Social sciences

Vadyba
Journal of Management
2019, № 1 (34)
ISSN 1648-7974

OPPORTUNITIES OF E-RECRUITMENT THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA

PLATFORMS AND ITS DEVELOPMENT IN LITHUANIA
Hanna Khlebarodava1, Rita Remeikiene2
1
Intra Research, JSC, 2Mykolas Romeris University

Abstract
Scientific article is dedicated to the identification of the opportunities of e-recruitment through social media platforms and its future
development in Lithuania. The research highlights the concept of e-recruitment, factors that influence e-recruitment through social media
platforms. Theoretical aspects of hiring personnel through e-platforms were analyzed: definition of recruitment, channels of hiring personnel
and advantages and disadvantages of e-recruitment. The methodology of expert evaluation was used in the paper. The factors influencing e-
recruitment through social media platforms were presented and analyzed according to expert evaluation, opportunities of further
development were presented as well. After the theoretical, methodological and empirical part conclusions for successful e-recruitment
through social media platforms were presented.

KEY WORDS: recruitment, e-recruitment, social media platforms.

(2014) analyzed advantages and

Introduction disadvantages of e-recruitment.
Recruitment has always been a fundamental Nowadays there is a certain gap in the scientific
function of labor market, it used traditional tools for literature on the subject of e-recruitment due to the
closing vacancies such as advertising in social media, certain novelty of it, especially in such small open
search through job agencies, labor exchanges or economies like Lithuania. Due to that fact the
converting to the word of mouth. In the new scientific research problem can be formulated: can e-
millennium new technologies have changed the way recruitment through social media platforms become a
people get their job done. Internet has opened access substitute for the other ways of recruitment in open
to a completely new world: world of information, fast small economies and highly developed ICT countries
and even instant communication and multimedia like Lithuania?
content. Social networks made a significant impact in Research goal of this scientific article is to present
the way recruiters look for new employees, as much the recommendations for increasing the process of e-
as they have dramatically changed the way job recruitment through SMP development after the
seekers find new places of work. Miller et al. (2016) identification of e-recruitment opportunities in
also noted that social media platforms ought to be Lithuania.
viewed not only as the platform where people post Research objectives:
ideas and information on but also the as one of largest 1. To analyse theoretical aspects of opportunities of e-
content databases in history. This research concerns recruitment development;
the discussion of social media platforms usage in 2. To present the methodology of opportunities of e-
recruitment and employer’s image in a corporate recruitment development in Lithuania;
environment. Social media and recruitment will be 3. To identify the opportunities of e-recruitment
correlated, the need in e-recruitment for business will development in Lithuania.
be explained. Comparative and systematic scientific literature
After the scientific literature analysis these review, expert evaluation were chosen as research
directions of the research have been found: methods.
– Flippo (1986), Sivabalan, Yazdanifard and
Ismail (2013), Devi and Banu (2014) and Theoretical aspects of hiring personnel through e-
others analyzed definition of recruitment platforms
personnel. Recruitment personnel is one of the most
– Kumar and Gang (2014), Plessis (2007) important and fundamental human resource
analyzed traditional channels and methods of management function and it can impact crucially on
hiring personnel. the organization’s performance. Gwazzawi et al.
– Schwabel (2011) and others analyzed (2014) states, that the ability of an organization to
innovative channels and methods of hiring stay on top of customer’s demand and to grow has
personnel. always relied heavily on the quality of its people.
– Chen and Haymon (2016), Verhoeven and According to Edwin B. Flippo (1986), recruitment
Williams (2008), Ramaabaanu and Saranya is nothing but the process of searching the candidates

