How to attract talent using social media
With the rise of digital technology, more and more things are becoming available at a simple click of a button – whether that’s socialising with friends, buying the latest video game, or more recently, finding your next hire.
An increasing number of job seekers now use social media as an additional – if not sole – channel to find a job, and as a business, it makes sense to have a presence on it. But how can you tap into this social media market?
Take LinkedIn as an example. It is a must-use resource for both jobseekers and hiring managers with 62% of candidates using it to find their next job. This, along with many other social channels, are fast proving to be successful when identifying talent. So why not use social media to build a talent pool?
Here are webrecruit’s tips for hiring managers embracing social media to recruit.
Create a company page on LinkedIn. If you haven’t already, set up your company on LinkedIn. Take advantage of the free features it offers, including a company bio, a products and services page and the chance to add HTML designs and graphics to attract candidates to your business. Add the LinkedIn ‘Followers’ button to your website to encourage people to follow your company page. Engage regularly and you’ll soon start building a community.
Expose your brand. Use platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to expose your brand. By building an online community based around your business, you can create a talent pool where you can identify candidates not only interested in jobs, but also your brand itself.
Engage with your audience. There’s no better place to build an engaged community than through social media. Make sure you provide thought provoking content such as news and blogs to keep people coming back to your business page – whether that’s on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter or maybe another social platform, such as Google+. You’ll come across professional and a thought leader.
Embrace online CVs. Professional networking sites, such as LinkedIn, have made it possible to view potential candidates’ work experience, skills and even potential references, all within a few clicks. Remember not to take social networking at face value though. The word ‘social’ is used for a reason. Sites such as Facebook operate on a much more personal domain.
Understand the etiquette of social media. Familiarise yourself with what to do and what not to do when using social media. For example, if someone poses a question, shares a comment or starts a discussion with you – you must respond. By engaging with others via social networks, you’ll appear much more responsive and interested in your community, particularly if you’re looking to headhunt.
Interact in Real-Time. The advancement of digital technology has enabled us to interact, face-to-face with anyone throughout the world, and in real time. For recruitment, the great thing about this is being able to engage quickly with candidates and reduce the risk of losing them to your competitors.
Planning & Strategy. Before you embark on a social media strategy, ask yourself what you want to get out of it. Do you want to build a talent pool? Are you looking to hire immediately? Are you looking for another platform to increase your brand awareness? Put strategies in place and monitor your levels of engagement with a view to amending dependent on performance.
Integrate. Not everyone is signed up to every social media account. So start integrating your media to get your message out. For example, you could cohesively integrate content and context using Twitter to share short sharp messages or links to your corporate blog, and Flicker to expose your brand identity and share images of your company.
Measure your ROI. If you’ve posted a link to a job in a LinkedIn group or tweeted it, and you haven’t had the response you were hoping for – look at how and why you are using that particular channel. Perhaps the type of candidate you are seeking doesn’t use it? To combat this, set clear, realistic objectives, monitor the response and evaluate the resources you have invested in.
When done correctly, social media can help your business to reap rewards, including a great talent pool and increased brand awareness.
If you’re still unsure, just look around. Companies of all sizes and all industries have embraced social media to varying degrees. And those who have embraced it are already one step ahead. Wouldn’t you like that to be you?
Lucy Heskins
Lucy@webrecruit.co.uk
