The Social Media Hiring

Job portals are the most widely used recruitment mechanism for hiring. They are simple, effective tool creating space for employers and employees and provide easier access to a wide array of jobs in different sectors and skill levels. But in this emerging job changing scenario there is a question of effectiveness in finding the right candidate through job portals.

The success of the Internet undid the value job portals created when they began.Today, billions of people are interacting over the internet in several different ways and is exponentially easier to operate. This has led to job portals slowly losing their relevance in the traditional sense. 

Overtime the problem in helping people get jobs or helping corporate find people has changed from ‘simply finding the people’ to ‘locating the right people’. This demand has risen due to the sheer explosion of the number of people and job opportunities floating on the Internet. The utility of internet today is no longer restricted to access to important information, but in finding the right information. In this scenario, hiring through traditional job portals sees two major hurdles -

1. The problem of plenty. With the wide reach of the Internet and information getting distributed at lightning speed, today, recruiters get hundreds of applicants for a single job position making it impossible to figure out who they should to talk and not talk to. For example, a HR manager while hiring for a typical corporate position, will receive anywhere between 100-500 applications for every position being offered. This manifests into an efficiency issue with HR managers spending endless time sifting through resumes.

2. Lack of useful information. Job portals pretty much work by using resume information to match people. Unfortunately, information available through job portals is not enough to do an intelligent match. Recruiters see very similar resumes of hundreds of applicants making it impossible to figure out which candidate seems to be relevant or better for the job at hand.

As the internet becomes more and more prevalent in our everyday lives, Social media is a great platform to build and support your hiring program. In 2015 alone, 84% of job recruiters were using social media to seek out job candidates, almost a 30% increase from 2011 where 56% of recruiters were using social media.

Social media was created to allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content. People use technology to define their social identity and it is easier to share information with an online audience. Photos can be uploaded, statuses can be updated, and users can communicate with others on social networking sites anytime of the day, regardless of where they are at by using their cellphones, tablets etc. It makes sense that social media/social networking sites are being used as a common tool for job recruiters in the search for the right candidate. Social media is a way to get a first impression on people, without actually meeting them first.

Most recruiters are motivated by the organization they work for to seek out candidates that have the skills and personalities that will be beneficial. It’s like recruiters are being paid to “online stalk” candidates prior to meeting with them, or even contacting them.

The Social Media Recruitment Strategy:

Here are a few successful social media recruitment tips below:

Establish Your Company’s Online Reputation: Brand has become more important today than ever. People want an emotional connection. They want to work for the right company, without having to make a compromise with ethics and beliefs.

Connect with the Right Audience: Keep your profile industry-specific. Keep your connections in an adequate, authentic manner having the similar interests to your requirement to get the right kind of response.

Can use Video Streaming: Social media like Periscope give you wonderful, innovative opportunities to engage with an audience of passive candidates and professionals in your industry. Can hold Q&A sessions or give people an inside view into the company’s culture.

The Right Hashtags: Hashtags are powerful tools for increasing the scope of your message in certain social media. If you can’t find relevant hashtags, it may be time to create your own and get it trending.

LinkedIn Profile: When it comes to hiring, it’s nothing but logical to work on your LinkedIn profile. Statistics suggest that 87 percent of recruiters use LinkedIn, which makes it the top social network of choice in terms of finding skilled candidates. Facebook is a distant second with 55 percent and Twitter comes in third with 47 percent.

Advertising: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and numerous other social media give their members a chance to rely on paid ads for maximum reach people.

Check on candidates: Being active on social media can help you find an awful lot about candidates, including information that these people aren’t reviewing during interviews.Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram can give you tons of valuable information about the people you’re interested in working with.

Add Instagram for Fun: Recruiting efforts don’t have to be all serious and strictly professional. The rules of the game are changing when you’re trying to reach out people. This generation has much more specific needs and preferences than its predecessors.

People who are looking for a Job through Social Media:

It is possible to have social media and still have a job. It is important to remember that YOU are in control of what you communicate through social media.Below are some tips to take into consideration when it comes to using social media during your next job search.