When you think about it, everyone that you will hire in the next year is likely connected on LinkedIn or Social Media to someone who already works at your company. Imagine what could happen to your hiring process if you were able to tap into those social media networks? When you really get the implications of that from a referral hire perspective, the possibilities are amazing!
On LinkedIn, people tend to accept requests from people who are similar to themselves – similar job, similar industry or similar educational background. Now I’m not saying that everyone you are connected to on LinkedIn is the same as you. But, if we were to compare your LinkedIn connections to the general population of the city you live in, you will likely find that the people in your network are more LIKE you than not like you. There was something in common that had you connect with them.
Imagine what could happen if you were able to tap into those social media networks to source referral hires? Can you see how powerful that could be?
As a recruiter, I’ve noticed an increase in referrals when I make the referral request by social media. It’s easy for people to flip an e-mail about a new opportunity to someone.
If you are not using technology to your advantage in getting more referrals, you will soon be left behind.
Here are three interesting statistics about referrals:
- Referral hires perform 3%-15% better than hires from other sources.
- On average it takes just 10.4 referrals to lead to a hire.
- Employee referrals have the highest applicant to hire conversion rate. Only 7% apply, but this accounts for 40% of all hires.
It’s also interesting to note that referrals are the way to hire.
Here is the amount of time that it takes to hire candidates:
- 29 days for referrals
- 39 days for job boards
- 45 days for career sites
67% of employers and recruiters say that the recruiting process is shorter via referral.
Average firms hire at a rate of 1 out of 10 referral candidates, but Top performing companies hire referrals at a rate of 1 out of 3 applicants!
So remember, the next time you have to hire think REFERRALS. Before you place an ad or call a recruiter, send a message internally to your team. Let them know that you are hiring and ask if they would be willing to send a message out to their networks? Then reward your employees if someone that they refer gets hired.
If you want to be a Top Performing Company, create a plan to increase the number of referral candidates you hire.
Here’s to your success!
About the author:
Shanna Landolt has been featured as an expert on LinkedIn and Hiring on NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox and CityTV. She is the Editor, Recruitment Strategy for The HR Gazette. Her recruitment firm, The Landolt Group specializes in pharmaceutical and biotechnology search. Her consulting firm, Secrets from a Headhunter works with corporations to leverage the combined power of their employee’s networks to attract talent. Secrets From a Headhunter also works with individuals and executives to create a unique LinkedIn profile to optimize their personal brand,
You can contact Shanna Landolt, President of Secrets From a Headhunter and The Landolt Group at 416-849-3855 or shanna@landoltgroup.com or on LinkedIn at ca.linkedin.com/in/shannalandolt/