Social Media Recruiting – How your company can benefit from this strategy

When you’re searching for a new position and discover a potential employer, you’d definitely check out their Facebook page and Twitter profile. You’d probably also look them up on Google and LinkedIn for as much information as you can gather. Potential employees form an impression of your organization based on the information they mine from these different sources. Social media recruiting can maximize your interaction with potential job candidates by not only attracting them to your company, but also allowing you to reach out directly to top talent in your area.

Corporate culture is an important factor when deciding on a place of employment. You can showcase the company’s culture by publishing content that accurately reflects the company’s environment. Vine is a great way to share a brief look into the work atmosphere. Don’t hesitate to capture the fun that happens in your workplace or broadcast the perks and benefits your employees receive. If you offer free breakfast and lunch to your employees, have regular happy hours to blow off steam or reward individuals who work hard in unconventional ways, show it off! Not many organizations offer a lot of enticing perks, but the ones who do become known. These are all positive aspects potential employees will take into consideration. The goal is to give people an idea of how awesome it is to work for you. Once you’ve accomplished this, the top talent  in your area will be motivated to contact you directly.

The first step when trying to attract talent through social channels is to make your website as user-friendly as possible. Include as much information on company culture as possible. Maybe even throw in some ‘day in the life’ videos so people can visualize what you’re describing. Next, you need to work on your social media platforms in order to excel in social media recruiting.

Up to 60% of job seekers expect a company to interact with its followers and fans, whereas 20% of recruiters agree that it takes up less time and resources to hire via social media versus traditional means.

Jobvite Social Recruiting Survey released a report on the social job seeker that dissected the ways people looked for and found jobs through social channels in 2012. Excerpts:

• 88% of all job seekers have at least one social networking profile;
• 64% have two profiles and 44% have three
• 75% of the American workforce is comprised of job seekers
• 69% of employed Americans are actively seeking or open to a new job

First and foremost, you need to use the company Facebook page to interact with potential employees and regularly share company news. Make it easy for them to share job postings with friends and encourage existing employees to seek social media referrals from co-workers.

Your company should also have a strong presence on LinkedIn. LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network that makes it easy to search for specific skills, previous experience, view recommendations and approach candidates directly.

Twitter can also be a valuable recruitment tool that can be used for interacting with candidates and job seekers. Aside from posting vacancies, you can share your ‘day in the life of’ videos showcasing your office or featuring your team at work. You can even add a personal touch by reaching out to potential employees and wishing them luck on their upcoming interviews. Rather than tweeting from the brand account, have members of the organization tweet from personal accounts instead. When sharing a new vacancy, use hashtags in your tweets so jobseekers can find your postings easier, and don’t forget to include your city!

The Jobvite Social Recruiting Survey also provides a comprehensive overview of the social media recruiting market. It states that:

• Over 90% of employers will use social media recruiting in 2012
• 2/3 of Companies now recruit via Facebook; over half use Twitter and almost all use LinkedIn
• 43 % of respondents felt that the quality of applicants has improved thanks to social media
• 20 % said it takes less time to hire when using social recruiting

These statistics are all vital information to consider when deciding how your company is going to approach social media recruiting. Whether you’re posting jobs on these platforms or just interested in attracting the best talent to work for you, use these tools to your advantage and make your company stand out!

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