Companies are now recruiting executives through such sites as Twitter, Craigslist, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Social media tools are especially attractive for small businesses eager to cut hiring costs. Contracting a recruiter to find an executive who earns $150,000 annually can cost $15,000 in fees. Posting ads on job search sites like Monster.com could mean spending hundreds of dollars--and precious hours poring over resumes.
In contrast, social media tools are mostly free and offer added value: candidates bring their own online networks, blog content and references, which speeds up the interview process.
David Bowman of Cincinnati-based Lucrum, a 100-employee IT consulting firm with 2008 sales of $15 million, admits that social media isn't a magic bullet. "Its biggest drawback in recruiting is that it won't help you appreciate nonverbal communication dynamics," he says. "While Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter can provide a wealth of information about a potential candidate, they aren't substitutes for face-to-face communications."
Tableau Software, an 88-employee Seattle software firm, has mined social networks such as Craigslist, LinkedIn and Twitter to recruit employees. But the company, whose 2008 sales totaled $20 million, has also reached beyond these sources to search for highly specialized workers. Recently, they skipped LinkedIn and went straight to social-networking sites where Drupal enthusiasts gather. Tableau hired a developer it discovered in the Seattle Drupal user group.
To be sure, social media enables businesses to find talented employees efficiently. But getting to know the person behind the blog post, profile page or tweet is essential.
Source: FORTUNE Small Business (FSB), September 2009
