I was conducting some research for a client and I found the following survey results on an the client's industry's trade publication:

SURVEY QUESTION: How do you recruit technicians?

• Newspaper advertising  17.65%  
• Technical or trade schools  23.53%  
• Employment office advertising  23.53%  
• Internal promotions  0%  
• Word of mouth  35.29%

It lingered with me for awhile after reading the results. Why wasn't social (media) recruiting or even old-fashioned online job board sourcing a survey option?

Of course, who really cares about the lowly technician whose placement does not reap a whale-sized commission, right? (Excuse my attempt at humor.)

Or perhaps the recruiting industry should be concerned that candidates across all career levels are not being sourced or the perception that they are being sourced via the hottest new recruitment tools or social recruiting. Why? Perhaps social recruiting is really only a nervous virgin and a bit tentative about doing it.

I have another client who is about to be offered a position. (Negotiation stage). I asked her if over the course of her job campaign what leads had she received from social recruiting sites? Zip. None. How was she found? A job board, Monster. And, by the way, she is a recruiter by profession! I guess social recruiting isn't quite there yet. Or, those recruiters trolling through thousands of linkedin profiles per month are missing a lot of good people.

Food for thought.