Think social media is big now? It's only going to get bigger. Dice polled tech recruiters to learn the best ways they are using social media. What we heard: candidate quality and quantity improves, as well as the time-to-hire.

1. Social
Recruiting in
Tech: 2015
Survey
Embracing social media as
an effective recruiting tool.

2. The Career Hub For Tech
When they leverage social, recruiters see an improvement
in the quality and quantity of candidates, as well as the
time-to-hire. Recruiters know social recruiting is the future,
and they’re investing their time and money accordingly.
Think social media is big now?
It’s only getting bigger and more
important to tech recruiters
looking for results.

3. AAIF SEARCHED PROPERLY … WE GET
QUALITY CANDIDATES FROM SOCIAL.
VERBATIMS
Social recruiting is no longer a trend.
It’s the new norm.
How often do you use social
sites to support your tech
recruiting efforts?
The Career Hub For Tech
Nine of 10 tech recruiters
are using social.
All of
the time
A majority
of the time
Some of
the time
Rarely
Never
used
29%
6%
1%
32%
31%

4. Recruiters are using social recruiting for
good reason: it improves results.
Categories in which tech recruiters say that social media
is improving or greatly improving their results.
The Career Hub For Tech
VERBATIMS
SOCIAL HAS DEFINITELY ENHANCED THE QUALITY AND QUANTITY
OF TRUE PASSIVE CANDIDATES.
87%
86%
81%
65%
Quality
of candidates
Quantity
of candidates
Employee
referrals
Time-to-hire

5. For recruiters, social media is essential.
How many different social sites do recruiters use to source tech professionals?
More than half say three or more.
The Career Hub For Tech
14%
31%
52%
72%
97%
VERBATIMS
SOCIAL SITES ARE SO USEFUL TO FIND QUALIFIED PEOPLE.
Social
sites
5+ Social
sites
1+Social
sites
4+ Social
sites
2+Social
sites
3+

6. Not all social sites are used the same.
How do you use the following sites for tech recruiting?
VERBATIMS
IT'S THE BEST WAY TO CONNECT WITH DIFFERENT CANDIDATES ALL OVER THE WORLD.AA
The Career Hub For Tech
FIND MUTUAL
CONNECTIONS
CONTACT CANDIDATES PROMOTE JOBSVET CANDIDATES
PRE-INTERVIEW
SHARE CONTENT
Traditional Social Sites Tech-Specific Social Sites
Facebook Twitter Google+
70%
52%
36%
31%
55%
55%
45%
33%
26%
64%
44%
41%
19%
50%
38%
28%
68%
42%
20%
18%
34%
67%
44%
26%
26%
35%
31%
31%
27%
67%
GitHub Stack Overflow Dribbble

7. EASY ACCESS
TO CONTACT
INFORMATION
OF TECH
CANDIDATES IS
CRITICAL.AA
VERBATIMS
This just in! Skills data and contact info
are must-haves in social recruiting.
Which information is very important to you when recruiting tech candidates?
The Career Hub For Tech
95% 91%
85%
52%
35%
28%
Skills and
experience
Passions and
interests
Links to
social profiles
Email
address
Phone
number
Examples
of work

8. Tech Recruiters Tech Candidates
A multi-channel approach
works best.
The Career Hub For Tech
Tech candidates are in-demand and often
hard to engage. That’s why recruiters
spread messages over multiple channels.
Tech pros prefer electronic communication.
Social makes a nice complement to the
traditional email and phone outreach.
Source: Dice candidate
survey, Nov. 2015.
85%
41%
45%
Email
Phone
Social
49%
26%
16%
9%
2%
How many different methods (email, phone,
social sites, etc.) do you use to engage a
tech professional?
1 2 3 4 5+

9. VERBATIMS
SOCIAL IS VERY USEFUL IF YOU KNOW HOW TO APPROACH THE CANDIDATE.AA
In your
first outreach
to a tech
candidate, what
information do
you generally
try to include in
the message?
General details
about a potential
opportunity
Will you marry me?
The Career Hub For Tech
Recruiting experts say the most effective first messages are never about the job. Yet nearly
60% of recruiters include a link to a job in their initial outreach. Pro tip: start a dialogue
around a candidate’s passion and gradually introduce the opportunity.
Professional
information found
on a candidate
Specific job
details with a link to
the posting
Personal
information found
on a candidate
Other
78%
59%
47%
22%
5%

