Trends In Recruiting, Part Three

In our final report on recruiting trends for 2010, we look at the hottest area for recruiters and how to make it the hottest area for job seekers.  Earlier we looked at a new LinkedIn Survey of recruiters that shows spending on job boards and staffing firms is down. It also shows recruiters are keeping a pipeline of qualified candidates and that the emphasis now is on quality hires rather than quick hires.

Today, the most dramatic finding in the survey: Recruiters are increasingly looking for ways to use social media and professional networks, and this has big implications for job seekers. The most popular social and networking sites for recruiters are LinkedIn and Twitter, so job seekers would be wise to focus their efforts on these two sites along with those that are industry or job specific.

To be found by recruiters via social media and professional network sites:

• Optimize your profile on LinkedIn
• Join and participate in professional networks on LinkedIn and elsewhere
• Put forth your professional expertise by sharing knowledge on professional networks
• Be helpful, looking for ways to answer other people’s questions on a consistent basis
• Optimize your Twitter account
• Locate and follow recruiters on Twitter

You can find recruiters to follow by looking at job search discussions on LinkedIn. Recruiters are often active. Follow up and see if they are on Twitter as well. Increasingly recruiters are tweeting new job openings on Twitter.

Once you find recruiters on LinkedIn or Twitter, start interacting with them.  Answering their questions, offering help and retweeting their tweets are all great way to get on recruiters’ radar and start building a relationship.  When the time or situation is right, reach out directly and you will have a much better chance of getting a warm response.