Vadyba / Journal of Management, Vol. 34, No. 1 2019, 25–35

Hanna Khlebarodava, Rita Remeikiene

for employment and then stimulating them for jobs in 4. Social media platforms, which is the newest way
the organization. Recruitment process links employers for e-recruitment.
and job seekers, thus it is very serious for In conclusion it is needed to say, that recruitment
organization to make the right choice and reduce costs process links employers and employees, after
for further search and selection. According Sivabalan recruitment phase is finished, selection process
et al. (2013), “recruitment is the process of generating begins, where companies are determining which
a pool of capable people to apply for employment to person they will hire. E-recruitment is the
an organization.” (p. 178). phenomenon, which appeared with the Internet
According to Devi and Banu (2014), the process development, because it is impossible to e-recruitment
of recruitment begins from new people are being to exist without using electronic resources.
sourced and ends up with their applications being
submitted. After that, selection process starts. Channels of hiring personnel
Selection is the second stage of hiring process -
According to Plessis et al. (2007), traditional
managers and human resource specialists use specific
recruitment process was paper-based and was tied to
tools to make the right choice for the vacancy from
geographical location of the employer. Usually the
the list of applicants. They need to choose a person
companies used also labor exchange offices,
who will most likely to succeed in the job.
Recruitment and selection both form a key process recruitment agencies for the recruitment, which can be
in any business. time consuming. The process included many steps,
such as determination of employment needs, choice of
According to Garcia-Izquierdo and Vilela (2015),
advertising source, advertising itself, receiving of
recruitment has changed. Traditional face-to-face
responses and dealing with candidates by phone or
interviews are still being used, but the range of
assessment processes which inform the candidates live before the actual interview, storage of paper
regarding the selection is increasingly diverse, taking CV’s. In those conditions the loss of a potential
employee was very much possible, because when an
advantage of new methods and strategies, such as
HR get a lot of CV’s at once, the easiest way was to
online personality and assessment testings and
select only a limited number of them for potential
including in the process more of electronic-based
interviews. Thus candidates can make their CVs look
tools.
outstanding for the selection, but not to have real
According to Kaur (2015), “e-recruitment is the
process of personnel recruitment using electronic competencies for the job. The whole process was
slow, costly and sometimes ineffective to both
resources, in particular the internet.” (p. 3).
employer and job-seeker.
According to Sharma (2016), in the process of e-
According to Plessis et al. (2007), word of mouth,
recruitment, job vacancies are usually uploaded on the
recommendations and head hunting are also
job portals, where applicants must attach their CV to
attract their potential employer. Selection is usually considered as traditional channels of recruitment.
done by inserting the keywords to make the search These ways are being used nowadays and are not
being completely replaced by e-recruitment, because
faster and to get more accurate results as soon as
they can guarantee candidate’s skills and quality with
possible. It can be helpful in decreasing the search
higher probability, than other ways of recruitment.
effort and gives the organization a positive outcome.
E-recruitment channels differ from traditional
The selection process usually starts when the analysis
on the data or candidate helps in the decision making ones and they all include using Internet while
process. The next method can be online testing, due to recruitment:
– corporate websites;
which a broad pool of candidates is reduced to a
– online recruitment platforms (cvonline.lt,
smaller group and candidates having more potential.
cvbankas.lt, etc.);
It helps to assess the candidate’s ability, critical
thinking as well as its self-assessment of their – professional social media platforms
potential. Subsequently, online interviews are being (linkedin.com, xing.com, etc.)
– social media platforms (facebook.com,
held in some cases as a method to make the selection
twitter.com).
easier. The techniques used should be well up to date.
In this scientific article it was chosen to consider
An accurate job description and specifications needed
social media platforms due to the novelty of this
should be incorporated in order to reduce a huge
amount of inelegibile candidates and to hire right channel and lack of scientific literature.
talent. According to Society of Human Resource
Management Survey (2018), 95 percent of 541 HR
There are four the most common ways to use e-
managers and specialists being asked, answered that
recruitment (Unadkat, 2012):
they used LinkedIn for candidate’s research, also:
1. Corporate websites, where the e-recruitment
– 58 percent used Facebook while recruiting;
phenomenon appeared;
2. Online recruitment portals, which gather the job – 42 percent used Twitter.
advertisemnts from various companies in one place; According to Schwabel (2011), a lot of
organizations believe that the person’s profile on
3. Hunting for the candidates over the Internet (head
LinkedIn will replace usual CV’s. But still most use
hunting) (this method way is also being used in
SMP as means of support to traditional ways of
traditional recruitment);
recruitment. E-recruitment is the present and the

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 Social sciences, Opportunities of E-recruitment through Social Media Platforms and its Development in
Lithuania

