Social recruiting is all about advertising jobs, finding talent, and communicating with potential candidates and recruiters through social media channels and networks. It’s an evolving technique allowing companies to gain access to wider audiences for job positions and boost their profile as an employer of choice.
So, what’s it all about and how can employers use social recruitment strategies to boost candidate attraction and engagement?
Stockport based Grassroots Recruitment explain more:
Social recruiting is emerging as one of the most useful and popular ways of on-boarding applicants as it provides access to a new source of candidates compared to traditional models. Whilst job boards, online applications and automated decision making are still widespread and effective attraction tools, reliance on and emergence of new technologies to tap into an ‘ever-on’ culture is beginning to dominate modern hiring strategies.
Over the past 12 months in particular, there has been a surge in demand for big data and analytics to provide HR and management with greater insight and control over their chosen hiring model and target audience. This has led to better understanding of shifting candidate expectations and job-seeker preferences. Millennials, who have grown up with online communication via social media applications like Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, Skype, YouTube and similar platforms, are reinventing the way that job-seekers search for and apply to jobs, hence the adoption of Social Recruiting.
Having a multi-channel sourcing strategy is therefore critical in attracting a diverse candidate pool (as well as communicating with and retaining existing employees).
One of the main advantages of Social Recruiting methods is the ability to increase your reach when publicising current and future vacancies. This may be by relying on individuals’ social networks to share your links (much in the same way as traditional ‘word of mouth’) and having a strong corporate brand, employee base, reputation and customer reviews will all help with this. You can also ‘boost’ your campaigns through paid advertising, target your specific candidate demographic and post in specific job-seeker groups to get your message straight to the source.
Using social recruitment software and scheduling tools, in house teams and external recruiters can post on multiple social sites simultaneously, choosing the optimum time of day and communication method, as well as monitoring the effectiveness of their interactions. Advertorials and video testimonials from current employees can offer a more visual and effective way to highlight what you have to offer. Plus, don’t forget that social recruitment channels can also be used to proactively search for passive candidates via public information on social networks.
However, social recruiting does have its downside and limitations. Social media has made employer branding more complex, requiring a dynamic and consistent marketing strategy to communicate your company values effectively and stand-out. Conveying a weak message, having an inappropriate communication strategy or using the wrong channels can have a negative impact on your ability to attract and engage with applicants. But ignoring the shift to social recruiting isn’t really an option. Savvy employers need to embrace change and develop targeted, multi-channel social recruiting strategies as a powerful tool to combat talent shortages and skills gaps.
If you’re interested in developing a more effective approach to social recruitment and online candidate engagements, start with a high level of relevant content, consistent branding and ongoing analytics to monitor your output. Give prospective applicants an insight into what you’d be like to work for, be honest and transparent in communicating your company values, and ensure you have an effective and timely response to enquiries.
Expert Opinion provided by Grassroots Recruitment