The effect of social media on the recruitment process in Maltese audit firms

Abstract

PURPOSE: Social Media (SM) has completely altered the way people and businesses communicate. Social platforms have modernised the way businesses market themselves, the way they engage with external parties and the way they recruit and interact with candidates. This dissertation will aim to obtain an understanding of the way SM is being utilised by audit firms to generate brand awareness (BA) and as a part of their recruitment strategies, while also delving into the measures of effectiveness of SM activities adopted by these firms. DESIGN: A qualitative approach to the research was taken which included 8 semi-structured interviews with high ranking personnel from the Human Resources departments of the participating firms. FINDINGS: The findings indicate that SM plays a huge role in the marketing activities of businesses and is prioritised as a means of generating BA for the firm. Big 4 firms were the most prominent users of SM with both in terms of BA and recruitment. The indication was that with the exception of Big 4 firms, SM is not strong enough on its own as a channel of recruitment. Small to medium firms remain highly reliant on traditional means to find and recruit candidates. CONCLUSIONS: This study presents the notion that audit firms are being provided with innovative marketing and recruitment platforms which can be exploited to their benefit. However, results are not guaranteed and for this reason, firms should explore possible means of accurately measuring effectiveness of SM activities internally. IMPLICATIONS: SM has revolutionised business to the point where a firm would be at a competitive disadvantage if it did not engage in SM. Firms have to continue improving their SM to keep up with the continuously changing markets as well as consumer needs and candidate requirements.