn about the firm s products and services, 15

16 find information about how to apply for a job, access listings of job descriptions for many positions in the company, and get contact information for further inquiries. (NACE, 2012) Secondly, Facebook makes it easier to network with people. By searching for and participating in groups, pages and events in their areas of interest as well as status updates, likes and shares, networking makes it easier for potential job candidates to find jobs; 60.1 percent of users cited this as a reason the service is an effective talent acquisition resource. (NACE, 2012) 2.63 Twitter and How It Is Used For Recruitment Created in March 2006, Twitter now has 15 million users in the UK. Twitter enables users to send and read "tweets", which are text messages limited to 140 characters through the website interface, SMS or mobile device. Users can then retweet (when a tweet is forwarded via Twitter by users) and subscribe to other users' tweets (following). 80% of Twitter users are active on mobile devices, the majority of these likely to be Smartphone users (Rose.K 2014) Twitter is not yet widely incorporated into many companies' recruitment strategies, but is extremely popular within certain industries, especially media, technology, advertising and PR. (Snowdon 2011) Tweeting (and then retweeting) job vacancies can be a quick way to spread the word of job vacancies. Short and catchy job posts are tweeted in 140 characters or less and can then be enhanced with a Hashtag which are formed simply by prefixing a word with a hash symbol (#). Hash tags are used as a way to filter and find information on Twitter. By including a hash tag with a keyword in a tweet, it becomes instantly searchable. A few examples of hash tags when recruiting include t#job, #jobpost, #employment, #recruiting, #hiring, #career, #staffing, #salesjob, #NAJ (Twitter lingo for 'Need A Job?'). (Black 2010) Expanding a company network and building relationships with clients and job candidates is a key function in social recruitment via twitter. Hundreds of contacts can be gathered by 16

17 searching a specific keyword or topic being discussed. Companies can search for people you know, by location, by industry or interest, by hash tag, by popularity, by time and more. Speaking specifically of its Twitter application, Dan Finnigan, CEO of Jobvite says, "You can quickly and easily distribute jobs through your Twitter network or employees Twitter network (Black.T, 2010) 2.64 Other Popular SNS Not Used For Recruitment On A Large Scale Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, although most popular with employers, are not the only popular SNS that have potential to be used for recruitment. SNS such as the video channel YouTube can be an effective tool for recruiting employees. Video offers a way to personalise the recruitment process for both recruiters and jobseekers as well as and giving potential employees a feel for the culture of your company or organisation via video tours, interviews and diaries. Videos also offer an opportunity to establish a dialogue between potential employees and the company. Corporations, universities and the military have all successfully used YouTube as a recruitment tool. Picture sharing SNS Instagram and Pinterest are also growing in popularity with Instagram alone having 150 million global users in 2013 and Pinterests member numbers reaching over two million. These (mostly mobile based) SNS allow users to share images from all areas of their lives, and to follow people of interest. Particularly amongst the youngest demographic (13-20) mobile application Whatsapp and Snapchat are growing increasingly popular. Both of these continue Instagram s trend for mobile-only services, i.e. they were designed and initially released purely for use on smart phones. WhatsApp can be thought of as a text / image version of Skype; it uses an internet connection to exchange free text, image and video messages. Unlike Snapchat, only those in the user s Contact directory can view profiles, and communication is one-to-one; there is also no follower type option which allows strangers to view content not directly intended for them, so really it is a messaging rather than a social media app. Snapchat works in a similar way, but users can set a time limit for the availability of each post they make. ( Rose 2014) 17

18 2.7 Benefits of Using Social Media for Recruitment There are a wide range of benefits associated with using social media in recruitment, centring largely on cost savings, (Clements (2012) quotes Jon Hull, Global Head of Resourcing at RS Components in the UK who states that, on average, hiring for a senior post using social media costs them 714, compared with 7,500 via more traditional methods). Furthermore, social media can help organisations to target their recruitment more accurately, present a realistic picture of their workplace, and reach a wider range of potential candidates. This combination of reach that is at the same time wider and more targeted is very interesting for recruiting organisations. (Davison, Maraist and Bing, 2011) 2.8 Legal and Ethical Issues Surrounding Social Recruitment As Davison, Maraist and Bing (2011) note, SNS can be valuable friends for HR, but also have the potential to be dangerous foes if used improperly. As there are no specific laws relating to Social Recruitment at present, organisations need to be aware of the legal and ethical factors related to the use of SNS and integrate them into their SNS policies. Among other things, SNS policy should consider privacy and employee rights, discrimination and harassment claims and importantly, reputational risk (Steffee 2012) Screening of Candidates SNS give employers the ability to access individual s profiles and therefore they have access to information that they might not necessarily find on a standard CV or application form. 91% of employers have used a SNS to screen potential candidate, with a further 69% rejecting candidates as a result of doing so. (Undercover Recruiter 2014) This new method of recruiting and screening candidates raises ethical challenges for employers around employees right to privacy and fairness. Screening a candidate could be simply used for verifying capabilities, credentials, and skills prior to contacting candidates. Many SNS allow you to see a candidate's education, prior work experience, and interests. 18

