The Power of Social Networking Sites - A Thesis by Adeel Qurashi

Abstract
The Power of Social Networking

Sites
in the context of Online Recruitment
A thesis submitted in part fulfilment of the requirements

for the award of BA Honours Management
Author: Adeel Qurashi Robert Gordon University

Aberdeen Business School
Garthdee Road
Aberdeen
Supervisor: Mr Bill Sutherland AB10 7QE
Tel: + 44 1224 262000
Date: 17th of April 2009 Web: www.rgu.ac.uk
The Power of Social Networking Sites in the context of Online Recruitment II

Abstract
Abstract
Social Networking Sites are experiencing a rapid growth; there seems to be no limit to
their size. Many Social Networking Sites boast with millions of members using their
networks on regular basis to communicate, share, create, and collaborate with others.
Popular examples of these Social Networking Sites are Facebook, LinkedIn and Bebo.
Although most of these sites lack decent business models, they are valued at millions
of pounds. Google paid 1.5 billion dollar for YouTube when it wasn’t even earning a
single penny.
The reason successful Social Networking Sites have become so valuable is due to the
amount of people that are using it; and people are exactly what organisations are
after. This report aims to find out whether Social Networking Sites have the same
value in the context of recruitment. Academic literature extensively discusses online
recruitment, however not much is said about recruitment on Social Networking Sites:
‘Sociocruitment’.
Research revealed that professionals are quite optimistic about Sociocruitment.
Although users of Social Networking Sites had a disperse opinion on organisations
contacting them on these websites; not many were negative.
The contemporary research furthermore harvested information from a range of
sources to create understanding of key issues allowing readers to familiarise
themselves with the concept. Finally the report makes suggestions on how
organisations can engage in this new media.
The Power of Social Networking Sites in the context of Online Recruitment III
Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements
The author would like to express his sincere appreciation to all those that have assisted
in the completion of this Thesis.
Mr. Bill Sutherland - Thesis Supervisor, RGU

Mr Sutherland has been an excellent Supervisor. The author could not have completed
the research without his guidance and ongoing support. Due to Mr Sutherland’s critical
yet motivating feedback the author managed to complete his Thesis. An
acknowledgement does not cover the author’s immense gratitude towards Mr
Sutherland.
Ms. Karin Hermans - Area Manager, Randstad

The author has had a great experience working for Ms Karin in the past and would like
to thank her for her unconditional support to the author.
Mr. Bas van de Haterd - Consultant, van de Haterd Consultancy

Mr. van de Haterd has shown great interest in the research and assisted the author
wherever possible. His timely response and assistance is greatly appreciated.
Respondents
Author would like to thank all the people that took the time to respond to the
questionnaire and assisted in gathering the primary data.
Friends & Family

Finally the author would like to thank his friends for their great company and for
enduring me for the past two years in Aberdeen. Their assistance under the motto:
“Cheering Works” has been very motivating. I would also like to thank my family for
their support, with special mention to my Mom and Dad, for always covering my back
and providing me with encouraging words.
The Power of Social Networking Sites in the context of Online Recruitment IV

Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Abstract .................................................................................................... III
Acknowledgements .................................................................................. IV
Table of Contents ...................................................................................... V
Appendices ............................................................................................. VIII
List of Figures ........................................................................................... IX
List of Tables ............................................................................................. XI
1 Introduction ..........................................................................................1
1.1 Preface............................................................................................................ 2
1.2 Rationale ........................................................................................................ 2
1.3 Statement of Research Question .................................................................... 3
1.4 Aim of Research .............................................................................................. 4
1.5 Objectives ....................................................................................................... 4
1.6 Outline of the Chapters................................................................................... 5
1.6.1 Chapter 1 – Introduction .......................................................................... 5
1.6.2 Chapter 2 – Literature Review ................................................................. 6
1.6.3 Chapter 3 – Methodology ........................................................................ 6
1.6.4 Chapter 4 – Findings and Analysis............................................................ 6
1.6.5 Chapter 5 – Conclusions ........................................................................... 6
1.6.6 Chapter 6 - Recommendations ................................................................ 6
2 Literature review ..................................................................................7

2.1 Introduction to literature ................................................................................ 8
2.2 Recruitment .................................................................................................... 9
2.2.1 Fundamentals of Recruitment ................................................................. 9
2.2.2 Recruitment Agencies ........................................................................... 15
2.2.3 Issues in Recruitment ............................................................................. 15
2.3 Web 2.0......................................................................................................... 18
2.3.1 Web 2.0 Definition ................................................................................. 18
2.3.2 Introduction to Web 2.0 ......................................................................... 20
2.3.3 Web 2.0 Technology .............................................................................. 22
2.3.4 Business use of Web 2.0......................................................................... 26
2.4 Social Networking Sites ................................................................................ 28
The Power of Social Networking Sites in the context of Online Recruitment V

Table of Contents
2.4.1 SNS’s – the Basics .................................................................................. 28

2.4.2 Characteristics of Social Networking Sites............................................. 29
2.4.3 Social Networking Sites ......................................................................... 30
2.5 Online Recruitment ...................................................................................... 32
2.5.1 Recruiting Online ................................................................................... 32
2.5.2 Advantages ............................................................................................ 32
2.5.3 Disadvantages ....................................................................................... 34
2.6 Recruitment on Social Networking Sites ...................................................... 36
2.6.1 SNS part of Recruitment practise .......................................................... 36
2.6.2 Passive jobseekers ................................................................................. 37
2.6.3 Characteristics ....................................................................................... 38
2.6.4 Issues ..................................................................................................... 39
3 Methodology ......................................................................................41
3.1 Research overview ........................................................................................ 42
3.2 Research Philosophy ..................................................................................... 42
3.3 Research Approach ....................................................................................... 43
3.4 Research Design ........................................................................................... 44
3.5 Research Strategy......................................................................................... 45
3.6 Secondary Research ..................................................................................... 45
3.6.1 Robert Gordon University ...................................................................... 46
3.6.2 Databases .............................................................................................. 46
3.7 Primary Research .......................................................................................... 47
3.7.1 Surveys .................................................................................................. 49
3.7.2 Interviews .............................................................................................. 52
3.8 Rationale for Selected Methods.................................................................... 55
3.9 Ethical Considerations .................................................................................. 56
3.10 Confidentiality .............................................................................................. 57
3.11 Authenticity of the Data ............................................................................... 57
3.12 Limitations of the Research .......................................................................... 57
4 Findings and Analysis ........................................................................ 59

4.1 Introduction .................................................................................................. 60
4.2 Questionnaire ............................................................................................... 61
4.2.1 General Questions ................................................................................. 62
4.2.2 Technology ............................................................................................ 68
4.2.3 Social Networking Sites ......................................................................... 71
4.2.4 Recruitment ........................................................................................... 75
4.2.5 Professional vs. Personal ....................................................................... 82
4.3 Interviews ..................................................................................................... 88
The Power of Social Networking Sites in the context of Online Recruitment VI

Table of Contents
4.3.1 Findings ................................................................................................. 89

4.3.2 Interpretation/Discussion ...................................................................... 94
5 Conclusion ..........................................................................................97
5.1 The report ..................................................................................................... 98
5.2 Social Networking Sites ................................................................................ 98
5.3 Sociocruitment ............................................................................................. 99
5.4 Limitations.................................................................................................. 100
6 Recommendations ........................................................................... 101

6.1 Introduction ................................................................................................ 102
6.2 Recommendations...................................................................................... 103
6.2.1 Have a strategy .................................................................................... 103
6.2.2 Online Social Profile ............................................................................ 103
6.2.3 Social Bookmarking ............................................................................. 104
6.2.4 Build applications ................................................................................ 104
6.2.5 Explore opportunities .......................................................................... 104
6.3 Further Research ........................................................................................ 105
References ............................................................................................. 106
Bibliography ........................................................................................... 115
Appendix ................................................................................................. 118
The Power of Social Networking Sites in the context of Online Recruitment VII
Appendices
Appendices
Appendix 1 – Questionnaire 119
Appendix 2 – Questionnaire Results 127
Appendix 3 – Interviews 136
The Power of Social Networking Sites in the context of Online Recruitment VIII
List of Figures
List of Figures
Figure 1 – Eight steps in R&S process (Cornelius 2001) ................................................13
Figure 2 – Participation in Social Activities identified by Li, Forrester Research (2007).21
Figure 3 – Participation model of a Web 2.0 service (Hoegg et al 2006 p.9) .................23
Figure 4 - Overview of Web 2.0 apps (Hoegg et al 2006 p.8) ........................................26
Figure 5 – Overview of Social Networking Sites (Gerbranda 2007 p. 10) ......................29
Figure 6 – Sources of Primary Data (Ghauri and Gronhaug (2005) ...............................48
Figure 7 - Data collection approaches in qualitative research (Creswell 2007) .............53
Figure 8 – Findings: Gender response ..........................................................................62
Figure 9 – Findings: Age group .....................................................................................63
Figure 10 – Findings: Education level ...........................................................................63
Figure 11 – Findings: Occupation .................................................................................64
Figure 12 – Findings: Ethnicity .....................................................................................65
Figure 13 – Findings: Location .....................................................................................66
Figure 14 – Findings: Internet Access ...........................................................................68
Figure 15 – Findings: Use of Internet ...........................................................................69
Figure 16 – Findings: Computer Literate ......................................................................69
Figure 17 – Findings: Use of Social Networking Sites ...................................................71
Figure 18 – Findings: Usage Social Networking Sites ....................................................72
Figure 19 – Findings: Purpose of using Social Networking Sites....................................73
Figure 20 – Findings: Use of On-line methods to find a job ..........................................75
Figure 21 – Findings: Passive jobseekers ......................................................................76
Figure 22 – Findings: Preferred place to work ..............................................................77
The Power of Social Networking Sites in the context of Online Recruitment IX

List of Figures
Figure 23 – Findings: Organisation Contacting individuals on SNS ................................78
Figure 24 – Findings: Individuals contacting Organisations on SNS ..............................79
Figure 25 - Findings: View recommended vacancy .......................................................79
Figure 26 - Professional vs. Personal: gender difference ..............................................82
Figure 27 - Professional vs. Personal: Purpose of Internet ...........................................83
Figure 28 – Professional vs. Personal: Passive Jobseekers ............................................83
Figure 29 - Professional vs. Personal: most popular work places .................................84
Figure 30 - Professional vs. Personal: Organisation contact individuals ........................85
Figure 31 - Professional vs. Personal: Individuals contact Organisations ......................85
The Power of Social Networking Sites in the context of Online Recruitment X

List of Tables
List of Tables
Table 1 – Model of Psychological Contract (Guest 2002) .............................................10
Table 2 – Recruitment methods (CIPD 2005) ...............................................................14
Table 3 – Web 1.0 vs. Web 2.0 in O’Reilly Conference (2004) ......................................20
Table 4 – Features of Popular Websites (Cormode and Krishnamurthy 2008) ..............22
Table 5 – Overview of the technologies (retrieved from Murugesan (2007) ................25
Table 6 – Advantages of using E-Recruitment according to CIPD (2009) ......................33
Table 7 – Disadvantages of using E-Recruitment according to CIPD (2009) ..................34
Table 8 – Advantages of using SNS for recruitment (Gupta 2008 p. 2) .........................38
Table 9 – Disadvantages of using SNS for recruitment (Gupta 2008 p. 2) .....................38
Table 10 – Three research philosophies .......................................................................42
Table 11 – Research approach as described by Ghauri and Gronhaug (2005) ..............43
Table 12 – Questionnaire Categories ...........................................................................51
The Power of Social Networking Sites in the context of Online Recruitment XI

1 Introduction
Introduction
1.1 Preface
User generated content has grown exponentially. Websites allowing its users to share
content are increasing rapidly. Companies such as Facebook, Bebo, and Twitter are
valued at millions of pounds. Google even paid 1.5 billion dollar for YouTube; one the
largest websites offering user generated content.
The primary service offered by Social Networking Sites is the possibility to connect to
people and create, share and collaborate. The extensive use of Social Networking Sites
by individuals has allowed organisations to use it effectively for other activities.
Companies are willing to pay a lot of money to advertise on these websites and access
the information made available by its users. Other organisations are using these
websites to extend their marketing efforts and create loyalty among their customers.
This report aims to investigate a neglected use of Social Networking Sites; it will focus
on how these enormously popular websites can be used by organisations to recruit
people.
1.2 Rationale
The growth of Social Networking Sites has not gone unnoticed; within a few years, they
have entirely changed the landscape of internet. The media is constantly reporting the
growth and the use of Social Networking Sites, while investors are willing to invest
millions of pounds in companies that lack event the most basic principles of business
models.
The Power of Social Networking Sites in the context of Online Recruitment 2

Introduction
However there are two things that seem to make all the difference, the users and their
content. Online communities receive great attention from their users and offer many
business opportunities for organisations.
Marketing literature has always associated high value to word-of-mouth promotions,
with Social Networking Sites, this concept has revolutionised. Allowing content to be
shared immediately around to globe with millions of other people, hence it may come
as no surprise that academics and professionals are extensively discussing the use of
Social Networking Sites as a marketing tool. Other business disciplines seem to be
somewhat ignored.
One of the neglected aspects is recruitment; Social Networking Sites and Recruitment
have one main thing in common: They both revolve around people. Organisations are
not fully aware of the potential that Social Networking Sites have in the context of
Recruitment. Other organisations do not fully understand the concept or are reluctant
to the changes that are occurring. Provided with relevant data, these organisations can
determine whether Social Networking is applicable within their recruitment practises.
This study aims to fill that knowledge gap, by researching existing literature from a
range of sources and by conducting primary research among the users of Social
Networking Sites; the study will assist organisations in understanding this new
technology and identify opportunities in their own environment.
1.3 Statement of Research Question
‘To analyse how Social Networking Sites can be used by organisations to enhance
recruitment activities and to identify the perception of users engaged by this approach’

Introduction
1.4 Aim of Research
The aim of this study is to research how the increased use of Social Networking Sites
can allow organisations to exploit these modern resources.
1.5 Objectives
The following research objectives will be set for this study
 To describe the concept of Web 2.0 and why Social Networking Sites play a
major role in present times.
The aim of this objective is to create an understanding of Social Networking
Sites and the fundamental technology that has contributed to the success of
Social Networking Sites.
 To perform a research into existing literature concerning (On-line)
Recruitment, Web 2.0 and Social Networking Sites.
The aim of this objective is to gather data relevant to Social Networking Sites,
Recruitment and Web 2.0. Investigating current literature will allow a better
understanding of the research problem and the related issues. A wide range of
sources will be drawn upon to create a good understanding of the three key
points.

