We live in a world plagued with technology. Everywhere you go people are staring down at their smartphones with such a fixed focus that you would think they were expecting a call telling them they had just won the lottery. Even in a professional office environment, it is borderline impossible avoid being bombarded with Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, Pinterest, etc. Lately, technology has gotten a bad rap for inhibiting the quality of personal interactions however; there is a major upside to our digitally oriented society that is being greatly underutilized. Recruiting.
As far as recruitment strategies go, social media is fairly new to the playing field. We have all heard about devastating blunders that have led to young adults becoming unemployable or in worse case scenarios; long term employees being terminated. However, many forget that social media can actually be an asset to companies recruiting new talent. Most employers are not used to trolling online profiles in search of their next potential candidate, but this strategy could actually be the way to go if your business needs a great new employee and fast. Obviously, there are certain challenges that come with using online information to attempt to gain an accurate impression of a job candidate, but you have a much better chance of finding your superstars (especially entry-level candidates), if you are willing to put in the extra effort to use online recruitment. Here are a few social media resources that your company can start using to rein in fresh talent.
- LinkedIn
Essentially this website is a social platform designed strictly for professionals. Using LinkedIn to recruit new talent is a no brainer. You can search potential employees by name and find all their work history and education information in one place. It’s easy, convenient, and both employers and employees dig it. However, the free version of LinkedIn may not be the best option in terms of maximizing your recruitment potential. It may be worth it to invest in the premium LinkedIn Talent Finder which can help you get better results, expanded profiles, and nail down candidates who are a perfect fit for your company. In comparison to the average $3,000 it costs the recruit a new hire, the LinkedIn talent finder only costs $74.95 a month. Talk about a great value. - Facebook
This resource can prove to be very useful if you are looking to recruit young or entry-level talent. Not everyone has set up a LinkedIn profile, but almost anyone who is anyone has a Facebook account. When recruiting via Facebook be sure to check out the search filters available. You can narrow results to view only candidates who have graduated from top Universities, are employed at certain companies, or even those who work in a specific field such as engineering. In addition to using search filters, paid advertising is also an excellent feature to utilize if you choose to go the Facebook route. Targeted Ads will attract potential employees actively seeking work and take them directly to your company’s page. It may seem a bit un-business like to use Facebook as a means to draft employees however, it can prove to be a great tool for finding candidates that would otherwise fly under the radar. - Twitter
Prior to 2012 Twitter was mainly limited to celebrities and comedians attempting to gain more fame and publicity. Now, everyone uses twitter, including your company’s CEO. The key to recruitment via twitter is regularly tweet about new job openings and to closely monitor the hashtags you are using. To effectively use hashtags you need to make sure that the key phrase is one that is popular, searchable, and will attract your desired audience. In this case hash tagging your post with #jobopening may not be the best choice when trying to get your post to stand out among those of countless other companies competing for candidates’ attention. If you are uncertain of what tags will get your tweets to pop, consult the tools Hashtracking and Tweetbinder. These tools can aid you in your pursuit of picking hashtags that will maximize SEO.
Regardless of the social media site you choose to use, be sure to actively measure the success of your recruitment strategies. You may find that while Twitter brings in a lot of potential employee leads, Facebook isn’t quite getting the job done and vice versa. Finding a strategy that is effective for your company will undoubtedly require some trial and error, but with a little perseverance, you may find that finding new employees easier than ever before. The digital era has certainly brought with certain challenges when it comes to employment, but there is no reason that you can’t use social media to your advantage. Viewing someone’s information online does not replace an in-person interview, but it can cut down time an expenses when it comes to recruiting top talent. In essence social media recruitment strategies can be highly efficient methods of finding exceptional job candidates.
Check out this infographic to learn what other companies are doing around social media recruiting: http://www.payscale.com/social-media-policy
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