LinkedIn's Algorithm Taps Talent Graph, But Still Needs Human Touch

BY Austin CarrWed Aug 10, 2011

Imagine if your prospects for beating the 9.1% unemployment rate depended not on a meticulously crafted cover letter and résumé, but on a complicated algorithm that helped companies determine the best matches for open jobs. Such a Brave New World-like future is rapidly becoming a reality--but don't fear just yet. Your career will still very much rely on strong credentials, networking, and a good pinch of serendipity. (For now, at least.)

Over the last year, LinkedIn has rolled out a set of new premium tools to its 100 million users. And they've worked. On the consumer end, what would normally cost businesses and HR departments time and money now just takes a few clicks. On LinkedIn's end, the network is gathering so much data, says Adam Nash, VP of product and user experience, that it's "starting to really get an understanding of who the best are in their fields, and more important, who are the best fits for your team." Internally, the company refers to LinkedIn's search algorithm as the "Pandora for people," a system that combs through the network's "talent graph" for ideal job candidates. (Not another Pandora analogy!) When it works like it should, all employers have to focus on is the final interview.

"We're starting to see recruiters do queries where they literally put, 'I want someone who has worked at one of these twenty companies and a startup, and gone to one of these twenty schools,'" Nash says. "You're never going...[read more]  

Employee referrals not coming from where you think

No doubt about it, social networking is the hot new medium for finding employees. 

A June survey of 800 HR and recruiting professionals by Burlingame, Calif.-based recruiting vendor Jobvite found that nearly 90 percent of U.S. companies plan to recruit through social media this year, up from 83 percent last year. Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) use two or more social networks. 

But of the three major social networks -- Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter -- which one generates the most employee referrals who were actually hired by companies? Surprisingly enough, it's Facebook, not the more career-focused LinkedIn. 

That's according to an aggregation of social-recruiting data from Jobvite's 500 corporate clients, which include Starbucks, Whole Foods and Zappos.com. 

LinkedIn did generate the lion's share of total new hires found via social networking, accounting for 73 percent of such hires within the last six months, according to Jobvite's data. Just 20 percent came from Facebook and 7 percent from Twitter. 

However, Facebook accounted for 43 percent of new hires generated from employee referrals, compared to 41 percent for LinkedIn and 16 percent for Twitter. 

"I was surprised that Facebook is generating as many referral hires as it is," says Dan Finnigan, founder and CEO of Jobvite, which builds tools to help companies recruit via social networking. And yet, it makes sense, he adds.
"Peoples' connections on LinkedIn tend to be with people whom they may never have personally met," he says. "But their Facebook connections tend to be people they actually do.. [read full article]

How much money is being spent on recruiting?

LinkedIn Example - and not how they recommend you do it!

I received this via email from a colleague I have on LinkedIn. A great way to spread the word and find someone referred by someone you trust.