Introduction
 To investigate the opinion and perception of Professionals on the use of Social
Networking Sites.
The aim of this objective is to investigate through primary research how
professionals dealing with recruitment and Social Networking concepts
perceive the technology.
 To identify the use, opinion and perception of members of Social Networking
Sites in the context of organisations approaching them regarding recruitment.
The aim of this objective is to understand how individuals use Social
Networking Sites and their stance towards communicating with organisations
through the use of Social Networking Sites.
 To recommend initiatives based on the findings allowing organisations to
identify opportunities in their own environment and indicate further area of
research.
The aim of this objective is to assist organisations in understanding the use of
Social Networking Sites by making recommendations based on the findings.
Furthermore, the author intends to identify further areas of research.
1.6 Outline of the Chapters
This section provides a brief outline of the overall structure applied to this thesis.
1.6.1 Chapter 1 – Introduction
This first chapter introduces the thesis, by providing background to the study and
research problem. It identifies the purpose of the research and the objective that have
been outlined by the author.

Introduction
1.6.2 Chapter 2 – Literature Review
The second chapter is divided into sub headings, each sub heading covers relevant
existing data revolving around the topic. The chapter sets out the scene for further
investigation on which the author based his primary research.
1.6.3 Chapter 3 – Methodology
The third chapter demonstrates the research approach and what methods have been
applied in order to collect relevant data and how this data was analysed. The chapter
further describes the research limitations and considerations that have been taken
into account by the author when conducting the contemporary study.
1.6.4 Chapter 4 – Findings and Analysis
The fourth chapter presents the findings of the primary research. The data retrieved
from the interviews and questionnaires is then analysed and discussed.
1.6.5 Chapter 5 – Conclusions
The fifth chapter summarises the report and draws conclusions from the findings.
1.6.6 Chapter 6 - Recommendations
The sixth chapter contains recommendations made by the author based on the
research and findings. The recommendations are aimed to assist organisations in
identifying opportunities in their surroundings, while recommendations are also made
to indicate areas for further research.

Literature review
2 Literature review

Literature review
2.1 Introduction to literature
Literature review has been defined by Hart (1998) as:
“The selection of available documents (both published and unpublished) on the
topic, which contain information, ideas, data and evidence written from a
particular standpoint to fulfil certain aims or express certain views on the
nature of the topic and how it is to be investigated, and the effective evaluation
of these documents in the relation to the research being proposed”
In this chapter the author will discuss the findings derived from extensive secondary
research that has been undertaken. The findings are primarily gathered from journals,
textbooks, websites and academic literature. The author focused on retrieving
information on Recruitment, Web 2.0 and Social Networking Sites.
The literature review provides a solid basis for further discussion of the research
problem and the set objectives. To produce a solid base, the author addressed the
fundamentals of each topic and then proceeded with practical examples and by adding
extensive research.
The headings in this chapter communicate the essential topics within this research and
are ordered as following:
 Recruitment
 Web 2.0
 Social Networking Sites
 Online Recruitment

Literature review
2.2 Recruitment
2.2.1 Fundamentals of Recruitment
Recruitment and selection became key issues to organisations towards the end of
1980’s (Gold 1999). Curnow (1989 p.40) confirms this by stating: “recruitment is
moving to the top of the personnel professional’s agenda”. Recruitment can be seen as
a form of business competition; recruitment is not only business, it is big business
(Cascio 1995).
In the modern era recruitment has become part of the overall HRM practises. Watson
(1994 p.185) describes recruitment as: “the processes by which organisations solicit,
contact and interest potential appointees, and then establish whether it would be
appropriate to appoint any of them”. Marchington and Wilkinson (1997) define the
practise of recruiting and selecting people to fill new or existing positions as a crucial
element of personnel and development activity in all organisations, irrespective of
their size, structure or orientation.
Recruitment and Selection are two terms that are usually combined in academic
literature. Recruitment could hence be regarded as actions taken to find the right
people and Selection as picking the right people. Foot and hook (2008, p. 142) also
consider the recruitment process to be closely linked with selection as they state:
“Both activities are directed towards obtaining employees with the requisite
competencies and attitudes, and recruitment activities lay the groundwork for
the selection process by providing the pool of applicants from who selectors
may choose”
The definition considers searching and selecting to be the key aspects of recruitment.
Yet it is difficult to state where recruitment stops and selection begins (Anderson

Literature review
1994). Whitehill (1991) describes the recruitment process as the positive part where
one is creating a pool of potentially qualified people, and describes the selection as the
negative part, where a few are selected from many. Newell and Shackleton (2000
p.113) specifically describe the act of recruiting as: “process of attracting people who
might make a contribution to the particular organisation”. Gold (2003) identifies two
crucial issues within this definition, firstly he claims: “there is a need to attract people,
this implying that people do have a choice about which organisation they wish to work
for” and the second issue Gold identifies is: “the contribution that people will make to
an organisation is not totally predictable”. The response of Gold was aimed at
organisations believing firmly that it is the organisation that selects the people and not
people selecting organisations. One may argue that the power balance in each
situation is affected by many factors such as the supply and demand of particular type
of people.
In the recent years, academics have discussed a more complicated recruitment
process. For instance, there is growing evidence that having a positive psychological
contact with employees can lead to increased motivation and higher loyalty towards
the organisation (Guest, Davey and Patch 1988). Some large organisations are using
organisational psychologists or consultants to improve the reliability and validity of the
selection decision (Marchington and Wilkinson 1997). Guest (2002) has developed a
model of the psychological contract (see Table 1).
Inputs Contents Contents

Employee Characteristics Fairness Employee behaviour
Organisation Characteristics Trust Performance
HR practises Delivery
Table 1 – Model of Psychological Contract (Guest 2002)

Literature review
But what exactly is a psychological contract. Psychological contracts can be described
as the set of expectations held by the individual employee who specifies what the
individual and the organisation expect to give to and receive from each other in the
course of their working relationship (Sims, 1994). Guest (1998 p. 650) states: “The
contract resides in the interaction rather than in the individual or the organization”.
Schein (1965, 1980) also pays attention to the psychological contract, defining it as a
set of unwritten expectations present at each moment between each member of the
organization and others in the organisation. As defined by the authors, the
psychological contracts are an important component of the employees and their
organisations (Maguire 2002). The reason for it being so important is that we live in an
era of employee relations and not industrial relations (Guest 1998). Hence care must
be taken when contracts are drawn and people are being attracted towards the
organisation.
Gold highlights the importance of attracting people, as recruitment is usually for a
great deal considered to be seen from the organisation’s perspective. Torrington et al
(1996) argue that it is essential for organisations to realise that the process of
recruitment and selection is not a one-way system. They continue by stating:
“Recruitment is now recognised as a two-way process: candidates often need

to be convinced that the organisation, the position being offered, remuneration
and any additional perquisites and the future prospects fit in with their
individual career plans” (Torrington et al. 1996 p.172)
Cascio (1995) describes two approaches to recruitment, the first where recruitment is
considered to be a one way process can be termed as ‘prospecting’, whereas the two-
way approach can be termed as ‘mating’. In the present times the mating strategy

Literature review
seems to be more common, where companies put much effort in marketing
themselves.
As Human Resource Management has become more sophisticated, recruitment
practises exist of a wide variety, reflecting the organisation’s strategy and its
philosophy towards people (Gold 2003). A recruiter now needs to consider several
elements and factors to create a perfect match between the employer and employee.
The act of recruitment is defined and what should be taken into account, but what is
the aim of recruitment practises, Armstrong (1996 p. 443) states:
“The overall aim of the recruitment and selection process should be to obtain
at minimum cost the number and quality of employees required to satisfy the
human resource needs of the company”
The aim of recruiting is not only to attract and select people, it should also be done in a
cost effective way. Hook and Foot (2008 p.143) consider the following points to be the
aims of recruitment:
- “To obtain a pool of suitable candidates for vacant posts”

- “To use a fair process and be able to demonstrate that the process was fair”
- “To ensure that all recruitment activities contribute to organisational goals and
a desirable organisational image”
- “To conduct recruitment activities in an efficient and cost-effective manner”
With the information provided by these authors, it can be confirmed that recruitment
starts with creating a pool of people which are then filtered based on the requirements
set by the organisation. In order to create this pool, HRM literature covers many tools
and methods that can be used by recruiters to create a pool and filter them according
to set criteria’s.

Literature review
Stages involving recruitment and selection are extensively described by academic
literature; they are either very detailed or very simplified. Cornelius (2001 p. 31, Figure
1.2) identifies eight key steps in the recruitment and selection process. The
recruitment process consists of two major stages, job analysis and advertising (Martin
and Jackson 1997). The other steps are part of selection. For the sake of relevance,
only the recruitment part will be discussed.
8. Measure, review, evaluate
7. Induct the new starter
6. Select the right person
5. Advertise the vacancy
4. Determine the reward
3. Define the selection criteria
2. Analyse the requirments
1. Identify the need to recruit
Figure 1 – Eight steps in R&S process (Cornelius 2001)
The process starts with identifying the need to recruit. According to the traditional
methods it is then common to write a comprehensive job description, which will allow
the recruiter to exactly know what the purpose, duties and responsibilities of the
vacant position are (Beardwell and Claydon 2007). The job description is used to set
the selection criteria.

Literature review
After the basic information on the vacancy is available, an organisation then must
decide which recruitment method will serve them best. A recruitment process that
generates insufficient applications or too many unsuitable ones, the process will
become expensive (Marchington and Wilkinson 2005).
To generate the initial pool of candidates, the available job must be advertised. Martin
and Jackson (1997) state: “advertising can be a very expensive activity, especially if we
get it wrong”. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) each year
investigates the most popular recruitment methods (see Table 2). The most
appropriate source depends on the group the organisations wishes to target (Martin
and Jackson 1997). From the figures provided by CIPD (2005); local newspaper adverts,
recruitment agencies and own website are the most used methods. E-recruitment is
not a separate category in their research. Even though there has been a rapid growth
in online recruitment (Gold 2003).
Tool % Tool %
Local Newspaper adverts 85 Employee referral scheme 38
Recruitment agencies 80 Links with school/college/uni 35
Own website 67 Apprentices/interns 32
Specialists journals/trade press 59 Commercial website 30
National Newspapers adverts 55 Physical posters/billboards/vehicles 14
Jobcentre Plus 54 Radio or TV adverts 9
Speculative application/WOM 52 Other 7
Table 2 – Recruitment methods (CIPD 2005)

Literature review
2.2.2 Recruitment Agencies
Recruitment agencies are one of the most widely available and used outside sources
(Cascio 1995). Ulrike Hotopp is the Employment Relations Directorate at the
Department of Trade and Industry, Hotopp (2001 P.1) states: “The recruitment
industry is gaining importance in most industrialised countries”. This has not gone
unnoticed, as the leading companies have experienced healthy growth. The three
largest recruitment agencies in the world together generated total revenue of 50
billion euro’s in 2007.
Adecco SA, Manpower Inc, Randstad N.V. and Vedior are the leading organisations in
this industry (Data Monitor 2008). These large companies benefit from economies of
scale (Data Monitor 2008). In 2008 Randstad and Vedior agreed to merge and become
the second largest HR Company in the world with about 8% of the global market
(Recruiter 2008). The global HR market now has three major players: Adecco, Randstad
and Manpower.
2.2.3 Issues in Recruitment
Recruitment is becoming more complex, different internal and external issues are
affecting this practise. Issues in Human Resource Management can be analysed in
terms of legal, moral and business consideration (Foot and Hook 2008)
2.2.3.1 Legal
Organisations have considerable freedom in selecting people they want to recruit,
however legislation plays a significant role in the recruitment and selection process;
particularly in attempt to prevent discrimination on the grounds of sex, race or
disability (Beardwell, Holden and Claydon 2004). Governments are introducing

Literature review
increased legislation. Latest European legislations focus on Data protection and other
sorts of discrimination. According to Armstrong (1996) the legal framework to
recruitment is provided by The Employment Protection Act 1978, The Employment Act
1982, The Trade Union Reform and Employment Act (1993), The Sex Discrimination
Acts 1975/1986 and The Race Relations Act 1976. It is extremely important for
organisations to comply with these legislations. In the UK, the Chartered Institute of
Personnel and Development has over 110.000 members and is perceived as the body
representing recruitment and selections activities (Beardwell, Holden and Claydon
2004).
2.2.3.2 Business
Companies tend to lack understanding of HR practises and recruitment in particular.
The situation seems to be worse in small firms where the role of Human Resource and
internal communication is often not considered at all (Russo et al 1995). When it
comes to recruitment, bigger organisations have a better structured internal
communication, but still the gathering of information is seldom done on a regular basis
(Russo et al 1995). Most of the business issues seem to address smaller firm. Small
firms are less able to sustain internal labour markets, hence may struggle to retain key
staff and are more vulnerable to changes in the external labour market (Lane 1994;
Hendry et al 1995). Atkinson and Storey (1993) found that small firm report labour
market problems more often than any other types of business problem. The amateur
approach to Human Resource Management in small firms is usually justified by it being
more cost efficient (Carroll et al 1999).

Literature review
2.2.3.3 Ethical
Taking ethical issues into regards is considered to be extremely important in present
times. However the ethical dimension of HR policy and practise has been downplayed
in recent literate, moving the emphasis to ‘strategic fit’ and ‘best practise’ (Winstanley
and Woodall 2000). The term ethics is described by Petrick and Quinn (1997 p.42) as:
“Ethics is the study of individual and collective moral awareness, judgement, character,
and conduct”
The tone set during the recruitment process must be carefully handled, as it
represents the attitude of the firm and members, it also has impact on future
relationship with the firm (Winstanley and Woodall 2000).

