Social recruiting strategies to find top talent  

Why is social media recruiting popular? 

Have you ever thought as to why social media recruiting or social recruiting has become so popular among employers today? It is because it is widely used by people of any age. So, employers tend to get the maximum use of these platforms to tap into many individuals available online. So, let’s look at the reasons for employers to use social recruiting for talent hunting.

Approaching passive candidates 

Social recruiting is a way that helps reach passive candidates through platforms like Linkedin, Twitter, and Facebook. These platforms comprise of skilled people who aren’t actively seeking jobs but might be open to new job opportunities if they come across any. Employers can bring out their company culture and job vacancies through engaging content and advertising in a way that could effectively capture the attention of these passive candidates. By doing so, recruiters expand their reach beyond active job seekers. 

Time and cost saving 

When compared to other platforms like job boards or print advertisements, you can hire faster through social recruiting. Recruiters do not need to spend much time looking for candidates because there is a wider audience that you can reach. When it comes to cost saving, recruiters can create job postings and share them with the network.  Recruiting through social media could reduce advertising costs associated with external job boards, making it an efficient tool for recruitment. 

Promoting company image 

Employer branding is vital. According to a study, 75% of job seekers consider the reputation of the company before applying for a job. Social media can be used as a powerful channel for employers to bring out their company culture and employee benefits to potential candidates. Through platforms like Linkedin, Twitter, and Facebook, organizations can bring out their unique identity and work environment. The way the companies behave can impact the attitude of job seekers. This effort to show what the company is about can significantly influence a candidate’s decision to apply for a job. 

Higher job visibility 

When organizations make use of social media platforms to find people for job vacancies, it makes those job advertisements more visible to a lot of people. The higher the number of people who see the ad, the better. To add, when the existing employees share these job ads with their own network on social media, it reaches even more people. So, posting job ads through social media helps companies find the best people for their jobs by reaching a wider and diversified group of potential candidates within a short period.

High caliber candidates 

Since social media recruiting reaches both active and passive candidates, it could increase the likelihood of finding well-qualified candidates. The wider reach means that companies can tap into a larger pool of individuals. Furthermore, when current employees share job openings with their networks through posts or direct communication, it often results in finding the best candidates. This method of reaching out to active and passive candidates through social media platforms and employee recommendations can result in getting quality candidates. 

Strategies for social recruiting  

From creating an image of the company up to reaching potential candidates online, a successful social media recruiting strategy involves following some of the best practices. Let’s look at some of the smart ways of how to do social recruiting to get the right talent on board. 

Choosing the proper channels  

Choosing the right social media channels for recruitment means getting to know the demographics of each of these platforms. It is necessary to consider the type of audience you want to reach out to and on which platform they are most likely to be active. For instance, if you are looking to find professionals in a specific industry, then Linkedin would be ideal. On the other hand, if you want to target a younger generation, Facebook would be the best option because businesses can reach many young people specialized in different fields. 

Instagram can be utilized to post pictures of the office environment, activities done by the team and job ads to attract potential candidates. Similarly, YouTube can be used as a platform to share videos of the company, events that appeal to candidates. 

Additionally, GitHub is a platform popular among developers. Recruiters can find potential candidates through GitHub by visiting their accounts and checking the projects done. Behance on the other hand, is a platform where recruiters can discover creative designers by checking their portfolio. Recruiters can also use Reddit to interact with potential candidates. Pinterest is a platform used to share information in the form of pinboards. Recruiters can showcase their team events and job openings through it. 

     Get the staff involved 

As an organization, you can encourage your existing employees to join in the social recruiting efforts. This can make social recruiting plan successful. These employees can help spread the word about new job openings among their friends who might be suitable for the team. Also, ask them to talk about what it’s like to work at the company according to their opinion. A good example of this would be when companies ask their staff members to share posts about job vacancies on their social media profiles. It is not only about sharing. The network can be educated through direct communication like phone calls or talking to them directly. This approach spreads the word quickly and helps the company reach more people who are interested in working there.  

     Continuous relationship building 

As an organization, it is necessary to make the organization more attractive to potential candidates. This can be done by responding to questions raised by individuals such as providing the potential candidates with information regarding current job openings, posting about employee testimonials, company events, team outings regularly to make the audience aware of the current updates about the company. Once you engage with potential candidates in this way over a certain period, companies can build a relationship with qualified candidates who would be interested in job opportunities. 

