There may be scepticism about the role of social networking in business, but a growing number of senior IT professionals are turning to such tools to help them find their next job.

One recruitment consultancy estimates that a third of successful candidates are now sourced through LinkedIn, for example, yet research suggests there is still a large number of IT leaders who have yet to catch on. A survey by researcher Vanson Bourne suggests that while 22 per cent of senior UK professionals consider social media to be a viable business tool, only three per cent are using sites such as LinkedIn to communicate with peers.

“We live in a knowledge economy, so understanding how quickly you can tap into these resources is incredibly important,” said Kevin Eyres, LinkedIn’s European managing director.

IT decision-makers can use online networking to boost their career prospects, by joining industry groups and connecting to key influencers, as well as sharing common issues on discussion boards, said Eyres.

“IT leaders are often faced with common problems and the fastest way to solve those problems is by using your network,” he said.

House of Fraser IT director Duncan Gray said LinkedIn works best as a platform on which to keep an updated CV and “a digital version of the business card file” to keep track of contacts.

“When it comes to job searching, a lot of it is about using the marketing tools at your disposal to complement traditional methods to get your name across to people,” he said.

Jane Kimberlin, IT director at Domino’s Pizza, also sees the benefits.

“You should use LinkedIn, in addition to other ways of personal contact such as phone and face-to-face meetings. Social networking is like another tool in your toolbox, which can be very helpful ­ provided you use it appropriately,” she said.

Social media is an increasingly important resource for recruitment agents, according to Rob Grimsey, strategic development director at Harvey Nash ­ the company that has had such success using LinkedIn to source candidates.

Grimsey said all job vacancies at the agency are posted on Twitter and a Facebook group, while LinkedIn is perceived by senior IT professionals as a more subtle way of self-marketing.

“Social networking gets to people in ways that other media, such as newspapers or advertisements in online job postings, do not necessarily achieve. Our strategy is to be absolutely everywhere,” he said.

“Nothing replaces face-to-face contact and a good interview, but this is another route to obtain more information on candidates than you would have found otherwise. Everyone is in this game ­ especially headhunters ­ so if candidates completely write off social media, they may be missing out on opportunities.”

Twitter and blogs are also being used by recruiters to analyse the calibre of potential candidates, said Bill Fischer, director at search firm WorkDigital, which has developed a Twitter job search engine that uses natural language processing to find vacancies posted on the micro-blogging service.

“Seeing what someone tweets or blogs about is a way to discover if this is a person who is interested in continual learning, or is passionate about and engaged in this area of expertise, so it is a useful bit of proxy data for a recruiter,” said Fischer.
However, some IT managers remain unconvinced by the approach.

“My belief is that, in finding jobs, the human touch is the only way to go. There is a limited number of people you need to know who tend to place most senior roles ­ so getting to know them individually is probably the best way to get your name on any shortlists,” said Simon Post, chief technology officer at Carphone Warehouse.

“I tend to network through a limited number of events rather than social networking tools, although I do wander around LinkedIn a bit. Maybe I am just the wrong generation.”