Literature review
2.3 Web 2.0
2.3.1 Web 2.0 Definition
Much debate has been done regarding the definition of the term Web 2.0. The term
was originally described (O’Reilly 2007 p.18) as:
“Like many important concepts, Web 2.0 doesn’t have a hard boundary, but
rather, a gravitational core. You can visualize Web 2.0 as a set of principles and
practices that tie together a veritable solar system of sites that demonstrate
some or all of those principles, at a varying distance from that core”
The original definition provided by O’Reilly seemed to be very ambiguous and hence
many others attempted to define Web 2.0. Latham (2008 p.1) states “Web 2.0 is most
recognizable in its incarnation as collective knowledge tool...”
Although many ideas of the concept exist, the label remains difficult to describe
(Alexander and Levine 2008). As an expert in the field, Murugesan (2007 p.34) provides
his definition and states:
“Web 2.0 is also called the wisdom Web, people centric Web, participative
Web, and read/write Web. Web 2.0 harnesses the Web in a more interactive
and collaborative manner, emphasizing peers’ social interaction and collective
intelligence, and presents new opportunities for leveraging the Web and
engaging its users more effectively”
The definition given by Murugesan is more specific on the usage of Web 2.0 and
provides more criteria to evaluate whether something can be regarded as Web 2.0
An interesting definition is provided by Cormode and Krishnamurthy (2008 p.2), they
define web 2.0 as: “Web 2.0 is both a platform on which innovative technologies have
been built and a space where users are treated as first class objects”

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This definition is interesting as it does not only emphasise the change in the
technological area, it also indicates that users have become increasingly important,
hence receive more attention and are more valued.
O’Reilly realised the clutter around the term Web 2.0 and posted a new article to give
his definition of Web 2.0, this time being more precise in his explanation; he states:
“Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the
move to the internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for
success on that new platform. Chief among those rules is this: Build
applications that harness network effects to get better the more people use
them” (O’Reilly 2006)
O’Reilly (2006) further develops this definition by adding the following rules:
- Don’t treat software as an artefact, but as a process of engagement with your

users (“The perpetual beta”)
- Open your data and services for re-use by others, and re-use the data and
services of others whenever possible. (“Small pieces loosely joined”)
- Don’t think of applications that reside on either client or server, but build
applications that reside in the space between the devices. (“software above the
level of single device”)
- Remember that in a network environment, open Application Programming
Interfaces and standard protocol win, but this doesn’t mean that the idea of
competitive advantage goes away. (“The law of conservation of attractive
profits”)
- Chief among the future sources of lock in and competitive advantage will be
data, whether through increasing return from user-generated data, through
owning name space, or through proprietary file formats.
The latest definition of O’Reilly provides a better understanding of the concept,
however as Web 2.0 is becoming a buzz word for marketers, the term risks of being
perceived differently among people. From the definitions provided by several
academics, one thing can be concluded: Web 2.0 is a collective environment in which
user generated content is highly encouraged.

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2.3.2 Introduction to Web 2.0
The concept of Web 2.0 was officially introduced by O’Reilly Media in 2004 (O’Reilly,
2005) and it is how next generation Web is described. The Web is more important than
ever (O’Reilly, 2007). The initial brainstorm led to a draft (see Table 3), which
characterised the difference between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 (O’Reilly 2004).
Web 1.0 Web 2.0

DoubleClick Google AdSense
Ofoto Flickr
Akamai BitTorrent
Mp3.com Napster
Britannica Online Wikipedia
Personal websites Blogging
Evite Upcoming.org and EVDB
Domain name speculation Search Engine Optimizarion
Page views Cost per click
Screen scraping Web services
Publishing Participation
Content Management System Wikis
Directories Tagging
Stickiness Syndication
Table 3 – Web 1.0 vs. Web 2.0 in O’Reilly Conference (2004)
A key Web 2.0 principle according to O’Reilly (2007) is that the service automatically
gets better as more people use it. O’Reilly (2007 p.22) continues with:
“The central principle behind the success of the giants born in the Web 1.0 era
who have survived to lead the Web 2.0 era appears to be this, that they have
embraced the power of the web to harness collective intelligence”
The essential difference between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 according to Cormode and
Krishnamurthy (2008 p.2) is that “... content creators were few in Web 1.0 with the

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vast majority of users simply acting as consumers of content, while any participant can
be a content creator in Web 2.0 ...”
Figure 2 – Participation in Social Activities identified by Li, Forrester Research (2007)
This idea is further analysed by Li (2007), he argues that the foundation of social
strategy lies in the different types of user participation. Each user of Social
Technologies is perceived to be at a different stage (Figure 2). When Li’s level of
participation figure is tilted, the model introduced by Roger (1962) ‘diffusion of
innovations’ can be seen; the creators can be perceived as the innovators, whereas the
in-actives are the laggards.

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The concept of Web 2.0 heavily relies on its users to participate and contribute. Di
Loreto (2007) identifies three trends to be the key to success; it is important to be on
the internet in a simple way, to be able to share knowledge and to link people.
2.3.3 Web 2.0 Technology
Web 2.0 is about collaboration and interaction. These activities are performed in many
different ways. Cormode and Krishnamurthy (2008) listed some of the popular
websites (see Table 4), however they indicated that some of these website, they
consider to be Web 1.5, this as “it fails to offer sufficient ways for the users to interact
with the content” (Cormode and Krishnamurthy 2008 p.7).

Live Journal
Friendster
Facebook
Craigslist
MySpace
YouTube
Slashdot
Amazon
Flickr
Ebay
Digg
Feature
Class Feature
Profile
Details Age           
Location           
Gender           
Testimonials           
Other data           
Connectivity Friends           
Subscriptions           
Groups           
video photo link profile product product article
Content Main content profile s s blogs profile s s s s ads s
photo photo blog, photo
Other content s s photo photos photos photos s
Tagging           
Friends only           
Comments           
Editable content           
Rateable content           
Viewing statistics           
Technical Public API         

Embedding
allowed   
Many RSS feeds      
Private messages      
Web 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 1.5 1.5 1.5 1,5 1.5 1.5
Table 4 – Features of Popular Websites (Cormode and Krishnamurthy 2008)

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In order to further understand how these websites have managed to grow
exponentially, some of the elements of Web 2.0 technologies are discussed.
Hoegg et al (2006 p.7) state: “from a business model perspective, not the resulting
community but the service is of importance that has the potential to result into a
community”. Hoegg et al indicate that the main focus in Web 2.0 environment lies on
tools and services that allow content to be collaboratively created, managed and
shared. The participation model offers a great visual of what has been said previously
(see Figure 3). The objective and the vision is what the tool or service wants to achieve,
User is responsible for the content and the service provider supplies the technical
framework.
Figure 3 – Participation model of a Web 2.0 service (Hoegg et al 2006 p.9)
As mentioned, Web 2.0 consists of several new Web Technologies. A highly accepted
feature of the new Web is Blogging, although it is basically a personal homepage in

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dairy format. (O’Reilly 2007). Skrenta (2005) comments on the chronological
organisation of a blog “it seems like a trivial difference, but it drives and entirely
different delivery, advertising and value chain” The description that is provided by
Skrenta is very true and not limited to blogs as this is confirmed by the latest wave of
business start-up where the business models seems to be completely different to
traditional models.
The part that has made difference in Blogging and in Web 2.0 is the RSS technology,
O’Reilly (2007 p.24) describes it as: “RSS allows someone to link not to just a page, but
to subscribe to it, with notification every time that page changes”. It has been very
effective in sharing content among a large group.
Another very useful Web 2.0 technology is tagging. With the enormous growth of web
pages; tagging allows the content to be categorised by the web users (Murugesan
2007). Folksonomonies are a consequence of all these tags, their advantage over the
traditional taxonomies is that they are more quickly able to response to users’ needs
and adepts the categorisation based on the use of users. Tagging is described by
Marlow et al (2006) as:
“Instead of well-defined, vertical and centralised classification, users develop
personal tags as a new way of organising information, which is a compromise
between personal filing and collective production of taxonomy”
Another very popular tool from the Web 2.0 stall is Social Bookmarking. This tool can
be used by any webpage to make the content on the page ‘shareable’ among the Web
2.0 community. The content can be immediately shared on many popular Social

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Networking Sites, i.e. Facebook, Digg and Delicious. Organisations apply this method to
make their content more shareable without having to build a proper Web 2.0
compatible site.
Technology Description
Blogs Two way Web-based communication tool
RSS Feeds summarising information
Tags Keywords added to blogs or articles
Folksonomy Refers to user generated taxonomies of information
Mashups Web page combining information from several sources
Wikis A collaborative authoring system for creating and editing content
Table 5 – Overview of the technologies (retrieved from Murugesan (2007)
All these different tools take us back to the definition of Web 2.0; which is a collectivist
online society, or as Aguiton and Cardon (2007 p. 55) describe it:
“Web 2.0 services can be characterized by the astonishing rise of public

interpersonal relations in mediated communities, the extension of the number of
contacts and the growth of a new form of weak friendship”
The underlying technology is far more complex and involves AJAX, FLEX, Blog ware etc.
However due to the nature of the contemporary study, this will not be discussed in
further detail.
According to Hoegg et al (2006) services on Web 2.0 are offered in three different
forms. There are platforms, which offer the means for users to express themselves;
online collaboration tools, which aim to improve processes by making information
accessible from every location and lastly there are community services: unifying users
through a common objective (Figure 4).

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Web 2.0
Community Platforms Online Collaboration

Platform or tool to empower Closed user group with a
Open Community unified by an ideal
the user specific objective
Social Knowledge Interest Technology Online Virtual

Directory
Networking Sharing Group Centric Applications Workflow
Dating: Brain
Search
Woopy Charity Blogguide Wetpaint Office apps storming
Engine
Business: GiveMeaning Technorati Wiki iRows Brain
Swicki
OpenBC reactions
Figure 4 - Overview of Web 2.0 apps (Hoegg et al 2006 p.8)
2.3.4 Business use of Web 2.0
The use of Web 2.0 is not exclusively for individuals, organisations are just beginning to
recognise and utilise the power of Web 2.0 social media (Thackeray et al 2008).
Organisations that understand the benefits of using tools can internally allow their
employees to communicate faster, more flexible and use it practically anywhere in the
world, while allowing them to connect with their customers. Innovapost for instance
began developing strategies to make the most of the opportunities this new
environment offers (Xarchos and Charland 2008). Innovapost used Web 2.0 technology
to develop a new portal that allowed its employees to seek new opportunities within
the companies, while allowing other employees (primarily managers) to post
opportunities. Other technologies are being developed to further exploit the capability
of Web 2.0.

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In the report ‘A new marketing paradigm: share of customer, not market share’
Peppers and Rogers (1995), describe the new method of relationship marketing
enabled by technology. They state:
“The relationship marketing approach has the potential to change radically the
rules of business competition, for example growth driven by mass marketing
encourages businesses to chase short-term profits based on transaction volume.
In contrast, one-to-one marketing gives businesses new incentives to invest to
gain more loyalty of their most profitable customers” (Peppers and Rogers 1995
p. 48)
They conclude by using extensive data gathering through new web technologies,
organisations can create a competitive advantage. This can lead to extended customer
loyalty and higher customer satisfaction.
As traditional online marketing tactics, such as banner ads and pop-ups, are becoming
less applicable in the world of social media (eMarketer 2008), it is up to the
organisations to embrace the new technology and put it to full use.

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2.4 Social Networking Sites
2.4.1 SNS’s – the Basics
The latest trend in online world is social networking portals (Marchu, Breslin and
Decker 2004) Social networking sites have rapidly gained popularity, with Twitter
posting growth rates exceeding 1300% (Seeking Alpha 2009). Globally the active
memberships on Social Networking Sites were expected to reach 230 million by the
end of 2007 (Data Monitor 2007), Today Facebook alone boasts with more than 200
million members. Social Networking Sites are considered to be one the most
prominent activities within the Web 2.0 arena. Although they have become
increasingly interesting in marketing context, literature is still limited.
A definition of Social Network Sites is provided by Boyd and Ellison (2008 p.210) in
which they state:
“We define social network sites as web-based services that allow individuals to
(1) construct a public or a semi-public profile within a bounded, system, (2)
articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view
and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the
system”
What must be noted is that Boyd and Ellison use the term ‘Social Network Site’ rather
than ‘Social Networking Site’. They justify this by saying that networking is usually
done between strangers, while a network is the people already familiar to the person.
Although networking is possible on these websites, it is commonly not their primary
intention (Boyd and Ellison 2008). The definition provided by Weaver and Morrison
(2008 p.97) does focus on social networking stating: “In the context of today’s
electronic media, social networking has come to mean individuals using the Internet
and Web applications to communicate in previously impossible ways”.

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2.4.2 Characteristics of Social Networking Sites
Social Networking Sites tend to support the maintenance of pre-existing networks,
others help strangers meet online based on their interests, political views, or activities.
Some sites attract a range of audiences based on common language or shared racial,
sexual, and religious or nationality based identities. The difference between Social
Networking Sites can also differ in which information and communication tools they
offer, such as mobile connectivity, blogging, and photo/video-sharing (Boyd and Ellison
2008).
Gerbranda (2007) concluded that although differences exist between Social
Networking Sites, they are all considered to be Social Networking Sites. However he
continues with stating that when these websites are evaluated on their purpose and
technology; it is possible to make three categories (see Figure 5).
Figure 5 – Overview of Social Networking Sites (Gerbranda 2007 p. 10)

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2.4.3 Social Networking Sites
Currently there are hundreds of active Social Networking Sites. They each serve a
different market as stated by Boyd and Ellison in 2008. Some of the key Social
Networking Sites will be described to demonstrate the differences.
2.4.3.1 Linkedin
“LinkedIn is an interconnected network of experienced professionals from around the
world, representing 170 industries and 200 countries. You can find, be introduced to,
and collaborate with qualified professionals that you need to work with to accomplish
your goals” (Linkedin 2009). The Networks currently has nearly 40 million members
around the world. It is a professional community, where according to Linkedin a new
member is received roughly every second.
2.4.3.2 Facebook
Facebook is a Social Networking Site where users can join networks organized by city,
workplace, school, and region to connect and interact with other people. People can
also add friends and send them messages, and update their personal profiles to notify
friends about themselves. Facebook is the largest Social Networking Site, currently
attracting most of the traffic among its competitors. Just recently Facebook hit a
milestone having more than 200 million members. Facebook offers all kinds of services
to its members, although the “basic” features are provided by the host organisation,
the biggest increase in the usability and features come from third-party developers.
Currently Facebook hosts more than 30.000 applications (Ustinova 2008). The growth
of Facebook is immense and there are currently no sign that this will stop very soon.