future, but some aspects of traditional recruitment are screening and matching. Huge databases allow a more
here to stay. qualitative search for their needs. Employers and job
According to Broughton et al. (2013), almost 100 seekers can stop spending their money for the access
per cent of job seekers under the age of twenty five to agencies’ databases.
would prefer the communication with employers – More possibilities for job seeker to show its
online and not via phone and/or other sources. skills.
According to Bhupendra and Gairola (2015), According to Chen and Hayman (2016), “job
social media networks allow users to build online seekers can showcase their skills, experience,
profiles where individuals can communicate via social references, and other traits (e.g., soft skills, digital
media tools. Initially social media networks were badges that validate a specific skill) to a wide set of
designed for socializing with family and friends but potential employers, and freelancers can display their
now these networks have become a real vital work and provide recommendations.” (p. 4). For
professional tool, especially in field of recruitment. instance, in LinkedIn a person can verify the skills,
Social media networks for jobseekers act as a which are indicated on a person’s profile, Xing also
marketing tool, because they use social networking has tools to prove competencies.
sites to connect themselves to potential employers and – Wiping the geographical borders.
vice versa. Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram Now it is not necessary that a company can only
etc. are examples of social media networks. They act hire a local required specialist. By using job seeking
as a screening tool through which employers can use platforms and modern means of communication,
necessary information, which is available in social employer can assess a person online and send him a
media networks. This information is cheap and also it job offer. It stimulates employees to have better skills
is easy to get a broader opinion of an applicant as and competencies, by knowing that they can be
compared to traditional recruitment methods. relocated anywhere in case of enough experience.
To conclude, SMP brought a lot of advantages in Bhupendra and Gairola (2015) adduce similar list of
comparison with traditional channels of recruitment, main advantages of using social media networks:
but a lot of organizations still prefer to use it in – Applicants can be found across various
combination with traditional ways of recruitment. locations and with better accuracy than
before.
Advantages and disadvantages of hiring through – Vacant positions can be filled within less time
social media platforms than in case of traditional recruitment because
of the fact that social media networks are used
According to Chen and Haymon (2016), “Current
by people more often than any other means of
offline solutions (such as newspaper postings, job media and it leads to faster responses from the
boards, recruitment agencies, or simply knocking on candidates.
doors) are expensive, slow, and often ineffectual” (p.
– Social media networks make recruitment
2). Nowadays people are becoming more and more
much cheaper.
digitally connected, even older generation is using
– Social media platforms became very trendy
Internet on daily basis. This creates a very useful younger population which makes them best
advantage for the platforms – accumulation of job solution for hiring fresh talents.
seekers’ profiles, employers and their job positions in
– Social media platforms enhance the
one place in a large database. Also technologies allow
employer’s brand visibility online and
people to create personalized and detailed searches,
establish a cutting edge image for the brand.
which are aimed only on a person’s goal.
– Positions can be viewed by a larger number of
After scientific literature analysis (Chen and candidates due to a broader coverage of social
Haymon (2016), Zide et al. (2014)), the main media networks around the world, which
advantages of e-recruitment have been identified (see
allows hiring and applying even outside the
Table 1):
country.
– Democratized information.
According to Verhoeven and Williams (2008),
Due to open sources and easy access, people can
despite the e-recruitment’s positivity, there are also
easily know about company’s reputation and job disadvantages (see Table 2):
conditions, which make employer to maintain their – Lack of privacy
brand as an attractive company for best talents. Also
Since the development of social networks,
this easy access closes the gap between applicants
recruiters can check applicant’s profiles not only on
who had greater connections in comparison with
professional platforms, but also on Facebook,
ordinary specialists. This increases chances for
Instagram and other websites. Matching candidate’s
employee to be hired and for employer to hire the personal professional lives can create a wrong image
most suitable worker. of a person, which will bring forward a possible loss
– Expenditure for job search is much lower.
for the firm.
If to compare with traditional channels of
– The choice can become too wide.
recruitment, platforms dramatically reduce time and
This factor from an advantage can become a
money for job seeker and employer. Digital space disadvantage if an unexperienced specialist will
suggests faster communication, easier assessment, search for a perfect candidate. Screening CV’s and

