The poll revealed that 44% of the senior HR professionals participating were not using social media for recruitment purposes, 18% were and 32 % were considering its use. A “very specific group” of 50 senior HR professionals participated in the snapshot poll, said community founder, Glen Kieran.

Respondents on both sides of the question pointed out that the best use of social media relates to the type of roles being recruited for. Of those not using social media, one professional who responded to the survey said, “We have been recruiting for some senior/high and scarce skill positions, and we do not find that social media hits the spot for these individuals.”

At online spread betting company the Sporting Index, Matthew Wallace, head of HR was among those responding to the poll in the affirmative. He told Recruiter,

“With the nature of our business, it’s an absolute ’no brainer’” to use social media to attract appropriate candidates.

Wallace said that the key to its successful use at his organisation was operating in relevant online forums and not only on sites such as Facebook or LinkedIn.

At accountancy firm Grant Thornton, using social media in recruitment was considered a big enough question to require sign-off from the firm’s chief executive officer. “We took a considered approach to using social media at all,” said Maria Floud, national graduate recruitment manager. “There was some caution.”

The firm now uses it to recruit trainees, Floud said. Current trainees helped to develop the social media strategy.

Another respondent who was not using social media cited an ongoing recruitment freeze as the reason why.

Kieran said that despite the preponderance of non-users, drivers such as cost savings and relevance to target recruits meant “we’re likely to see an increase in the use of this channel for recruitment”.

HR Business Network is a UK-based online community of more than 2,400 senior HR professionals.

Graham Simons contributed to this report.