Using Socials as Part of Your Recruitment Strategy

Why Use Social Media?


Although it initially started out as something of a novelty in the world of hiring, social media is a key part of any recruitment strategy. Sites like LinkedIn and Facebook are increasingly important when it comes to both sourcing and attracting new talent these days. As of September 2018, around 84% of companies said they use social media to recruit, and 9% of organisations who didn’t said they would be implementing social media recruiting strategies in the near future.

These figures are only likely to grow, so whether you’re a recruiter or HR professional, knowing how to engage with the most popular social media platforms for recruitment purposes is essential. When used as part of a wider overall strategy (as outlined in JobLookup’s Ultimate Hiring Guide), social media will greatly enhance your job post’s visibility. It can also help you attract passive candidates, as well as promoting your company generally.

A More Personal Approach


One of the main advantages of social media is that it grants organisations the opportunity to create more personal connections with the public in general. This can work extremely well when it comes to recruitment as well, enabling a much more organic and personal interaction between recruiters and candidates.

The social aspect of these platforms can be a very useful litmus test too. You might spot potential warning signs earlier on in the recruitment process, or some of the ideal qualities that you’re looking for in a candidate

People holding up signs of the various features of social media, including music, sharing, and hastags

 

The Best Social Media Sites for Recruiters


The first thing to note about social media, especially when it comes to recruitment, is that some platforms are more popular than others. Generally, the most frequented sites for recruitment and job opportunities are:

 

  Facebook

With a user base in the billions, Facebook is still the king when it comes to social platforms. It’s useful not only because of its reach, but the details recruiters can find. Many users tend to share their current and past employment details, as well as education and qualifications, for example.

Given the social and sharing nature of the site, it also means that you can gain a lot of insights and information about a potential candidate. This makes it much easier to see ,at a glance, whether a person’s values align with your organisation, as well as what supporting interests and skills they might be able to bring to a role.

 

  LinkedIn

While the focus of LinkedIn has always been a professional one (it’s in many ways Facebook for business professionals), it’s become an increasingly important resource for recruiters. The site has a dedicated job section too, so it’s easy to post roles. What’s more, candidates can check out company and recruiter profiles, and vice versa, giving plenty of research opportunity for both sides of the employment equation.

Given that listing employment history and skills is such a prominent feature of LinkedIn, it’s a very valuable and effective way to both advertise jobs for employers, and identify key applicants and talent.

 

  Twitter

The power of the hashtag shouldn’t be underestimated, and Twitter is the ultimate platform for hashtag trends. It’s also become a major player in social media recruitment. This is down to the fact it’s very easy for both jobseekers and recruiters to find each other, using common searches like #jobhunt, #jobsearch, and so on.

Much like Facebook, it’s also a powerful tool when it comes to understanding more about candidates. You can often glean a lot about someone’s interests, goals, and values from their twitter engagements and who they follow.

 

A colourful collection of the various social media icons, including Facebook and Twitter

 

How to Maximise Social Media Recruitment Reach


Each platform is a little bit different when it comes to engagement strategy, but there are some overarching guidelines that can be used to make sure your social media recruitment campaign performs as well as possible, whatever platforms you choose to work with.

  Have a Clear and Consistent Presence

Much like any social media campaign,recruitment focused or otherwise, it’s important to make sure that all of your company branding is consistent and instantly recognisable across all the platforms your using. This sounds like an obvious step, but it’s easy to overlook. Opportunities will be missed if candidates can’t find you quickly and easily.

Generally, make sure to keep imagery the same, as well as making sure usernames are the same across all platforms so it’s easy to find your page or profile whatever platforms you’re using. Make sure to link to and from your social platforms as much as possible from other resources too, like websites and any other platforms you or your company might use.

Furthermore, it’s important to build up a consistent presence on your platforms, even if you’re not actively advertising for roles all the time. This will keep you in people’s newsfeeds, which in turn can make attracting passive candidates much more of a possibility.

 

  Get Employees and Colleagues to Spread the Word

The key to an effective social recruitment campaign is getting your posts shared as much as possible. As a result, make sure to get other employees or colleagues to spread the word too – this way you tap into their networks as well. This, in turn, can hugely increase the visibility of any advertised roles.

It’s also important to make sure you’re using the right hashtags. You can easily find trending hashtags on Twitter and Instagram for example, so finding ways of working these into your recruitment posts if they’re relevant can give you even more reach.

 

  Create Engaging Content

Sharing means success on social media, and another sure fire way to get your posts shared is by making them as engaging as possible. This applies to your job posts too. While it’s generally best to keep the actual job description and role responsibilities within a fairly traditional format, you can use your social media posts to really bring out certain aspects of the company culture, exciting elements of the role, or even to inject some humour.

There are a number of examples of companies going a little off-piste with their social job posts to great effect, without even mentioning to much of the actual role itself. These kinds of posts tend to create their own buzz, which in addition to attracting the right candidates, could put your role and company on the radar for passive jobseekers too.

 

Now you’re ready to design and implement your social media recruitment strategy, make sure to register with us at JobLookup too – we’ll give your job posts plenty of extra reach, and you can create as many as you like completely free.

People Also Read

Popular Jobs for Recruitment
Recruitment Marketing Executive
... so, then this role may be for you! Our client based in Farnham, are seekin...
IT manager at Interaction Recruitment
Interaction Recruitment – IT Support Manager – Internal support  Location: ...
Recruitment Manager
... up which you will have a chance to be involved in Our recruitment team has...
Recruitment Administrator
... business. Responsibilities for this Recruitment Administrator are:  Be res...
Recruitment Coordinator
... their Head Office in London, working as part of their Recruitment Team to b...
Senior Recruitment Specialist - Aberdeen
... position in Aberdeen. The Responsibilities: Support team to develop and imp...
<< >>