27
Hanna Khlebarodava, Rita Remeikiene

checking their profiles in social networks can be time

consuming for an organization. Bhupendra and Gairola, Positions can be viewed
– High volume responses from low-qualified 2015 by a larger number of
job seekers. candidates due to a
Because of a high accessibility of the Internet, broader coverage of SMP
everybody who saw an advertisement can easily apply
for it just in one click. Not to miss a great candidate Table 2. Disadvantages of e-recruitment through
responsible specialist will spend a lot of time for the social media platforms
review.
– False profile keywords. Disdvantages of e-
Author, year
According to Ramaabaanu and Saranya (2014), recruitment
employers mostly rely on keywords while searching Verhoeven and Lack of privacy
for candidates, but often job seekers add some skills Williams, 2008
to profiles for the appearance of the CV in the search. Verhoeven and The choice can become
Therefore, recruiters have to call the candidates, Williams, 2008 too wide
which do not meet necessary job requirements. Verhoeven and High volume responses
– Website malfunctions. Williams, 2008 from low-qualified job
Due to technical errors, applicants sometimes seekers
can’t reach employers through online job applications. Verhoeven and False profile keywords
People apply once, if the system denied, they can try Williams, 2008
second time, but after a significant part of candidates Verhoeven and Website malfunctions
will stop attempts. Eventually the company can lose a Williams, 2008
potential winner for the company. Verhoeven and E-recruitment can be too
– E-recruitment can be too impersonal. Williams, 2008 impersonal
By emails, phone calls and Skype interviews a Chen and Haymon, Legal issues
company can assess a job seeker’s adequacy, literacy 2016
of speech and grammar and his “hard” skills. But it is
impossible to feel what kind of person the applicant In conclusion it is needed to say, that like all other
is, to “feel” him, what would be possible during a methods e-recruitment through SMP has its own
personal meeting. According to Jobvite, (2016) “60% advantages and disadvantages, but still many authors
of recruiters believe culture fit is of highest consider e-recruitment through SMP more perspective
importance when making a decision whether to hire than other ways of recruitment.
or not.”, which proves the problem during online
interviews. The methodology of expert evaluation
– Legal issues.
According to Chen and Haymon (2016), certain According to Benini et al. (2017), the method of
regulations, which forbid any kind of racism can be expert evaluation is considered as one of the most
dangerous for the employers, in case the job seeker common insights methods that are being used to help
will find out that the reason of denial was checking to close the determined knowledge gap. According to
his/her page in SMP. Burinskiene and Rudzikiene (2009), the goal of
experts’ evaluation is “getting, encoding, structural
Table 1. Advantages of e-recruitment through processing and interpretation of knowledge of an
social media platforms expert”.
An expert (lat. expertus – experienced) basically
Advantages of e- means a specialist with experience in particular field.
Author, year
recruitment In order to make a qualified decision to a specific
Chen and Haymon, Democratized information problem, it is dramatically important to consider the
2016 professional’s opinion, which is called expert’s
Chen and Haymon, Expenditure for job search expertise (Remeikiene and Gaspareniene, 2017).
2016 are much lower Experts’ estimation shows a combination of various
Zide et al., 2014 More possibilities for job opinions of individual experts, which eventually
seeker to show its skills allows to formulate a joint solution. There are several
Chen and Haymon, Wiping the geographical presumptions, on which the methodology of experts’
2016 borders evaluation is grounded:
Bhupendra and Gairola, Vacant positions can be – A big amount of rationally processed
2015 filled within less time than information has been accumulated by the
in case of traditional expert, that is why the expert can be
recruitment considered as a source of quality information;
Bhupendra and Gairola, Social media networks – The opinion, which has been expressed by the
2015 enhance the employer’s group of experts, is not differs much from the
brand visibility online solution of the problem in reality.
According to Libby and Blashfield (1978), the
higher number of accuracy of the opinion, made by

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 Social sciences, Opportunities of E-recruitment through Social Media Platforms and its Development in
Lithuania

the experts, can happen in case of asking from 5 to 9 In the first question (closed question) experts were
experts. If the accuracy of the results produced by the asked to provide their professional experience in HR
experts is not adequate, it is advised to improve the sphere. The question is considered to be relevant
experts’ competency, but not to increase the number because the appropriate level of experience is
of experts. necessary to receive the trusted results.
The impact of the number of experts on In the second question (closed question) experts
authenticity of evaluation is shown on Figure 1. were asked to indicate the size of the company they
work in at the current moment. This question was
asked in order to understand the influence of the size
of the company on e-recruitment through SMP and to
provide the recommendations accordingly.
In the third question (closed question) experts
were asked to provide business sector, where they are
currently working to find out whether there is
dependence of business sector and e-recruitment
through SMP. Also as the experts were found through
different business sectors, and in case the experts are
different, common recommendations can be provided,
whereas the experts would be from one business
sectors.
In the fourth question (closed multiple-choice
question) experts were asked which of the proposed
Fig. 1. Reliability solution (percentage). Source: SMP they use for recruitment. The question is
created by the author, based on Libby and Blashfield, considered to be important, as it will help to find out
(1978) the most popular SMP for recruitment.
Figure 1 shows that starting from 5 experts, the In the second part of the questionnaire experts
reliability of experts‘ solution is higher than 75%. It is were asked to identify the popularity of SMP for
recommended to include at least 5 experts into the recruitment. The questions were formed after careful
experts‘ group in order to have accurate and reliable literature review. In this part it was important to
results. define the advantages of SMP over other ways of
According to to scientific literature (Libby and recruitment and also to define whether SMP can be
Blashfield, 1978), the professionalism of the experts used to hire general population of Lithuania.
plays a key role on the reliability of the final results, The first question (closed question) was dedicated
which is why the attention in this research was to understand the popularity of various ways of
focused not on the amount of the experts, but on their recruitment, which experts might use for recruitment.
experience in HR sphere. Taking into account the The experts were asked to evaluate ten ways of
abovementioned standards, 6 people were included recruitment (traditional and innovative altogether) in
into the expert group. The accurate criteria for the order to reveal the current trends in recruitment in
experts was defined: Lithuania.
– An expert can represent the HR sphere, which For evaluating the factors radio button grid had
specifically means that he/she has necessary been chosen and the selected factors had to evaluate
knowledge about recruitment and e- all factors from 1 to 5 (numerical value 1 –
recruitment; “Completely disagree”, numerical value 5 – “Totally
– An expert’s current experience must be no agree”). Also depending on the strength of the
less than 5 years; experts’ opinion, they could choose the intermediate
– An expert must currently work in Lithuania. values (2 – “Disagree”, 3 – “I do not have an
Survey questionnaire was sent by email, messages opinion”, 4 – “Agree”).
in SMP (LinkedIn and Facebook) and were performed In the second question (closed question) experts
indirectly. Survey questionnaire was prepared in were asked to evaluate seven statements that compare
advance (see Appendix 1) and scripted in recruitment through SMP and traditional ways of
surveygizmo.com. recruitment. This question was asked in order to
The website had been used because it allows to understand the advantages of SMP over traditional
export gathered data from the survey to Excel and ways of recruitment.
SPSS. Also this website is used by professionals for Radio button grid had been used as well and the
conducting surveys in market research sphere. This same evaluation system as in question 1 had been
website is device agnostic, which means that the applied.
survey can be made using phones, tablets and In the third question (closed question) the experts
computers. were asked to evaluate fourteen demographical
The experts’ questionnaire consists of three parts. statements, which can help to define the portrait of the
The aim of the first part was created to gather person, who can be hired through SMP. This question
general information about the experts. had been included in order to understand whether
general population of Lithuania can be covered for

