The Role of LinkedIn Profile on Hiring Preference: Evidence from Bangladeshi Employers

Abstract

This empirical paper aims to identify the role of LinkedIn, a profession based social networking site (SNS) on overall hiring preference (HP) in Bangladesh. As the independent components, the author considered LinkedIn profile richness (LPR), LinkedIn skill endorsement (LSE) and self-presentation on LinkedIn (SL). The author collected primary data based on 391 survey responses. For descriptive statistics, the author utilized SPSS (version 24) and for examining the hypotheses, he utilized structural equation modeling technique through AMOS 24. After a careful and thorough analysis, it was found that all the independent components have significant positive roles over HP. This empirical paper is expected to be a founding guideline for the jobseekers having active LinkedIn profiles. Further, it can also guide the hiring managers to formulate and implement an efficient social media policy (SMP) for hiring.

The roles of LinkedIn-based skill endorsements and LinkedIn-based hiring recommendations on hiring preferences: evidence from Bangladeshi employers

“…However, according to all of the respondents, LinkedIn is a powerful SNS that is regularly used for choosing competent talents. The findings of this empirical study can represent LinkedIn's effectiveness as a legitimate recruiting tool in an emerging country context because of the country's high population density and large number of young people searching for employment (Khan, 2021).…”

“…However, theoretical and/or empirical studies based on LinkedIn-based hiring in Bangladeshi job context are very rare except the study conducted by Khan (2021) and Hosain and Liu (2020a). Therefore, there is an urgent requirement for conducting further study investigations on this unexplored area of management.…”

“…Even though a considerable number of theoretical and empirical research papers have been published on the influence of SNSs on various HRM practices (Hosain, 2023; Roulin and Stronach, 2022; Hosain et al ., 2020a, b; Khan, 2021; Hosain and Liu, 2020a, b, c, d), only a few of those publications have examined the roles of LinkedIn-based characteristics on employability or hiring preferences. Particularly, employers' perceptions concerning LinkedIn-based job features as the predictors of hiring preferences have been rarely identified in the academia so far despite of its growing popularity among both the job-seekers and the recruiters.…”

“…With over 58 million companies linked to this SNS and over 14m open opportunities, it can be anticipated that employers frequently utilize this SNS looking for the right candidates to fill their job positions (Khan, 2021). A report has revealed that in 2021, 122 million job candidates received interview calls while 35.5m of those interview call recipients later employed by the connected persons on LinkedIn (LinkedIn Press Center (n.d.).…”

“…In the last three-quarters of 2021, LinkedIn had over 3 million remote job postings, a 6 times increase than that of previous year (LinkedIn Press Center (n.d.). Moreover, another report revealed that candidates employed through LinkedIn profiles are 40% less likely to quit their organizations during the first six months on the job (Khan, 2021).…”