Jobseekers look to social media

A growing number of jobseekers are using social media to find their next job, while recruitment consultants remain the number one resource.

New research from recruitment consultancy Morgan McKinley has revealed that 91 per cent of job hunters said they would use recruitment firms when hunting for a new role, while 46 per cent would try social media sites.

The survey asked about specific social networking sites and found that 46 per cent of individuals surveyed say they would use LinkedIn for their next job search (versus 38 per cent in Singapore, 33 per cent in Hong Kong and 25 per cent in Japan), nine per cent would try Facebook and two per cent say they would use Twitter.

Louise Langridge, joint managing director of Morgan McKinley Sydney, said: “The broad-based strength of the Australian economy to date in 2010, increased business confidence and stronger hiring volumes across the Australian professional jobs market mean that more and more people are looking to change roles.”

The August 2010 survey was conducted across 104 Sydney professionals who are registered with the firm for roles in the banking and financial services, and commercial sectors.

Fifty-nine per cent of respondents would look to referrals from friends and colleagues, two thirds (68 per cent) would check online recruitment job boards, and a third (31 per cent) would give networking a go.

Langridge said: “Obviously people use multiple strategies when seriously looking for a new role, and jobseekers in Sydney are no different from elsewhere in the world. That 68 per cent would check job boards is not at all surprising, as this is a tried and tested tool in this market. Australians are becoming more and more digitally driven with social media channels now firmly in the job hunter’s sights, with 46 per cent saying they will use them for their next job search.”