Online networking on the up

Social media is catching up with face-to-face events and the golf course as the place to do business

Online networking is rapidly becoming the best way to headhunt talent and snare new business, a report has claimed.

The report, carried out by recruitment firm InterExec, surveyed a cross-section of the top senior executive headhunters across the UK seeking positions with a salary of between £150,000 and £1m.

Results found that while 22 per cent of the respondents believe an industry event will still provide the best opportunity to meet new people in business, 18 per cent believe that social networks such as LinkedIn were the best place to make new contacts and generate business.

In addition, 97 per cent of UK headhunters also believe that senior executives should have a publicly accessible profile on LinkedIn, with 86 per cent decidedly against a Facebook profile.

Kit Scott-Brown, managing director of InterExec, said: “Meeting people online for business has become more popular than the annual business golf outing.”

“However, there is an interesting social division emerging between the different types of social media available. While to be a member of LinkedIn is acceptable, some social media, such as Facebook, are deemed inappropriate,” added Scott-Brown.

Member's clubs were found to rank third in the list of top networking locations, followed by golf courses.