In a small group study, nearly twice as many job candidates said they depended primarily upon Facebook rather than LinkedIn when researching companies that had job openings they were interested in. Facebook easily outpaced all other major forms of social media as a research tool, including Google+ and Twitter.
But when asked about interviewing preferences, nearly three-quarters voted for an in-person interview with a hiring manager. High tech alternative interview tools such as Skype and video resumes received extremely low rankings from this group.
The conclusion by Manpower, which released the study results drawn from 200 job seekers, said people in today's job market are comfortable combining online job-hunting tools with the personal connection afforded by a live interview.
Recommended For You
"Even as technology — and the awareness of new tools — continues to rapidly advance, the tried, but true methods of in-person and phone interviews, and more frequent, personalized interactions with hiring managers or recruiters remain the clear preference of job seekers across generations. Organizations should evaluate their talent acquisition strategy and customize job seekers' experiences based on their preferences," said Jim McCoy, vice president ManpowerGroup Solutions and North America RPO practice lead, in a release accompanying the results. "The impact that high-touch — or human contact — has on a candidate's recruiting experience cannot be overstated."
Nearly all candidates said they visited the websites of companies that had attractive jobs dangling before them. A rather large number (36 percent) said employer sites "lack clear and relevant information." Perhaps that's why they turned to other online platforms to learn more. Here are the rankings of respondents' No. 1 choices for social media research:
- Facebook: 72 percent
- LinkedIn: 43 percent
- Google+: 43 percent
- Pinterest: 22 percent
- Twitter: 13 percent
"The content and functionality of employers' websites and career sites matter," McCoy said. "Since nine in 10 candidates use them as primary sources of information about employers, making them relevant, compelling and user-friendly should be a priority of employers. By maximizing their presence on, and engagement with, carefully selected social media, employers can attract and engage the right candidates faster and more efficiently."
Other key findings about candidate preferences include:
- 52 percent use search engine results, and 45 percent use peer recommendations, to gather information about prospective employers and positions;
- CareerBuilder and Monster top the list of most frequently used online job sites;
- 72 percent said they prefer an in-person interview with a hiring manager;
- 16 percent prefer an initial phone screening interview with a recruiter;
- 8 percent said they prefer a telephone conference job interview;
- 2 percent said they prefer to be interviewed via Skype or a similar video conferencing tool.
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Dan Cook
Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.
