When asked to explain the purpose of maintaining a LinkedIn profile, a new survey of Australian executives has found that while social media extends their networks, it doesn’t land them jobs.
When asked to explain the purpose of maintaining a LinkedIn profile, a new survey of Australian executives has found that while social media extends their networks, it doesn’t land them jobs.
A survey* by BlueSteps, a career management service of the Association of Executive Search Consultants (AESC), provided insight into the role of social networking websites and the role that they play in career management. While the vast majority of senior executives have an active and up-to-date LinkedIn profile, and many had been approached by a recruiter via LinkedIn, just 6% had found a job as a result of membership.
The number one reason provided as to why they continue to use LinkedIn though, is to expand or stay connected with people in their network. Only 19% of those surveyed were using LinkedIn to find a new employment opportunity.
Significantly more than half of the executives surveyed thought having a LinkedIn profile was either extremely important, or important for their overall career management strategy. Christine Hayward, managing director of Asia Pacific at the AESC commented that while clearly websites like LinkedIn have had an impact on the hiring landscape by enabling executives to make themselves publicly available, the key to finding new roles more often comes down to face-to-face networking and the ability to establish a unique personal brand in the market.
*Of the 100 Australia-based executives surveyed, some 46% were either in a managing director (28%) or CEO role (18%). The remaining participants in the survey held job titles such as Chief Operations Officer (9%), Chief Financial Officer (8%), SVP (8%) or EVP (6%).
