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A lot of us use social media to post pictures of our cats or our movie marathons. It helps us keep track of our friends’ news. Sometimes, we use it to announce we’re starting a new job, moving to Tanzania, or going gluten-free.
Many of us also use social media alongside the best eCommerce platforms to market ourselves and sell stuff online. But did you know that social media can also be used as an effective recruitment tool?
While it’s important that candidates keep in mind that employers can see their personal profiles, employers must also remember that they can just as easily be assessed by potential candidates as they determine whether companies are the right fit.
So, if you’re part of a company looking at the rich data social media offers to recruit new team members, here are a few things to keep in mind.
Table of Contents
Attract attention on social media
Take a look at the statistics gathered by The Muse above. Companies that have incorporated social media into their recruitment efforts are successfully hiring their ideal candidate more seamlessly, quickly, and successfully than without it.
According to the same source, 14.4 million workers in the U.S. have used social media to find a job, and nearly 30 percent use it as their primary tool during their job search. With this in mind, appealing to top talent on social media is a key element to standing out as a desirable company to work for. This means you must cover certain basics, including the following:
Information about your company
Your social media “About Us” sections need to be up to date and relevant. Phone numbers, including virtual ones, should be easy to find.
You should also include any email addresses and physical addresses. Opening hours, if relevant, should be listed too. This can be added to a workflow creation flowchart to help your marketing team keep your social media platforms performing effectively.
You will want to include some information about what your company does as well. This should be specific enough to ensure clarity but still general enough to be understood by the average person. Sometimes, this can be the hardest part of having a social media presence – figuring out how to concisely describe what you do.
You should also use SEO to identify the most effective terms to help your social media pages get found on search engines.
Pictures
Pictures tell you a lot about a person or company. Make sure they tell the story you want to convey about who you are and what you do.
While there are great options for copyright-free pictures on sites like Unsplash, most smartphones can take great, professional-looking photos too. It’s easy to produce these – and videos – for social media and video marketing with a little bit of creativity.
If you happen to have someone on the team with a high-quality camera, take advantage of this opportunity to upload images of your team and any enticing workspaces you may have.
Reviews
It doesn’t matter what your company sells, whether it’s smoothies, carpets, or non-fixed VoIP services, if you have great reviews rolling in, it is crucial that you’re highlighting them in your stories and posts on Instagram and Facebook.
It’s nice to bask in the glory of your hard work, and great customer reviews make you look professional and will attract potential employees. Almost 70 percent of consumers look at company reviews during their product or service research stage – this highlights how impactful reviews are for those assessing a company’s success. After all, who wouldn’t want to work for a company with a high success rate?
You don’t need to only include five-star testimonials. Throw in a couple of four-star reviews for credibility, and to make you look more human and relatable.
Trending, interactive content
Your company should also keep track of what’s trending. If there’s a growing preference for hybrid or remote work, write about it on social media. This also includes more niche products or services – if people are getting into IP phone systems, you could make a post titled “What Is an IP Phone System?”
It’s also important to consider your target audience. For example, if you specifically want to hire graduates, then learning about what people in that age group value and sharing on social media is an excellent way to appeal to this talent pool.
You can host giveaways and competitions to generate more visitors to your social media pages, and they might then spot that you’re hiring. The more active you are on social media with your marketing, the more relatable and genuine you’ll look to potential employees. This will give both your social media reports and hiring prospects a boost.
Finally, people will use social media to actively learn more about your company and ask questions through comments or messages, as well as share your content. Make sure you set aside time each week to respond to comments and queries.
Values
Use your platforms to show what your values are. For example, if it’s Pride Month or Women’s International Day, highlight this via social. Your values tell people a lot about what to expect from your company culture if they choose to work with you, and for some, certain values (or a lack of them) can be a deal-breaker.
For example, you could show that you support gender pay parity by publicizing any active company campaigns. Similarly, if you are dedicated to ensuring the wellbeing of your employees through a healthy work-life balance policy, make sure you market this to candidates.
Actions speak louder than words. If you can back up claims as to what your company values with work policies or mission statements, it will make you look good to candidates.
How to use social media to find candidates
So far, we’ve covered how to make your company look good on social media and attract the right candidates. Now, perhaps you’ve done some labor forecasting and decided you want to execute your recruitment strategy. Let’s delve a little deeper into how you can actively scout for, contact, and hire the best people.
Advertising jobs
Social media can be used to advertise jobs to your followers, as well as help reach a larger audience. You can post on any social platform with links to your website, or if you post on LinkedIn, you can offer the option of applying through the platform with a CV or cover letter. This provides a flexible hiring method.
While LinkedIn is a more traditional, professional-centered social media platform to use for recruiting, it’s far from the only option. Increasing numbers of companies are sourcing people via targeted ads on their Instagram stories, too.
Once you have received a number of submissions, you can simplify the hiring process by using applicant tracking systems to rank applications so you don’t have to read through ones that don’t end up meeting your requirements.
Contacting people directly
Headhunting isn’t a thing of the past. LinkedIn makes it easy to search for people with the skills you’re looking for, and to contact them directly about a job with your company.
The best way to do this is to send a friendly yet professional message that shouldn’t feel copy-pasted. It should also include specific information about the open role and why you reached out to them, in particular, to work for you.
Social media is a tool to connect
Used correctly, social media is a definite asset to the recruitment process. Keeping your social platforms up to date and relevant will go a long way toward making you an attractive prospect to candidates and helping you stand out from the competition.
Social media is also a great tool for connecting with an international pool of candidates and for managing how you appear to them. So, go ahead and harness the power of social media in your recruitment drive.
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About the author:
Richard Conn is the Senior Director for Demand Generation at 8×8, a leading communication platform with integrated contact center, voice, video, and chat functionality. Richard is an analytical and results-driven digital marketing leader with a track record of achieving good 8×8 reviews, and major ROI improvements in fast-paced, competitive B2B environments. Richard Conn also published articles for domains such as Socialbakers and LitExtension. Check out his LinkedIn.
