Recruiting

Social Media and Recruiting

Do you use various social media sites during your recruiting process? Perhaps you at least post jobs on LinkedIn? For anyone not already doing so, you may be interested to know that there are quite a few ways social media sites can be used during the recruiting process.

social media
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Here are a few examples:

  • Organizations can use social media to proactively look for jobseekers outside of the standard job boards. For example, joining discussion groups or industry groups can be a way to network, get more brand recognition, and potentially find jobseekers.
  • Many social media sites allow employers to post jobs directly on the site. Even those that do not have direct job-posting capabilities may have ways to promote your vacancy or create content that promotes your existing job post from another site. People use social media as part of their daily lives, so it makes sense for employers to use it to boost the visibility of their jobs.
  • Use your network by asking employees to post about job vacancies so their friends see them.
  • Use social media—carefully—as one part of the background screening process. (Note: If you do use social media during background screening, do so with caution. This is mostly because social media sites can have a lot of information that should not be part of the hiring process and should not be considered; and if an employer views this information, candidates could claim that a job denial was made because of the content the employer found. For example, social media profiles may convey someone’s nationality, religion, or other protected information.) That said, using it can help you discover insights regarding whether a candidate will be a good fit. If you’re going to use social media for background screening, consider using a third-party service that will only pass along information that is relevant to hiring.
  • Use it to showcase the company culture. Candidates will look for your social media sites to see what to expect at the organization. Ensure your company image is shown consistently across all social media sites and the organization’s webpage. This will allow potential candidates to get a good overview of the working environment and make an assessment of whether they would like to work there. Note that this will require consistency and quick responses on your sites, so do this with care. It can backfire if people get a negative impression of the organization through their interactions.
  • Social media is a good place to look for passive candidates. Passive candidates are those who are not actively jobseeking but who may be amenable to changing jobs for the right offer. Find them by using the tools already built into social media platforms; use advanced search functions, people search features, relevant likes, interests, industry affiliations, and any other relevant information to find potential candidates, and reach out to them proactively.

What else has your organization done to use social media during the recruiting process?

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