Social media is currently and will still be a hot topic in any conversation. Whether it is Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn or Twitter, social media is the ultimate tool when relying on attracting new clients, engaging new customers or retaining existing ones.
It goes the same when companies are looking at hiring new talent. Gone are the days when companies and recruitment agencies put up advertisements on the newspapers, requesting potential candidates to send their cover letter and resumes by certain date or walk into the agency’s office for an interview.
Social Media Channels
There are different types of social media channels made available to the public for multiple reasons. Be it for personal or professional reasons, there are different types of social media platforms for different purposes.
If you do not know Facebook by now, you are definitely way behind in the world of social media. Facebook is one of the largest social media platforms that users can create their profile, add other users as “friends”, exchange messages, post status updates and photos, share videos and receive notifications when others update their profiles.
An additional option is to integrate a chatbot for Messenger so that you can communicate more productively.
Photo: Bernard Goldbach, Flickr
Instagram is an online mobile photo- and video-sharing application that enables users to take pictures or videos and share them on a variety of social networking platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Flickr.
You can use Instagram to say show what the work culture is like, and why people would enjoy working for your organisation. Instagram hashtags can be added to encourage better results. Also, you can maximise your Instagram presence with effective hashtag usage. Learn how to gain more Instagram followers and increase engagement with our tips for using hashtags on the platform.
LinkedIn is a business-oriented social networking service that was founded in 2002. It is mainly used for professional and business networking. It is also like in online service that generates your employment online, provided you update and optimise your LinkedIn profile regularly.
This makes it easier for employers to search employee profiles and find talented professionals. Prospecting on LinkedIn isn’t easy, but you can save your time by using LinkedIn automation tools such as an email finder instead of manually finding potential leads.
The functionality of LinkedIn is to allow both employees and employers to create profiles and “connections” with each other in an online social network which may also represent real-world professional relationships.
Twitter is another social media platform that enables users to send and read short messages (140 characters) and these short messages are called “tweets”. Registered users can read and post tweets, but unregistered users can only read them. To cut down your efforts you can use Twitter tools to make this platform more effective.
There are many other social media channel available like Flickr, Pinterest and Tumblr, however the four mentioned above at the main channel that are frequently used. People either have one of them or all four of them.
Which social media platform?
Now that you are aware of the four different social media platform, you might be wondering which is best for your company when it comes to attracting the right candidate for the job.
So where do you start? It is not as simple as signing up to a social media platform and posting information online. You do not want to be posting the wrong information and target the wrong audience as this could lead to negative results or even shame your company.
We have compiled a short guide to how you or your company need to consider in order to use social media to recruit talent.
Research
You need to know what type of industry your company falls into before going any further. If you are an advertising company, you would look into creating a creative post or interesting Instagram captions as this will portray how fun and energetic the candidate has to be in order to fit with the company culture.
The position that you are finding to replace also plays an important aspect as this narrows down to where you should look out for such candidate. You would not be looking for a part-time coffee barista on LinkedIn, would you?
It is also important that you do a research of your competition. The likelihood of your company and your competitors are targeting the same pool of candidates. Monitor the comments their employees are posting, track new hires and even better, research your competitor’s salary information to stay ahead of your industry.
Identify
After learning and understanding what your company culture is like and what type of candidate you are after, you need to consider which social networks works best to your advantage. You need to consider who you are your target audience.
If your company is looking to hire a creative individual, you can use a Instagram post maker and upload an eye-catching photo with interesting Instagram captions on it. If your company is looking for a human resource manager, LinkedIn would be your bet. Creating a Pinterest board for your business and shots of employees may work as well. Not to say that the human resource department are dull bunch, but they are more serious type of people.
You do not need to use every single social media network available. You just have to be strategic and consider your audience at all times.
Terms and conditions
Before you start writing out what your company is looking out for in a potential candidate, check your company’s policy and the terms and condition of the social media platform.
Discuss with management on the dos and don’ts when publishing things online that is related to your company. Read all the social media marketing advice the company may already have in place. Do not overlook the legalities of recruiting via social media.
Photo: Lefteris Heretakis, Flickr
Content
When you have gotten everything sorted out, start writing out that advert! Be clear, concise and truthful. You might even need to be pedantic. Have a couple of people to proofread the post or advertisement before putting them online as this could save you or your company from future embarrassment.
Publish
There is nothing left to do then to publish your post online on the social media platform that you and your company have decided on. Next is just the waiting game – waiting for the right candidate for the position. Read our blog on how to hire employees for culture fit to help you and your company on selecting the right candidate.
In Summary
It is easier to attract talent via social media today as compared to the previously. Just a recap on the main steps to effectively use social media to attract talent:
- Research
- Identify
- T&C
- Content
- Publish
To use social media to attract talent, you need to follow the above steps, and appreciate that by doing so, you could be saving you and your company time and money. Remember not to reject candidates based on their online profiles or posts before meeting them; just like the age old saying, “Never judge a book by its cover.”
Good luck in seeking the right candidate for your company!