Literature review
2.4.3.3 MySpace
MySpace is a personal online community that lets you meet your friends' friends
(MySpace 2009). Users of MySpace can create a community and can share photos,
journals and interests with people in their network. It is believed that the company led
the Web 2.0 revolution in which users could create their profiles, however due to the
rise of its younger rival Facebook; MySpace has seen a significant decrease in visitors
(Smith 2009).
2.4.3.4 Twitter
Twitter is one of the latest popular Social Networking Site. Twitter is a free micro-
blogging service that allows its users to send and read other users update which are
also known as ‘tweets’; which are only 140 characters in length. Twitter stands out
from all other large Social Networking Sites due to its simplicity. It does not offer any
advanced sharing tools, i.e. photo or video sharing. However by using Web 2.0 tools,
Twitter allows users to share their tweets on any other website; this has contributed
enormously to the success of Twitter. Its current user count is not disclosed by Twitter,
however it is estimated that twitter attracted 10 million visitors in February alone
(Radwanick 2009).

Literature review
2.5 Online Recruitment
2.5.1 Recruiting Online
Online recruitment, e-cruiting, cybercruiting, or Internet recruiting all refer to the
formal sourcing of job information online (Galanaki 2002). There has been a growth in
the use of online methods (Beardwell and Claydon 2007). Not very surprising as
Strategic Direction (2009) states: “The first working generation of the new
millennium is the best connected in history”. It is essential to all organisations to have
an effective recruitment strategy (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development
2009a). According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (2009a)
there are many advantages for organisations to recruit online, they continue by
stating:
“There are no fundamental philosophical differences between recruiting using

‘old media’, such as adverting in newspapers, and the ‘new media’ such as e-
recruitment. Organisations may use a mix of traditional and online methods on
depending on what meets their strategic recruitment needs and which reaches
their talent market in the most appropriate way”.
A survey conducted to compare online recruitment with more traditional methods,
showed that online recruitment was able to produce as many suitable candidates as
traditional methods, however recruiters had larger pool to select from (IRS 2005)
2.5.2 Advantages
There are many advantages for an organisation that decides to recruit online. The main
arguments used for online recruitment are discussed by a range of authors.

Literature review
Advantages
Reduce recruitment costs
Speed up the recruitment cycle and streamline admin
Manage vacancies more effectively
Reach a wide pool of applicants
Reach a niche pool of applicants
Internal vacancies spread across multiple locations
Provide and up-to-date image, reinforcing branding and culture
Vacancies are always available for access
Cost effective approach to building a talent bank
Handle high volume of applications in a consistent way
Able to provide more tailored details about the vacancy
Table 6 – Advantages of using E-Recruitment according to CIPD (2009)
2.5.2.1 Cost efficiency
As Armstrong (1996) was quoted earlier in this paper, he stated that the aim of
recruitment should be to obtain a minimum amount of pool while being cost effective.
Online recruitment is one of the methods to achieve this. Galanaki (2002) states:
“Publishing vacancies on corporate Web site involves almost no cost at all, while
the costs of putting advertisements on dedicated recruitment sites depends
mainly on the coverage of the particular site”
It could be said that online recruitment can create savings on three types of costs
generated from recruitment; namely job awareness, candidate selection and lost
productivity because of the time it takes to fill a position (Williams and Klau 1997).
2.5.2.2 Improved results
The internet primarily attracts young, computer literature and educated people and
they usually show greater interest in the company, the interest rate is increased when
they apply using the corporate website (Ballie 1996; Frost 1997). Online recruitment is
heavily promoted based on the assumption that it can generally free up to 30% of HR

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time for strategic issues (workforce 2000a). And finally, as internet can reach people
globally, they could potentially generate better leads (Workforce 2000b).
2.5.2.3 Attract inactive people
Business-oriented Social Networking Sites offer a fertile source of information on
passive jobseekers; is often said by recruiters (Gupta 2008; King 2007; Pruit 2008; Ruiz
2008; Wolk 2004). It is maintained by many Human Resource professionals that
passive jobseekers are more desirable as they represent an untapped pool of potential
candidates that are not already represented by placement agencies, or other recruiting
professionals, besides passive jobseekers are considered to be stable employees
(DeKay 2009).
2.5.3 Disadvantages
Along with many advantages of online recruiting, there are also some negative aspects
of online recruitment.
Disadvantages
Limit applicant audience as internet is not always first choice
Overload in (unsuitable) applications if description is unclear
Exclude applicants that do not use internet
Limit attraction of people that do not use internet
The process becomes impersonal
Impacts the 'cultural fit' dimension of Recruitment
Turn off' people when site is badly designed or technical issues occur
Lose candidates if your website ranks lower than the competition
Recruitment decisions can be based on subjective information
Table 7 – Disadvantages of using E-Recruitment according to CIPD (2009)

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2.5.3.1 Integration
For e-recruitment to function effectively, it must be integrated with other recruitment
methods so it can work in harmony (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development
2009). The use of the methods should be introduced to the people within the
company, in order for them to get familiar with the implementation of these tools
(Workforce 2000b).
2.5.3.2 Overload
Due to the simplified process of applying for a vacancy and the lack of time and
geographic barriers there is a risk of receiving too many applications (Workforce
2000a). Hence care should be taken in drafting the job profile and job description
(Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development 2009).

Literature review
2.6 Recruitment on Social Networking Sites
The reach of Social Networking Sites is getting wider, and it offers companies to raise
their profile, directly communicate with clients and potential clients, create natural
web links back to their site and engage in free marketing (Gupta 2008; newbusiness
2009)
Organizations till present have found the most value in using social networking sites as
sources of candidate information (Santonocito 2009), however the business oriented
Social Networking Sites, as they provide instant credibility to a professional’s profile,
with referrals and recommendations of the person, aiding recruiters in captivating
their mindshare can be very useful (Gupta 2008).
2.6.1 SNS part of Recruitment practise
Recruitment on Social Networking Sites does not have to be complicated. Social media
capitalizes on one of the greatest strengths of the Internet, the ease of entry and
elimination of intermediaries (Burns 2008). Santonocito (2009) even states that in ten
years time having a presence on Social Networking Sites will be as common for SMEs
as having their own internet. But in order to exploit the opportunity, companies will
require a greater investment of time, understanding, commitment and authenticity to
build meaningful relationships and communities (Burns 2008).
A research conducted by O2 indicated that, more than 700.000 small and medium
businesses are using the Twitter Social Network to save on recruitment and marketing
costs (Grant 2009). This trend is also found on other popular Social Networking Sites,
including Linkedin, Facebook, Orkut, Xing, Hi5 and others (Gupta 2008). Social media
can be used by organisations of any size or type; both being confirmed by CIA, which

Literature review
has recently announced that they will attract new recruits through the use of Facebook
(Reid 2009).
At the moment the only network consistently associated with recruiting success is
LinkedIn (Burns 2008). LinkedIn has shown rapid growth rates, currently having more
than 35 million members around the globe, while its direct competitor Xing has 7
million members (Leske 2009). With the recent recession and huge amount of
redundancies, LinkedIn’s unique visitors count hit 7.7 million a month, from a 3.6
million a year earlier (Leske 2009). With a huge amount of unemployed yet well
educated people looking for a job, Social Networking Sites are full of people willing to
be employed.
2.6.2 Passive jobseekers
However the power of business-oriented Social Networking Sites according to
recruiters is often considered to be the fact that they are a rich source of information
regarding passive jobseekers (Gupta 2008; King 2007; Pruit 2008; Ruiz 2008; Wolk
2004). DeKay (2009) refers to them as individuals that according to placement
specialists, are people that are currently employed and not seeking a career change.
They are perceived to be more desirable by HR-professionals as they are not
associated with agencies or professionals and are considered to be stable employees.
Frauenheim (2006 p. 1) conducted an interview with Timothy Farrelly, a San Francisco
executive recruiter who stated: “there is probably no better place out there to find a
passive candidate, it is really effective”. The question is how Social Networking Sites
will compete against job boards, Gupta (2008 p. 2) quotes Rajesh, Vice President of

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TeamLease stating: “the Ability to tap passive job seekers through the Internet is a skill
and would be a key differentiator in the coming years.
2.6.3 Characteristics
Gupta (2008) provides an overview of the advantages and disadvantages of
recruitment on Social Networking Sites which can be seen in Table 8 and Table 9 , this
unlike earlier comparison provided by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and
Development on E-recruitment which can be found in Table 6 and Table 7.
Advantages
Wider reach as large number of people post their profiles online
Ability to identify both, active (job portals) and passive (SNS) job seekers
Attains significant cost reduction
Assess the candidates to greater extent, like behavioural attributes,
as individuals tend to be more open on SNS
Reach out to candidates with niche skills
Access to different international talent pools
Provides instant credibility to a professional's profile with
the referrals and recommendations on the person
Table 8 – Advantages of using SNS for recruitment (Gupta 2008 p. 2)
Disadvantages
Job portal search can yield immediate results
Passive headhunting through SNS can be time consuming
Pointed searches either not possible or do not yield accurate results
Table 9 – Disadvantages of using SNS for recruitment (Gupta 2008 p. 2)
According to Gupta’s list; the advantages way out the disadvantages. Although these
disadvantages should not discourage organisations to use Social Networking Sites as a
recruitment tool, they should be taken into account. The approach to recruitment on
Social Networking Sites is different to the orthodox methods. Pulsinelli (2009) quoted

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Erik Cook an internet consultant stating: "You do it a lot more of a soft sell; the sales
cycle is a lot longer, so the patience needs to be there".
2.6.4 Issues
Popular social networking sites such as Facebook, YouTube and MySpace can often
provide employers with a far more honest picture of an individual, by accessing Social
Networking Sites employers have instant access to the personal antics of the
unsuspecting job seeker, including photographs, videos and personal comments
(Punch Communications 2009). According to a study conducted by Development
Dimensions International states: “Only 12 per cent of UK interviewers said that they
would look at online profile sites such as MySpace and Facebook” (Gradplus 2009).
These new practises have not yet become regular part of HR practises, however Moses
(2009) warns people to be careful when deciding which colleagues to add as a
Facebook friend as one throwaway status update about your employer could see you
facing the sack.
It is essential for organisations to understand how Social Networking Sites works and
train their HR-personnel accordingly. Ceridian (2007) states that if organisations decide
to include Social Networking Sites in their recruitment process; they will require
making the following precautions:
“Ensure that your recruiting officers are trained in equal opportunities”

“Keep a paper trail and archive print-outs that you have used when assessing a
candidate”
“Review your policies and make it clear that only HR is allowed to consult online
profiles”

Literature review
Moses (2009) quoted Steven Penning which has two decades of experience in
employment law, expressing: "What employers are doing is they're scrambling and
trying to make out that present policies can be stretched to cover these new areas,
and in many respects they can't,"
Social Networking Sites have many advantages; nonetheless it is crucial for
organisations to understand how Social Networking Sites operate and what limitations
can be detected in the organisations HR policies and government legislation.

Methodology
3 Methodology

Methodology
3.1 Research overview
This chapter will examine the research methods undertaken by the author in order to
meet the aims and objectives of this research. Furthermore it will address the
approach and issues and give a rationale for selecting the used methods within this
research.
In the previous chapter, the author established key literature supporting the
achievement of the aims and objectives for this research. To answer the research
questions, the author had to determine the most appropriate methods for collecting
the necessary data.
Primary and secondary research methods allowed the author to gain additional
knowledge and gather valuable information. The author will aim to clarify the
approach taken while evaluating the alternative strategies.
3.2 Research Philosophy
Research Philosophy refers to the development of knowledge and the nature of that
knowledge (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill 2007). The importance of adapting a
particular research philosophy is that it will underpin the research strategy and define
the view of the author on the research. Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2007) define
three types (see Table 10) of research philosophies.
Philosophy Description
Epistemology Concerns what constitutes acceptable knowledge in a field of study
Ontology Concerned with the nature of social phenomena as entities
Axiology Studies judgments about value
Table 10 – Three research philosophies

Methodology
For this research the author described his epistemological position as a combination of
a positivist and interpretivist. This decision was based on the facts that the research is
based on existing theory, while understanding differences between humans (Saunders,
Lewis and Thornhill 2007). The alternative options were considered not to be relevant
to this research due to their nature.
3.3 Research Approach
There are two types of research approaches: inductive and deductive. Conducting a
deductive research is when the theory is tested by conducting research and the
conclusions are drawn through logical reasoning (Ghauri and Gronhaug 2005;
Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill 2007). An inductive approach is aimed at collecting data
first, and develops a theory as result of the data analysis (Saunders, Lewis and
Thornhill 2007).
Approach Description
Deductive The logical process of deriving a conclusion from a known premise or something
known as true
Inductive The systematic process of establishing a general proposition on the basis of
observation or particular facts
Table 11 – Research approach as described by Ghauri and Gronhaug (2005)
This research is based on both approaches, as the processes of both approaches are
not totally exclusive (Ghauri and Gronhaug 2005). This allowed the author to question
existing theories while develop new knowledge based on the existing literature
through primary research.

