As you a already well aware, I believe that job boards won’t exist in the future and that the transaction between hiring managers and applicants will be completely networked. Therefore, your network will become your only insurance policy and people will become the ultimate asset to your career. You won’t be conducting a job search because you won’t need to. Instead, you’ll be locating people who work for companies you’re actually interested in and they will process 
the “transaction” on your behalf. This saves companies a lot of money and creates a more emotional and relationship-based job search instead of a submission (to a black hole!).
How are people finding jobs today?
I conducted a survey on this blog for the past few months to see how people were getting jobs and test my hypothesis. The sample size was 220 and I’ll leave this survey active till I hit around 500 and then report back. As you’ll notice, 64% of people found their last job through a referral and only 5% found a job through social media.
Here are a few thoughts:
- Adoption is slow for social recruiting. Most people think social media is mainstream, yet I don’t think it is at all. Social media has mainstream awareness, yet is not adopted by the mainstream as much as you think it is. There aren’t even 20 million people on Twitter and some people aren’t even on Facebook yet. Also, there are less than a thousand recruiters on LinkedIn and most companies aren’t promoting jobs through social media either. I don’t think a lot of recruiters are comfortable or trained in how to use social media for recruitment and I think job seekers are clueless as well. In the future, you’ll obviously see a lot more recruiting on these networks.
- Correlation between social media and referrals. What isn’t accounted for in this study is how many people are networking using social media tools to get jobs. Basically, are people maintaining relationships with people they’ve met years ago through social networks? If so, then there might be some overlap here. Social media tools allow you to reconnect with past friends and acquaintances, both directly and indirectly. They get to keep in touch with you based on what you share and you get to connect with them directly using these tools.
- Job boards for “bulk hires.” Social media isn’t great for bulk hires. A bulk hire is when a company needs to hire fifty engineers that have the same job description. It’s smarter just to list these in a job board. Networking is one to one and cannot be done otherwise.
Executives depend on their network
A recent survey by ExecuNet, which is the top job board for 100K+ job seekers, states that 73% of executives tapped their network to get their last job. When it comes to the executive level of a company, more people have you know about you than you know. Based on your reputation and the relationship you have with other executives or the CEO, you can get the job you want, even if you aren’t applying for it. Executives rely on networking much more than college students and young professionals because those jobs require a lot more credibility, trust, loyalty and leadership skills.
Here are a few thoughts:
- Executives are passive job seekers. A lot of executives are recruited for positions applying for them because there are very few spots available at the top of corporate hierarchies, so filling them requires careful planning and searching. In fact, there are positions at companies (I know EMC has one) that call for executive recruiters, who interview other executives from companies.
- They spend years building their networks. Most executives are older and not teenagers or recent graduates. They have spent years building their network, which is already at their disposal when they are looking to find another job.
- High visibility based on their title. Most executives are corporate spokespeople, which means that they get quoted in the media. The media that writes about them is typically in their industry, so if they are looking for a job outside of that industry, it might not help them as much. As we always say, visibility creates opportunities, so it makes it easier for an executives to find a new job.
- No time to “waste online.” As you climb the corporate ladder, you get paid more, but also have to put in more hours. 91% of executives don’t maintain an online profile because they 1) feel that they don’t need it based on their status and 2) don’t have the time to maintain it.
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Dan,
I’ve got to call you out on a couple things. Less than 1,000 recruiters on Linkedin? And if job boards go completely dead, where are people going to find jobs? Their ‘network?’
The reason why there was a need for job boards originally was because some people looking for work don’t know how to network like Me 2.0. It’s much easier for them to log on to a site, search, and apply for the job they want than do the networking thing. And do recruiters really want to ‘network’ when they’ve got 10 jobs to fill?
I don’t see job boards going anywhere…but I do see them adapting by working these social networks tools into their business models.
This is huge resources Dan. A potential candidate who is qualified has better chances than his colleague who is equally competent if he has ‘eye’ within the organization. People rely on ‘the devil that is known than the angel that is far away ‘particularly if they are sure of the cndidate’s level of integrity.
First of all, I love point number Two. I think there will be plenty of overlap as Social Media becomes as much a part of communication as the phone or email. I used email to apply for my current job, but I woudn’t indicate on a survey that that is how I got my job. When you meet someone, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc, may just be one step in building the relationship that gets you the referral, rather than the medium through which you apply and receive the job. It’s no less important for that, just may be overlooked as the driving fore behind landing a job.
I do have concerns with a sampling bias. This is a networking focused blog, so it’s not surprising that your readers – who no doubt understand the importance of networking for job referrals, as it is often stressed here – are receiving jobs through that medium. So, I wouldn’t get too juiced up over those numbers. They are insightful, nonetheless. Thanks for the post.
Interesting information, and definitely informative. Will be linking back.
Examining the changes in the marketplace I don’t think we’ll see job boards going away – but it IS a changing market. Boards do good for bulk hires and they’re quick, but with networking dominating job acquisition for so many people, I think the services provided need to change.
