Almost one in five technology industry executives say that while looking for new staff, a candidate’s social media profile has caused them not to hire that person, a new survey suggests.
The survey, conducted by Eurocom Worldwide in association with Dublin-based Simpson Financial & Technology PR, received 318 responses from technology companies with 80pc of the respondents located in Europe and 11pc from the Americas.
In last year’s survey, while almost 40pc of respondents checked employees’ social media profiles, this year’s survey has seen the first signs that candidates are being rejected because of them.
The 2012 survey also found that nearly half (49pc) of technology executives plan to increase expenditure on social media in the next year. However, more than half (57pc) say they are unable to accurately measure the impact of that investment, compared to 23pc who say they can.
Social networking
Seventy-eight per cent said in-house staff were the primary source of social media content and messaging for their company, with PR agencies cited as the second most-important source at 12pc. Digital marketing agencies and advertising agencies accounted for the remaining 10pc.
The most popular social media platform for tech companies is LinkedIn, according to 74pc of respondents. Sixty-seven per cent of respondents use Twitter, 64pc use Facebook and 56pc are on YouTube. However, just half of those respondents say their company has a formal process for listening to what is said about them on their social media channels.
Of those respondents whose companies publish a blog, 57pc say they do so to raise their profile or create thought leadership. Fifty-five per cent say that blogging is aimed at improving interaction with customers. Thirty-seven per cent do it to boost SEO and 36pc do it to participate in industry debates.
As for companies who don’t blog, 42pc say it’s too time consuming and one in five companies say they don’t see the value in it. Fourteen per cent fear a negative response.
