How to use Social Media to Recruit Top Talent

How to use Social Media to Recruit Top Talent

As our country’s economic engine ramps back up, it seems that everywhere you turn businesses are hiring!

But how they’re hiring is changing.

As traditional recruiting methods are proving to be slow and expensive, companies are turning to social media platforms to hire top talent in innovative new ways.

In this blog, we’ll discuss the simple, yet impactful ways that your business can use these social recruiting strategies to recruit the right, bright minds to fill your positions.

LET’S DISCUSS YOUR DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGY

What is “social recruitment?” (And does it really work?)

Let’s answer the second question first. Yes, social recruitment really does work! We’ll share the stats to prove it in a moment.

But first, what is “social recruitment,” exactly?

Social recruitment is simply recruiting talent across multiple social media platforms. It allows you to get your brand image out there, share your company culture, and connect with a whole new pool of prospective candidates.

One caveat: a company shouldn’t lean on social recruiting alone. It should be one aspect of your overall recruitment plan. Think about it as a compliment to your process.

And quite a compliment it is! Here are those stats we mentioned:

  • 73% of 18-34 year olds landed their most recent job by using social media, according to a study by Aberdeen Group, and 21% of candidates landed their dream job in this way!
  • 89% of recruiters have hired someone through LinkedIn, according to Social Meep.
  • 59% of recruiters stated that the candidates they sourced through social media were of the “highest quality,” according to Jobvite.

So how do I get started?

Here are the effective steps of social recruitment:

1. Be on the right platform: Just like any job opportunity, you want to be in the right place at the right time. Which, in the digital marketing world, means: to find the right talent, you have to tap into the right platform for the role you’re trying to fill.

You’ll want to profile your ideal candidate and meet them where they “live” on social media. For example, a candidate looking for a job in the creative arts would be drawn to visual platforms like Instagram or Pinterest, but someone in more of a sales role might lean into LinkedIn.

Within each platform, you’ll want to play by their rules to maximize gain. On Twitter, for instance, you’ll need to add relevant hashtags. On Facebook, you may need to visit careers pages or job groups to find optimal candidates.

Additionally, don’t shy away from each platform’s advanced search tools. They can give you more of a customized approach to streamline your search, such as identifying interests, geographic location, pages liked, areas of study, etc.

2. Make it easy: Ensure that your application process is smooth and streamlined for your prospects. Test it out, fix any glitches, ensure that your recruitment experience isn’t buggy, and make sure that your website is mobile-friendly. These small details make a big difference. Ask yourself: “Would asking people to upload a resume help or hinder the application process?”

3. Share your corporate culture: Just like selling anything important, you want to share the experience of that product. Your business is no different. Prospects need to know what it will look and feel like to spend 8 hours a day working for your brand. What’s the corporate culture like? What does your company value? What are the incentives? What drives your company at its core? Share it and show it.

One great example of this is the hotel chain Marriott with their much-loved career Facebook page that has over 1.3 million likes. On this page, they post engaging content multiple times a day sharing employee shoutouts, company happenings and interesting stories about what it’s like to work there. They’ve also utilized existing employees to answer community questions on the page. All of this creates an insider-feel where potential applicants can get a well-rounded feeling about the company.

4. Tap into the network under your nose: You have an incredible treasure trove of potential leads within your own company. Looking for a graphic designer? Ask your employee to share with their network! A recent study shows that the average employee has the following share-worthy contacts at-the-ready on social media including:

  • 400 LinkedIN contacts
  • 420 Facebook friends
  • 360 Twitter followers

Plus, when your employee becomes an advocate for your business, they become a voice that can share the “ins and outs” of your business, the corporate culture, expectations, incentives, etc. People are much more likely to take the next step with a potential employer if the opportunity has been shared by someone they know.

5. “Social-izing” is a two way street: Remember that when recruiting over social media, you need to make yourself available to both ask and answer questions. To the prospect, this illustrates engagement and a sense of business “on-it-ness.”

That being said, you want to broaden how you socialize on social media. Share interesting facts, resources, cool happenings, and workplace culture “nuggets.” Anything that offers a window into your business. Also don’t hesitate to spark conversations that create meaningful discussions on your page. That discussion thread may answer a question that a future applicant wants to know!

NEED HELP GETTING STARTED?

We hope you found some helpful nuggets of wisdom for using social media as one of your recruitment tools. Want to brainstorm a bit more with our team at ALINE about your digital marketing strategy? Don’t hesitate to reach out!

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