Methodology
3.4 Research Design
The research design is the general plan on how the research questions will be
addressed (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill 2007). It constitutes the blueprint for the
collection, measurement and analysis of the data and it aids the author in allocating
the limited resources by posing essential choices (Phillips 1971). Overall, the research
design conveys both the structure of the research problem and the plan of
investigation (Kerlinger 1986).
There are three types of researches; exploratory, descriptive and casual. Each of the
research is more valuable than the other depending on the circumstances, nature of
the problem and the audience it is written.
Exploratory Studies provide a valuable mean in analysing current situations; seek new
insights and asses developments in different context (Robson 2002). If the nature of
the problem is unclear or the area of investigation is very new, an exploratory research
can be very useful (Cooper and Schindler 2003; Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill 2007).
According to Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2007) there are three principle methods of
conducting a exploratory research; searching existing literature, interviewing ‘experts’
in the subject and conducting focus group interviews. A key characteristic is the
flexibility of this approach (Ghauri and Gronhaug 2005). An exploratory research was
conducted at the initial stages of the contemporary study to provide the author with
relevant information on the topic. As the research questions were rather unclear, this
research method allowed the author to understand the situation and development in
this area. As result of this initial research, the author was able to find possibilities to
identify and solve problems.

Methodology
The descriptive research is another approach to designing a research. Its aim is to
portray an accurate profile of people, events or situations (Robson 2002). When
conducting a descriptive research, the problem that is being addressed should be clear
prior to the research (Robson 2002). This type of research was the primary approach
for this study. After the initial phase was completed by conducting an exploratory
research, the author identified specific aims and objectives and as result outlined a
methodology to conduct the research.
Using the two methods identified above, the author’s approach to the research was
clear and well structured.
3.5 Research Strategy
Every strategy can be used for exploratory, descriptive and explanatory research (Yin
2003). Some of the strategies seem to belong to a specific research type, however it is
stressed that no research strategy is inherently superior on inferior to another
(Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill 2007). The author has made a selection of quantitative
and qualitative methods to conduct the primary research; a range of sources were
used to conduct the primary research. Hence the author’s strategy can be described as
a mix between different techniques. This can be referred to as Triangulation, which is
described by Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2007) as: “the use of different data
collection techniques within one study in order to ensure that the data are telling you
what you think they are telling you”.
3.6 Secondary Research
Secondary research is useful to better understand and explain the research question
(Ghauri and Gronhaug 2005). Secondary data can be raw data or published summaries

Methodology
(Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill 2007). The author wrote a literature review based on
the data retrieved from books, journal articles, online data sources and reports.
The primary sources for the secondary research were:
3.6.1 Robert Gordon University
The Georgina Scott Sutherland Library, which is located in Aberdeen Business School,
was an utterly resourceful place for the author to consult academic literature.
3.6.2 Databases
The following databases were essential to the author for collecting the necessary
information. Although each of them deliver their information in different formats, the
content is extremely valuable to the author due to its academic origin.
Business Source Premier

“Business Source Premier is the industry’s most used business research
database, providing full text for more than 2,300 journals, including full text for
more than 1,100 peer-reviewed titles. This database provides full text back to
1886, and searchable cited references back to 1998. Business Source Premier is
superior to the competition in full text coverage in all disciplines of business,
including marketing, management, MIS, POM, accounting, finance and
economics” (EBSCO 2009)
Emerald
“Emerald is the world’s leading publisher of business and management research.
Our database consists of 190 types of journals and various other literatures”
(Emerald 2009).
KeyNote
“In today’s competitive business environment, knowledge and understanding of
your marketplace is essential. With over 25 years’ experience producing highly
respected off-the-shelf publications; Key Note has built a reputation as the
number one source of UK market information. Below are just a few of the
comments our business partners and clients have made on Key Note’s range of
reports” (Key Note 2009)

Methodology
Mintel
“Mintel's clients gain global insight into consumer behaviour, product
innovation and competitive marketing strategies. Our high quality data,
meaningful analysis and actionable recommendations always positively impact
our clients' business.
Today, many of the world's leading companies make strategic business

decisions based on Mintel insight. We help them tap into new product
opportunities, increase price margins, recognise competitive threats and
respond to their individual business needs, so they remain competitive and
profitable” (Mintel 2009)
Science Direct
“Born out of an Elsevier® tradition in scholarly communication, Science Direct
has always followed a vision of the digital library of the future. Today we offer
one of the world's most advanced web delivery systems for scientific, technical
and medical information” (Science Direct 2009)
SAGE Publications
“SAGE Publications is a leading international publisher of books, journals, and
electronic media. SAGE publishes more than 500 journals in Business,
Humanities, Social Sciences, and Science, Technology and Medicine.” (SAGE
2009)
Google Scholar
“Google Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature.
From one place, you can search across many disciplines and sources: peer-
reviewed papers, theses, books, abstracts and articles, from academic
publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories, universities and other
scholarly organizations. Google Scholar helps you identify the most relevant
research across the world of scholarly research.” (Google Scholar 2009)
3.7 Primary Research
Primary data was collected for the contemporary study. Gathering primary research
allowed the author to collect new data which could prove highly relevant. Primary
research allowed the author to collect data that was not available and create new data
that could answer the research questions (Ghauri and Gronhaug 2005). The advantage
of collecting primary data is the fact that they are collected for a particular project;
hence they are more consistent with the research questions and research objectives

Methodology
(Ghauri and Gronhaug 2005). However there are also disadvantages according to
Ghauri and Gronhaug (2005) as according to them, primary data can be expensive and
time consuming; besides there is a weakness in the quality of primary research, as the
researcher is fully dependant on the willingness and the ability of the respondents.
Figure 6 – Sources of Primary Data (Ghauri and Gronhaug (2005)
Primary research consists of two widespread methods: quantitative methods and
qualitative methods (Mingers 2003). A definition of quantitative research is provided
by Punch:
“Quantitative research is empirical research where the data are in the form of
numbers. Qualitative research is empirical research where the data are not in
the form of numbers” (Punch 1998 p. 4)
The definition by Punch is concerned with the collection and analysis of data in
numeric form (Blaxter, Hughes and Tight 2001). This type of research is usually
relatively large scale and is often falsely perceived as the gathering of ‘facts’ (Blaxter,
Hughes and Tight 2001).

Methodology
Sherman and Webb discuss qualitative and quantitative methods; they state:
“Qualitative implies a direct concern with experience as it is ‘lived’ or ‘felt’ or

‘undergone’. In contrast, ‘quantitative’ research, often taken to be the opposite
idea, is indirect and abstracts and treats experiences as similar, adding or
multiplying them together, or ‘quantifying’ them” (Sherman and Webb 1988 p.
7)
Qualitative data is usually related to collecting and analysing data in several forms,
mainly non-numeric (Blaxter, Hughes and Tight 2001). In the recent years there have
been discussions within social sciences regarding the relative merits of quantitative
and qualitative strategies for research (Blaxter, Hughes and Tight 2001). Some
researchers find the two methods exclusive to each other while others are glad to use
a combination (Blaxter, Hughes and Tight 2001).
The author used a mixture of quantitative and qualitative methods to conduct the
primary research. The mixture allowed the author to collect more in depth data from
the industry, while measure general attributes of the users of Social Networking Sites.
Different methods will now be described and finally a rationale will be provided for the
selected methods.
3.7.1 Surveys
In business and management research there is a great use of questionnaires (Saunders,
Lewis and Thornhill 2007). Hutton describes the method as:
“The method of collecting information by asking a set of pre-formulated
questions in predetermined sequence in a structured questionnaire to a sample
of individuals drawn so as to be representative of a defined population”
(Hutton 1990 p. 8)

Methodology
The author found this method appropriate to research the individuals that visit Social
Networking Sites. This method was selected due to its low cost and time efficient
nature. Other benefit of using this method is that it allowed the author to target a
larger audience rather than a narrow selection; allowing the author to yield important
quantifiable data.
3.7.1.1 Questionnaire
Using a questionnaire was an ideal method for the contemporary study as it works
best with standardised questions, which barely leave room for different interpretation
(Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill 2007). The targeted audience received a questionnaire
through the use of electronic mail and using Social Networking Sites. The selection of
using digital format over traditional format (i.e. mail) was a well considered decision,
as the former has a higher level of cost efficiency, can reach a wider audience and the
data is more easily transferable for analysis purposes, while the latter is expensive,
time consuming and has very low rate of response.
The design and content of the questionnaire was utterly important as it can determine
the response rate (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill 2007). The questions were developed
considering the research questions and the conducted literature review. The final
questionnaire had 18 close ended questions (see appendix 1).
The questionnaire was divided over four categories (see Table 12), giving the
respondent a less intimidating feeling and creating a better overview of the
questionnaire.

Methodology
Category Aim of Category

General Raw segmentation of the responding audience
Technology Investigate technological issues
Social Networking Sites Create a better understanding of SNS use
Recruitment Measure respondents perspective on recruitment on SNS
Table 12 – Questionnaire Categories
In order to develop a proper questionnaire, several sources were used including, UK
government website to identify ethnicity classes, Chartered Institute of Personnel and
Development Report for recruitment details and books in order to comply with the
standards of an acceptable questionnaire.
The questionnaire was developed using the sophisticated software of Survey Monkey,
which enabled the author to exploit useful features including live statistics and the
output of data in a format used for SPSS. Survey Monkey also allowed the author to
design an accessible yet powerful questionnaire. The font size and colours can impact
the reader; hence special attention was paid to selecting the most comfortable setting.
Pilot testing was conducted to detect weaknesses in design and instrumentation
(Cooper and Schindler 2003). Ahead of conducting the pilot, the questionnaire was
presented to Mr Sutherland. He commented on issues affecting categorisation and the
interpretation; the feedback was used to improve and fine tune the questionnaire. The
questionnaire was then trialled among three people, of which the responses were very
positive. From this response the author concluded the questionnaire to be sufficient to
be disseminated.
The sample selection was not based on a specific sampling method. The questionnaire
could be completed by anyone, with one exception; the respondent had to be a user of
Social Networking Sites. This did not cause any difficulties as the questionnaire was

Methodology
primarily disseminated through the use of Social Networking Sites; hence most of the
respondents were using at least one site.
The questionnaire was used spread using two major methods, the use of social
networking sites and author’s personal network.
Social Networking Sites
The author is an active member of several Social Networking Sites which
allowed him to use this method to contact respondents. The initial audience
targeted was approximately 250 people, however due to the viral aspect; the
exact targeted audience is difficult to measure.
Personal Network
Personal network was further exploited by addressing the individuals known to
the author. The questionnaire furthermore was sent to ROCvA Airport’s
Business Courses Manager, requesting him to share the questionnaire at his
institution. Other than that, the author requested his network, to not only fill in
the questionnaire, but share it among their network.
In the first 24 hours, 100 people responded to the questionnaire. After consultation
with supervisor, effort to increase response rate was not made. However the
questionnaire was left open for a total duration of one week; with a total of 160
respondents.
3.7.2 Interviews
Creswell (2007) stated that the qualitative research can be approached with four types
of data collection methods (see Figure 7). The contemporary study used qualitative

Methodology
research to examine the perception of the professionals. The observation technique
was not possible in this case and not considered to be useful in this case. Documents
were not a prime method, however before approaching potential professionals, their
backgrounds were probed in order to measure relevancy. The principal method for
conducting the qualitative research among the professional was to use interviews.
“The interview method involves questioning or discussing issues with people, it can be
a very useful technique for collecting data which would probably not be accessible
using techniques such as observation or questionnaires” (Blaxter, Hughes and Tight
2001 p. 172).
• Gather fieldnotes by conducting observation as a

Observation participant
• Gather fieldnotes by conducting observation as an observer
• Conduct an unstructured, open-ended interview

• Conduct a semistructered interview
Interviews • Conduct a focus group
• Conduct different types of interview: e-mail, face-to-face,
telephone interviews
• Keep journals
• Examine autobiographies
Documents • Conduct chart audits
• Review records
• Videotape or film a social situation, a group or an individual

Audiovisual • Examine photgraphs or videotapes
• Collect e-mail or electronic messages
materials • Gather phone text messages
Figure 7 - Data collection approaches in qualitative research (Creswell 2007)

Methodology
Conducting interviews with credible professionals was the quantitative part of the
research. It allowed the author to measure the perception of professionals as indicated
in the objectives. As the interview does not necessarily have to take place face-to-face,
but can also be at distance e.g. by the e-mail (Blaxter, Hughes and Tight 2001), the
author decided to use this method as it was considered to be the most feasible
approach to conduct this type of research due to geographical issues.
The interview that was sent to two professionals;
 Ms. Karin Hermans Manager at Randstad
 Mr. Bas van de Haterd Consultant
The interviews were structured to gain insight into the personal perception of the
individuals and then continued with practical issues. The interviews were similar
however changes were made to conform to the role of the professional, this would
allow to gathering of specific data from each person.
3.7.2.1 Interview – Manager at Randstad
The first person to be considered for an interview was a manager within Randstad. This
would allow the author to determine the attitude of a professional working in the field
towards recruitment on Social Networking Sites. It would also offer insight into issues
recruitment agencies have already experienced or issues that have not yet been
identified by academic literature.

Methodology
3.7.2.2 Interview – Consultant at van de Haterd
Mr Bas van de Haterd was approached by the author to share his professional opinion
on the matter. Mr van de Haterd is an ideal person to enquire about regarding the
contemporary issue. He is intensively involved in HR issues and furthermore
specialised in online marketing.
3.8 Rationale for Selected Methods
The contemporary research combined different methods to create sufficient
knowledge. The researcher used a range of secondary data to collect relevant
information. The novel information was filtered and demonstrated in the literature
review. By conducting the literature review, the researcher had a better understanding
of what knowledge exists and what knowledge must be created in order to accomplish
the research objectives.
After the review of the existing data, the author decided to select a combination of
methods. To measure the perception of the members of Social Networking Sites, the
researchers decided to use a quantitative method. This resulted in the creation of a
questionnaire. The advantages of using a questionnaire were: low cost, response rates
can be high, response times are quick and the reach is larger. Focus groups in this case
would have limited the researcher to the opinion of a few people, whereas the
questionnaire reached more than 150 in different locations. Conducting the
questionnaire online was a decision made by the researcher, as the user-base of Social
Networking Sites is considered to be computer literate and would hence prefer this
method. The digital nature allowed convenient access, as the respondents only

Methodology
required to click on a link to share their responses. This method also allowed the
questionnaire to be easily disseminated among the network of its respondents.
To address the professionals a qualitative research method was selected due to the
smaller audience. Qualitative methods allow the researcher to gain in depth
knowledge, which seemed appropriate for the target audience. The chosen method
was an interview by e-mail. The researcher defined questions according to the person
and its role and the document were sent as an attachment to the individual. Personal
interviews would have been the author’s preferred method, however due to the
geographical issues, costs and limited time this was not a feasible option.
3.9 Ethical Considerations
Ethics are moral principles and values that will impact the way the researcher will
conduct its activities (Ghauri and Gronhaug 2005). “The goal of ethics in research is to
ensure that no one is harmed or suffers adverse consequences from the research
activities” (Cooper and Schindler 2003 p. 120)
The Robert Gordon University has formulated the ‘Research Ethics Policy’ which aims
to establish and promote good ethical practise in the conduct of academic research
(Robert Gordon University (2008). The author has ensured to have good understanding
of these policies.
The author has also filed a Student Project Ethical Review (SPER) form to comply with
the RGU policies. The SPER form must be completed for every student project
undertaken by and Honours student; this is to ensure that no unethical actions are
taken.

