I remember seeing an online comment not too long ago. It was a simple query: “Do you know anyone who has actually gotten a job through LinkedIn?”
The question implied some doubt about the effectiveness of LinkedIn as a job-seeking tool.
So it will be interesting to see the results of a six-month pilot project why the state’s Officer of Enterprise Services using LinkedIn to recruit professional employees. The project is described in a contract notice posted by the State Procurement Office in September 2016.
The six-month sole source contract as an employer-member of LinkedIn was valued at $22,894. The LinkedIn membership was set to begin in mid-october and extend through mid-April, 2017.
This six month pilot project will help ETS to test the advantages and effectiveness on behalf of other departments who have already expressed interest. Other departments who have expressed interest include, DOH, DHS, PSD, and Boards & Commissions. Many state departments face difficulty recruiting certain unique or specialized positions and LinkedIn may provide a new method of recruitment that may prove effective – a six month pilot project will help to determine its effectiveness.
As an employer-member, the office will be able to “create a personalized employer Linkedln page to market themselves as an employer of choice.”
According to the contract notice, LinkedIn allows employers to buy advertising space “on the profiles of existing employees thereby marketing themselves to the professional networks of their employees.”
Hmmmm. Do employees know about this? Probably not a biggie as far as issues go, but I wonder if all would agree.
Then there’s this interesting disclosure.
Linkedin employer membership provides unlimited access to the names, profiles and qualifications of all existing LinkedIn members; including those with “hidden’ profiles. Employer-members will be able to search for well qualified candidates (i.e., candidate source) for difficult to fill jobs.”
Ah, so. “Hidden” doesn’t really mean hidden.
In any case, I’m actually glad to see the state testing something like this outside of its traditional methods. I wonder if the results of the pilot project will be made public, or will be subject to a public records request?
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The state is using LinkedIn merely to increase publicity of job vacancies, right? If the same job vacancies were already posted in all the required places (state websites, office bulletin boards, etc.) then I don’t see the problem in using LinkedIn as another way to advertise jobs. If anything, it would be a wiser use of state funds in the effort to recruit the best qualified employees, rather than ads in the local paper.
The state shouldn’t use a web site to list job openings….
because some people haven’t gotten jobs through that web site? I have gotten phone interviews because of Linkedin listings. I have not secured a full-time job through Linkedin listings. I GUESS THAT WEB SITE DOESN’T WORK FOR ANYONE.
Today’s blog is much-ado about absolutely nothing. Last time I checked, the state of Hawaii is a state government, not a jobs program for jobseekers.
I don’t believe I said the state shouldn’t use LinkedIn. I said it will be interesting to see the results. And I found overriding a user’s preference to remain “hidden” of interest.
Fair enough point, Ian.
I would imagine the state’s LinkedIn account(s) would be managed at the HR level. They’re the only personnel authorized to announce vacancies and collect applications. After HR sifts through and throws out unqualified applicants, the rest gets forwarded to the selecting officers in the appropriate dept/division, where interviews and hiring decisions are made.