19 Additionally viewing the groups in which candidates are involved and their participation in them provides insight into their level of skill, passion, and online influence; and viewing their connections helps you see how well-connected they are in their industry and if you know anyone in common who could tell you more about them and their capabilities. Although there is no legislation that prohibits employers from considering information from an individual s SNS profile when making a recruitment decision, there are a number of issues with using social networks in this way. The main risk employers need to understand when using social media as part of their recruiting process occurs when the process moves from sourcing to screening candidates. Quinn.M (2006) describes how this information age provides many opportunities for employers to collect, exchange, combine and distribute information about individuals. This continually challenges individual s ability to preserve their privacy. Many individuals would consider the information they display on social networking sites as private information or personal data, and therefore employers using it as part of a recruitment process could easily be considered an invasion of privacy Discrimination By having access to individual s profiles on SNS, there is the opportunity for employers to view large amounts of potentially discriminatory information about candidates. Individuals on their personal social media sites may disclose information about marital status, children, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, politics, disabilities and even social interests that, by law, must be ignored in a hiring decision, and would never be compulsory to provide on an application form. (Equality Act, 2010) If a recruiter has accessed this data on a Facebook page, they are tainted with this knowledge, and it would be difficult to prove that they were not influenced by it in their hiring decision. This would then make it easier for rejected candidates to claim they have been discriminated against. (Broughton et al. 2009) So if employers are not allowed to consider the sensitive personal data on social media pages, what information are they looking for when accessing these pages? It appears to be 19

20 an individual s lifestyle rather than religion, ethnicity etc. that employers are looking for information on when accessing social media sites (53 percent of HR managers said lifestyle rather than employment and experiences was a reason to turn down an employee (Grazs. 2009) Lifestyle cannot be conveyed on 2 sides of paper in an application form, yet through images, videos, status updates and friend interaction, an individual s character and lifestyle can be clear and employers can decide whether the individual s lifestyle fits the image of the company. 42% of recruiters have apparently reconsidered an applicant (either positively or negatively) based on what a social profile revealed (Jobvite, 2013) 2.83 Reliability People are able to post anything they like on their SNS and therefore we need to consider the reliability of these pages. With employers taking all aspects of SNS profiles into consideration when recruiting, there is no surprise that Fifty-eight per cent of respondents said that they would change the content on their SNS, with almost 11 per cent saying that they would change almost all of the things that they wrote if they thought an employer would be viewing it (Jobsite 2010) Social Exclusion As well as potential discrimination caused by accessing and using data from social networking sites, we need to look at the potential discrimination against those who do not have access to the internet or merely choose not to have a social networking site. This is classed as Social Exclusion. If employers use Facebook pages to recruit, the process would undermine equality of access since employers would know more about those candidates with the social networking sites (whether positive or negative) than those without. It would also exclude people who do not have access to internet facilities. Although people assume that everyone has the internet, in 2009, 30% of the world s population was still not using the internet. (Broughton et al.2009) 20

21 2.9 The Social Jobseekers Job seekers have become increasingly frustrated at searching for jobs online and getting no response, and they intuitively know that the best opportunities are found through people, not search engines, Smith ( 2012) quotes As social networking has become a core part of our cultural dynamic, we are continuing to see more and more job hunters taking advantage of a vertical they are comfortable with in order to find work In fact according to the 2012 Social Job Seeker Survey, which asked 2,100 people about their current employment status and the role of social networks in their job search, 52% of all job seekers (employed and unemployed) have used SNS to look for work, 38% have used LinkedIn, and 34% have used Twitter. One in six employed respondents credit social media for their current job. A Jobvite survey (2014) shows that the largest age group for social jobseekers was the age group (40%) closely followed by the age category with 30%. The over 55s were the least likely to use social job seeking with only (9%). Methods of finding work via SNS included updated their profile and adding professional information, providing their SNS profile information on a job application or during an interview; modifying privacy settings with work in mind; using the SNS search functions for jobs; researching a potential employer; connecting with a potential employer on the site; and communicating with a recruiter on the site. Almost half (49%) said they ve used their SNS contacts for career gain Active / Passive jobseekers 21

22 However, not everyone is looking for a job. Jeffery (2011) suggests that for any given role only 10% of relevant/experienced talent is actively looking for work at any given moment in time. This means that 90% of candidates relevant for any given position are not engaged in jobs searches the best candidates typically among them. This 90% of individuals not actively looking for work are known as Passive jobseekers. LinkedIn is especially useful for finding passive candidates. Approximately 80% of people on LinkedIn are passive candidates, which allows recruiters to find the best talent from a pool of candidates whose qualifications and networks are easy to view and research. Most of the people engaged on LinkedIn are not actively looking for another job, but may be interested if a new opportunity is offered to them This passive job seeking and ability to move jobs should the opportunity arise is a key characteristic of Generation Y (The Millennial) Generation Y are increasingly entering the workforce, and will account for around 50% of the global workforce by (Heinz.A Target Audience Generation Y Generation Y, defined as those born between 1983 and 1995, represent 18% of the UK. Growing up with the Internet and technological gadgets, this generation is also the most tech-savvy and wired (or perhaps wirelessly connected) cohort. Their views of life and work are different from any others and employers are going to have to amend their recruitment and employment strategies to accommodate this are supposedly uninterested in a job for life unlike previous generations in the workplace (Oliver, 2006) Their technology knowledge and their willingness to move on from current employers should the opportunity makes them the ideal target audience when it comes to Social Recruitment. 22

