Crowdsourcing

Crowdsourcing: it’s a buzzword in business at the moment, and it’s specifically spreading within the recruitment industry.

It’s a term for when you outsource a task, project or problem, but instead of taking it to a specialised contractor, you put it out to the general crowd. Members of the public from a vast range of backgrounds solve your problem for you, for the rewards of money, prizes or sometimes just goodwill, credit or ego.

The instant global network of the internet has now turned crowdsourcing into a far more accessible tool, especially in recruitment. The referral fee has long been an incentive for staff to recommend people they know through their personal networks, but companies are now offering similar rewards to the public for recommending people via their website.

Being the professional social medium, LinkedIn is the most common recruitment crowdsourcer, and people tend to refer contacts to vacancies purely for the reward of increasing their own network and value as a contact. Here at Employment Office, we frequently post details of jobs in relevant LinkedIn Groups and networks, and users refer qualified contacts to apply – letting the crowd create a more targeted response than a traditional job ad might.

Twitter is also being used for crowdsourcing recruitment by large companies including Microsoft, Amazon and Best Buy – the latter of these recently used crowdsourcing to not just find applicants, but also to use their combined industry expertise to write a role’s Position Description. There’s still no a ‘one size fits all’ use, but with the expertise of the world at every recruiter’s fingertips, crowdsourcing is a tool that’s increasing in value.