Methodology
The author sought to inform its respondents well on the nature of the research and
the rights the respondents are given.
3.10 Confidentiality
The respondents were assured wherever necessary that the data that they would
provide would be carefully dealt with and all data would be shared anonymously. The
individuals that were approached by the author for interview purposes were
requested to indicate whether their identity should be suggested or whether they
would prefer to stay anonymous.
3.11 Authenticity of the Data
As the author was not in the position to check the understanding of the respondents
first hand, issues of accuracy can be raised (Blaxter, Hughes and Tight 2001). The
author aimed to resolve this issue by striving to maintain the questions straightforward
and leave less to no space for misinterpretation.
3.12 Limitations of the Research
Various issues had an impact on conducting the research. This limited the author in
certain aspects.
The author was limited in the time that was available. After having the research
proposal approved the author had merely three months to review relevant literature,
formulate and conduct primary research, analyse the findings and draw conclusions
from the material. Reviewing the literature proved to be difficult as Social Networking
Sites are a quite recent development and academic literature has not explored all

Methodology
aspects. This resulted in a time consuming search for relevant literature. However the
rapid collection of primary research was a pleasant result.
The results of the primary research consisted of many student responses. Although
this was not the author’s intention, the type of response can be related to the method
used to gather the information. The personal network of the author consists of a large
proportion of students.

Findings and Analysis
4 Findings and Analysis

4.1 Introduction
This chapter is concerned with the analysis and discussion of results collected through
the use of questionnaires and interviews. To recapitulate, the questionnaire was sent
to users of Social Networking sites; a total of 160 responses were received. Next to the
questionnaire, three interviews were mailed out to respective people in the industry.
This chapter is divided in two main headings, each presenting the findings of the two
prime research methods. Each chapter will analyse, discuss and where possible,
compare the findings to the literature review.
The first section will discuss the findings of the questionnaire. The questionnaire
consisted of four main parts, namely: General Questions, Technology, Social
Networking Sites and Recruitment. The findings are displayed accordingly and are
correlated where found necessary.
The second section will discuss the findings retrieved from the interview. The
responses of the experts will be examined and compared to the literature review and
the findings of the primary research.

4.2 Questionnaire
The questionnaire was divided into four major parts; each aiming to retrieve particular
type of detail from the respondent. The parts were as following:
 General Questions - Gender, Age, Ethnicity, Location, Employment
 Technology - Computer literate, Internet use
 Social Networking Sites - Networks, Purpose, Usage
 Recruitment - Type of Job, Communication, Perceptions
The responses will be displayed accordingly and the author will discuss the findings
were possible in respect to the existing literature and other findings of this research.
The detailed responses can be found in appendix 2

4.2.1 General Questions
This section allowed the research to be segmented based on the responses given by
certain gender or age group. This background information was useful for further
analysis.
The total response to the questionnaire consisted of 160 individuals. Of which 41%
were male and 59% were female. The gender difference was considered to be within
proportions and did not have any major impact on the results of the overall research.
Male Female
Figure 8 – Findings: Gender response

The questionnaire offered the respondent to select one the four age groups. The result
was: 9.4% of the respondents were 17 and younger, 19.4% were between 25 and 39,
4.4% was above the 40 year and 66.9% were between 18 -24.
< 17 18 -24 25 – 39 40 >
Figure 9 – Findings: Age group
The respondents were requested to indicate their educational level. The primary
school received the least response (2%), while undergraduate was the best
represented (40%). This could be linked back to the fact that almost 70% of the
respondents indicated to be between 18 and 24 years.
Primary school Secondary school High School

University – Undergraduate University – Postgraduate
Figure 10 – Findings: Education level

As most of the respondents were aged 18 to 24 and indicated an undergraduate level
of education, it was not very surprising to see that the most selected option was
student (64%).
Student Executive / Manager
Professional (i.e. doctor, lawyer, consultant) Academic / Educator
Technical / Engineering Administrative
Sales / Marketing Unemployed
Unemployed and seeking job Other
Figure 11 – Findings: Occupation

The researcher found it useful to determine the ethnicity of the respondents, as this
would help determine if there is a difference in attitude towards recruitment practises
depending on ethnicity. The ethnicity bins were retrieved from the UK Government
site, which uses the classification to perform research (Office for National Statistics
2008). The outcome of the research indicated that the response primarily came from
the Asian (39%) and the White (43%) population.
White Asian Black Mixed Chinese Other
Figure 12 – Findings: Ethnicity

Finally the General Questions section requested the respondents to indicate their
location. The UK (36%) and Mainland Europe (46%) were best represented in this
research. Unfortunately no respondent was located in Africa. People from other
regions than mentioned accounted for a response of 8%, while USA generated a
response of 7%.
UK USA Mainland Europe Asia Africa Other
Figure 13 – Findings: Location

4.2.1.1 Interpretation/Discussion
The findings from the first part of the questionnaire revealed that more female
response was received, while the largest proportion was a student aged between 18
and 24 years old. Most of the respondents had either completed or were working
towards their undergraduate degree.
The largest response when categorised based on ethnicity came from ‘white’ and
‘asian’ individuals. Further data showed that most respondents were located on
Mainland Europe, followed by the UK. If the geographical location and ethnicity were
better divided, it would have offered interesting data; in which differences could be
identified in the perception of an African user in comparison to a Mainland European
user.

4.2.2 Technology
This section addressed the use of internet and computers. The respondents were
asked to indicate where they had access to internet, the use of internet and to what
extent they felt comfortable using a computer.
The majority (99%) of the respondents had access to the internet at home. The
questionnaire allowed multiple answers; hence the total count resulted in 464
responses. Interesting to see is that access to the internet is almost the same for work
(43%) and mobile (41%).
At home At work At University Mobile
Figure 14 – Findings: Internet Access

The respondents were requested to indicate the type of use they made of the internet.
Using the internet for e-mail purposes was selected by 94% people, while connecting
with friends; what can be linked to Social Networking Sites achieved 92%. On the
other hand, about 53% indicated to use the internet to find a job, which suggests that
other methods are frequently used to find a job.
E-Mail News Chatting

Connecting with friends Gaming Finding jobs
Academic Work Other
Figure 15 – Findings: Use of Internet
When the respondents were asked to indicate their adequacy using a computer, 60%
responded with very well, followed by 30% considering themselves to be fairly well
behind a computer. Only 1% felt that they were very poor at using a computer.
Very well fairly well Neutral Poorly Very poorly
Figure 16 – Findings: Computer Literate

Internet is primarily available at home, followed by university. As discussed in the
previous chapter this could be related due to the fact that a large proportion of the
respondents were students. Furthermore, internet on mobile received 40% response,
which means that the penetration of mobile users is significant and companies should
align their online strategy accordingly.
Among the users of Social Networking Sites, connecting with friends was the second
most important use of the internet. These users seem to attach much value to
networking online as connecting with friends is only surpassed by e-mail with barely
4%. The importance users seem to attach to connecting with friends could justify the
immense growth of Social Networking Sites discussed in the literature review.
Most of the responded felt that they managed to use a computer very well, although
this should be seen relatively as most of the activities that were mentioned in Figure
15, do not require expert knowledge of computers. The literature review also
highlighted that the success of Web 2.0 (see paragraph 2.3) relies on the number of
users. Ease of use is considered to be very important, and this is often used as a
feature to attract more members by the Social Networking Sites some of which are
indicated in the literature review.

4.2.3 Social Networking Sites
This section of the questionnaire inquired on which Social Networking Sites were most
popular and the usage by their users. The list consisted of 10 of most the popular
Social Networking Sites according to users and usage; there was also an option to
select ‘other’ as it would not be feasible to list all major websites.
Facebook Bebo Myspace Hi5

Hyves Twitter Orkut Linkedin
Xing Netlog Other
Figure 17 – Findings: Use of Social Networking Sites
In the contemporary research, Facebook was utterly popular with 85% of the
respondent indicating that they make use of the website, followed by Hyves with 44%
response. The share of other Social Networking Sites varied between 10 and 20
percent. Only 5.1% indicated to use Twitter and Netlog, which in the case of Twitter is
very surprising, as the company has been reporting extreme growth rates as shown in
the literature review. From the two Business Social Networking Sites, LinkedIn was
selected 18% of time, while Xing only received 7% of the response.

There is no discussion about the immense growth of the internet use in roughly the
last decade. The literature discussed the rapid growth of several Social Networking
Sites, and the amount of time people spend ‘socialising’ on these websites. More than
half of the respondents (53%) indicated that they visit these websites several times a
day. While less than 10% barely uses them.
Several times a day 1 to 3 times a week 4 or 5 times a week Barely use them
Figure 18 – Findings: Usage Social Networking Sites
The amount of activity can be linked to the persons ‘status’ on the web. As Li (2007)
suggested, there are several levels of participation (see Figure 2). The people indicated
that they barely use the Social Networking Sites (9%), could be addressed as the
‘inactives’, while all other could be categorised, among Creators, Critics, Collectors,
Joiners and Spectators. In Li’s research however, the inactives formed the majority, the
contemporary research however indicates otherwise. This can be the result of the
higher acceptance of Social Networking Sites and their unaffected popularity.

Vast number of people visiting these websites produces large traffic, creating much
value for Social Networking Sites. A number of visits many other websites could only
dream about.
Nearly all of the respondents (98%) that signed up for Social Networking Sites did this
in order to connect with friends. As discussed extensively in chapter 2.4, each Social
Network site has a slightly different approach, allowing them to differentiate. However
the key feature of most of these websites remains connecting with existing networks
(Boyd and Ellison 2008).
Connect with friends Dating

Explore professional opportunities Find people with similar interests
Figure 19 – Findings: Purpose of using Social Networking Sites.
Nearly 20% indicated to use Social Networking sites to explore professional
opportunities. This was closely followed by individuals that use them to find people
with similar interest (15%). Only 5% used Social Networking Sites to find the love of his
or her life. Hence the prime use of Social Networking Sites remains to connect with
friends, however if well targeted; other activities could use the large target audience
to increase their share.

There is wide variety of Social Networking Sites, each addressing a different target
group. Facebook has shown immense growth and this can be seen in this research as
well. Although there are hundreds of Social Networking Sites, less than 20% indicated
to be on a Networking Site other than mentioned. This has resulted in only a few sites
grabbing a large part of the pie, while others remain focussed on niche groups.
Facebook again seems to be a great example; Data Monitor (2007) expected Social
Networking Sites would have 230 million members all together, less than two years
later, Facebook alone has 200 million members.
The strength of Social Networks seems to lie in their power to keep attracting their
users to their websites. Contemporary research revealed that more than half of the
users check Social Networking Sites several times a day.
The primary reason for return seems to be ‘to stay in touch with friends’, which
confirms the earlier definition given by Boyd and Ellison (2008) in the literature review
(paragraph 2.4.1). They stated that Social Networking Sites are more about connecting
to existing networks rather than finding new contacts; hence should be addressed as
Social Network Sites instead of Social Networking Sites, as networking is done between
strangers. On the other hand MySpace (paragraph 2.4.3.3) encourages people to meet
their friends’ friends.
A small group still indicated to use them for exploring professional opportunities. It is
unclear whether the cause of this lies in the lack of organisational engagement or user
involvement. This could be caused due to the limited exposure the two major business
networks have received in non business media.

