News: LinkedIn misuse means candidate research 'should be conducted with caution'

Posted by catheverett in Recruitment, Technology on Wed, 05/09/2012 - 13:56


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Widespread misuse of LinkedIn means that HR professionals should exercise caution when using it as a tool to conduct research on potential job candidates, a researcher has warned.

A survey among 2,028 UK adults undertaken by ICM Research revealed, for instance, that around two thirds of people who have used the social networking site in the past subsequently failed to update their personal information, which meant that it wasn’t necessarily always accurate.
 
Maurice Fyles, ICM’s research director, said that professional recruiters had indicated they found LinkedIn a useful way to identify and engage potential job candidates whom they might not otherwise have known about.
 
But he added: “It also seems that they are aware of some of the ways it is being used and misused and approach the information on LinkedIn with a healthy amount of scepticism. Our research confirms they are right to be cautious.”
 
The study also indicated that just under one in 10 respondents used their profile to exaggerate their achievements, with about the same number of active users acknowledging that they had secured a recommendation from someone by offering to write them one in return.
 
A further 8% said that they had written a “flattering” recommendation as a “favour” or because they felt obliged to do so.
 
But the number of connections that an individual had acquired was likewise found to not necessarily reflect how well connected they were. Some three out of 10 active users admitted accepting a connection request from someone that they didn’t know, while 16% had asked to link to people with whom they had never formerly had contact.

 

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Editor's Note - May 10

Had a busy week with two days at the Responsible Business Summit in London. What struck me was the appetite for sustainability in the corporate world. I spoke to senior figures from multinationals who knew wholeheartedly that businesses in the future would not succeed if the society around them failed.

Much of this appetite was understandably focused on collaboration - the future of sustainability. Words that were previously indicative of success - power, might, scale, size - are no longer enough in the open source, peer-reviewed future where opponents will not simply grumble and moan and then leave you in peace. Companies must work with governments, NGOs, charities and social enterprises as a matter of course. And even competitors, where necessary.

Facilitating this collaboration is the big challenge of the next five years. Highly-strung and ego-centric companies, feverish with the need to protect their brand, will struggle the most, but it's either adapt or die.

The business/charity relationship is one of the most interesting focal points. Business power can drive positive social change in so many ways but charities are the key holders to communities. As businesses are expected more and more to play a stake in the future, charity partnerships should be top of the corporate priority list. Businesses that don't work closely with a charity will find themselves with reputational problems.

There's a lot more to CSR, of course, but collaboration is the bedding on which CSR will rest. Businesses can no longer find the answers to all their problems in their own resources and assets.

And for many that's a scary thought.

Any thoughts, thoughts or questions, drop me a line on editor@hrzone.co.uk.

Best wishes

Jamie

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