Literature Review for "Using Social Networks for Staff Recruiting"

APA Citation

Mitran, A. (2010). Using social networks for staff recruiting. Romanian Journal of Journalism & Communication / Revista Romana de Jurnalism si Comunicare- RRJC, 5(2), 59-69. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Overview

            In this article, Adina Mitran researches how the Internet is affecting the world globally through social networking and the recruiting process in Romania.  The hypothesis for this article is that Romania does use social networking when recruiting new employees to a company. With the United States as a comparison, Mitran measured how Romanian companies utilize social networking sites, such as Facebook and LinkedIn when looking to hire new employees.  With help from Marshall McLuhan’s Technological Determinism, Mitran illustrates how new technology, the Internet, has become a part of people’s daily routine lives, both personal and professional.  This journal was composed in order to be a starting point for further research on the subject.  Mitran stated that a lack of previous bibliography was an obstacle for this work.  The fact that the world is at an online age, businesses need to continue to keep up with the trend for numerous reasons.  One being that using online recruitment is much cheaper than traditional hiring methods, and thus helps maintain human resource departments that usually get cut first when there is a need for a budget cut.  Another reason is that much more information about a possible employee is revealed through social networking profiles.  Employers can view necessary information for their company through these sites to tell if the person is a good candidate for the job or not.  The question posed was if Romania, and the rest of the world, is ready to keep up with the technological revolution.  According to Mitran’s findings, Romania is ready and willing to use social networking to hire certain staff. 

Methodology

            Mitran used a questionnaire survey in gaining the information necessary for this research on the use of social networks in staff recruitment in Romania.  This questionnaire was made in order to ask if social networks are used in Romanian companies to their full potential and how they compare to how American companies use social networking for hiring purposes.  The model used for Americans was made by Jobvile.  The nineteen questioned survey was structured to analyze how Romanian companies comprehend and adjust their practices according to social networks on the Internet.  Mitran found e-mail addresses on company websites, posts and LinkedIn, and used those to distribute the survey.  Out of seventy-four surveys sent out, sixty-four were filled out completely through November 16 through December 17, 2009.  The ten who did not fill out the questionnaire completely resembled the companies that did not see the full potential and importance of social networking. 

Findings

            After analyzing how Romanian companies answered the sixty-four survey questionnaires, Mitran discovered that the people in Romania who are job hunting need to be checking and updating their social network profiles.  Businesses are checking sites such as LinkedIn and Facebook to determine employment, except for CEOP and top company positions.  These higher-level jobs still require traditional methods of employment.  According to McLuhan’s Technological Determinism, there is no hiding from this technological trend.  It is becoming a way of life, and companies are catching on to stay ahead of the game and save money.  Companies know that the rising generation has grown up with this new technology and now must adapt to it. 

            Although Facebook is the most popular social networking site in the United States, LinkedIn beat out Facebook in Romania, which is another example of the importance of social networking there.  In both countries, Twitter is rising rapidly as well.  But, no matter the need or importance of new technology, there will always be some people of companies that refuse to join the trend and stick to traditional methods that they are more comfortable with, even if it means more money and less human resources.  According to this study, the most important aspects of social networking for someone looking for employment are their profile and picture for identification.  Not only do companies want to see if you are a potentially passive employee, they can also compare you to other possible employees at a much easier rate. 

            Ultimately, Mitran’s hypothesis on Romania’s use of social networking was correct.   The majority of businesses in Romania do rely on social networking websites when looking to hire a new employee.  This is because there is such lower costs with this method, much lower recruiting time used, undemanding contact with the applicant and simply have an easier time determining whether someone is credible enough for the position. For many people, their life-stories are on their social networking site, which makes a very easy interview for employers.

Critique

            I really enjoyed reading and studying this article.  When I first read the title, I almost kept going because I could not imagine anything interesting about Romania that could have anything to do with technology.  Surprisingly, I was proven completely wrong.  It turns out that Romania is right there with us in the United States on enhancing their use of technology for personal and professional spheres of life.  Ironically, that is also a part of my negative critique.  Mitran goes into how social networking and staff recruiting is a part of everyone’s lives, but there are no further details on what the people interviewed think regarding that aspect.  I know that I am nervous about how much of my life is no longer private, if anything, and that is a big part of a discussion that is undeniable in the future of technology and social networking.  I am glad that LinkedIn and Facebook are spreading globally, but can social networking websites become too much? 

Application

            This article works quite well with what our group is preparing for our project on how social media affects marketing and public relations practitioners globally.  It turns out that even in Romania, social networking is causing quite a stir amongst businesses, and is getting extreme notice.   The Internet is undeniable, and the access that is granted through the World Wide Web and social networking sites makes information so much easier to attain than ever before in history.  Technological Determinism is going to play an immense role in our project because McLuhan’s theory describes how new inventions and technologies have transformed history, and there is no stopping it because more new advancements are being created almost as soon as the last was released.  Companies need to be ready and prepared for the up-and-coming generations, because all of this “new” technology is not going to be so “new” to them.  We need to be prepared now for what to expect on a global field, because almost every company desires for global presence, and gaining that global presence is what we are lucky enough to be learning about in college now.