4.2.4 Recruitment
This section of the questionnaire aimed to gain more knowledge about the users and
their attitude towards recruitment issues. Questions addressed issues like whether
respondents perceived themselves to be ‘passive jobseekers’ and how they use
internet in the context of recruitment.
The respondents were requested to indicate whether they used online methods when
attempting to find a job. Just above 75% indicated to use internet as a tool when
seeking job. Bearing in mind that when the respondents were questioned on their use
of the internet (see Figure 15) about 50% indicated that they use the internet for
finding jobs. This entails that a number of respondents are not fully aware of their use,
unless the question is narrowed down or suggested more specifically.
Yes No
Figure 20 – Findings: Use of On-line methods to find a job

The 25% of the respondents seems to be indicating two different things and can
perhaps be seen as the passive jobseekers. They do not immediately feel attracted by
the internet to find a job, however once specifically looking, they seem to use the
internet.
Passive jobseekers are discussed in chapter 2.5.2.3. and 2.6.2.; many legitimate
sources and academicians conceive them very valuable. To enquire about how
members felt about themselves, they were asked to indicate whether they considered
themselves to be passive jobseekers.
Yes No
Figure 21 – Findings: Passive jobseekers
Roughly 60% replied with ‘yes’, indicating that they considered themselves to be a
passive jobseeker. This group is larger than the group that indicated they used internet
for recruitment purposes, but smaller than the group that indicated that they used
internet for seeking jobs. The amount of individuals considering themselves to be
passive job seekers is nonetheless quite large and confirms earlier statements made by

Gupta (2008) regarding the amount of passive job seekers potentially available on
Social Networking Sites.
Many people are using Social Networking Sites at the moment, with many of them
already working, while others seek employment. As the research intends to reveal
opportunities for organisations with recruitment ambitions on the Social Web, the
respondents were queried on where they would fancy working. The categories for this
question were retrieved from Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development
(2008b).
Marketing & Sales Media Professional services

Retail & Wholesale Administrative Food & Drinks
Public Services Finance IT
Engineering Manufacturing Construction
Transport
Figure 22 – Findings: Preferred place to work

The response indicated that ‘Marketing and Sales’ was most favoured with 54% of the
total; followed by Media (45%) and Professional Services (37%). The middle segment
ranged from Administrative (31%) to Finance (26%). Organisations hence targeting the
top three categories would do significantly well, in comparison to organisations aiming
at Construction (7%) or Transport (6%).
The research further demonstrated that nearly 50% of the people would have a
positive stance, while only 7% indicated not to appreciate organisations contacting
them online. There seems to be a large part (45%) that is not sure about organisations
contacting them. Successful approach for this group will most likely depend on the
type of organisations and the methods used to contact these users.
Positive Neutral Negative
Figure 23 – Findings: Organisation Contacting individuals on SNS

The response was more evenly dispersed when the respondents were queried whether
they would contact organisations on Social Networking Sites, ‘yes’ received the most
ticks (38%), closely followed by ‘maybe’ (35%) and about 27% responded that they
would not contact organisation on the internet.
Yes
No
Maybe
Figure 24 – Findings: Individuals contacting Organisations on SNS
As discussed in chapter 2.4, Social Networking is all about sharing and connecting.
Using this in the context of recruitment, the question was raised on how many people
would check a vacancy if forwarded by a friend; nearly 90% of the respondents said
they would check the vacancy when forwarded by a friend.
Yes
No
Figure 25 - Findings: View recommended vacancy

A large proportion of the respondents indicated that they use On-line methods as a
tool to find a job (Figure 20).
The response as given in Figure 25 offers organisations many options. In chapter 2.3.3,
Web 2.0 technologies were highlighted; which included Social Bookmarking. Social
Bookmarking is a simple tool that allows organisation and individuals to easily make
their content available in the arena of Web 2.0 websites. If organisation would
introduce the Social Bookmarking tools on their recruitment pages; allowing visitors to
easily share the vacancy with the people they find suitable within their network it
would be highly beneficial.
As for the recruitment process, the fifth step; ‘advertising the vacancy’ in the ‘eight
steps in Recruitment and Selection process’ (see Figure 1) by Cornelius (2001) would
be done by the visitors of the recruitment site and the users of Social Networking Sites.
The Web 2.0 is furthermore renowned for its viral aspect, allowing content to spread
around the globe in real-time. The viral aspect would make it possible for the vacancy
to disseminate among an immense group of Social users without the organisation
having to pay a high price. The largest recruitment organisations mentioned in chapter
2.2.2 were briefly examined on their use of social bookmarking. Every sign of Social
Bookmarking the vacancy lacked; all three organisations used a simple forward option
to mail the vacancy to another person. This is significant as these organisations should
be trendsetters in recruitment practises.

The benefit of this approach would be that users of Social Networking Sites are not
approached by organisations themselves; instead it is their trusted network. Hence
users are fulfilling certain recruitment activities lowering the cost to the organisation
while helping them attain quality prospects, which was stated as the aim of
recruitment by Armstrong (1996). When done properly, this could lead to higher
success rates and shorter lead times.

4.2.5 Professional vs. Personal
The data retrieved from the questionnaire was further analysed by using the two most
selected personal Social Networking Sites and the two professional Social Networking
Sites. The two most popular personal sites in the conducted questionnaire were
Facebook and Hyves, while the two professional sites were Linkedin and Xing. This
would allow examining whether there are substantial differences between users and
their motives on the two types of Social Networking Sites.
Although more women responded to the questionnaire as seen in Figure 8, it was
noticeable that more men were users of professional Social Networking Sites, in
contrast to women; which were better represented on personal Social Networking
Sites.
Facebook Hyves Linkedin Xing
Male Female
Figure 26 - Professional vs. Personal: gender difference

Further analysis demonstrated that most people were using professional and personal
networks to connect to friends, however the respondents that indicated to use the
internet as a medium to find jobs, were more often found on Linkedin rather than any
other network.
Connecting with friends Finding jobs
Figure 27 - Professional vs. Personal: Purpose of Internet
Figure 21 displayed that 61% of the respondents identified to be passive jobseeker.
From the research it appears that personal networks and professional networks barely
differ in the amount of users indicating themselves to be a passive jobseeker. 66% of
the Linkedin users indicated to be a passive jobseeker, while the lowest percentage
was affiliated with Hyves (63%).
Yes No
Figure 28 – Professional vs. Personal: Passive Jobseekers

To relate the findings to Social Networking Sites, The seven most popular places
people fancied working at where combined with the professional and personal
networks to see whether any differences could be identified.
LinkedIn’s users were more interested in Professional services (52%) and IT (24%),
Facebook and Hyves, leading on LinkedIn on certain occasions. Marketing and Sales
jobs attracted individuals from all four networks, while LinkedIn and Hyves peaking at
almost 70%.
Food & Drinks Professional Finance Media Retail & IT Marketing &
services Wholesale Sales
Figure 29 - Professional vs. Personal: most popular work places
Two questions within the questionnaire were directly concerning the communication
between organisations and individuals of which the results were given in Figure 23 and
Figure 24. The opinions of the users were divided and, while only 7% of the
respondents answered that they would feel negatively about an organisation
approaching them on a Social Networking Site. The data was collected was
manipulated in order to discover whether the users had different opinion on this
matter when divided by the type of Social Networking Site they use.

In Figure 30 the data shows slight differences in how users feel about organisations
contacting them on Social Networking Sites. It is noticeable that LinkedIn’s members
are most open (59%) to organisations contacting them; however it is also LinkedIn’s
members that are the most negative (10%) about organisational contact. Xing users
are according to the data more positive about being approached by organisations as
none of the users indicated to be negative on this matter.
Positive Neutral Negative
Figure 30 - Professional vs. Personal: Organisation contact individuals
Surprisingly when Xing users were asked about whether they would contact
organisations on Social networking site, they were the most reluctant (36%).
Yes No Maybe
Figure 31 - Professional vs. Personal: Individuals contact Organisations

The findings of the contemporary research do not show significant differences
between the users of professional or personal Social Networking Sites. From the two
professional sites used, LinkedIn was more popular than its competitor Xing. This came
as no surprise as the literature review already indicated that use of LinkedIn is far
larger than its competitor.
When the use of internet was correlated to the two professional networks and
personal networks, both types of networks were primarily used to connect with
friends, or in the case of professional sites these may be associates. Respondents
indicating the use of internet when seeking jobs peeked were more often found on
LinkedIn, whereas Xing was outperformed by Facebook.
Noted in paragraph 2.6.2, the power of business-oriented Social Networking Sites was
according to recruiters the fact that they are a rich source of information on passive
jobseekers (Gupta 2008; King 2007; Pruit 2008; Ruiz 2008; Wolk 2004). The data in
Figure 28 reveals that there is barely a difference between business and social
networking sites when compared on the number of passive jobseekers. Although the
statement made by the authors in the literature review, it could be used in contrast to
job boards. Statement according to this study indicates that passive jobseekers are not
necessarily limited to Business Social Networks.
The difference was more noteworthy when the top seven rated options for most
favoured working places were correlated to the four Social Networking Sites.
Individuals interested in working in professional services and IT were most often found
on LinkedIn, while individuals interested in the food and drinks sector were most often

found on Facebook and Hyves. Marketing and Sales and Media seemed to be overall
very popular, regardless of the network.
Interesting information revealed by the primary research was the gender difference in
the use of Social Networking Sites (Figure 26). Research showed that although more
women responded to the questionnaire (Figure 8), giving them slight advantage in the
rating, men were still more often active on professional networks in comparison to
women. Current literature does not make any special notes of gender differences on
the use of professional and personal networks.

4.3 Interviews
The interviews were conducted among professionals dealing with recruitment and/or
New Media. The purpose of the interviews was to gain feedback from professionals to
analyse their perception of Social Networking Sites and their value in facilitating
recruitment.
The interviews were adjusted according to the professional’s occupation, however
overall they covered their personal experience with Social Networking Sites, the value
they attach to this medium and how they perceived Social Networking in the context
of recruitment.
Full interviews can be found in the appendix.

4.3.1 Findings
4.3.1.1 Using Social Networks
Ms. Karin Hermans, Area Manager at Randstad; which ranks among the global leaders
when it comes to Recruitment, has plenty of experience when it comes to recruitment.
Hermans is a member of several Social Networking Sites, however she particularly uses
LinkedIn; “I often use Linkedin to find contact persons of certain companies, for this
purpose Linkedin is very useful” she states.
Bas van de Haterd, an Independent Professional with expertise in: recruitment, staff
communication and online marketing, says he uses many Social Networks and he uses
them often. Not very surprising, van de Haterd is specialist when it comes to
recruitment on Social Networking Sites. He states: “They all add value in different
ways”. Like Hermans, Linkedin helps him get introduced to organisations. But he
generally uses LinkedIn to check references. While LinkedIn function as a professional
tool, he uses Facebook and Hyves for more social purposes. Interesting is that van de
Haterd uses Twitter to strengthen relations with various people, by using Twitter he is
able to improve relations, which would have otherwise been only business relations.
Van de Haterd highlights the importance of investing time and effort into Social
Networking Sites; according to him: “the more you put into it, the more you get out of
it”.
4.3.1.2 Successful Recruitment methods
When van de Haterd was asked to share his opinion on what he considers to be
successful recruitment tools, he pointed out that LinkedIn is a perfect database for
recruitment containing professional information on individuals. However he goes on

by saying: “only when done correctly”. Cultural differences must be taken into account
and more importantly; companies should always put the person in the centre of
attention, not the company nor the job.
Hermans considers the best tool to depend on the kind of job that is being recruited
for. Internet according to her is becoming a very strong recruitment tool. Randstad’s
own job portal is a significant tool to attract employees. “But also a strong recruitment
tool is recommendation” she adds. She explains that recruitment agencies stay in
touch with the recruited people and when similar job vacancies arise; they try to find a
suitable person in the social network of the recruited person.
Van de Haterd likewise considers that the success of a recruitment tool depends on
multiple factors, he states:
“The success however is never in any tool. It’s always in the people using the tools.
The tool itself is just that, a tool. It’s like a hammer; you can use to build a house
or to bash someone’s head in. A tool isn’t worth much; it’s the hand that uses it”
4.3.1.3 Benefits of online recruitment
When the professionals were asked to share their view on whether it would be
beneficial to organisations and potential employees, if organisations increased their
online activities and started to recruit on their own; their views differed.
Hermans states: “The largest benefit for the employee with the current method is that
he/she will get a broad overview of all jobs currently available”, aiming at the role of
recruitment agencies discussing a wider range of job offerings. Online activities will
narrow the perspective of potential employee’s according to her, “since it is more
focussed on one possible job instead of several jobs”.

On the other hand, van de Haterd plays up the financial benefit for the organisations.
As reference he points to SAB Miller, which saved over 500.000 pounds in 2006 by
recruiting on LinkedIn. He also suggest that it becomes easier to build a talent pipeline,
recruit faster and make better matching, achieving this by simply establishing
relationship rather than hiring individuals immediately.
4.3.1.4 Recruitment and SNS
According to van de Haterd, Social Networking Sites can be a very useful to recruit
people, without becoming unnecessary intermediaries. Staffing agencies are prime
users of Social Networking Sites as a recruitment tool at the moment. He proceeds by
stating: “The moment corporations are going to use them more; the world will become
a better place, since corporations are much more worried about their reputation”.
Hermans has not yet made use of Social Networking Sites to recruit people, but shares
that within Randstad, certain departments do use Social Networking Sites to find
people for a job. Hermans does not seem to be troubled by the increased use of Social
Networking Sites, when asked what made recruitment agencies a popular method for
organisations to recruit people through, she replied with:
“Recruitment agencies are specialised in recruiting people and therefore have a

wider and stronger network than most companies. The majority of companies do
not recruit people on a regular basis”
Whether the increased use of Social Networking Sites will threaten the activities of
Randstad strongly depends on the market conditions Hermans says. However the
strength of recruitment agencies lies in their expertise. Hermans states:
“The core business of recruitment agencies is to recruit people, therefore they are
much more familiar with the recruitment process and this enables them to find
the right person for companies in the most efficient way”

According to Hermans, Social Networking sites can be considered as an additional
method of recruiting, however they will not be able to alter or replace the traditional
steps within the recruitment process. Hermans believes that these steps are necessary
to find an employee that fits the criteria required for a job.
4.3.1.5 Issues
Both professionals were requested to comment on what organisations must take into
account when they conceive to recruit through Social Networking Sites.
Van de Haterd believes two things should be taken into account:
“You do not have control”

“It is not about you”
It is important to understand that there no control in social networks and these
websites are not a CV databases. He continues with stating: “LinkedIn is a tool for
social networking, Facebook isn’t a social network; it’s a tool. The people are the social
network”
Van de Haterd points out that to actually do something on Social Networks; one must
become part of it. Hence it is crucial to build trust and understand that this is not
about you, it is about the person being recruited. “There are no quick wins” he says.
“People on Social Networking Sites should clearly indicate whether they would like to
be approached by companies” Hermans states. Van de Haterd accords with Herman
saying that organisation should never spam, any communication should always be
directed at a single individual.