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Hanna Khlebarodava, Rita Remeikiene

recruitment by SMP – it is important to know whether The gathered data had been analysed and
age, gender and candidate’s location can influence e- calculated using statistical program SPSS and
recruitment. Microsoft Excel software package. The evaluated
Radio button grid had been used as well and the numerical values are listed in a table (see Table 3).
same evaluation system as in question 1 had been
applied. Table 3. The matrix of the results of expert‘s
In the third part experts were asked to identify evaluation
the main twelve characteristics of a candidate and
main factors and of SMP, which influence successful Factors (V)
Experts
selection of a person. This part leads to the 1 2 … i … N
conclusions about what should be improved in the 1 V1 V12 V1i V1
process of recruitment through SMP, what 1 n

recommendations can be also provided to general 2 V2 V22 V2i V2

population of Lithuania, when people are trying to 1 n

find a new job, as the experts were asked regarding …

the main factors, which influence successful J Vj Vj2 Vji Vj
recruitment in order to correlate these factors with 1 n
SMP features. Also the recommendations for …
successful e-recruitment through SMP from the M V Vm Vmi V
experts were gathered. m1 2 mn
In the first question (closed question) experts were Sum
asked to estimate the importance of twelve Cronbach’s
characteristics, which influence the final decision. The For the whole questionnaire
Alpha
characteristics were taken not only related to e- Kendall's
recruitment, but in general. coefficient
Radio button grid had been used as well and the same For the whole questionnaire
of concordance,
evaluation system as in question 1 (part II) had been W
applied. The experts had a possibility to write-in their p-value Vp Vp2 … Vpi … Vp
own option. 1 n
In the second question (closed question) the Indication
experts were asked to estimate eight features of SMP, frequency
which can influence on the selection. This question
has been asked in order to understand what In Table 3, Vjn shows what level of importance
importance has every of those features for the experts. was assigned by the j-th expert to the n-th
Radio button grid had been used as well and the same statement in the survey. Vmn represents the
evaluation system as in question 1 (part II) had been indication of the n-th factor in the survey, Vpn –
applied. The experts had a possibility to write-in their the significance of n-th factor.
own option.
In the third question (closed question) the experts For performing the results of the expert
needed to evaluate five statements regarding the main questionnaire it is important to focus the attention on
drawbacks of e-recruitment through SMP. The interpretation of Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. This
options proposed were gathered carefully from coefficient determines whether the questionnaire
different sources to reveal the most important reflects the research topic precisely. There are
drawbacks. arguments among the scientists regarding Cronbach
Radio button grid had been used as well and the alpha coefficient: according to Nunnally and
same evaluation system as in question 1 (part II) had Bernstain (1994), this coefficient should be no lower
been applied. The experts had a possibility to write-in than 0.7, while Malhotra and Birks (2003) write that
their own option. the critical value of the coefficient is 0.6. So the
In the fourth question (closed question) experts choice of the value becomes a subjective matter, and
were asked to provide their own opinion about the the specifics of the study can be taken into account
future replacement of other ways of recruitment by while choosing the limit. 0.6 was chosen as the lowest
SMP. This question was included to be estimate value of Cronbach alpha coefficient has been selected
whether there is potential in further development of e- for this empirical study.
recruitment through SMP in Lithuania. Kendall’s coefficient of concordance (W) reflects
In the fifth question (closed multiple-choice the statements’ concordance and importance of the
question) has been designed to figure out the experts’ expert’s opinions, it had been determined in the
recommendations for the successful e-recruitment scientific article. This coefficient may vary in the
through SMP. The recommendations can be range of 0≤W≤1. If the ratio is closer to 1, it indicates
significantly valuable for further development in that there are more opinions of the experts coincide. If
Lithuania. the ratio is ≤0.6, it can be considered, that the experts’
The experts were suggested four recommendations evaluation is not reliable.
and also a write-in option.

