Social Networking and Recruitment - Literature review Example

SOCIAL NETWORKING AND RECRUITMENT: LITERATURE REVIEW Affiliation Empirical Review Technology In modern perspectives, technology has been increasingly present in work contexts and is a highly debated topic in today’s business environment. Many business organizations, both small and large have tried or trying to incorporate the latest and advanced technology in their operations. This notion has been depicted by the fact that major business publications are now publishing sections on technology related issues. In addition, many organizations have now incorporated information system departments in their operations. The appeal in the entire area of information technology is that it is designed in making people and organizations to be efficient, knowledgeable and profitable (Schatzberg, 2011, 1). Over the past few years, technology has made a ton of progress in recruitment and candidate experience. A survey conducted by the Talent Boards annual Candidate Experience (2013), found out that many employers were now informing candidates on the next steps using technology platforms. A substantial number of employers also pushed candidates electronically to an exit screen in the course of general screening with explanations that they are not suitable for the job. The study also realized that on average, 8% of job candidates left the applicant experience with adequate resentment towards an organization in affecting their relationship as customers. These statistics suggest that technology has significantly increased the connection between recruitment and black hole. The study also discovered that despite the fact that some employers are trying to reach out to candidates concerning their positions in the process of hiring, there is still a lot which organizations can do improve the experience of these candidates. Adams et al (2007), observes that technology has significantly impacted on how employers recruit their talent as well as how the great talent finds the right employer. The interesting thing concerning technology and recruitment is that all works together. One can necessarily work with the other in a silo. A study by Adams et al established that applicant tracking system have either been the most helpful or hurtful with regard to recruitment. Some recruiters and hiring managers have found the tracking system to be a great tool especially in finding matches, and scanning resumes. On the other hand, some job seekers think that the ATS hurts their employment chances by disregarding resumes on an individual basis. In light of this, it has become necessary for organizations to train the hiring personnel in handling ATS in an effective manner. In essence, ATS has been effective in assisting companies to meet compliance rules. However, ATS are not very effective in reading resumes that are in PDF format or in determination of the career achievement or professional experience that truly means the candidate’s work experience. Seipe (2013) observes that the aspect of technology and recruitment is not a new one. For instance, job boards have been in existence for over 15 years, and career pages were possible since organizations could establish a website. However, the technology introduced after career pages and job boards have altered how recruiting tools are utilized. Mobile recruiting necessitates an optimization of career pages for mobile and those job positions, which are posted on career pages and job boards, should also be shared on technology platforms such as social media. This sharing on social media translates that the message may be accessed through these avenues, for instance, someone checking their Twitter of face book account. Seipe also argues that the applicant tracking system helps in quantifying the number of resumes that comes through the job board verses a referral or social media source. There is a massive number of evidence from literature which has laid claim to the increasing trend of information technology, and its effect on selection of candidates and recruitment in modern day organizations. Keim, Malinowski and Weitzel (2005), conducted a longitudinal study on the trend of information technology in HR functions. In this research, they noted that the internet has more particularly played a front role in changing the style of recruitment as well as selection of employees. The study, which included more than 1000 German organizations, indicated that potential candidates when applying for new jobs had more increasingly espoused the internet. Haines, and Petit (1997), also noted that the reason behind the internet being increasingly utilized by recruiters is that, it ensures that apart from saving costs, it also has the benefit of time management. Additionally, job posting through electronic media provides a cheaper advantage because it has the capability of being resolutely positioned in comparison to the normal advertisements in traditional media (261). Haines, and Petit (1997), also postulates that it can be amended or modified at a particular point in the available time. At the same time, it has also proved to be a potential with regard to appearance, assortment, and analysis of job details. This selection and final point may be supported by IT through online platforms or other inventive processes of evaluation. The considerable advantage of utilizing candidate management system is that, it sustains the supervision of the candidate’s records in the entire application process (270). Bain (2012), reports that presently, the total number of email accounts globally is roughly 3.5 billion accounts and this is expected to reach 4.4 billion by 2017. This implies a 6% annual growth rate over the next 4 years. The positive side of using email in communication includes reduction of costs of paper work and speed of message delivery. He notes that the capability to release information to a number of people at the same time and without having to