Specialist recruiter Hays Oil & Gas said while technology offers employers, recruiters and hiring managers powerful new recruitment tools, face-to-face methods remained central to the process.

Hays Oil & Gas regional director Simon Winfield said too many organisations had rushed into the online networking space, drawn by talk about how they could help find candidates at minimal or no charge, without developing a proper strategy or thinking about what they wanted to achieve.

"The increasing use of these mediums means employers no longer totally own their brand. We have to accept that allowing employees to blog and discuss matters on social forums isn't without its risks and employees must remember that they are representing the company.

"This is where a clear strategy and policy around what employees can and cannot do comes into play."

Winfield added that companies that wanted to be active in online communities had to carefully manage and monitor their image and reputation.

"That's not to say we should steer away from using social media. Technology has an important part to play in the recruitment process. With many candidates now being much more strategic in their approach to online networking, taking advantage of the sites linked to career-related groups and forums is a sensible move.

"But this form of networking must not be done at the expense of face-to-face methods, which remain central to the recruitment process. We need to look at it as just one of the attraction tools that we can use. Taking the time to get to know someone is still crucial in identifying the right role for them and picking up the phone to candidates or meeting them in person just can't be substituted."

Hays offered a number of tips for companies considering incorporating social media into their recruitment process:

• Research: Find out what is being said online about your organisation, and where it is being said
• Listen: Continue to listen to what is said about your organisation as it can be used as basis for your future conversations with potential recruits
• Identify potential audiences
• Develop a strategy
• Involve the business - do not restrict your social media efforts to the HR department; candidates want to have peer-to-peer conversations with those in the areas of the business they could work in
• Select your social media ambassadors well and provide training on appropriate content that will engage potential recruits
• Do not become preoccupied with a single area of technology. Social media changes rapidly