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 Social sciences, Opportunities of E-recruitment through Social Media Platforms and its Development in
Lithuania

For hypothesis testing, 0.05 was selected as the In the last question of the first part experts were
level of significance. Indicator distinctions were taken asked to answer which of the suggested SMP their
statistically significant if p <0.05. organization uses for recruitment. 100% of the experts
The final stage of empirical study consists of answer, that they usually use LinkedIn, 71.4% answer
confirmation or rejection of the hypothesis and that they use Facebook, and 14.3% specified, that they
development of conclusions. The accuracy depends use MeetFrank (see Figure 2). According to
on the quality previous steps have been done. It is meetfrank.com, it is an app, where organizations and
obvious that wrong conduct of empirical studies or job seekers can anonymously register and get job
mistakes in calculations may become a reason of false offers directly, by specifying their relevant experience
hypothesis results, as the same time improperly only. This can not be considered as a SMP, because
formulated hypothesis can create irrelevance of the users are using it only for one goal – job seeking
conclusions. and are not able to communicate with each other.
Overall, experts’ evaluation method has been Also it was noticed, that nobody from the experts had
chosen to understand the main trends in current marked the options “Xing” and “Twitter”, which
recruitment, to evaluate the popularity of SMP for e- means, that these SMP are not popular for recruitment
recruitment and its rate of success, also to define in Lithuania.
whether all the general population can be employed
by using SMP only. The main drawbacks and
recommendations for the successful recruitment had
been defined in second and third parts, which can help
to provide recommendations for the future
development on e-recruitment through SMP.
Questionnaire results were processed by SPSS and
Excel programs.

The results of expert‘s evaluation Fig. 2. Most popular SMP, which are used by the
Cronbach’s Alpha for the whole survey had been experts for recruitment (percentage). Source: created
calculated, the result, which was obtained, showed by the author, based on the results of the experts’
that Cronbach alpha = 0,6595, which means the evaluation
questionnaire reflects the researched object as
according to Malhotra and Birks (2003), the critical The second part of the experts’ evaluation was
value of the coefficient is 0.6. dedicated to identification of the popularity of SMP
The first part of the questionnaire has been for recruitment.
designed to collect general information about the In the first question experts were asked evaluate
experts. The main idea was to have the answers from the popularity of traditional and innovative ways of
the experts, who are proficient in HR sphere, recruitment (see Table 4).
especially in recruitment. The minimum experience of According to Remeikiene & Gaspareniene (2017),
five years for the participation was set. 12.5% are if the mean value equals to 3.5 and less, it is
having experience in HR from 10 to 15 years. considered that the factor is not important. If the mean
Defining the size of the company, where expert value is equal to 3.51 or more - the suggested
currently operates, has been also considered as an statement is confirmed. The answers are relevant,
important information in order to follow the trends in although experts’ opinions` concordance is weak
various-size organizations. 12.5% of experts are (Kendall's W = 0,457). Factors three, four, five, six,
working in a large company, 37.5% are working in a seven, nine and ten gathered high score: usage of
medium-sized, 37.5% - small and 12.5% are working word of mouth for recruitment has mean value of
in a micro company. 3.83; online recruitment platforms – 4,67;
Third question of the first part of the questionnaire professional social media platforms for recruitment –
has been dedicated for defining the business sector, in 4,83; social media platforms for recruitment – 4;
which experts work. 12.5% specified, that they work internal recruitment within the organization – 4,50;
in accommodation services, 37.5% specified, that they head hunting – 3,67; recommendations from other
work in legal services, 12.5% are working in IT, 25% people – 4,67. The high p values for factors three,
are working in banking services, 12.5% marked four, five, seven and ten are emphasizing their
“other” and specified, that they work in significance, but factors six, eight and nine are not
telecommunications. statistically significant. The rest of the factors marked
by number one, two and eight had weak mean values
and factors number two and eight are not statistically
significant, while factor number one has a high p
value.

