Social media has ingrained itself into our daily lives, so much so, that it has even invaded the area of business. More than maintaining connections between friends and family, social media platforms have revolutionized the way business is done. Social media today also plays a significant role in recruitment. Employers and job seekers alike are leveraging the power of social media to find and secure the best talent. In this article, we discuss how social media has changed the recruitment landscape and how recruiters can maximize the various social media platforms to find the best talent.
What is Social Media Recruitment?
Social media recruitment refers to the process of using social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to attract, engage, and hire potential candidates. Traditional recruitment methods often involve posting job openings on job boards or relying on referrals. However, the advent of social media have provided recruiters access to an extensive pool of talent and the power to proactively search for candidates based on their skills, experience, and interests.
Social media is also used for employer branding, which helps in showing your potential candidates your employee value proposition. Having a positive image on social media is vital because this shows candidates that you’re a trustworthy brand or company. This is vital because many job applicants use social media platforms when job hunting. In 2020, almost 40 million applicants were looking for a job on LinkedIn weekly—and that’s just one social media platform. On the flipside, 71% of hiring decision-makers in the US agree that social media is an effective tool for screening applicants.
Benefits of Social Media Recruitment
Companies have been leveraging social media recruitment strategies for years because it helps them create a more targeted approach that helps them reach and engage with candidates that they wouldn’t have discovered otherwise. Some companies even use social media as one of their main recruitment channels because it’s a source of high-quality candidates.
Aside from helping you cast a larger net, below are the main benefits of social media recruitment.
- It’s cost effective.
Social media recruitment is more cost effective when compared to traditional methods like job ads and job fairs. There’s no need to run expensive advertising campaigns because many social media platforms offer free or affordable job posting options. Social media helps fill positions quicker while using less resources, making it a go-to solution for recruiters and hiring managers. - It extends your reach.
With 8 billion users worldwide, social media platforms are an excellent channel for reaching a vast and diverse audience. Posting your job openings on social media means you’re tapping into a large network of potential candidates—even those who aren’t actively searching for job opportunities. Because 70% of the global workforce comprises passive jobseekers, it’s vital for recruitment companies to reach both active and passive jobseekers to ensure that they get the best talent available. - It provides a targeted approach.
Social media hiring allows recruiters to tap a vast pool of candidates worldwide, and this can be a challenge to sort through and find specific people for specific roles. Fortunately, social media platforms feature advanced targeting capabilities that allow recruiters to narrow down their search based on different parameters, including location, industry, and education. This targeted approach ensures that job postings reach the most relevant candidates, increasing the chances of finding the right fit for the position. - It enhances employer branding.
Social media offers a unique opportunity for employers to showcase their company culture, values, and employee testimonials. By regularly sharing engaging content related to their industry and workplace culture, companies can build a strong employer brand that attracts top talent. Research shows that 75% of jobseekers want to know about a company’s reputation before even applying for a job there, and because of this, more than 50% of them first check out a company’s social media channels and websites.
Social Media Recruitment Best Practices
Social media can help significantly with recruitment and branding campaigns—if you do it right. Below are a few tips you can follow to help you maximize the social media tools at your disposal.
- Be a visual storyteller.
Images, videos, and other visual content tend to attract more attention on social media. Incorporate visual elements into your job postings to make them more engaging and increase their reach. Aside from being more visual, you can also employ other strategies like storytelling or sharing employee success stories, featuring testimonials from current and past employees, and even blogging to share knowledge and advice related to your industry. - Engage with your audience.
Keep the conversation going by responding promptly to inquiries, messages, and comments on your social media channels. This helps create a positive impression and foster a relationship with potential candidates. It’s also a good idea to participate in relevant industry discussions and trending topics. You can extend a helping hand to both potential candidates and recruiters by joining groups and sharing your knowledge and expertise. - Craft compelling job descriptions.
Make your job descriptions clear and use relevant keywords to increase visibility of your job postings in relevant searches. It should highlight the important points, including job responsibilities, qualifications, and required skills. You can also go above and beyond and provide a snapshot of what a day in the office would look like for candidates that get hired for a specific role. - Leverage employee advocacy.
encourage your employees to become your very own brand ambassadors by sharing job postings and company updates with their own networks and in their personal social media profiles. This helps expand your reach significantly and attracts candidates who share your company’s vision and values. - Measure and optimize.
Track and analyze metrics like reach, engagement, and click-through rates (CTR) to gauge the effectiveness of your campaigns and determine which social media platform is the most lucrative in terms of the number of relevant candidates. Use these insights to refine your strategy and adapt your recruitment approach based on the gathered data to optimize results. Regular monitoring is key here so you’ll discover which strategies work and whether or not you should modify your strategy.
Reaching Out via Social Media Recruitment
Finding the best talent has changed through the years, and the emergence of social media has further revolutionized the methods organizations use to attract and retain top people. Employers have now discovered the power they can wield once they learn to harness the power of social media hiring and recruitment; they can expand their reach, enhance their brand and reputation, and connect and engage with candidates that may otherwise have gone unnoticed. In today’s highly competitive hiring landscape, recruiters would do well to embrace the integration of social media into their business methods and leverage its numerous features and their benefits.
Schedule a call with us today to see how social media hiring strategies can help boost your recruitment efforts and discover a vast pool of topnotch talent in the Philippines.
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