Recently I was asked to speak to a group of recruiters about New Media Trends For Engaging Candidates. About a month before my talk I decided to go to the streets (Internet) and ask individuals currently in a job search (or not searching but open to new opportunities) where they are spending their time looking for a new opportunity in today’s market.

I have included in this writing my survey findings and wanted to share them with you. If you are in Human Resources or Recruiting and you are looking for additional places to source candidates these are just some suggestions of places you may want to check out.

Respondents By Industry

Total number of respondents – 206

Job Search Status

• Very little difference by age group or employment status
• 60% employed full time or self employed
• 33% not employed but looking for work
• 38% of employed and self employed indicated that they were actively looking for new jobs

Media Usage

• New Media – job boards and networking sites (Monster, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc)
• Traditional Media – Networking and Recruiters
• 18 – 25 were the only group to use traditional media only
• All groups used both types of media most frequently (80+ percent of the time)
• 65+ only represents 3 respondents
• The fastest growing age group on Twitter is: 35-49 there are 2,935,000 or 41.7% of the people on Twitter
• http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/twitters-tweet-smell-of-success

Types of “New” Media Used

• 18 – 35 biggest users of Craigslist, Facebook and Twitter
• Twitter was almost exclusively the realm of 18-25 year-olds (until discovered and popularized by high profile celebrities, including Oprah)
• All age groups use LinkedIn, but most heavily used by 36- 65

Networking & Recruiters

• 100% of 18 – 25 (10 respondents) reported they used networking
• Approximately 75% of the remaining age groups reported networking
• Use of recruiters highest among 36 – 65

Some Additional Comments From Respondents

• “Monster and CareerBuilder have always irritated me because posting anything there has typically resulted in being inundated by the spawn of Satan (i.e., recruiters)”
• “Social media is great for the big picture but there is nothing more effective than personal networking.”
• “I have blindly submitted my resume online but with very little success. Networking provided the results.”
• “You just have to do it all – you’re marketing yourself and the bigger the audience, the better the results.”
• “I think the future lies in sites like Facebook and Twitter and other social networking sites.”
• “I usually try to find someone I know via LinkedIn in the company I am applying to and try to get my resume in front of an actual recruiter

This post is just a “little slice” of where candidates are currently looking for new opportunities. If you haven’t been using any of the sources mentioned it’s worth a look to see if they will fit into your recruiting strategy. 

Happy hunting!