What Is the Difference Between a Headhunter and a Recruiter?
We live in the age of social media, and recruiters are finding that social media platforms are among the best tools for finding talent. In fact, a Jobvite survey in 2015 revealed that 92 percent of recruiters are using social media to find the right candidates.
Social media has become such an effective hiring tool because recruiters can browse the social media accounts of potential candidates. Social media is a great way to verify professional experience and review character.
Using the Major Social Media Platforms
The Jobvite survey revealed that:
- 87 percent of recruiters are vetting candidates through LinkedIn.
- 55 percent vet candidates through Facebook (Facebook privacy settings are stricter).
- 47 percent check Twitter accounts.
- 3 percent use Snapchat.
- The remainder looks at Periscope, Vimeo, and Tumblr.
Comparison to Other Recruitment Methods
Although 92 percent of recruiters are using social media to identify top talent, it is still second to referrals. In 2015, 78 percent of recruiters said referrals helped them find top talent. However, social media was quickly gaining, with 56 percent of recruiters using it as a tool. Job boards are in third place, with 37 percent of recruiters now using them.
The information in the Jobvite survey revealed a lot about how the world of recruiting and job searching is changing. Due to the Jobvite survey being in 2015, it is sensible to assume that the percentage of recruiters using social media has increased. The effectiveness is obvious.
How Recruiters Use Social Media
As for how recruiters use social media when identifying or vetting candidates, it is rather simple. People can be careful about what they post on their social media accounts, which is wise, but recruiters are looking for very specific pieces of information. Those pieces are:
- How long a job is held on average
- Length of time with the current employer
- Mutual connections and who the candidate knows in the business world
- Searchability (particularly on LinkedIn because keyword optimization improves searchability)
- Personality that is well articulated online
- Red flags (profanity, drugs and alcohol, spelling and grammar issues, poor choices, etc.)
Social media can reveal the good, the bad, and the ugly. This is good because a recruiter needs to make the right decision. Social media can be the perfect litmus test to see what a person is like in life because those traits, good or bad, can make their way into the work environment. For instance, not staying at a job long can indicate that a candidate would potentially contribute to the employer’s turnover percentage. However, a person who thinks outside of the box in everyday life will most likely do so at work.
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