Recruitment firms still top choice for candidates

Results from a new survey by Robert Walters reveal the majority of employees still choose registering with a recruitment consultancy as the vehicle most commonly used for finding a new job. 

Sixty-eight per cent of the 500 people strong survey admitted to using recruitment consultants, dismissing fears that social networking sites such as LinkedIn are the new job searching tool of choice.

Managing Director of Robert Walters Australia, James Nicholson, said: "Although we've seen significant growth in the use of social media amongst candidates looking for new roles it comes as no surprise that registering with a recruitment consultancy is still the most popular medium for finding a new job."

LinkedIn has 48 million members worldwide and 875,000 members in Australia, yet only 11% of respondents admitted to using the site to find talent.

Not surprisingly, results revealed IT professionals to be the biggest adopter of social media with 56% of respondents using this medium.

Applying direct to companies through online job boards still proved to be popular amongst employees with 20% of workers choosing this as their preferred option.

Business finance sectors were the heaviest users of recruitment agencies with 67% of accounting and finance roles, and 82% of banking roles being outsourced through recruitment agencies. 

"Despite the obvious benefits of networking and personal branding that LinkedIn offers it is by no means a substitute for a human taking an active interest in your career," said Nicholson.

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