This post was provided by Claudia Allen, writer and editor at the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). NACE connects campus recruiting and career services professionals, and provides best practices, trends, research, professional development, and conferences.

Some 70 percent of employers responding to a recent survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) reported using social media.

The three most popular social media applications are LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Ninety-two percent of employers say they use LinkedIn; 70 percent use Facebook; and 63.7 percent use Twitter.

By far, the most common function in the college recruitment process is sharing information about the company and application process. More than four out of five employers acknowledged using social media to make organization-oriented announcements while fewer than half—46 percent—use social media to search for, review, or contact potential candidates.

Despite widespread use, many employers were lukewarm about the effectiveness of social media as recruiting tool, with 60 percent saying social media has no impact on their college recruitment processes at all.

Free highlights from the report are available at www.naceweb.org/surveys/college-recruiting.aspx.
Learn more benchmarks in recruiting at NACEWeb, www.naceweb.org. NACE offers customized school selection reports; contact the NACE Research Team at research@naceweb.org.