According to a survey from Opinionography, a research firm, carried out on behalf of staffing and recruiting software provider Bond International Software, 68% of respondents say that online job boards are the most helpful starting point for looking for jobs compared to 38% who found recruitment agencies of most help.

The research also found that if searching for a job today 94% of respondents stated that they would be likely to use an online job site. The study suggests that this identifies a misconception by the candidate in terms of recruitment agency vs. job board. Since the majority of roles on job boards actually come from recruitment agencies directly. This demonstrates a need for recruiters to be actively following up on candidates when they receive an application directly via a job board.

 Of the two-thirds of respondents using a recruitment agency in the past to help with job search, 58% found the agency via online search. These stats identify a recruitment trend and highlight that the recruitment agency must ensure that it is using all tools to its advantage.

According to the research, 81% have used online job sites compared to only 25% who have used social media when looking for a job in the last year.  Of the 25% who have used social media to find a job, 14% found it helpful. Of course, there are varying attitudes between demographics, but the gap is clearer between management and non-management roles rather than age groups. In fact, 46% of C-level executives and 50% of Executive Directors would be very likely to use LinkedIn to search for vacancies compared to just 15% of those earning less than £25k. 

“The research commissioned by Bond has highlighted some surprising results regarding how candidates are searching for jobs,” Toby Conibear, European Business Development Director, Bond International Software, said. “In particular the lack of social media use, revealing that only 25% have used social media to find a role, and a tiny 14% found this helpful.  In a society that is increasingly dominated by social media, and the growth of LinkedIn, that is a shocking result that has very real implications for the way in which recruiters contact and attract candidates.”

The research also found that while 42% of office workers use LinkedIn for work-related purposes, when it comes to searching for a job one in ten candidates would never use social media, and a further 40% would be unlikely or very unlikely to use social media.

“Another surprising result which arose from the research was the preference for online job sites over the use of recruitment agencies,” Conibear said. “With 46% of respondents believing that online job sites offer the most up to date jobs, in comparison to 31% believing recruitment agencies will be up to date, there is clearly a perception issue between candidate and recruiter. Furthermore, with 63% believing that recruiters put the needs of the employer first, recruiters demonstrating more consideration for the candidate would provide a more positive outcome for all parties.”

“It is clear from the research that market specialism rather than social media is set to have the biggest impact on the market over the next few years,” Conibear said. “From the lack of social media use, to the rise of industry-specific job boards, there is a clear need for recruiters to get specialist. Those recruiters that harness and improve candidate relationships, offer industry-specific advice, and can provide end-to-end excellence in recruitment processes will be the ones to win over the competition.”