The Influence of Social Networking Sites on Recruiting Human Resources in the Czech Republic

Abstract

Background: This paper is focused on the usage of social networking sites (SNS) for human resources departments in the process of hiring new employees. It also maps the development and influence of SNS on recruiter’s behavior and customs. The main aim is to find out, whether SNS could/will replace traditional online job boards in the Czech Republic. The motivation for the research is to determine whether SNS can be used for serious and practical business purposes. Methods: The paper presents authors’ empirical research with two interconnected instruments used for data col­lection: (1) Questionnaire with 15 questions devoted to usability, evaluation and comparison of SNS with job portals (N=286 HR specialists) and (2) Comparison of 3 online job advertising methods – job portals, SNS and business website. Results: HR specialists regularly use publicly available information on candidates’ Facebook profiles. Similar results have been observed using both instruments. SNS’s in the Czech Republic are not yet used by recruiters as the main tool for recruitment, however, are often used as a support tool for decision making in the final stage of recruitment. Use of SNS’s by recruiters is universal; we have not found any significant differences in terms of demographics (men, women, old, young HR professionals). The rate of utilization of SNS’s by recruiters in the Czech Republic is gradually increasing, but does not reach the US level. Conclusion: Our findings confirm the rising importance of social networking sites (SNS) usage as a new recruiting technology. However, as a major player in the field of recruitment, job boards (eg. Jobs.cz) are still important. However, the expectation is that in the near future, this will change and SNS‘s may replace the job boards.