23 3.0 METHODOLOGY In this chapter I will be planning which methods to use to assist in my research project and why. 3.1 Secondary Research Literature Review I have decided that my approach to my research project will be mostly deductive. I will be creating an initial proposal/theory which will then be subjected to empirical scrutiny analysing data and confirming whether the original hypothesis is true. (Bryman.A et al 2007) However, my research will contain inductive research methods (Where observations and findings are found prior to creating a theory) as after producing my theory I will be conductive primary research on my topic to see what information is already available as to not re-invent the wheel and therefore potentially amending my original theory. This combination of both Inductive and Deductive research methods concluded my research project as Iterative. (Bryman.A et al 2007) 23

24 I intend to meet regularly with my Dissertation supervisor to define boundaries within my research proposal and my Literary review and initial research. (Bryman.A, Bell.E 2007) This will enable me to apply a semi-systematic review approach to my research project I will be mainly looking at journals and books when conducting my primary research, during which I will be looking for what research and information, is already out there. I will be using the university library of electronic journals, books and e-books to find my initial resources on Social Recruitment and Social Media in the Workplace. I will also be using the internet for research purposes, but will have to ensure that any site used is a reliable source In specific I will be looking to find out What is a Social Networking Site and how they differ from a static corporate website What is social recruiting? Who is using it / How many people are using it If there are any legal and ethical issues surrounding social recruitment Are there any theories that can be applied to such practices? I will use Tertiary research also to gather potential resources for my literary review. Social Media and ICT is such a modern issue that changes so rapidly (especially when looking at statistics) so when undertaking my research, I will have to ensure all data and information I use is up to date and relevant. Once I have completed all of my secondary research and literary review, I will then be looking to gather primary data to analyse. This combined with my secondary research will allow me to draw conclusion on my original theory and maybe suggest further study areas. 24

25 3.2 Primary Research In order to gather my primary data regarding Social Recruitment I will be using a web survey where a respondent is sent to a website to answer a questionnaire. As my research is focused on social media I decided to use a web survey rather than a general questionnaire as I would like the sample of people to already be online and potentially already using social media. This reduces the risks of a large proportion of my questionnaires revealing people who are not even online, let alone using social media, meaning their results would be large part irrelevant to my research. A web survey rather than an survey also allows me to use a larger sample of online users E-Surveys There are many perks to using a web survey rather than a self completion questionnaire. Closed questions can be answered by selecting from a drop down box making data analysis easier. This also means that questions cannot be left blank which is large potential risk with questionnaires of any sort. Questions can be shown one at a time meaning participants won t potentially be put off by the length of a questionnaire. Also if a questions has a follow on question (e.g. If yes go to ) web surveys will automatically take the user t that question dependent on their answers. This ensures correct completion of the questionnaires resulting in better data for my research. Illegible handwriting will not be an issue with online web surveys. Completed questionnaires are automatically stored so there is no need to worry about people sending questionnaires back 25

26 However, many web surveys have fees to use their services and I will have to look at how to restrict people answering the questionnaires (The questionnaire is designed for those over 18.) The final concern about using a web survey is that Internet users are a biased sample of population and tend to be better educated, wealthier, younger and not representative in ethnic terms (Couper 2000) 3.3 Qualitative vs. Quantitative Data When designing my questionnaire I will be using a mix of quantitative and qualitative questions in order to gather not only details of who and how many people are using social recruitment (quantitative) but how and why they use (or don t use) social recruitment (qualitative). Dey (1993) explains how quantitative data derives meaning through numbers whereas qualitative data express meaning through words. 3.4 Sampling of Participants I want the sample of respondents to represent a varied age group of both genders, therefore providing me with varied opinions and responses to use in my research. I will be looking to gather about 100 responses in order to get a fair representative sample. I will also need to consider the likelihood of non-respondents and illegible responses to my survey when deciding on the sample size and to make allowances for such responses. (Saunders M et.al 2007) My plan to contact people who are already online for my sampling makes it Convenience sampling Although this will be the easiest method to gather my representative sample in my time scale, convenience sampling is ~ prone to bias and influences beyond my control (Saunders M et.al 2007) In this case, my online sample will not be representing the whole population as it does not consider those who are not actually online and actively using the internet. 26

27 3.5 Other Methods An E-survey is not the only method I could potentially use in to assist in my research. There are other methods I could have selected or even used as well as e-surveys Case Study Another potential primary research method I could have considered for my project is using CASE studies of individuals who have used Social Media as a recruitment tool. I could then take these case studies and compare and contrast them to the methods suggested by professionals and social media experts themselves in regards to recruitment and how these methods differ Interview I could also have considered using Interviewing as a method of gaining Primary data. These interviews would be semi0structured interviews containing a mix of quantitative and qualitative questions. I could have looked at interviewing either or both individuals who use Social Recruitment, or professionals who use social recruitment to find out the opinions and methods of both. However interviews are very time consuming and I would need to conduct a few interviews to gain the representative sample I would require for my research. Questionnaires on the other hand can gather a large amount of data in a short space of time. 3.6 Data Analysis and Discussion of Results Once I have received my responses from my e-survey I will be analysing the quantitative data using Microsoft Excel. Saunders (2007) emphasises the importance of correctly processing and analysing this raw data obtained to turn it into information. I think the majority of my data will be Descriptive data where I will be analysing the number of 27

