Social Network Perception Alignment of E-Recruiters and Potential Applicants

Benefits from online social networking are being incorporated into the selection processes used by e-recruiters. While this offers great potential for both recruiters and applicants, especially in an increasingly globalized environment, it requires both parties to have mutual understanding of each other´s perceptions. This paper empirically explores a global sample containing 1498 applicants from 68 countries and 405 recruiters from 39 countries. We find that both students and recruiters underestimate the impact of each other´s social network profile. A model is presented based on communication theory is used to explain these gaps. These gaps in perception will act as barriers to better utilization of global e-recruitment and need to be closed to allow efficient and effective use of social media for this function.