Recruiting candidates for a position used to be straightforward but very limited. You could post a classified ad in the local newspaper; you could post an ad in professional journals; and you could call around and see if anyone knows of someone looking for the type of position you had open. The flaws in these old methods are obvious to us now.
- Your pool of candidates was limited to those who saw your ad
- Your pool of candidates was limited to those who were actively looking
- Your calling “around” may have brought some candidates forth, but not all of the great prospects out there.
Social Media Has Transformed Recruitment and Job Searches
One of the biggest revolutions in the employment process has been the fat that social media has opened up a huge world for recruitment. Hiring managers and recruiters have access to the largest supply of candidates that can be found, because those candidates are all over social media with their profiles, their resumes, their websites, and their blogs. Learning to use social media for recruitment is not difficult, but it should be used to your benefit and ensure that you gain access to the best candidates for your opening.
Benefits of Using Social Recruiting
Recall for a moment the old process. You placed and ad and the resumes were delivered by mail. There was a new stack every day. You poured through them, looking for the best prospects. You called for interviews and, through that process, eliminated more prospects. You held a second round of interviews and narrowed even further. Then, you started checking references, only to find that background and experience was not as it was portrayed or that the candidate had been terminated for serious reasons. Social recruiting has both streamlined this entire process as well as opened up a wide range of recruitment venues and much improved methods of screening. Here are the effective ways in which recruiters and hiring managers can use social media as a recruitment tool.
Find Your Pool of Candidates
In late 2013 the Society for Human Resource Management took a survey all a cross section of businesses – small, medium large, and of various products and services – and asked how they were using social media to recruit good candidates. 77% responded that they do use social media to conduct searches for candidates. Candidates know this is happening, so they are placing themselves strategically to be “picked up” when an opening is available.
Your job as a recruiter or hiring manager is to find out where those ideal candidates are on social media and to be certain that you are there too. Facebook and LinkedIn are obvious choices, and LinkedIn even has a “matching” service of sorts. Employers can detail the needs of the opening and use specific keywords/phrases, and receive a listing of potential candidates for contact. But you should also be putting information about the opening on niche-based sites. These are smaller and more focused sites.
Use All of Your Social Media Pages to Post the Opening(s) You Have
If you have a strong presence on social media, use it – Once you post openings on your pages, the news will spread very quickly. And if no one who reads it is interested, they might know of someone who is. The posting will be shared. And now that Twitter has eased the character limitation for MS, you can actually provide a more comprehensive announcement of the opening and qualifications.
You Can Use Your Current Employees to Spread the Word
Ask your employees to use their Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest and even Instagram accounts to highlight the opening. They can actually take a picture of the job description and contact information and publish it on Instagram.
Use All of the Facets of LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a great tool for career individuals to do a lot of great stuff. They can set up their profiles, attach their resumes and portfolios and link other professionals (even recruiters and hiring managers) to their websites and/or blogs. The join all of the career-relevant groups and participate in discussions so that they will be “noticed.” Candidates now realize that they have to engage in the same content marketing strategies that e-commerce does.
So, if you are strategic in your use of LinkedIn, you will easily find the top candidates for your opening. You can search for profiles using keywords; you can access industry-related groups and be certain that everyone there knows of your opening. You can review the conversations and perhaps be impressed by a specific person. Then you can communicate privately with the person to determine if there is interest.
Your company also needs to be proactive for the future. In addition to having a company profile, you should also be participating in relevant groups – developing those relationships. When you do have a need, then, you already have a networking group that can help your search.
Candidates are Showcasing Themselves – You Need to Do the Same
The biggest pool of candidates out there are Millennials. What do you know about them and what they are looking for in a company “culture?” They want a company that is authentic, less bureaucratic, and that genuinely cares about its employees. They want a company that evaluates its employees by the quality of their work not by the number of hours they spend behind their desks. It is important that your company profiles on any social media platform present a true and honest picture of your corporate culture. If you don’t do this, you may employ a bad match, and you will be back at step 1 all over again.
Social recruiting is not like earlier online searches for candidates – just posting a position on a big board and waiting for the resumes to pour in. No, your social recruiting begins with you establishing a presence on social media and developing relationships through that presence. When you do have an opening, then, those relationships will probably result in a much better candidate pool. Your other “job” is to continue to be aware of new trends that impact how and from where you do your recruiting.
from Darlene Milligan http://ift.tt/1O1WopG via transformational marketing
from Tumblr http://ift.tt/1iShviP
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