10. 35%
4%
6%
26%
29%
When to say
when.
Social works when
done right.
The Career Hub For Tech
Response
Rates
<1%
1–10%
11–25%
26–50%
>50%
VERBATIMS
SOCIAL RECRUITING SEEMS TO ADD A BIT OF PERSONAL TOUCH, WHICH I SEE THAT TECH
CANDIDATES PREFER AND ARE MORE RESPONSIVE.
Recruiters who are skillfully using social
media for outreach are getting good
response rates.
Most tech pros assume you know they’re
not interested after two tries. So short,
customized messages are key.
Source: Dice candidate survey, Nov. 2015.
24.9%ONCE
TWICE
NEVER
THREE
TIMES
FOUR
TIMES
53.4%
15.6%
3.5%
2.7%

11. CORPORATE CAREER SITES
Job boards aren’t dead.
How would you rank the following avenues as the best source to find tech candidates?
Social media is an essential part of the modern recruiter’s toolbox, but job boards remain
the #1 source of opportunities for tech candidates.
The Career Hub For Tech
76% 56%
44%
50%
63%
REFERRAL PROGRAMS
EMPLOYER BRANDING
SOCIAL SITES
JOB BOARDS

12. $0
Recruiters will pay for an edge with
social recruiting.
Nearly half of tech recruiters spend $5,000+ on social tools each year.
16%
The Career Hub For Tech
$1,000/year $1,000–$5,000/year
$5,000–$10,000/year
$5,000+/year
$10,000–$20,000/year
21%
What is your current annual expenditure
for social recruiting tools? 46%
16% 17%
VERBATIMS
I HAVE HAD YEARS OF GREAT SUCCESS USING SOCIAL SITES FOR RECRUITING.
$20,000+/year
14%
16%

13. 39%
If social recruiting works, what’s holding
tech recruiters back?
TRAINING
ON SOCIAL
RECRUITING
OTHER
The Career Hub For Tech
More than half of recruiters wish they had more time for social. That’s why it’s so important
to incorporate social into your everyday workflow.
53%
BUDGET/COSTS
LEVEL OF
FAMILIARITY WITH
SOCIAL RECRUITING
59%
TIME CONSTRAINTS
What factors are the most important drivers (or barriers)
of your use of social for recruiting?
VERBATIMS
IF I HAD MORE TIME, I WOULD LEARN AND USE IT MORE!
42% 5%

14. 50%
75%
The Career Hub For Tech
In the coming year, which of the following types of tech recruiting tools are you
planning to increase your investment in?
Social recruiting is only getting bigger.
To win the war for tech talent, recruiters plan to increase their investments in a variety
of methods — and social is at the very top of the list.
2%33%
SOCIAL
NETWORKS
REFERRAL PROGRAMS
EMPLOYER BRANDING
OTHER
63%JOB
BOARDS
44%
CORPORATE CAREER SITES

15. Plan to
increase use
The future of social recruiting.
65%
How would you describe your future intent to use social sites
to recruit tech professionals?
The Career Hub For Tech
34%
1% Plan to reduce use or not use at all
Plan to maintain current
level of use
VERBATIMS
THIS IS THE FUTURE OF RECRUITING. MILLENNIALS COMMUNICATE
THROUGH SOCIAL NETWORKS.

16. Methodology — Social Recruiting in Tech: 2015 Survey
The 2015 Social Recruiting in Tech Survey was administered by Dice via email and online, with 619 active tech recruiters responding between
October 19 and October 31, 2015. Respondents were invited to participate in the survey through a notification on the Dice site and were also
sent an email invitation. All data in this document is from this tech recruiting survey unless otherwise indicated.
About Dice
Technology powers companies. Professionals power technology. Dice quickly delivers the opportunities, insights and connections technology
professionals and employers need to move forward. Learn how to effectively move forward at dice.com.
The Career Hub For Tech
Want more
social recruiting
insights?
Reach out to a Dice tech recruiting specialist.
1.800.979.DICE