28 occurrences in each category. For example, number of people employed/unemployed and the number of people using each social networking site listed. I will be using Microsoft Excel to create a simple matrix table to initially enter my results from the questionnaires. I will have to ensure accuracy at all times. Once all the initial data is entered I will have to decide how to present my information. Bar Charts and Pie Charts are the best to be used to display the frequency of occurrences and proportion of occurrences (such as which social media site is more popular with social recruitment / how many people use/don t use social recruitment.) Comparative charts can then be used to compare this information of two or more variables. (Henry 2005) Yin (2003) describes the analysis of qualitative data as demanding and therefore more difficult to analyse than the quantitative data. One key approach I will be using when analysing this data is categorisation. This will include organising the mass of qualitative data collected into categories allowing me to identify key themes and patterns throughout the data received, integrate notes and test theories in relation to the data and finally draw and verify conclusions. (Saunders M et.al 2007). This will hopefully conclude for me HOW and WHY people are / aren t using Social Media as a recruitment tool. 3.7 Constraints on research When undertaking my research I will have to consider the constraints. Time is the biggest constraint in regards to my project, yet I hope to manage this by using Project management skills and setting reasonable milestones throughout the project to adhere to. 3.8 Ethics 28

29 I will ensure that my research project is completed ethically, which relates to the appropriateness and behaviour of individuals who are involved with or are affected by my research. (Blumberg et al 1995). All aspects of my research will comply with Cardiff Metropolitan University s code of ethics, and my proposal and research design will be submitted to an ethics committee to ensure this. Data protection Laws will be abided by as I will ensure the protection of Personal Data. Data will be stored securely on a private computer with passwords and only accessed by myself and supervisor. The data will not be passed on to anyone else. I will ensure I adhere to the voluntary nature of participation and. Will not pressure individuals to take part. Participants will have the right to withdraw at anytime All questionnaires will have a cover sheet to ensure all participants are fully aware of my research and what I will be doing with their data. In compliance with data protection I will ensure all data is held confidentially and not shared with other parties. I will require a signature from every participant who responds to my questionnaire to confirm that they have read and understood the guidelines and ethic s in regards to my questionnaire. Finally I will ensure that all work throughout the research is my own. Any reference to other peoples work will be correctly referenced and acknowledged. 29

30 4.0 RESULTS The Aim of the primary research was to find out which SNS individuals used and whether they used them for job opportunities. I also wanted to find out how Social Recruitment compared to other recruitment methods in the opinion of others. Finally I wanted to find out about general issues surrounding social recruitment for example, are people active or passive jobseekers (would they be open to new jobs despite being in employment?) the importance of an employee s brand and reputation, and the reliability of their individual profile pages in regards to representing themselves. The relative questions were asked via an e-survey. I received 73 responses from my e-survey (Appendix A). These responses carried a mix of genders and ages from 18 and over. 50% of my respondents were in the age category which was the main age range I wanted to focus on in my study. 16% of my respondents were in the under 20s category. The remaining 34% of respondents were over 35 (16% were over 50). Out of the 73 responses from my e-survey, 3 were invalid (were returned blank) and therefore could not be used in my study. Some questionnaires were not fully completed, and therefore my results and statistics for each question were worked out accordingly from those who fully answered the question at hand. The raw data collected was recorded into tables and then analysed. 30

31 4.1 If Employed, Would You Still Be Open To Another Job Should One Arise? When asked (If employed) if they would still be open to job offers should one arise 67% answered Yes. When looking closer at the results by age group (Fig 4.1) the younger generations are more likely to be open to a new job despite being in employment with 82% of under 20s and 80% of 20-35year olds answering yes compared to only 54% of year olds and 27% of over 50year olds Figure 4.1 If Employed: Would you still be open to other jobs should one arise? <20 years years years >50 years Yes % No % 4.2 Which SNS Profiles Do You Have? As Fig 4.2 shows, Facebook is the most popular SNS with 96% of respondents having a profile followed by Twitter (69%), LinkedIn (46%) and Instagram (43%). Youtube was the least popular of the selective answers in my e-survey with only 31% of respondents having a profile. 24% had SNS Other Youtube Instagram LinkedIn Twitter % Which SNS Do You Have Profiles On? FaceBook Figure

32 profiles other than those listed. These included Pinterest, KIK, Myspace, SnapChat, Whatsapp, Wordpress, Badoc, Justgiving and Grinder. Fig 4.3 displays the percentage of users from each age group with profiles on each SNS. The younger generations (<20years and 20-35years) have a wider variety of SNS profiles with many having profiles on 5 or more sites. The younger age groups (<20years and 20-35years) were the only Profiles on SNS <20 Years Years Years 10 >50 Years 5 0 FaceBook Twitter LinkedIn Instagram Youtube Other Figure 4.3 groups to have other SNS profiles. The 36-50year and over 50s age groups were mainly present on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn with very few registered on Instagram and Youtube and none at all registered on SNS other than those listed. Facebook was the most popular sites for all age groups except for the under 20s. Twitter proved to be the most popular site for under 20s closely followed by Facebook and Instagram. The over 50s age group predominantly had Facebook sites, but the second most popular SNS for this age group was LinkedIn. 4.3 Have You Ever Used SNS to find a job? When asked if they had ever used SNS to find employment only 31% said yes. Those who had used SNS to find employment were then asked to describe how they did this. Twitter and LinkedIn were the most popular sites in regards to finding employments, and methods described included:- Following job links on Twitter 32