print materials has been of great significance in terms of cost advantage and convenience to many companies. Borgmann (2006) observes that today, many jobs can be carried on by use of computers and at the comfort of the workers homes or offices. This has made them to have a less need of getting up and walking to workplaces. Owing to advancements in technology, some industry sectors have been adversely affected, forcing some companies to close down since the demand for some type of work is no longer there. Borgmann (2006) also notes that all the largest technological advancements made by man such as the automobile, the plane and computer says very little concerning man’s intelligence but speaks volumes on his laziness (76). According to Guston, (2000), newspaper companies have been seriously affected by technological advancements. Local news agencies and newspapers have been compelled either to shut down their businesses or fire some of their employees. This is primarily because news in today’s perspective is readily available free of charge on digital platforms. As such these companies have lost a lot. For instance, circulation continues to fall in Western Europe, America, Australia, New Zealand and Latin America. In the United States, the number of people working in the industry dropped by 18% between 1999 to 2009, and the share price of New York Times Company have fallen by almost half in four years (2010). Emails and social media have led to reduction of costs of paper work and have enhanced speed of message delivery (Stanley, 2011, 11). Advancement in technology in various areas has made it easier to build devices that were not possible some years back. Further, the pace at which these technological developments are occurring are not only mind boggling, but also difficult to predict. Going by the old adage, “necessity is the mother of invention” it is necessity which spawns inventions and which is annexed to the need of transmogrification and betterment. Newer and newer technological advances are occurring on a daily basis (Kremer, 2013, 690). These advancements have been largely influencing many secular trends occurring in the society. This impact may be in form of the basic parameters of man’s condition such as life expectancy, size of the world, living standards, communications, health care, communication, war, nature of work and the impact of human activities on the natural environment. Other aspects in the individual life and the society, which has been affected by technological advancement, include human relationships, governance, views on morality, entertainment, matter and human nature (Boesch, 2011, 168). Rutz et al (2009), observes that technology has improved many industries by making them more effective and saver for the general operating environment. Its advancement has led to substantial growth in almost every field be it astronomy, communication, semi conductor devices, communication, automobiles, building of computers, architectural designs or bio-electronic devices. It has also led to a reduction of effort, time and cost of production of most of the materials, which range from the microchips to the state of the art automobiles or from sophisticated devices to the mega structures, which are coupled with ease in design and development. Social media Asocial network could be described as a Structure consisting of social actors that is individuals or groups of individuals and the ties that connect to these actors. On the other hand, social networking is a platform where social relations or networks are established. The networks may be among people sharing common backgrounds, activities, interests and or life connections. (Wasserman, and Katherine, 1994, 25). Haythornthwaite and Bregman (2001) postulates that if social media technologies enable individuals to effortlessly and easily see information concerning another person, it is assumed that the technology was employed in making the person’s knowledge visible. Haythornthwaite and Bregman observed that visibility refers to the methods, means and opportunities for representation (p5). In other words, it basically addresses the concern of the speaker through presentation of the self. Whether through comments, posts, status updates, friending, votes or pictures, social media contributions are visible to all that have access to such platforms. A research carried out by the authors found out that social media has the capability of increasing visibility into both information and behavior. These features are what separates them from other technologies and establishes unique consequences. The authors explain that although other forms of communications such as instant messaging, and e-mail may make information visible, it may not be in the manner which is afforded by social media. Solis, (2007) notes that LinkedIn, Twitter, Face book, MySpace and so on have offered creative means of communication among individuals and organizations. In addition, it has facilitated knowledge sharing among not only individuals but also corporations and government entities (Solis, 2007, 34). Most social networking instruments are based on websites and have enhanced the interaction of users with similar interests. There is no doubt that social media has enhanced communication in organizations and government agencies. There have been some people who argue that social media have had a negative impact on public relations. Research has however shown that it has enhanced communication and PR practices in many sectors. This has prompted many entities, both private and public to employ social media in communication and public related activities (Seipe, 2013, Hubert, 2008, 271,266). According to Andrewes (2006), social media has coherently reversed the way organizations interact with their customers. Andrewes notes that majority of these organization use social media platforms such as the internet, cell phones and so on to seek or transmit information (Andrewes, 2006, 