Social media has drastically changed how we attract candidates. For job seekers, social media has proven to be invaluable when hunting for new career opportunities. And for recruiters, it's an indispensable recruitment tool for finding and connecting with top talent.
According to Pew Research, about 72% of American adults use at least one social networking site and with over 3.8 billion social media users in the world, more than half of the global population is using sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and TikTok. The potential is huge! Our global audience is bigger than ever and recruitment companies not using it to attract candidates are losing out.
Here, we explore why social media plays such an important part in your candidate attraction strategy.
How has the pandemic influenced social media recruiting?
The pandemic disrupted the day-to-day operations for most recruiters. Those who were still actively hiring during the lockdown period had to revisit their recruitment strategies to facilitate remote hiring. According to research by Jobvite, 84% of recruiters are adapting their hiring processes to promote remote interactions and about 58% of them now utilise social media networks like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and even Instagram as a means of connecting with potential hires.
So, what is social recruiting? Basically, social recruiting is a term used to refer to attracting talent via social media platforms. Although social recruiting strategies were already being used by recruiters before the pandemic, it became increasingly popular during the crisis as a way of connecting with candidates remotely and keep the hiring process moving, despite not being able to meet potential hires face-to-face.
But it's never gone away. And social recruiting is now critical for any successful recruiting strategy. Platforms like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn can potentially reach a much wider pool of highly qualified candidates than more traditional candidate sourcing methods.
If you want to remain competitive and relevant, then it’s essential you've a social recruiting strategy in place. Feel free to reach out to our team if you want to discuss how you can do this.
Tips for finding candidates on social media
The job market's massively changed and social media's played a major part in shaking things up! Stats show that 73% of 18-34 year-olds found their last job through social media and in another study, 89% of recruiters admitted to having at least once hired someone off LinkedIn.
However, as a recruiter, it would be hard for you to find and attract top candidates on social media unless your social media pages/profiles have been optimised to attract candidates. Here are three top tips on how recruiters can manage their social media profiles to target prospects:
Choose the right platforms
Every social media platform has its unique advantages and disadvantages, so the "right" platform will depend on the demographic you’re targeting. For example, LinkedIn is a professional social networking site where users look for information on companies, especially job postings. Over three million jobs are posted every month on LinkedIn so this would be a great place to find potential candidates who might be interested in your job opportunity. Facebook and Twitter are also good platforms if you're looking to maximise your job postings and building a voice as a specialist in your market, and Instagram is increasingly being used for internal talent attraction.
Optimise your presence on your platforms of choice
Simply posting job vacancies on social media isn't enough to attract candidates. It’s important to ensure your online presence is optimised to attract prospects. Fill out your profiles completely to optimise your page and appear in relevant searches. Create a schedule for consistently posting company (or personal) updates, insights on trends, and relevant industry news on your social media accounts. Showcase to candidates that your organisation's up to date with the latest developments in your industry.
Use employee referrals
Firstly, make sure your job ad’s engaging! Once it’s good to go, encourage colleagues/people in your network to increase the reach of your job ads by sharing them on their own LinkedIn feeds/timelines. Ask them to also ‘like’ and ‘comment’ on your posts to get them seen more, and consider using industry-related hashtags to ensure your adverts are reaching your target candidates too.
How to best use social media for recruitment marketing and hiring?
You need to be active and engaging on social media platforms to turn them into effective recruitment tools.
For recruiters, social recruiting is more than just posting open roles on your social networks. Your digital presence and personal brand have never been more important. With remote recruiting, a candidate may not even meet you or see your office in person. They'll have to learn about your company from online research, so your social media is often the first impression of you a candidate will get.
Where appropriate, consider using social media to showcase your client's employer brand too. Make sure your posts highlight the most valuable parts of the role and company. Show them why this opportunity should not be missed. Perhaps highlight the company values and culture. Use photos, videos, and employee testimonials (if you can source them and get permission to use them) to bring the role/organisation to life.
It takes a lot more than a social media profile for employers to really start benefiting from social recruiting , so ensure you’ve an active, consistent presence sharing relevant, informative content.
Finally, remember social media’s more than a means of communication, promotion, or marketing. Instead, it can be a powerful recruitment tool to help recruiters like you source, attract and engage candidates.
If you're looking to start a targeted social media strategy that to help you attract the best and brightest candidates, idibu can help.
idibu’s helping recruiters attract the best talent, quicker, through market-leading tech that integrates seamlessly with your CRM. Click below to arrange a free demo or just to have a chat with our team about your needs.
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