33 Liking various pages of clubs and bars and contacted them via Facebook regarding work vacancies Posting a CV on LinkedIn Searching for jobs via Twitter Friends and Family posting about job vacancies in their workplaces LinkedIn company search for potential employees The and over 50s age groups had the highest percentage of people who had used social media for employment opportunities (39% of 20-35s and 36% of over 50s). 100 Have you ever used SNS to find a job? <20 years years years >50 years Yes % No % Figure Preferred Method of Finding Employment When asked which methods of finding a job they preferred, respondents were allowed to select more than one method. Fig 4.5 shows that Friend and family connections was the most popular methods of seeking employment (29%) closely followed by recruitment websites such as Monster.com (28%) and the job centre and recruitment agencies (23%). SNS were only selected by 5% of respondents as a preferred methods of looking for a job 33

34 Preferred Method for Finding Employment Friends and Family Connections % 29% 5% 28% Job Centre/Recruitment Agency % SNS % 10% 5% 23% Newspapers/Job Boards % Recruitment Websites eg Monster.com % Figure Would You Alter Your SNS Profiles If You Knew Potential Employers Would Be Looking At Them? 42% of respondents would definitely change their SNS profile pages if they thought a potential employer would be looking at them. A further 22% would maybe think about changing their profile for the same reasons. The younger age groups are more likely to alter what is on their SNS page with. 70% of under 20s and 53% of 20-35s would definitely change their SNS page compared to only 9% of 36-50s and 23% of over 50s. Would you change your SNS if you knew employers would be viewing it? > Maybe No Yes <20 Figure

35 4.7 Employer s Brand and Reputation Finally, I asked how important an employer s brand and reputation was. 97% or respondents felt that an employer s brand and reputation was at least a little important. The 2 respondents that felt it wasn t important were in the under 20 years age group. 35

36 5.0 DISCUSSION In this chapter I will be discussing the results of my primary research in light of my literature review. My aim was to look at if/how jobseekers use social media as a recruitment tool as well as the legal and ethical issues surrounding social recruitment. 5.1 Job Loyalty The results show that 67% of respondents would be open to another job despite being in employed. Whether this is active or passive job seeking whilst in employment, this is a great opportunity for recruiters via SNS to know that such a large number of people would be open to job offers regardless of their current employment status. This willingness to move to move on from their current employer is a characteristic of the generation Y age group which happened to be the most likely age group to leave their current employer for a new job (80% of year olds). Previous generations in the workforce are more loyal in their workplace (Oliver, 2006) with only 27% of over 50s willing to leave their current employer. This would suggest that combined with their technology knowledge and their willingness to move on from current employers, years olds are the ideal candidates when it comes to Social Recruitment and most likely to be involved with job searching via SNS. 5.2 SNS as A Job-seeking Tool? 36

37 Despite characteristically fitting the profile for Social Recruitment, very few of the age group (34%) have actively used SNS in regards to employment. Only 31% of respondents overall had used SNS when looking for work which is a low number considering 94% of employers are now using SNS as part of their recruitment process (Jobvite 2014) and that 100% of the respondents were present on at least one SNS profile. A surprising result from my e-survey was that 36% over the over 50 age group had used SNS for job searching which shows that social recruitment is definitely not limited to the younger generations. What could be considered here is that individuals are doing things with their SNS to contribute to finding employment without even thinking about it. Simple tasks such as keeping profiles up-to-date with current employment, monitoring your online profile (not swearing or badmouthing, or uploading obscene pictures to your profile) adding friends and expanding your network and participating in groups, chats or networks regarding areas of work or interest not only make individuals more attractive to potential employers sourcing employees via SNS but may also draw attention from potential employees, therefore opening up potential job opportunities without even realising. (Passive Jobseekers) The 46% of respondents with active profiles on LinkedIn( a SNS used purely for business and networking reasons (Bulik, 2008)), may not consider themselves to be actively using SNS to job search but to sign up must have some interest in networking with other employers and individuals and are passively open to employers viewing their profile and approaching them. Despite Facebook being the most popular SNS overall with 96% of respondents having a Facebook profile, no-one used Facebook as a tool for finding work. Twitter and LinkedIn followed with 69% and 46% respectively and were more popular with respondents with people following job links from companies and friends tweets regarding vacancies they know of. LinkedIn was utilised for its networking capabilities with respondents not only having an active profile page for employers to see, but communicating with people in similar work areas/hobbies and interests to expand their professional networks. 37