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Hanna Khlebarodava, Rita Remeikiene

Table 4. Popularity of various ways of recruitment

Kendall’s W = 0,457
Factor
Mean
Mean rank p value
value
You use newspapers, magazines, paper-based advertisements for 0,04
2,1 1,7
recruitment.
You use labor exchange office for recruitment. 3,3 2,2 0,31
You rely on word of mouth when recruiting new people. 4,8 3,8 0,09
You use online recruitment platforms (cvonline lt, cvbankas lt, etc ). 7,2 4,7 0,00
You use professional social media platforms for recruitment (linkedin 0,00
7,8 4,8
com, xing com, etc ).
You use social media platforms for recruitment (facebook com, twitter 0,17
6,3 4,0
com, etc ).
You look for the employee from the current employees internally. 6,7 4,5 0,00
You use recruitment agencies. 4,3 3,3 0,61
You use head hunting. 5,5 3,7 0,39
You use recommendations from your colleagues, friends, family. 7,1 4,8 0,00

one, two, three, ten, twelve are not statistically

In the second question of the second part of the significant. Factors number seven and eleven have
questionnaire, experts were asked to evaluate the both weak mean values and too low p values.
statements, that compared hiring through SMP and In the third part of the questionnaire experts
traditional ways of recruitment. were offered to identify the main characteristics of a
The answers are relevant, although experts’
opinions` concordance is weak (Kendall's W = 0,366). candidate and main factors and drawbacks of SMP,
All of the factors from one to six gathered high score: which influence the successful selection of the
SMP are faster for recruitment – 3.83; SMP are candidate.
cheaper for recruitment – 4,17; hiring through SMP is In the first question experts had to define the
more efficient – 4,33; opportunity to know the characteristics, which influence taking final decision
candidate better through SMP – 4,17; wider choice of regarding the candidate.
applicants in SMP – 4,17; better allowance of The answers can be accepted as relevant, because
presenting company’s values – 4,67, more trustability experts’ opinions` concordance is strong enough
– 3,50. The high p values for factors one, four, five (Kendall's W = 0,678). Factors three, four, five, six,
are emphasizing their significance, while factors seven, eight, nine, ten gathered high score: education
number two, three and six are not statistically – 4,33; previous working experience – 4,83;
significance. Factor number seven has weak mean relationship with previous employer – 3,67;
value, but high p value. background – 3,67; appearance – 3,83; behavior –
In the third question had to help in defining the 4,83; conversational skills – 4,67, proof of skills –
portrait of the person, who can be hired through SMP. 4,33. The high p values for these factors number
The answers are relevant, although experts’ opinions` three, four, six, seven, eight, nine are emphasizing
concordance is weak (Kendall's W = 0,403). All of the their significance, while factors number five, ten, are
factors from one to six, eight, nine, ten, twelve, not statistically significant. Factors number one and
thirteen and fourteen gathered high score: SMP can be two, eleven and twelve have both weak mean values,
used to hire males – 3,83; SMP can be used to hire although factor number two is statistically significant.
females – 3,83; SMP can be used for firing people of In the second question experts had to answer what
18-65 y.o. – 3,50; 18-29 y.o. – 4,83; 30-39 y.o. – features of SMP are helpful for selection process.
4,50; 40-49 – 4,33; SMP can be used for firing people The answers can not be accepted as relevant,
outside Lithuania (worldwide) – 4,67; hiring through because experts’ opinions` concordance is weak
SMP can be used to hire people from all of counties in (Kendall's W = 0,540). Factors one, two, five and six
Lithuania – 4,50; only from big cities – 3,67; gathered sufficient mean value score: photos – 3,50;
secondary education – 3,83; secondary vocational information about the education/skills – 4,33;
(professional) education – 4; people with higher information about previous work experience – 4,83.
education – 4,67. The high p values for factors The high p values for factors number two, five, six are
number four, five, six, eight, nine, thirteen and emphasizing their significance, while factor number
fourteen are emphasizing their significance, while one is not statistically significant. Factors number

