Recruitment software provider Bullhorn has released a white paper advising recruiters on how to use LinkedIn and other social networks for recruitment success.

The paper, entitled ‘How Bullhorn Sees it: Six Tips for Using LinkedIn and Other Social Networks for Recruitment Success’, addresses growing anxiety among recruiters on the threat posed by LinkedIn by giving employers direct access to candidates.

Barry Hinckley, president and founder of Bullhorn, says: “With every member recording their career history and displaying recommendations from colleagues, clients and suppliers, LinkedIn has effectively become one of the world’s largest databases of candidates, and much of this information can be accessed by anyone. 

“The need for recruitment agencies, however, will remain or grow for two reasons: the obvious one is that LinkedIn now offers heaps more data to sift through. But secondly, and more importantly, are the relationships. Historically, the best recruiters are those who cultivate relationships and manage extensive networks of people.

“Many recruiters today have built vast networks on LinkedIn, and these are far more personal than those built on job boards. Employers will pay a recruiting fee to access relationships they do not have.”

Bullhorn’s key advice is:

1) LinkedIn works best if you alter your voicemail strategy

2) People on LinkedIn are not passive, they’re active

3) LinkedIn is a good method of sourcing names and finding candidates, but will not do the work for you

4) LinkedIn is the second stop (after checking your internal database for active candidates) of obtaining referrals

5) Facebook has a role to play, but currently is not ideal for sourcing candidates

6) ZoomInfo is useful for generating new and better requirements.