38 LinkedIn is the website most used by employers for recruitment purposes, but looking at member numbers, employers may need to consider using Facebook and Twitter more in regards to reaching a larger audience when advertising vacancies and sharing through various networks and groups. LinkedIn may be the best for sourcing candidates for positions, but Twitter and Facebook are ideal for spreading the work of vacancies and positions due to their large member numbers. 5.3 SNS Profiles I have already mentioned that Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn were the most popular profiles overall. The older age groups (36+) tended to have SNS profiles on these 3 profiles only, whereas the younger age groups (under 35) had profiles across a variety of SNS. Other popular SNS were Youtube, image sharing SNS Instagram and Pinterest, Tumblr, and mobile applications SnapChat and Whatsapp. Depending on the target audience of their recruitment efforts, employers may need to begin taking other SNS into consideration especially the likes of Instagram, Pinterest and Youtube if aiming to appeal to younger generations. SnapChat and Whatsapp may not be considered ideal for recruitment purposes as instant messaging applications, but consideration needs to be given to the popularity of such mobile applications. Recruiters needs to think about the large number of people now accessing websites and SNS via their smart phones and maybe mobile recruitment could be a suggestion of expanding from needs to be integrated into their Social Recruitment efforts. 5.4 Preferred Methods of Job Seeking I found that only a small number of my respondents used SNS in job searching efforts, so wanted to find out their preferred methods of finding a job. Online recruitment sites such as Monster.com outnumbered paper based recruitment methods such as newspapers (29% chose e-recruitment as their preferred method compared to 10% for newspapers), but friend and family connections is still the top methods of job searching (29% of respondents chose this as their preferred method). 38

39 With this outcome I am surprised that SNS job searching isn t more popular as it could be considered a combination of friends and family connections and networking just in an online environment rather than face-to-face. This raises the possibility that people simply aren t aware of the tool of SNS when it comes to finding work and maybe more effort needs to be put into educating people on other uses of SNS. 23% of respondents assumedly still prefer face-to-face discussions in regards to employment by choosing job centres/recruitment agencies as their preferred methods of recruitment. Again (although not face-to-face) SNS does give individuals the ability to communicate with potential employers, view their profiles and generally see what their company is about prior to working with them. Again people may not be fully aware of the benefits and full potential of social recruitment. The small percentage of those who did use SNS and listed how they used SNS to find jobs, favoured Twitter with the majority following links to job pages, or following potential employers. Considering Twitter is not yet widely incorporated into many companies' recruitment strategies, (Snowdon 2011) business may need to reconsider using Twitter due to its continuous growth in popularity. I was expecting the younger age groups to be more involved with social recruitment, but second to the age group when asked if they had ever used social recruitment was the over 50s age group (36% of over 50 s) LinkedIn was favoured by those in this age group, compared to the age group who favoured Twitter when using Social Recruitment. 5.5 Online Reputations It was found in my literature review that companies want to ensure they have good media presence on SNS to promote their brand and reputation. This turns out to be an important tactic for companies as 97% of respondents considered an employer s brand and reputation at least a little important. If the reputation of a company is so important to individuals they could easily be researching companies prior to considering working for them especially with all respondents being present on at least 1 SNS. This means that they have access to company profile pages, reviews, feedback, discussions (good or bad) so companies not only need to have a media presence, but need to ensure an excellent online reputation is maintained 39

40 However, vice versa, people seem to be unaware of employers viewing their page as 64% of people would at least consider changing their SNS profiles if they thought potential employers would be looking. The younger age groups in particular were more likely to want to amend their profiles (70% of under 20s and 53% of 20-35s) whereas very few people in older generation (only 9% of 36-50s and 23% of over 50s) would change anything on their profiles. Once again, I think (the younger generation in particular) need to be made aware of the importance of their online reputation, and the long term effects of things that they post online especially with 42% of recruiters apparently reconsidering an applicant (either positively or negatively) based on what a social profile revealed. (Jobvite 2013) The fact that they would change their SNS profile leads to the conclusion that individuals do not want employers viewing their profiles and are therefore potentially unaware that on many SNS they are in control of the privacy settings on their pages. Finally we need to consider the reliability of these profile pages. If individuals are amending them prior to employers viewing them are employers getting the correct information to base their employment decisions on and can Social Recruitment still be classed as a viable method of screening and sourcing candidates? 40

41 6.0 CONCLUSION 6.1 Introduction In this chapter I will review and summarize my dissertation research relating back to my aims and objectives identify the main methods used and discuss their implications in the study. 6.2 Original Aims and Objectives / Methodology After finding that 94% of employers now use Social Media in their recruitment efforts, the aim of my research was to find out what social recruitment is, if and how it is being used by jobseekers and whether it is a popular job seeking tool in comparison to other job searching methods. After receiving 73 e-survey responses (Only 70 were adequate to use in my research) I feel that I gained a fair sample with a mix of ages and genders giving a fair representation. I feel that this chosen method best gathered the results for my aims and objectives as it allowed my quantify how many individuals were using SNS and which ones, how many had ever used SNS for job searching, and which other methods they preferred in regards to job searching. I feel I have met all of my set aims and objectives but feel there is room to expand on certain areas.i would like to have added more qualitative questions into my questionnaire or even use interviews to 41

