How Can a Recruiter Use Social Media to Attract Talent?

Now unless you’ve been meditating in the Himalayas for the past 20 years then you’ll know that social media is the IN thing. Every man, woman, business, cat, and dog (yep they have their own profiles too) has some kind of presence on social media.

Whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat or others which are coming through, recruiters would be mad not to use it to boost recruitment.

Here are some of the top of their game when it comes to sharing their insights into social media and recruitment and they’re going to start off by telling you how you can use it to attract talent.

Ariel Jolo, Global Employer Brand Manager, at Medallia.

First of all, you need to understand social media is a reputation game and you will only play it correctly in time. You won’t find today the right candidate for the position you need to close by Friday. Then listen. You can use social media as a way to learn and connect with people. If you are passionate about the industry you are in, follow people that you think have interesting insights and you might find yourself looking at an attractive talent pool. Share content that you find interesting and that you think people might be interested in. Don’t spam!!

Adrian Cernat, CEO & co-founder SmartDreamers

Can a recruiter attract talent without social media? In today’ s recruitment environment, the candidate holds all the cards. As a result, posting on job boards and hiring through recruitment agencies can be increasingly slow and expensive. In order to reduce their dependence on old school recruitment methods, businesses need to organically generate interest and applications on their own corporate career pages – how? Building a strong presence on social media.

Sarang Brahme, Global Social Recruiting & Talent Brand Manager, Capgemini.

Social Media has great potential for recruiters to engage with talent, and educate them on company culture, the brand and benefits. It helps recruiters to build a talent pipeline for current or future opportunities along with expanding their reach beyond traditional channels like job portals, referrals and third-party agencies.

Carmen Collins, Social Media & Talent Brand Lead, Cisco.

Be human. Don’t feel like you have to be the brand version of yourself. Be yourself. People want to connect with people, not robots. Plus, you’re an employee. What are your moments that matter? That will give candidates a way to relate to you on a personal level. Creating connections may not mean an instant hire, but it builds a pipeline.

Cameron Brain, CEO & Co-Founder, EveryoneSocial.com.

Social is all about developing relationships, which of course is also at the heart of recruiting. The important thing to think about when it comes to social media and relationships online, in general, is that they’re still relationships; prioritise developing a connection with someone, in the same manner, you would if you were in-person with them.

Mark Cavanagh,Marketing Manager at The One Group.

Being a successful recruiter is about your ability to network and connect people with people. In its simplest form, social media can give you the ability to supercharge your networking potential, create new connections at speed and nurture existing relationships with minimal effort – all at the click of a button. Recruiters can often make the mistake of using social media as just a talent address book or yet another CV search database, that only gets broken into when you’re handed a new role to fill. Social networks are living organisms – which – if fed with relevant content, creative job descriptions and a little personality can yield candidates who are not only engaged but potentially more receptive to what you can offer.

Victoria Sorensen, Senior Talent Advisor, Oracle.

Be yourself, be interesting, be creative and get personal. A recruiter needs to be a real person online and not just a job posting bot. In my experience, candidates respond better when they can see the substance behind the profile. If you are a Corporate Recruiter, you can give true insights into the company you work for, if you are an agency recruiter you can still do this but you need to be a little creative.

Othamar Gama Filho,CEO at Talentify.

I believe that being a recruiter nowadays means that you are already using social media. Most use if just to re-post their jobs, the most strategic ones use it to develop relationships and be a trusted source of career advice to their target recruiting audience.

Stephanie Scher, Talent Brand|Social Media, Vanguard.

Social media is a crucial element in establishing your company’s talent brand. Candidates use a variety of resources to form an opinion about employers when deciding to apply or accept an offer. Social media is an important resource in that informational ecosystem. Candidates consume the corporately driven “@Lifeat” or “@InsideXX” handles and follow hashtags to get a view inside employers they are considering applying or interviewing with. Candidates are no longer willing to accept a corporate careers site as their only resource for cultural or lifestyle information to help them make their decision.

Eva Baluchova,Talent Lead, Levelup Ventures.

Nowadays, it’s expected that people and companies have a strong online presence. You don’t exist if you’re not out there. As a direct result, people are often flooded with information in their feeds. With that you, your company and your post are most likely to struggle for visibility. But it doesn’t need to be this way. As a recruiter you can use social media to find, engage and attract candidates, to promote your company’s culture, increase brand awareness and promote job opportunities. By increasing your reach in simple ways, you are making it easier to get in touch especially with passive candidates.