1); Social networking services such as Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace have become a common feature not only among the young people, but organizations as well. It has changed the relationship of people, families, communities and character traits of people. However, there has been concern among professionals, philosophers, parents and community members about the ethical aspect in the kind of negative expressions posited in these sites (Abroms and Maibach 2008, 31). There is definitely no doubt that social media has increasingly played a vital role not only in the lives of many people but also on organizations. A study conducted by Carry, and Bruce, 2012) noted that in 2012, there were approximately 1.46 billion users of social network, and this represented a 19.6% increase over the figures of 2011. Facebook alone has roughly 847 million active users globally while twitter boasts of 500 million. Social media has revolutionized the way individuals plan their events and communicate with each other. Instead of talking to friends personally, they can simply comment about their life (Bentivegna, 2002, 34). The advent of social media has enabled individuals to reawaken friendships, make new friends and gain new interests. There are people who will utilize social media to connect new relationships in person, whereas others will never personally meet anyone from the social networking websites they use. One of the problems with social media, however, is cyber bullying. The content that is posted, although private, could be used in firing or denying people work and promotions. The amount of information that one puts on the internet through social media, whether it is intended or not, can influence an e individual in one way or another (Carry, 2008, Bruce, 2012). The emergency of social media has significantly altered how people associate themselves with others in the society. It is acknowledged that social media has engaged quite many people on the internet (Eyrich et al, 2008, 56, Koprowski, 2008, 4). These social network sites have proved to have a huge following and have influenced the political, social and information operations of governments, organizations and individuals in the global perspective (Dozier, et al, 2011, 12). Graffy, and Drapeau, (2002) notes that as more people continue to be involved in social media and as it continues to develop, many businesses are increasingly turning to social media as an instrument for connecting with the employees, customers, relaying information and for public relation activities. The topic of the use of social media in business communication is an emerging and interesting topic but which has received little attention from researchers (Graffy, and Drapeau, 2012, 1). There are some earlier studies on the same, which are focused on the application of social media to the targeted audiences; however, McQual, 2005 (67) notes that there is a need for controlled studies to establish the role of social media in business communication and public relations. The major obstacles in obtaining relevant and up-to-date evidence on its use are the difficult in assessing the applications of social media as well as problems of publishing these kinds of research findings (Hugh, 2010, 708). In spite of the fact that evidence and information concerning the impact of social media is insufficient, it is evident that businesses and companies are employing social media in various communication aspects. This may be attributed to its easy adoptability and the increased number of people engaged in it (Garcia, 2008,18). However, (Owyang, 2008, 1) explains that social media requires appropriate and sufficient personnel to operate. In addition, it also requires that effective strategies to be designed in its applications in specific contexts. Owing to the increasing development of social media, the best strategies and practices as well as policies are required in adapting social media on business communication. Ray (2013) points out that in the present perspective, there has been an increasing need for businesses to get closer to its customers and to be more accessible to their clients. In order to realize this objective, these businesses have come to adopt social networks. Study findings reveal that the youth especially those under the age group of 16-24 involve themselves regularly in social media, Overlooking social media tools in business communication would therefore mean alienating this group of people from accessing business information. According to Holto (2007), the function of the internet has become broader and crucial than just being a new communication channel. She observes that the internet is poised to transform the face of PR and business communications in many sectors. Solis further explains that social media is a kind of mass communication. The difference is that traditional mass communication tools envisaged a limited number of informants sending information to usually anonymous, large and heterogeneous clique of audience. This difference of mass media and social media is enhanced by the role of social media and its availability by anybody who has access to the internet (13). Though there is an aspect of anonymity in many social media platforms, transparency of the sender’s identity and the information relayed is a crucial element. In most cases, this as (Ballantyne, 2009) noted happens to be the case with professional, corporate utilization of social media including face book, twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn, podcasts, blogs and so on. This is in spite the fact that transparency is not a universal requirement for many social media sites. For instance, a social network site named Second Life virtual does not allow users to reveal their true names and identity. Social Media and Recruitment According to Faliagka et al (2012), social media could be a minefield in selection of job applicants. In essence, social media has altered the manner