London: Amid the growing importance of
social networking sites in corporate hiring process, as much
as 70 per cent of students are not in favour of companies
using sites like Twitter or Facebook to offer them jobs, a
survey says.
According to a survey by hiring solutions provider TMP
Worldwide and Targetjobs, 70 per cent of surveyed students did
not want businesses to use sites like Twitter or Facebook to
"sell" jobs to them as they believe "employers should not
exploit social media" for their own benefit.
However, the survey revealed that 79 per cent of the
respondents consider social networking sites were key to
employers engaging with them.
The research found that students actively use social
media to research companies and validate whether employer
brand messages live up to reality and almost half of students
use social media sites to chat with peers about recruitment
process.
In addition, about 30 per cent of students chat with
current employees to check if their expectations of a
particular employer were met after being taken on.
"Employers have been saying for some time that they use
social networking sites to 'check up' on potential candidates,
but they must now be aware that the tables have turned," TMP
Worldwide Head of Planning and Research Neil Harrison said.
Bureau Report
First Published: Tuesday, September 29, 2009, 17:45