Ever considered hiring through Facebook?

An increasing number of IT companies find the idea of using social media making a lot of sense.

Facebook in India now has over 15 million users. And, LinkedIn has become an accepted method of 'connecting' with professionals.

With their evolution, the presence of Indian information technology (IT) companies on social networking websites has also evolved from having a 'homepage' to use for recruitments.

"No company can today afford to focus on a single source for recruitments, given the need for maximisation of available resources. The trend of the use of social media which is still nascent signifies the need to leverage multiple challenges," says E Balaji, CEO, MaFoi Management Consultants.

While the story has unfolded in a more predictable manner west of the subcontinent, adoption of Facebook advertisements for recruitment within the Indian IT sector is a recent phenomenon.

Manpower is the primary asset and investment for IT in the Indian context, over and above the fact that most larger IT companies like Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) still recruit traditionally. TCS hired 37, 000 people last year, most of which were campus recruits.

"The type of recruitment channel used by a company is based on the kind of recruitment needs. Different positions require varied approaches. While bulk recruitment of engineers would not happen through advertisements on social media, laterals for specific positions would," Balaji explained.

For those falling in the second rung of the IT business, in terms of size and scope of operations, sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn offer opportunities of cost-effective future employee outreach programmes.

"While the use of social media sites is not new at Capgemini, the recruitment focus has been greater in the current campaign, owing to the maturity of social media and also the better targeting it provides," said a Capgemini spokesperson.

The company's current strength in India is about 25,000 people, which they are looking to augment in the light of the return on global IT spending. The Capgemini campaign is visible on Facebook as an advertisement, appearing sporadically on the Facebook home-page.

According to a Nielsen report, the use of engagement ads is good for boosting brand recognition. But it is even more effective once users engage with the ad, making it social, a theory that finds reflection in the social media strategy.

"Through social media channels, we provide prospective candidates a glass-door view into the company. We share information, giving candidates insights into Capgemini's values, culture and work environment, allowing them to make an informed choice. We hope the familiarity candidates develop will help in faster on-boarding," the company official said.

The reason for this increasing engagement is simple. Sites like Facebook and Twitter are social utilities that help people connect and share.

A factor that helps is that once an advertisement is liked, it registers on the user's newsfeed, making it visible on newsfeeds for all that user's friends.

"We are evolving from the information web to the social web, which is a shift from the 'what' to the 'who'. This is possible because today people are their real selves online and they connect with the people and brands they care about," said Kirthiga Reddy, director, online operations, Facebook India.

Besides Facebook, websites such as LinkedIn, which defines itself as a professional social networking website, is being used by IT companies such as PricewaterhouseCoopers' consulting arms in scouting for potential employees with specific skill sets.

"While we do not post advertisements on Facebook, LinkedIn is often used for connecting with those that could be future employees, given the wide expanse of networks that is afforded by such websites at present," said Ambarish Dasgupta, director, PwC.