The impact of social media on executive level recruitment

There has been significant debate and comment over the last few years about how social media and online networking have radically changed the way we interact, both professionally and personally. 

Closer to home, has the hype on how it’s sure to alter the face of recruitment materialised? To what degree do these tools impact our approach to executive level recruiting in 2012? 

Social networking for executives

At the executive end of the market, social media is a very useful tool for network building and maintaining contacts, rather than candidate generation by advertising. In our experience, less executive and C-level candidates are attracted to an opportunity through advertising on social media, when compared to middle management job seekers. This is partly due to the variances in nature between the levels of recruitment – many senior execs are used to being approached for a new role rather than applying directly. 

Professional networking sites like LinkedIn and Xing have been recognised for several years as very useful tools for connecting with leaders in the marketplace, both for approaches about career opportunities or as a way to share market information, insight and for networking purposes.

Social platforms like Twitter and Facebook, until now, have largely been dismissed as mostly social tools; useful for keeping in touch with personal contacts and to a smaller degree as a graduate or entry level recruitment tool.

While there still isn’t major evidence of them as an executive-level candidate attraction method, both are increasingly useful for employer branding purposes and part of cohesive social media communications strategy. CxO level candidates may not be scanning Twitter for job opportunities, but they are following organisations and people of interest, which contributes to the frame of reference they rely on when considering career development opportunities. 

Where social and business meet

The dividing line between what is deemed business and social media is blurring and the way in which executive recruiters interact with their potential candidate and client base is slowly shifting in tandem.

LinkedIn and Twitter have been collaborating for a couple of years, for example, and this opens up additional possibilities for the integration of professional and social networks. Executive search websites are also increasingly gearing up to communicate with a client and candidate base that is savvy to the benefits of online media tools. With thought leadership pieces on podcasts and profiles on Twitter and LinkedIn, the interaction opportunities are multi-faceted.

A changing relationship

The success of an executive search campaign has historically relied on the strength of the organisation or recruiter's relationships. This hasn't changed but the way the relationship network is managed has. Access to online networking tools allows for easier collaboration and interaction with both clients and candidates but it also means that information is more freely available and ultimately diluted by the number of people that have access to it.

It’s easy to build a network of hundreds online but the crux of executive level recruitment is meaningful dialogue with people and an awareness of market changes. As much as interaction via different forums aids the recruitment process, the success will ultimately be determined by how relationships are maintained and how these can be leveraged for business value.

Social media is incredibly useful to support executive search recruitment practices, rather than being the primary driver. It is beneficial as part of an overall solution which is underpinned by strong market knowledge and developed relationships. 

For more information on how we utilise social media channels in our research and candidate attraction strategies, please get in touch with the team at Michael Page Executive Search.