4.3.1.6 Future
Social Networking has received great attention due to its rapid rise to the horizon.
According to van de Haterd, “we’ve just seen the beginning”. Good social networking is
the combination of online and offline. Organisations should invest more time in getting
in touch and staying in touch with potential employees and former employees (i.e.
alumni’s). It is all about staying connected with your environment. Further integration
could be the next step, where communication will be done through the combination of
video messaging and offline event.
Van de Haterd says that organisations need to be active on the social networks and
identify opportunities for them by themselves where possible”

4.3.2 Interpretation/Discussion
The responses from the interviews shared two perspectives, creating interesting data.
Both professionals used Social Networking Sites for a range of purposes. Van de Haterd
indicated that according to him, each website ads value in different ways. This could be
very true, as discussed in chapter 2.3.3; websites can have a different approach to
Social Networking. Each Social Networking Sites can have a different objective/vision
as demonstrated by Hoegg et al (Figure 3, page 13).
In the literature review, Martin and Jackson said that the most appropriate source for
recruitment depends on the group the organisation wishes to target (paragraph 2.2.1).
A statement confirmed by both professionals; with van de Haterd adding that LinkedIn
has great potential to be a successful recruitment tool when used properly, while
Hermans highlighting the strength of the internet overall.
Worthy of noting was that Hermans said that recommendation is a strong recruitment
tool. The process of recommendation as described by Hermans, suggested that the
network of the recruited person is utilised off-line, if this practise is well
comprehended within other agencies as well, the step to utilise Social Networks Online
would be comfortable made. In this case, the organisation would merely need to
connect their online profile with the profile of the recruited person, allowing their
network to access the organisation’s profile and their vacancies.
The perspective on benefits for organisations to recruit online, was different among
the professionals: Hermans, focusing on the employee side of the story; indicated that
it would narrow the view of the person on other available opportunities, van de Haterd
argued that organisations can save a great deal of financial resources when conducting

recruiting online themselves. He added that when organisations recruit themselves it
can foster the relationship. As discussed in the literature; Guest, Davey and Patch
(1988) examined the psychological contract and indicated that having a positive
psychological contact with employees can lead to increased motivation and higher
rates of loyalty.
Van de Haterd advocates recruitment on Social Networking Sites, claiming that they
can become useful tools without becoming unnecessary intermediaries. Herman
suggests that Social Networking Sites can be useful, however within the context of
recruitment, they are currently simply an additional tool. In the literature, Gupta and
Burns (Paragraph 2.6.1) indicated that many recruitment opportunities lie in Social
Networks, Ceridian (Paragraph 2.6.4) however indicated that organisation should be
internally prepared to deal with the different type of recruitment practise.
Recruitment on Social Networking Sites in comparison seems to be more time
consuming and more difficult. Van de Haterd stated that one should not aim for quick
wins. Similar to Cook quoted by Pulsinelli (2009) stating that recruitment on Social
Networking Sites must be done as a soft sell, ”the sales cycle is a lot longer, so the
patience needs to be there" (Paragraph 2.6.3.)
Good communication seems to be vital when considering Social activities.
Professionals and the authors referenced in the literature seem to agree on this.
Hermans indicated that only people that are open for receiving communication form
organisations should be approached; van de Haterd highlights the importance of not
spamming individuals, Peppers and Rogers (1995) indicated that current approach
should be about building relations (Paragraph 2.3.4) and Cascio (1995) described the

two different approaches to recruitment, with recruitment on Social Networking Sites,
should most definitely be approach with a mating strategy.
As van de Haterd stated in the interview, it is for the organisations to identify the
opportunities, however as Burns (2008) indicated, in order for organisations to
successfully exploit any of the opportunities, it will require them to make greater
investment of time, understanding, commitment and authenticity to build meaningful
relations (paragraph 2.6.1)

Conclusion
5 Conclusion

Conclusion
Social Networking Sites are growing and growing, there seems to be no limit to their
size. Currently many online communities have millions of members using online
networks on a regular basis to communicate, share, create, and collaborate with
others. Not many people these days can claim to have an off-line social network which
is not part of any on-line network. Being and staying connected is the way to go.
5.1 The report
This report aims to inform its reader on the basics of recruitment, Social Networking
Sites and how online recruitment is currently perceived. Cascio (1995) states:
“recruitment is not only business, it is big business” and so are Social Networking Sites.
Successful Social Networking Sites are valued at millions of pounds, simply based on
how many people use them, and people are exactly what organisations are after.
People can be different types of stakeholders; they can for instance be customers or
employees. The latter is where this report will focus on. The contemporary research
has gathered data from current literature, users of Social Networking Sites and
professionals to create an overview of how Social Networking Sites are assessed in the
context of recruitment; offering an insight on the different aspects.
5.2 Social Networking Sites
The study highlights the rise of Social Networking Sites. Social Networking has allowed
individuals to use the internet and web applications in previously impossible ways
(Weaver and Morrison 2008). In chapter 2.4, Social Networks are evaluated based on
the perceptions and opinions of a range of authors. Boyd and Ellison (2008) suggested
that Social Networking Sites should be named Social Network Sites, as Networking is

Conclusion
done between strangers, while Social Networking Sites primarily seem to encourage to
link with people already known.
The growth of Social Networking Sites has been endorsed by Web 2.0; the fundament
of all web applications encouraging a collective environment in which user generated
content is highly valued. Web 2.0 offers users to share and connect across several
platforms, allowing increased participation from users.
Contemporary research revealed that connecting with friends is the second most
popular use of the internet, only being preceded by e-mail. With more than half of the
people responding to questionnaire indicating that they visit Social Networking Sites
several times a day, it seems to be a very interesting place to be. Professionals seem to
agree, although there is some discussion about their use. Remarks on the use include
that being on Social Networking Sites can be time consuming, however it is argued that
more value is gained when done properly.
5.3 Sociocruitment
Online recruitment has shown significant growth. This is not very surprising according
to Strategic Direction (2009) which states that the current generation is the best
connected in history. Organisations seem to embrace online recruitment due to the
cost efficiency, wider reach and integration with existing HR systems. Professionals
indicate that the use of job portals can be a great tool in assisting organisation in
finding the right candidates. However job portals still focus on a one way process,
which is described as prospecting by Cascio (1995), mating however is described by
Cascio as a two way approach to recruitment, something that can be enabled by
recruitment practises on Social Networking Sites.

Conclusion
During the course of this study, the author found many names for online recruitment;
including: e-cruiting, e-recruitment, cybercruitment and others. However, although
there is a lift in recruitment practises on Social Networking Sites, there does not seem
to be single word to refer to it. Hence the author decided to create one, after a
brainstorm session with Elfezy, the name for recruitment practises on the Social
Networking Sites determined to be named: Sociocruitment, with Socio referring to the
involvement of a society or community.
According to literature Sociocruitment can be very useful as it allows organisations to
access passive jobseekers. Findings revealed that indeed the majority of respondents
identified themselves as passive jobseekers. Accessing these passive jobseekers
however requires organisations to invest time in understanding how these networks
work, as the users seemed to be dispersed when asked whether they would allow
organisations to contact them, although only a minor part taking a negative stance,
there is plenty of opportunity for organisations.
In order for organisations to successfully exploit any of the opportunities
Sociocruitment offers, it will require them to make greater investment of time,
understanding and effort; in case organisations are not willing to fully commit, they
should remain using their established methods, as other recruitment methods are
tested and have proven effectiveness.
5.4 Limitations
Time and access restrictions, caused the research to have certain limitations, these
limitations are outline in chapter 3.12, it was further felt that further research could be
conducted to enhance the understanding, recommendations are made in chapter 6.3.
Recommendations
6 Recommendations
Recommendations
6.1 Introduction
The final part of this report covers the recommendation. As stated early on by the
author, making recommendations is a key objective of this study and they would be
made based on the findings retrieved through conducting the primary and secondary
research.
This section outlines the possibilities, organisations can consider for successfully
implementing a strategy to conduct recruitment on Social Networking Sites.
The recommendations are based as stated on existing literature and the primary
research, allowing organisations to consider the issues highlighted in this report and
the analysis of the primary research.
Recommendations
6.2 Recommendations
The following recommendations are made for organisations, which are considering
commencing using Web 2.0 technologies.
6.2.1 Have a strategy
Using Web 2.0 technologies can offer many advantages to organisations, nevertheless
some issues can arise. It is important for an organisation to draw a strategy for all Web
2.0 activities. They should define which of the tools they wish to use and which
websites seems to match the organisation’s aims and objectives. As discussed in the
contemporary report, there are many different Social Networking Sites; each target a
different audience, hence careful selection can have a greater positive impact.
When developing a strategy, key personnel should be consulted and every member
affected should have a clear understanding of the approach.
6.2.2 Online Social Profile
Organisations not ready for Sociocruitment can still easily become part of Social
Networking Sites, without taking any risks. Many Social Networking Sites allow
organisations to make a profile or start a group. This is an excellent method to engage
with users of Social Networking Sites and show off your brand.
Organisations could further exploit online profiles and groups, by sending newsletters
to members and encourage a two way communication process, allowing the
organisation to receive direct feedback, which can be used to improve service or
product.
Recommendations
6.2.3 Social Bookmarking
Social Bookmarking is an excellent way for organisations to disseminate information, It
is free, it is done for you and it can reach millions of people. By simply integrating
Social Bookmarking into the corporate website, organisation allow the visitors to share
the content of the website on hundreds of sites, which on its turn can be viewed or
shared by millions of people. Proper use of this tool can outperform large
advertisement campaigns.
As discussed in this research, if organisations integrate Social Bookmarking on their
career pages, it will allow the visitors to share an interesting vacancy among its online
network, not only is the advertisement being done for free, it can lead to higher
success rates, as research revealed that 90% of the respondents would check a
vacancy if forwarded by a friend.
6.2.4 Build applications
The underlying technology of Web 2.0 is accessible for everyone. It can allow
organisations to create their own tools which can be shared on Social Networking
Sites. For instance, a simple application could be developed by an organisation to
automatically display the organisations latest vacancies on a Social Networking Site.
This form of Sociocruitment could encourage people to initiate contact with the
organisation.
6.2.5 Explore opportunities
People within a company are an excellent method to discuss opportunities. Most
people use Social Networking Sites; hence there is a great probability that employees
Recommendations
within the organisation are using them. Organisation should encourage employees to
share ideas on how Web 2.0 can be used to benefit the organisation.
6.3 Further Research
The contemporary research used a limited sample; it was felt that if the research
would be conducted on larger scale this would be beneficial in identifying differences
among users of different demographics.
Research should be conducted to evaluate the tools current Social Networking Sites
offer to organisations in order for them to successfully recruit.
Further research could be conducted to investigate which factors affect people when
they select a tool to find a job.
References
References
References
AGUITON, C. and CARDON, D., 2007. The Strengths of Weak Cooperation and Attempt
to Understand the Meaning of Web 2.0. Communications and strategies, 65(1st
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Appendix
Appendix
Appendix
Appendix 1 – Questionnaire
Appendix
Appendix
Appendix
Appendix
Appendix
Appendix
Appendix
Appendix
Appendix 2 – Questionnaire Results
Appendix
Appendix
Appendix
Appendix
Appendix
Appendix
Appendix
Appendix
Appendix
Appendix 3 – Interviews
Appendix
Appendix
Appendix
Appendix
Appendix
Appendix
Appendix
Appendix

The Power of Social Networking Sites - A Thesis by Adeel Qurashi

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Abstract

The Power of Social Networking

A thesis submitted in part fulfilment of the requirements

Author: Adeel Qurashi Robert Gordon University

The Power of Social Networking Sites in the context of Online Recruitment II

value in the context of recruitment. Academic literature extensively discusses online

Research revealed that professionals are quite optimistic about Sociocruitment.

Although users of Social Networking Sites had a disperse opinion on organisations

contacting them on these websites; not many were negative.

The contemporary research furthermore harvested information from a range of

sources to create understanding of key issues allowing readers to familiarise

organisations can engage in this new media.

in the completion of this Thesis.

Mr. Bill Sutherland - Thesis Supervisor, RGU

Ms. Karin Hermans - Area Manager, Randstad

Mr. Bas van de Haterd - Consultant, van de Haterd Consultancy

Friends & Family

The Power of Social Networking Sites in the context of Online Recruitment IV

Abstract .................................................................................................... III

Table of Contents ...................................................................................... V

Appendices ............................................................................................. VIII

List of Figures ........................................................................................... IX

List of Tables ............................................................................................. XI

2 Literature review ..................................................................................7

The Power of Social Networking Sites in the context of Online Recruitment V

2.4.1 SNS’s – the Basics .................................................................................. 28

4 Findings and Analysis ........................................................................ 59

The Power of Social Networking Sites in the context of Online Recruitment VI

4.3.1 Findings ................................................................................................. 89

6 Recommendations ........................................................................... 101

References ............................................................................................. 106

Bibliography ........................................................................................... 115

Appendix ................................................................................................. 118

Appendix 1 – Questionnaire 119

Appendix 2 – Questionnaire Results 127

Appendix 3 – Interviews 136

Figure 1 – Eight steps in R&S process (Cornelius 2001) ................................................13

Figure 2 – Participation in Social Activities identified by Li, Forrester Research (2007).21

Figure 4 - Overview of Web 2.0 apps (Hoegg et al 2006 p.8) ........................................26

Figure 5 – Overview of Social Networking Sites (Gerbranda 2007 p. 10) ......................29

Figure 6 – Sources of Primary Data (Ghauri and Gronhaug (2005) ...............................48

Figure 7 - Data collection approaches in qualitative research (Creswell 2007) .............53

Figure 8 – Findings: Gender response ..........................................................................62

Figure 9 – Findings: Age group .....................................................................................63

Figure 10 – Findings: Education level ...........................................................................63

Figure 11 – Findings: Occupation .................................................................................64

Figure 12 – Findings: Ethnicity .....................................................................................65

Figure 13 – Findings: Location .....................................................................................66

Figure 14 – Findings: Internet Access ...........................................................................68

Figure 15 – Findings: Use of Internet ...........................................................................69

Figure 16 – Findings: Computer Literate ......................................................................69

Figure 17 – Findings: Use of Social Networking Sites ...................................................71

Figure 18 – Findings: Usage Social Networking Sites ....................................................72

Figure 19 – Findings: Purpose of using Social Networking Sites....................................73

Figure 20 – Findings: Use of On-line methods to find a job ..........................................75

Figure 21 – Findings: Passive jobseekers ......................................................................76

Figure 22 – Findings: Preferred place to work ..............................................................77

The Power of Social Networking Sites in the context of Online Recruitment IX

Figure 23 – Findings: Organisation Contacting individuals on SNS ................................78

Figure 24 – Findings: Individuals contacting Organisations on SNS ..............................79

Figure 25 - Findings: View recommended vacancy .......................................................79

Figure 26 - Professional vs. Personal: gender difference ..............................................82

Figure 27 - Professional vs. Personal: Purpose of Internet ...........................................83

Figure 28 – Professional vs. Personal: Passive Jobseekers ............................................83