42 find out further WHY people use (or do not use) SNS for recruitment in comparison to the other recruitment methods available, and gather more details from those who have used SNS for recruitment about how they did so. 6.3 Results In conclusion my results show that SNS is obviously on the rise in regards t job seeking and recruitment, however, not as many people are using SNS for finding jobs (only 34% of respondents) in comparison to the apparent 93% of employers now including SNS in their recruitment efforts. (Jobvite Survey, 2013) The biggest way that companies and jobseekers alike use SNS is by utilising the huge potential network of contacts available whether this is to expand a personal network, source and communicate with potential employees/employers, promote job vacancies and positions or increase social presence. By increasing their social presence companies are not only marketing their brand and company but giving potential employers a feel of what working for them would be like. This brand and reputation that employers are making for themselves via their SNS profiles is considered important by 97% of my e-survey respondents, and therefore maintaining a good online reputation is vital in social recruitment. Vice versa, jobseekers are obviously not aware of the long term effects of what they post on their SNS with 66% at least considering changing their SNS profile pages should a potential employer be looking at them. I think people need to be educated from a young age (people as young as 13 are now using SNS) about the effect of what they post on their SNS as well as the ever-growing potential that SNS have outside of general socialising (in this case finding jobs and opportunities!) This could include how to use SNS to contact employees and how to represent yourself well online. Despite increasing in popularity, I don t think recruitment could be places purely on SNS yet. SNS provides a perfect platform for companies and jobseekers to market themselves and build up networks and contacts to help them open opportunities. Recruiters can also rely on the power of peoples networks to spread job opportunities globally almost instantly saving time and money overall. 42

43 6.4 Further Study My recommendations for further study would be to look at online reputations of both jobseekers and companies. This would include how each group currently represent themselves online and how the other perceive this and recommendations to improve. Furthermore the reliability of these profiles could be looked at. Another recommendation is to look at the use of mobile recruitment especially the large percentage of the population now using smart phones and younger generations moving away from traditional social media sites and being involved mobile applications, picture sharing sites and instant messaging. The study could look at how companies could incorporate mobile technology into their social recruitment methods 43

44 7.0 REFERENCES Alder, Matt (March 8, 2011). "Redefining Social Recruiting for 2011". Available at Black.T (2010) How to use Twitter as a recruitment tool Available at:( Broughton et al (2009) Workplaces and Social Networking the Implications for Employment Relations. Research Paper. Prepared for Acas by Institute for Employment Studies, Brighton. Bryman, A. and Bell, E Business research methods. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Bulik, B. (2008). Finally find out who LinkedIn users are. Advertising Age, 79 (42), 12. Clements, A. (2012), Social media and recruitment: time for a coherent HR strategy? HR Magazine, 16th February Davison, H., Maraist, C., Hamilton, R. and Bing, M. (2012) To screen or not to screen/ Using the internet for selection decisions, Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, Vol.24, Issue 1: pp

45 Dey (1993) Qualitative Data Analysis: A User-friendly Guide for Social Scientists Grazs,J (2009). Forty-five Percent of Employers Use Social Networking Sites to Research Job Candidates, CareerBuilder Survey Finds. Available: 19%2f2009&ed=12%2f31%2f2009&siteid=cbpr&sc_cmp1=cb_pr519_. Last accessed 14th Feb Jeffery, M (2011) A Vision for the Future of Recruitment: Recruitment 3.0 Available at : Jobvite (2012) The Jobvite 2012 Social Recruiting Survey Results, Jobvite, BurlingameJobvite.com. Available from _tok=3rkmmjwwff9wsrokvqvbzkxonjhpfsx86ogouakwlmi%2f0er3fovrpufgji4csmdki% 2FqLAzICFpZo2FFSFeKDdZRF. Jobvite (2013) The Jobvite 2013 Social Recruiting Survey Results, Jobvite, BurlingameJobvite.com. Available from Kehrwald, B. (2008). Understanding Social Presence in Text-Based Online Learning Environments. Distance Education, 29(1), Laick, S., and Dean, A., (2010), Using web 2.0 technology in personnel marketing to transmit corporate culture, International Journal of management cases. 45

46 Lin Grensing-Pohal (2012) Social Recruitment, CUES Credit Union Management Magazine, Vol: 35 No. 6 NACE (2012) Use Of Facebook In The Talent Acquisition Process. Available at Oliver, D. (2006), "An expectation of continued success: the work attitudes of generation Y", Labour and Industry, Vol. 17 No.1, pp Heinz.A [no date] The Use of Social Media to Attract Generation Y in Organisations O'Reilly, Tim (2005). "What Is Web 2.0". O'Reilly Network. Quinn.M (2006). Ethics for the Computer Age. 2nd ed. USA: Pearson Education. p211. Reichenberg, N., (2009), Branding the Government as an Employer of choice, Available at: ntradoc/groups/public/documents/un/unpan pdf [January 17, 2013]. Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A Research methods for business students. 4th ed. London: Prentice Hall. SimplyHired (2012) ; Today s Job Seeker Report, SimplyHired, Available from Smith.J (2012) Two Out of Three Workers Are Looking for New Jobs. Here's How They're Doing It. Forbes Magazine. Available at: 46