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 Social sciences, Opportunities of E-recruitment through Social Media Platforms and its Development in
Lithuania

three, four, seven and eight have a low mean value, part of the questionnaire, for question two in
while factor number four is statistically significant. the third part of the questionnaire, Cronbach’s
In the third question experts had to evaluate the alpha coefficient for the survey is strong,
statements, regarding the main drawbacks of e- which means that it reflects the topic
recruitment. precisely. Also p-value is significant, which
The answers can be accepted as relevant, because means that the experts have different
experts’ opinions` concordance is strong enough opinions, but the answers are reliable.
(Kendall's W = 0,657), which means that question – LinkedIn and Facebook are the most popular
reflects the researched object. Factors from one to SMP, which are used by the experts for
three gathered high score: privacy settings – 4; recruitment;
accuracy of online information used in HR decisions – Online recruitment platforms, professional
– 3,50; incomplete candidate‘s pool coverage (there SMP and recommendations from other people
are candidates who are not using social media) – 3,58. are the most popular ways of recruitment.
The low p value for factors two and three is – Experts believe, that SMP help to present
emphasizing its insignificance, while factor number company’s culture and values better, than
one is statistically significant. Factors number four, traditional ways of recruitment.
five have both weak mean values and too low P- – Both males and females aged 18-49 can be
values. hired through SMP. Also experts stated, that
In the fourth question of the third part, experts people from all over the world and all of the
were asked to provide their opinion whether SMP can coun ties of Lithuania can be hired through
replace all other ways of recruitment. 66.7% of SMP. Experts also believe that people with
experts answered, that it would be possible for SMP higher or secondary education can be hired
to replace all other ways of recruitment, 16.7% using SMP.
answered, that it would not be possible, 16.7% clicked – Candidate’s behavior, previous working
“other” and specified, that to some extent it is experience and conversational skills play the
possible most important role in taking the final
In the fifth question experts were asked to mark decision regarding the candidate.
the recommendations for the successful hire through – Information about previous working
social media platforms. All the options, provided to experience, publications in the news feed and
the experts, were taken from the scientific literature. information about a person’s education/skills
83.3% marked that it is necessary to increase a social are the most important features of SMP,
media presence of the company. 50% of the experts which are helpful for selection.
agreed, that it is necessary to verify the accuracy of – Privacy settings is the main drawback of
the information regarding the candidates. 50% marked hiring through SMP.
that it is important to compare assessment of social – The majority of the experts think that SMP
media pages with alternatives like personality tests. can replace all other ways of recruitment.
Explanation of the recommendations: – Experts mostly recommend to increase a
– According to the Davison et al. (2012), an social media presence (83.3%) of the
organisation could verify the accuracy of the company in SMP for successful recruitment.
information, stated by the candidate, by However, they also put comparing assessment
incorporating social screening policies. of social media pages (50%) with other
– According to Kroeze (2015), establishing alternatives and verification of the
criterion-related validity could prevent the information regarding the candidate (50%)
organisation could prevent discrimination, also high.
inaccuracy, inconsistency.
– Davidson et al. (2016), offers to invent Conclusions
alternative predictors as a recommendation
After scientific literature review and empirical
for successful recruitment.
research the main advantages (allowance to present
– Masa’d (2015), states, that social media
presence of the company can bring more company’s culture and values, it is cheaper and faster)
niche candidates to the social media. and disadvantages (privacy settings, incomplete
candidate’s pool coverage) of e-recruitment were
Summing up the results of the experts’
revealed.
evaluation, the following conclusions can be made:
The methodology of the opportunities of e-
– All experts were competent enough to
recruitment through SMP had been presented and
represent HR sphere.
– The experts are operating in various sized expert evaluation was used for the empirical research.
companies and in various business sectors, It was identified from the survey for experts that
traditional ways of recruitment are not popular
which is why the general recommendations
anymore, except recommendations from other people,
for all companies can be provided in this
innovative ways of recruitment took the first plan in
research paper;
– Although the value of concordance is weak HR. Experts decided that Facebook and LinkedIn
for questions one, two, three in the second became the leaders for recruitment. It was revealed,

33
Hanna Khlebarodava, Rita Remeikiene

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 Social sciences, Opportunities of E-recruitment through Social Media Platforms and its Development in
Lithuania

RECEIVED: 3 March 2019 ACCEPTED: 5 June 2019

Hanna Khlebarodava, Master of Business Management, Mykolas Romeris University, Project Manager at Intra
Research. Address: Gostauto str. 8, Vilnius, Lithuania. Phone: +370 625 80 894. E-mail: [email protected]

Rita Remeikiene, assoc. prof. dr., Mykolas Romeris University, Economics Institute. Address: Ateities str. 20, Vilnius,
Lithuania. Phone: +370 616 24114. E-mail: [email protected]. The main interest research fields: shadow economy,
digital economy, business environment.

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