     Utilize modern technology  

When recruiting through social media, technology can be regarded as a vital part of the strategy.  An applicant tracking system (ATS) can offer a range of features. A recruitment software like Hiretrace can aid in sourcing candidates. This means that an ATS is a centralized platform that can store resumes of each applicant. With the passage of time, you will have a set of candidate resumes to consider for new vacancies. If any need arises to fill a job vacancy, recruiters can refer to past applicants who had applied before because the details are already available in the company talent pipeline database. The good news is this could save time and effort for recruiters.  Also, it could track the source of each application. This means it can provide data on which social media platforms are most successful in attracting the best candidates. Simply put, recruiters can now manage all the job applications from one single platform

     Optimizing the application process  

Enhancing the application process is a crucial part of social recruiting strategy. This means making it easier for people to apply for jobs through social media. A user-friendly application process can attract more applicants. For example, consider the implementation of a mobile friendly application system since many candidates prefer using mobile phones to look for jobs and apply for vacancies. This would include designing the application system in a way that could fit to different screen sizes, avoiding lengthy steps to complete the application process

The steps involved in social recruiting process

Knowing the recruitment goals  

It is important to bear clear goals in mind before relying on these platforms. This means knowing what’s your objective in using these platforms? Is it to approach more people for a particular vacancy or to increase the visibility for the job postings? Having clear goals can ensure that using social media platforms align with your hiring needs.

Posting on company’s social media pages  

When a company shares a job post on its social media pages, it taps into its existing followers. The followers comprise individuals who are already keen to know about the company’s updates. This approach guarantees that the job vacancy receives visibility among individuals who have already shown an interest in the company by choosing to follow its updates. By taking advantage of social media platforms, the company improves the chances of attracting candidates who are familiar with its brand.

Apart from that, job advertisements can be promoted using paid ads.  This means employers can promote job ads through Facebook and Linkedin by engaging in paid advertising if they want to reach a specific demographic. For instance, if a company wants to hire experienced finance managers in London city, they can specify the ads according to their preferences, like individuals aged 28-35 with a degree in finance living in or closer to London city. This ensures job ads are visible to the most relevant people. 

Existing employees share the post with their network

When the current employees share the job posting with their own networks, it reaches an even wider audience. It goes beyond the company’s immediate followers. This method taps into the personal connections of employees. When the existing employees tell their friends about new job opportunities either by sharing or contacting them directly, the organizations are likely to get qualified candidates because the current employees recommend potential candidates whom they trust. 

     Visibility increases 

When the company’s job posting is shared on social media and people keep on sharing it with others, it reaches a lot of people within a short period of time. Since the job is seen by more people, the company has a better chance of finding the right person for the job within a short period of time. Furthermore, the organizations can find people with different backgrounds and experiences. Simply put, it is easier to find people who are skilled in different fields.

Drawbacks of recruiting through social media 

While social recruiting has benefits, it also comes with a set of drawbacks. Organizations need to consider these factors when creating a social recruiting strategy.

Social recruiting can result in biased hiring too. When recruiters look at a person’s social media profiles like Facebook or Twitter to learn more about them, they might consider the background, the gender of the person. For example, if a recruiter sees that an individual comes from a certain region or religion, this information might impact the recruiter’s decision about whether to hire the person or not. Instead of considering a candidate’s skills and qualifications for the job, recruiters may consider unnecessary things that do not matter. This type of action could signal discrimination. 

Recruiting through social media could lead to certain misunderstandings. This means when recruiters look at someone’s social media profiles like Facebook or Twitter to decide if they should hire them, they might not get the full picture of who the person is. For example, a person might act very differently on social media than in real life. They might share about their real life, but they might not show how they are performing at their workplace. So, if an employer heavily depends on social media platforms when hiring candidates, they may not consider such individuals. This can result in wrong decisions taken by the employer about whether to hire the individual or not. 

Social recruiting has a limited reach too. This means it may not reach everyone. Some potential candidates might not be active on social media. They may not heavily use social media platforms. Just imagine if a company relies solely on social media for recruiting, they might miss qualified individuals who are not actively using these platforms. For example, a highly skilled individual might not make use of social media platforms to get updates about new job openings.  

When social media platforms are used for hiring purposes, it can cause privacy concerns too. When employers look at someone’s social media profile to decide if they should hire them, they might see personal details that have nothing to do with the job. This can make the person feel that there is no privacy. It can also cause problems for the employer if the person feels like their privacy is being harmed. So, how can you mitigate the risk of privacy concerns associated with these platforms? To reduce the risk of privacy concerns on these platforms, it’s essential to ensure that the organizations act professionally adhering .to company values. 

Conclusion

To sum up, social recruiting is a strategy for businesses to find and connect with talented individuals. However, it’s important to make use of these social media platforms responsibly and ensure that the recruitment process upholds fairness and is unbiased. With the right approach and utilizing the right ATS tools could make the hiring process successful for businesses while attracting top talent and succeeding in today’s digital landscape.