47 Snowdon.G(2011) The Rules of Social Recruitment. The Guardian Online. Available at: Rose.K (2014) UK Social Media Statistics for 2014 Available at: Unknown Author. (2012). Social Exclusion. Available: Last accessed February 14th Van Zyl, A. S. (2009). The impact of Social Networking 2.0 on organisations. The Electronic Library, Vo. 27, No. 6, pp Woolaston.V (2013) The Meteoric Rise of Social Networking in the UK: Britons are the second most prolific Facebook and Twitter users in EUROPE with a fifth of over 65s now using these sites Available at : Twitter-users-EUROPE-fifth-aged-65.html Yin, R. K. (2003). Case study research: Design and methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. 47

48 8.0 APPENDICES Appendix A E-Survey Questionnaires Results Data 48

49 Appendix A Questionnaire Results Page 3. Questionnaire 1. Please select your age category % of Respondents Number of Respondents Under % % % 12 Over % 12 Number of respondents 70 Number of respondents who skipped this question 8 2. Are you currently employed? % of Respondents Number of Respondents Yes 88.57% 62 No 11.43% 8 3. If employed : Number of respondents 70 Number of respondents who skipped this question 8 % of Respondents Number of Respondents Would you still be open to an offer of another job should one arise? Yes 72.73% 48 No 27.27% 18 Chart Number of respondents 66 Number of respondents who skipped this question 12 49

50 4. Do you have profiles on any of the following Social Networking sites/apps (You may select more than one ) % of Respondents Number of Respondents Facebook 31.19% 68 Twitter 21.10% 46 LinkedIn 14.22% 31 Instagram 15.14% 33 YouTube 10.09% 22 Tumblr, Pinterest 0.46% 1 Whatapp, Snapchat, Pinterest, KIK kik, tumblr, pinterest, whatsapp, snapchat Whatsapp, Kik, Badoo, Plentyoffish, Grinder! 0.46% % % 1 pinterest, whatsapp, snapchat 0.46% 1 Snapchat, Whatsapp, Pinterest 0.46% 1 Tumblr, Pinterest, Snapchat 0.46% 1 snapchat, whatsapp, pinterest, kik, myspace 0.46% 1 Pinterest 1.38% 3 Wordpress 0.46% 1 pinterest, kik, tumblr, snapchat 0.46% 1 whatsapp, kik, snapchat 0.46% 1 Flickr, Whatsapp, Snapchatt 0.46% 1 JustGiving and Monster 0.46% 1 whatsapp, snapchat, kik 0.46% 1 snapchat 0.46% 1 Number of respondents 70 Number of respondents who skipped this question 8 50

51 5. Have you ever used social networking sites when looking for employment? % of Respondents Number of Respondents Yes 25.35% 18 No 74.65% 53 Chart Number of respondents If Yes: Number of respondents who skipped this question 8 Please describe how you did this (Include which Social Networking Site you used and how you used it to look for employment 1. I followed a job page on twitter 2. Networking via LinkedIn, Regularly update profile page for employers to see 3. LinkedIn, I have posted my resume and made new contacts. Actively use LinkedIn for job hunting. There are varied job roles listed and they make recommendations 4. based on your CV for jobs that I wouldn't have found via searching myself. I have my profile regularly updated on LinkedIn and always network with people in fields of work I am 5. interested in. By doing so I am opening opportunities for potential jobs. gumtree, seek etc - looking & applying linkedin - look via company profiles/staff - contacting with letters of 6. interest I have signed up to LinkedIn. This site enables me to search for jobs in a specific location and also updates 7. me on recent jobs in my interest. 8. Word of mouth, friend notifications. 9. I have tweeted and replied to tweets in my areas of interest. I have online CVs on LinkedIn and Monster. If I see someone on Facebook or Twitter whose porifle interests me, I often message to ask if they are able to help me to network. 10. People adding statuses about jobs going in their company / linking to corporate pages. 11. I have my cv uploaded on LinkedIn and have used it for networking. 12. Used the twitter search function for potential jobs in my area of expertise. Also looked at the hiring hashtags 13. CV on LinkedIn 14. Followed a link on twitter to job opportunities on a company webpage 15. Followed a twitter link to a job vacancy 16. I had 'liked' various clubs and bars on Facebook so I was aware of when they advertised bar staff/promotions job opportunities. I have also messaged various individuals regarding promotions work. Number of Respondents 16 Number of respondents who skipped this question 62 51

52 7. When looking for new employment, which method would you prefer to use? Friends and Family connections Recruitment Agency/JobCentre % of Respondents Number of Respondents 28.48% % 34 Social Networking sites 5.45% 9 Newspapers/Job boards 10.91% 18 Jobsites (such as Monster.com) 29.70% 49 Other 4.85% 8 Number of respondents 70 Number of respondents who skipped this question 8 8. How important is an employee s brand and reputation to you? % of Respondents Number of Respondents Not important 2.86% 2 A little important 24.29% 17 Important 51.43% 36 Very important 21.43% 15 Chart Number of respondents 70 Number of respondents who skipped this question 8 9. Would you amend any information on your Social Networking profiles if you knew a potential employer would be viewing it? % of Respondents Number of Respondents Yes 43.66% 31 No 35.21% 25 Maybe 21.13% 15 Chart Number of respondents 70 Number of respondents who skipped this question 8 52