Is LinkedIn becoming JUST a job board? (albeit a really good one)

Barely a call goes by at the moment without someone telling us that they don’t need to use Recruitment Consultants anymore because they now have access to Linked In and it is a key part of their direct sourcing method.

We agree that Linked In is good and it wont be difficult to find us using it. (you may have found this blog because of it).

BUT increasingly people are just using Linked In as a recruitment tool. It is surely becoming just a really good job board and is not the recruitment “magic bullet” that people want it to be.

Consider this

• Not everyone is on LinkedIn 
• Not everyone uses it regularly
• Not everyone tells the truth on it (although please note. I do! All the time! Honest!) 
• The vast majority of people do not have enough detail on Linked In for it to be considered a viable alternative to a CV. 

And actually whilst Linked In was supposed to be a referral, networking and recommendation site allowing you to (re)connect with fellow professionals it no longer is

• “I’d like to Link In because I am a friend” – Er?... Really?
• People are not (re)connecting they are collecting recommendations and contacts to make themselves look good 
• Linked In themselves are now selling access to the site so you can by-pass the recommendation/referral part and cut straight to the searching of a database.

So surely this is no different from totaljobs, monster, personneltoday or any other job board that might take your fancy?

Now don’t get us wrong there is nothing wrong with a job board and we do think that “Linked In is a really good job board”.

But if  you can find your ideal candidate profile (and there is no guarantee that you will) you still need to:

• Find out if they are any good
• Persuade them that your job is a good match for them 
• Interview them
• Find other candidates to compare them against
• Arrange interviews
• Negotiate an offer
• Keep in control during the notice period (possibly selling against a counteroffer and maybe even needing to start again once the candidate changes their mind)

No job board, even a really good one, will do this for you!

BUT

We are sure a good in-house recruiter can do this for you.

And we know that a good Recruitment Consultant will do this for you.

By all means have Linked In as part of your recruitment methods but know its limitations and don’t forget that there are other job boards you can use.

Remember also the value that can be added by a recruiter who has a real network and is talking to the ideal candidate who is not on Linked In, not using Linked In or has not wanted to announce to the world that they are looking for a new job.

 

                                                           

Wright Solutions is a specialist HR Consultancy. We attract, place and develop the highest calibre candidates in Executive, HR and Learning & Development roles. Our service is more than recruitment with our training solutions that give Leadership and Management teams the competitive advantage for today and tomorrow.

 

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