How To Use Social Media for Recruitment in 4 Steps (With Tips)

Social media recruitment is the process of finding and hiring candidates through social media. Social media recruiting offers many benefits, including the ability to highlight a company's culture and values while also reaching ideal candidates. Learning how to use social media for recruitment can help recruiters reach more candidates and choose the ones that best align with the company culture. In this article, we list the benefits of using social media for recruitment, describe how to use social media for recruitment, and provide you with a few tips to optimize your social media account usage.

Using social media for recruitment purposes can help recruiters find and hire candidates who have ideal experience and skills. Social media gives recruiters the opportunity to build a community in the brand's industry, which they can then use to alert candidates of new positions within the company. Recruiters can also use social media to create brand awareness, demonstrate the culture and values of a company and connect with candidates who are most likely to seek employment within their specific industry.

Benefits of using social media for recruitment

Here are some benefits of using social media for recruitment:

Educates candidates about the company

Recruiters with a social media presence can help with company branding, which refers to a company's reputation. When recruiters can share important aspects of a company, like its culture, values and available benefits, they can attract a wider group of interested candidates. This means candidates are more familiar with the brand when applying, which can lead to new hires that are a good fit for the company.

Facilitates networking with industry professionals

Social media gives recruiters the opportunity to connect with other professionals in their industry. The ability to connect with industry professionals can help recruiters receive referrals for candidates who may have the qualifications and experience needed to fill open positions. Social media tools also allow recruiters to narrow down candidates to match the specific qualification and training requirements they want when filling a specific position.

Helps recruiters interact with a wider assortment of candidates

Social media allows recruiters to connect and interact with candidates who may not be actively seeking a career change. Passive candidates are people who may be considering a career change but aren't actively searching for job postings. These are candidates who may have the necessary skills and certifications to fill a position but who may not find the position if they're not actively applying for jobs.

Allows recruiters to learn more about candidates

Social media gives recruiters the opportunity to learn more about potential candidates beyond what they list in their resumes. Many social media platforms allow people to share their personal interests, volunteer experiences and hobbies, giving recruiters a more comprehensive view of each candidate. This can help recruiters learn what makes each candidate unique, while also evaluating how well they can fit in with the company culture.

Offers candidates the opportunity to interact with current employees

Using social media for recruitment is a great way for potential team members to interact with current employees. Recruiters may involve other team members in the recruitment process so that they can learn more about the candidates. This networking opportunity also gives candidates important information about the company, which helps them decide if it's a good fit for them.

When an employee is the right fit for both the position and the company culture, it can lead to higher retention rates. Current employee interactions can also add credibility to a company, which can increase interest in open positions.

Reduces hiring costs

Many social media platforms allow recruiters to communicate with potential candidates for no or minimal costs. The speed of communication that comes with social media can also quicken the time it takes to interview and hire potential candidates, which also reduces the cost of hiring. This can make it easy and cheap for recruiters to hire someone with their desired experience.

How to use social media for recruitment

You can use social media for recruitment with the following steps:

1. Identify your recruitment goals

Before recruiting candidates on social media, it can be helpful to identify your goals. Identifying key performance indicators can ensure social media recruitment is right for the positions for which you're looking to hire. You may set recruitment goals like increasing the traffic to a job posting or reaching a specific number of applicants for a position.

2. Choose relevant social media platforms

Consider the social media platforms most relevant to the industry in which you're recruiting. Each social media platform offers its own advantages and communication methods. Recruiters can also take advantage of multiple social media platforms to fill different types of positions.

Identify your ideal candidate for the position in which you're hiring and decide where they're most likely to spend their time online. For example, recruiters for careers that involve graphic design may find ideal candidates on visual social media platforms, whereas recruiters looking for candidates with programming experience may find them on discussion boards.

3. Create a social media presence

Create a social media presence before reaching out to candidates. Company profiles that demonstrate culture and values can help attract more candidates for an open position. Creating a social media presence also involves determining your brand voice and messaging to ensure it's consistent across all social media platforms. This gives potential candidates a better idea of the company's culture, allowing them to determine if the position and company are the right fit.

4. Outline the application process

Having clear guidelines on how interested candidates can apply for open positions can help quicken the hiring process. While recruiters may use social media to inform followers of an open position or to contact potential candidates, having a clear understanding of the next steps can make things more efficient and timely. This may include requesting interested candidates to email the hiring manager or sending them to an online application.

Tips for using social media for recruitment

Here are a few tips you can use when using social media for recruitment:

Use advanced social media tools to target specific candidates.?

Some social media platforms have advanced tools that allow recruiters to search for specific certifications or training. Features like paid advertisements or skill targeting can help recruiters find the most qualified candidates.

Regularly engage with your social media audience.?Consistently engaging with your social media audience helps a recruiter build a reputation. This can increase the number of candidates willing to respond to recruitment communications.

Use video to separate your content from other recruiters.?

Publishing videos of the brand or yourself can help personalize the recruitment process. Videos may include interviews with current team members or a live explanation of the position, giving potential candidates a better understanding of the company culture.

Join groups or communities within your industry.?Social media allows brands and recruiters to join groups that are made up of other people who also work in a similar industry. This can lead to referrals and help connect recruiters with more interested, qualified candidates.

Use personas to understand ideal candidates.?Creating a candidate persona with each position is a good way to reach the best candidates. Pinpoint the exact characteristics and skills that are important to a position to help you narrow down your applicants to find the best one for the position.

Source: Indeed Carriers