In spite of the huge popularity of social and professional networking sites, nearly two thirds of techies (62.5%) haven’t – as yet – used these channels to find an IT job, according to research carried out by The IT Job Board,www.theitjobboard.co.uk

The research also uncovered that more than half of those surveyed (57.4%) don’t currently see networking sites as being helpful to the development of their career. However, the survey did identify that half (51.2%) of the 62.5% of respondents who haven’t used social networking sites would not rule out using these channels in the future.

When it came to the 37.5% of respondents who have used social networking sites to find IT vacancies, 91.4% stated that this was in addition to other job-hunting methods. And, 86.2% of them did think their use of social networking sites to find an IT job would increase in the future.

When asked why they would use social networks, 43.5% or respondents cited that you ‘hear about job opportunities through networks’.

Alex Farrell, managing director of The IT Job Board, commented:

“Online job boards have changed the face of recruitment in the UK, and taken the emphasis away from offline. This is a sector that will continue to evolve, as candidates begin to supplement their job search with new tactics, such as social and professional networking sites – particularly in the IT space.”

“The job boards market is essentially a faceless one, it is therefore imperative for the online recruitment world to embrace Web 2.0, identify the trends coming through and work out new ways to engage with target audiences. We are continually adapting our business and marketing models to ensure we interact regularly with our candidates – for example, implementing content generation campaigns and using the social web.”