Recent poll indicates job-hunting is multi-channelled but recruiters still rule
A snapshot LinkedIn survey posing the question: “Which channel has proved most successful in helping you find a job?” has revealed that despite it’s undoubted surge, social networking still has work to do. Unsurprisingly, trade press fares worst.
Never let it be said recruitment agencies, job boards and social networking cannot live in jobseeker harmony. This chart clearly shows UK marketers undertake a multi-channel job search strategy, with the traditional services a nostril ahead of the new kid on the block. Job boards sit comfortably in the middle. Trade press, whether on or offline, appear to be fairing badly, adding further weight to the argument that, as a job-searching medium, physical publications are all but dead.
One respondent commented: “You cannot beat the power of networking and choosing a few agency sites to search on a regular basis”.
Once again this chart fuses the ‘big 3’, which combine to dwarf trade press job applying. It’s interesting that by generic job title ‘management’ appear to favour social media/networking, perhaps indicating that job posting social platforms such as LinkedIn and Twitter attract more ‘senior’ marketing professionals – a point accentuated further by the C-level column.
This job function chart is particularly relevant, especially from a hirers perspective. Identifying jobseeker ‘hang outs’ will help determine where to spend recruitment advertising budgets. Half the ‘creative’ respondents favour recruitment agencies, which is a surprise because it has long been thought that personal recommendations or networking were the most common ways for agency-side marketers to find new employment. Interestingly, social networks are a distant third for ‘general’ marketers, which appears an odd outcome for so-called ‘early adopters’. Again, recruitment agencies score well in this demographic. Perhaps most eyebrow-raising of all in the job function chart is the dominance of job boards for PR professionals; perhaps it’s all about personal branding for them?
And what of ‘sales’ marketers? They appear to be perennially seeking jobs via social, which may highlight their desire for quick wins and instant responses?
More females than males responded to this poll – is this a reflection of the gender demographic within marketing? Whilst social networking plays a larger part in the male job seeking channel, all other channels were comparative, with marginal swings between job boards and recruitment agencies. More females view and/or apply for jobs via offline trade press than males, apparently.
Amongst 25-34 year-olds, job boards are the most used job seeking channel. They fare well in the 35-54 age group, too, with an equal 28% keen on the job opportunities social networking presents; this helps point to the obvious conclusion that Gen-Y is predominantly digitally-focussed. Given this impression it is perhaps surprising that the 18-24 year-old group significantly prefer to seek the services of recruitment agencies. Is this a sign of lazy youth? It will be interesting to see how this area develops over the next twelve months.
100% of respondents over the age of 55 prefer to visit social networking sites to find a marketing job. So you can teach an old dog new tricks!
Which channel has proved most successful in your job search? Will recruitment agencies ever be plonked off their plinth? Please leave your comments below.
Simon Lewis | Editor | Only Marketing Jobs
The new government eulogises about community-building and it appears to make sense, but where’s it really heading?
It’s time for something different, something bold – something that doesn’t just pour money down the throat of wasteful, top-down government schemes.
The ‘Big Society’ is David Cameron’s ‘Big Idea’. His aides say it is about empowering communities, redistributing power and fostering a culture of volunteerism.
Is the Big Society fully-formed? No, but nor should we expect it to be. It’s early days, it seems interesting enough, and the fact that it isn’t defined and there is still space to create it, actually makes it more interesting. And that’s the ultimate point.
Arriving for work at Community Links in Canning Town this morning I passed a long queue of people waiting for advice or practical support in this, one of the UKs most disadvantaged communities. The questions I ask of every government programme are the same today as everyday. “How does it meet their needs? How does it tackle poverty, not just money but poverty of opportunity, and what more could be done?” I’m not sure that what I know about the Big Society, or what its leading minister, Francis Maude, had to say about it last week, helps me with the answers.
Instead of formulating policy, and then seeking to leverage social networks as a tool or a vehicle for policy, we should instead start at the other end of the chain and try to better understand the world, and the existing social networks, in which public services seek to intervene.
Oli Barrett has been described by Wired Magazine as ‘the most connected man in Britain’. He brought the concept of speed networking to the UK and has hosted hundreds of events in 12 countries. He is the founder of Make Your Mark with a Tenner, the national scheme which has handed over 50,000 school pupils £10, challenging them to see what they can achieve in one month. His passion is matching brands with social causes to make things happen and he spent two years on the Prime Minister’s Council on Social Action. His personal site is at 
Marketing & Advertising Recruitment Awards to acknowledge excellence during challenging period
Only Marketing Jobs co-founder, 
Stop hiding behind your avatar and start making real contacts instead
Street was long-gone but there were still plenty of old-skool hacks bumping their way around Wapping, cobbling together news through the eyes of a liquid lunch. Far from condoning these boozy escapades, it seemed they were encouraged. As a wet-behind-the-ears 19 year-old I couldn’t understand what the deal was there, but I liked the thought of it. Now, of course, I get it. They were networking.
For me networking has come full-circle. It’s about taking online, offline; getting back to basics. Social networks are only skin-deep. If you want to make real contacts, develop proper relationships and make new friends, grab a beer (or a coffee) and have a good-old chat. And if you’re worried about losing contact with your virtual, piped world, I won’t mind you leaving your G4 on the table, right next to my Rubik’s Cube.
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Arrogant recruitment owners need to alter approach before the exodus starts
I’d be surprised if any more than 10% of recruiters said recruitment was their industry of choice. Most people ‘fall’ into recruitment by virtue of someone they know; usually influenced by the whiff of pound notes. These "young guns hungry for money" (as noted in the report) have been bred to succeed in a highly-competitive sales environment (although this is changing). Ostensibly these guys are out for themselves. As a result recruiters are inherently mercenary, so is it a wonder agencies find themselves in a staff retention quandary? This is the culture we have sown over the years.
A full day’s conference is followed a glitzy networking party in St Pauls, London. The venues have been carefully selected to accentuate the ambition of the Collective to deliver something unique and special, bringing social media up-to-date.
Local marketing professionals prove that Yorkshire really is its own identity as revellers break bar-spend record
Regionally, it was recently asked, where does Yorkshire sit? Is it part of the North East or the North West? Or is it very much it’s own identity? One respondent commented: “Have you not seen the barbed wire, minefields and machine gun towers pointing west on the M62? Best buy a map – or suffer the consequences.” And following this event, the stoic defence is apparent.
Attracting talent via social media is gaining traction – even in-house recruiters are getting up to it. So what’s all the fuss about?
As one of the ‘facilitators’ I was given the dubious task of mentoring a pre-determined table of social recruiting (so-schul-re-cru-ting) enthusiasts. Dubious because the workshop was about unlocking the secrets behind talent attraction from the Big 3: LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. Being as prolific in one aspect as I am ignorant in another, I was rather hoping to avoid questions about Facebook. And thankfully they never came. But they never came for LinkedIn or Twitter, either.
How nurturing your talent pool will ensure you thrive in the new recruiting dawn
