Jeremy Bryant

I’ve been on a bit of a LinkedIn kick as of late.  I have been lucky enough to help some good friends in their job search, by leveraging social media and networks; specifically linkedIn. I came across an interesting whitepaper titled Six Tips for Using LinkedIn and Other Social Networks for Recruitment Success.  This whitepaper was put out by Britains Bullhorn, the global leader in On Demand, front office recruitment software.  It was produced in demand to a growing fear amongst job recruiters, that LinkedIn is threatening the recruiting  industry by giving employers direct access to potential job candidates.

That shocked me a bit because I had always thought the two parties played nicely together.  Yet it makes sense as company’s HR departments could easily, “cut out the middle man.”

Barry Hinckley, President and Founder of Bullhorn, in May this year, comments:

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

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

So once again we see that it is personal connections that play the key role in leveraging LinkedIn or any other social network.  A recruiter will always have the upper hand if their relationships with potential job candidates or company hiring managers is solid. The Job seeker will also succeed if they are active participants with the social networks they are engaging.  So what does this mean for everyone? Build relationships, cultivate connections, and communicate in your space.  How have you started? What is your strategy. I would really enjoy hearing what your experiences have been using LinkedIn.  I will reference them in future posts.

The full white paper can be downloaded from:
https://www1.vtrenz.net/imarkownerfiles/ownerassets/779/Six%20Tips%20for%20Using%20LinkedIn.pdf

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