The job search is evolving. Services need to.
Good job (no pun intended) taking a look at an important issue. However, I’m disinclined to agree on a much simpler premise–HR departments aren’t going to want to limit their hiring pool to those people employees know. There are all kinds of reasons why that would be bad business. Most obvious? If one employee goes over some internal dispute, their network might very well go with them–perhaps form a new, competing company.
If you build avoidable weaknesses into your business intentionally you are setting yourself up for failure. Granted, vetting is a good side effect of hiring someone if they come highly recommended by someone you trust, but other issues come along as well.
If the best talent for your job opening lives a thousand miles away where no one in your organization knows someone, do you really want to limit yourself to hiring lesser talent simply because other companies were lazy and/or following trends–or because you didn’t think it important enough to step outside a network? I personally wouldn’t want to work with any person or organization that embraced such nonsense.
Dan – Referrals are a one way process. Referals cannot be driven by the job seeker, they can only be driven by employees at the company. This means that most of the “ways” poeple found jobs had nothing to do with their own efforts. So what will job seekers do with their time while they are waiting for their friends and colleagues to get them their next gig….They will hit the job boards.
Although we are undoubtedly in a recruitment transition, it is inaccurate and overly presumptuous to assume that job boards are, or will become, redundant. Job boards are still the first point of contact for a large majority of Job Seekers and to be absent from this sphere would undoubtedly diminish many employers chances of finding relevant and quality candidates.
From my experience in the recruitment industry, one of the main problems employers have with social networking sites, particularly those with CV databases or candidate profiles, is that information is often outdated and too much time can be wasted tracking down individuals who have long since found work.
Recruitment Consultants from Employment Office- an Australian recruitment solutions company- are quick to point out the advantages of targeted advertising as an ideal recruitment process. Instead of posting your advertisement on all-industry job boards, try sector specific websites.
For example, niche online job board http://www.bluecollar.com.au is becoming increasing popular with both Australian Job Seekers and Employers, because it not only offers a platform for visitors to browse related opportunities with multiple companies, but also tends to attract candidates who are experienced and interested in the Blue Collar sector.
Today there are multiple ways to recruit- so embrace social networking tools, but don’t limit your opportunity to network friendly, Gen-Y users.
The number one factor accounting for double-digit increases in the average length of unemployment is the reliance on job boards.
There is a lot of speculation that job boards are going to become obsolete and companies will find talent through social networks only. Social Networks have changed the dimensions of Recruiting in profound ways. And every recruiter and employer seems to be enamored by the world of “Social Recruiting” or “Crowd Sourcing” talent.
And the popularity of social networks like LinkedIn, Facebook & Twitter certainly adds to the speculation that job boards like Monster & Careerbuilder is going to go away. But what the speculators fail to understand is that social recruiting as the primary source of talent acquisition works only in an economy in which you have 6 job seekers for every job. Employers can afford to be extremely selective and solely recruit from their networks (within the six-degrees of separation) because they have enough unemployed top talent within their network. But this model will fall in its face as the economy starts growing and companies start aggressively hiring. Can you imagine a world where all positions are hired through social networks? People won’t know where to go to look for jobs because all jobs will be hidden…that model just won’t work and is not sustainable in a growing economy.
Employers and Recruiters talk about the passive candidate talent pool as the “holy grail” of recruiting. This proverbial holy grail is really less of a recruiting platform in a recessing economy. Gainfully employed people in this economy are reluctant to switch jobs…so even though employers and recruiters can research passive candidates on LinkedIn and Facebook all day long…but when it comes the time to take the plunge, these passive candidates are not budging an inch from their current safe havens at their current employers.
So Job Boards are certainly not going away…they will however undergo major transformations and will have to revise their current business models. The business model of charging to post a job and search resumes seems really outdated in the Web 2.0 & beyond world where the whole premise of the internet is to connect with people and disseminate information easily. Why should companies have to pay to post a job and find people? The value add of job boards will be in the area of providing a feature-rich talent evaluation platform. Job boards will also have to evolve to integrate the major social networks into the job search and talent acquisition processes in meaningful ways. Some job boards are trying to reinvent the wheel by creating their own social networks…like Careerbuilder’s experiment with Brightfuse…their failed attempt to create another LinkedIn. What were they thinking? Why would I move my profile from LinkedIn to Brightfuse when I have all my connections and network at LinkedIn? People don’t need any more social networks…they now need tools to leverage their existing social networks.
In a recent Wall Street Journal article, John Katz, the chief investment officer of Matrix Asset Advisors in New York, predicted that Monster is positioned for solid growth in the coming years. The article can be found here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125399832850543723.html . Speaking about Monster’s stock price, John said that he’s “very confident” that in 12 months, the stock will be in the mid-$20s. He also said that he is a frequent buyer of Monster’s stock as he considers it a good investment. This is just more affirmation that job boards are here to stay…but undoubtedly at the brink of a major transformation.
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