in which organizations recruit, source and select employees (551). Data mining on the other hand, is a computer science field that deals with artificial intelligence, epidemiology, algorithm development, data base management and processing of data in identifying patterns in large sets of data. In particular, mining of data from internet sources may be helpful in discovering new information about potential employees and their qualifications (555). Data acquired from informal sources including social media can effectively supplement the formal data that may be supplied by the applicants (UNICEF, 2014,1). Social media and other internet searches could make it easy for employers to identify the essential traits and behaviors of a potential employee in order to determine whether such an applicant is suitable for the position or not (Stone, 2007, 34). According to Oracle (2013), pre-screening of job applicants through automated means can be accomplished at a lower cost, allowing recruiters and human resources managers to interview only the best-qualified applicants. Use of data mining and social media can result in successful pre-screening of job applicants (Angelo, and Robert, 2011). For instance, the use of automated recruitment method for Educational Publishers resulted into a substantial cost savings for the company’s human resource operations. These savings majorly emanated from the reduced turnover and staffing costs as well as the general cost of operations. Because of using automated systems in its recruitments, the education publisher realized a significant improvement and efficiency in its hiring processes. Further, this system also enabled the publisher to realize an increased yield of required or high quality applicants (Buckely et al, 2004, 239). Robbins and Coulter (2012), continue to explain that prospective employers have the ability to use information in social media to pre-screen potential employees for possible employment. Pre-screening of job applicants could be undertaken successfully at a lower cost by the automated e-recruitment system, enabling the recruiters or human resources representatives to interview applicants that are best qualified for the specific position (565, Practical Implications). The use of social media websites including LinkedIn, Facebook, Myspace, and others could be rewarding for employers (Whizab, 2014, 33). Apparently, they can also experience trouble from the use of personal information in these sites. For example, employers in U.S are prohibited under the country’s federal laws to use age, race, gender, marital status, health condition, sexual orientation, disability or religion to determine job applicants. It should however, be considered that many of these factors are discovered by a search in social media. An employer who utilized social media in pre-screening applicants may find it an uphill task in trying to prove to authorities that he or she did not consider any of the factors while evaluating a particular applicant. As Mathis, and Jackson (2010), explain, organizations need to have appraisal systems that are satisfactory to the courts. Further, a job applicant’s privacy is a concern when allowing access to social media accounts such as LinkedIn and Facebook. In accordance to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), employers are required to consider only the information of the applicant that could reliably predict the job performance of such an individual. In the case when they uncover unfavorable matter concerning the potential candidate, they ought not to consider them unless it could affect the ability of the person in performing the task (Meridith, 2010, 513). In this perspective, it also becomes hard for one to prove that he or she did not consider the information, which he was not required to consider. Jobvite’s annual social recruiting survey is concerned on founding out how companies are applying social networks in their recruitment programs. Most of Jobvite’s surveys are conducted online. In 2013, the group conducted a similar survey where 1700 were required to compete the survey through either social media invitation and the email. The general research findings indicated that social recruiting is consistently developing and has seen global adoption across industries (BU, 2012, 1). This means that entities that were still not leveraging social referrals are considered to be behind the curve. The authors observed that similar to marketers, recruiters employ social networks as part of their multi channel strategy in finding the leads and nurturing them to recruit. Since the days of the “rented attention” and campaigns that were in form of one “size fits all” are almost coming to a close both in the advertising and marketing worlds, recruiters are now putting much of their focus in establishing their own talent pool and an appealing to the preferences of the individual candidates(Thomson, 2013, 2). The best candidates are regularly looking for a new job and have more information at their fingerprints than ever before. In order to succeed in the present day’s highly competitive market, recruiters have began using a marketer’s strategy in finding and cultivating top talent. Twitter, LinkedIn and facebook are still the recruiters choice in social networks (Monster,, 2010,134). Other channels commonly used by recruitersin searching for talent include Youtube, blogs, Github, Stackoverflow, Instagram and Yammer. These recruiters look for talent, professional experience, hards kills, cultural craft, industry related voice and tenure across the social channels (Wejnert, 2002, 34). Reference List Angelo, K., and Robert, K. 2012, ‘Organization Behaviors’ New York: McGraw Hill inc 2nd edition. Ambrose, S.H. 2010, ‘Paleolithic Technology and Human Evolution’ Science (Science) 291 (5509): 1748–53 Adams, A and Loretta H. M 2005,, ‘Mind and Hand: The Birth of MIT ,Cambridge: MIT Press, 190-92. 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