Abstract:

LinkedIn is one of the leading social networks aimed at professional use, proving to be a tool highly valued by human resources technicians and also by users in general. This tool helps professional to keep their information up to date. The main goal of this study was to understand what human resource consultants look for in a LinkedIn profile, what skills are most valued, and why some companies privilege LinkedIn tool in the recruitment process. To carry out the study were selected nine human resources consulting companies that use the LinkedIn tool in the recruitment and selection process. Therefore, was conducted a qualitative method, supported on Grounded Theory technique for codding purposes. The instrument for gathering information was a sociodemographic questionnaire and a semi-structured interview. In total, were conducted nine interviews with each of the human resources consultants responsible for the recruitment of candidates from the selected companies. The results suggest the gradual use of the LinkedIn tool to support the recruitment and selection processes. However, using LinkedIn as a recruitment technique that is not used in isolation, recruiters only use it as a complement to the recruitment process. At the end of the paper the results are discussed and some future research directions presented.