Social Media Success for HR: Recruiting

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social media recruiting

Social media can be very beneficial for promoting your business and its services or products. Did you know it’s also one of the top places to find job seekers? Sixty percent of employers are now using social networking sites to research job candidates. To ensure your business is finding the best possible talent and connecting with tech-savvy candidates, take your recruiting social!

When using social media for recruiting, you’re connecting not just with active job seekers, but future potential candidates who may not even be working in your industry – you should be thinking of everyone as a candidate. When your followers become more familiar with your brand and culture, your company will be top-of-mind when they officially begin their job search, or are looking to make a career change.

Ready to start posting? Don’t stop at communicating your current open positions. Illustrate your culture by celebrating all the great things about working for your company. Make sure to focus on any awards your business has won, especially any repeat wins. Have you had any public business wins, like a major acquisition, new office, new technology, etc.? What about your community involvement? Anything from a simple canned food drive to off-site days of service show your business has a big heart.

We’ve got tips for each of the “big three” of social media: LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook. These platforms are a great start, but don’t rule out other platforms that may be more relevant to your industry. Before you start posting on social media, make sure you talk to your marketing team to ensure alignment with their content calendar. And, don’t forget to download the free social media templates at the end of this post to get you started!

social media recruiting statistics

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the most popular social media platform for recruiting new candidates. There are paid solutions, but you can also use your existing reach on LinkedIn to make the most of free options.

For your HR Manager or Recruiter’s LinkedIn profile:

  • make connections with anyone you know – co-workers, clients, vendors, friends, and family. You never know when someone may be connected to the perfect candidate for your company.
  • Join groups where you may connect with potential candidates (look for industry groups, groups based on interest or location)
social media recruiting statistics

For your Company’s LinkedIn page

  • Post job opportunities as you would a regular update on LinkedIn for free. Use photos that show your culture and provide a link to your website careers page if available. Make sure to include how candidates should contact your company.
    • Make sure to share the company post to your personal LinkedIn page, and encourage other current employees to do the same. Consider rewarding your top “sharers” with a referral bonus for a successful hire or with a “Top Company Cheerleader” award. The more people who share, like and comment on your post the more reach it gets.

Twitter

Does your business already have a company Twitter account? Consider a separate HR or Careers Twitter account just for recruiting since you may be targeting a different audience with a specific message. A separate account is also best for larger companies, those with high turnover, or many positions available on a regular basis.

As with your regular company Twitter account, avoid only posting sales oriented or company promotion type posts. Think about what your candidates are interested in and what they find valuable such as:

  • Job seeking tips: Use your wealth of human resources knowledge to share helpful hints and time-saving tricks.
  • Relevant articles or blogs: Find other materials online that inspire you and would be helpful for job seekers. This is referred to as “content curation”, selecting great outside content. Be sure to balance these outside sources with your own original posts.
  • Meaningful retweets: You can curate great content from right within Twitter by retweeting from your feed or Twitter search. Follow industry experts, clients, thought leaders, etc.

Now that you’ve started sharing helpful content, you can mix in tweets promoting your open positions and other relevant company information like awards and culture. Consider sharing employee reviews about working at your company, details about your hiring process and other recruiting information like upcoming job fairs or events.

  • Ensure your content reached a wider audience on Twitter by using appropriate hashtags in your tweets, such as: #job, #jobpost, #hiring, #recruiting, #career, #jobseeker, #jobopening, etc. Also utilize any company hashtags, most commonly #CompanyName.
  • Keep in mind that it is vital to be responsive with your account. If someone responds to one of your tweets or send a private message, make sure you reply in a timely manner. People searching for jobs on social media are also looking to evaluate your company, so the impression you make online can shape their opinion of your business.
social media recruiting statistics

Facebook

Facebook is the most used social networking site, so it can be beneficial for recruiting due to the large amount of active users. You don’t necessarily need a separate account for Facebook, as you have some opportunity to target your posts more specifically. People who already “like” your company page are already fans, so they might be interested in working for you or recommending you to someone they know.

  • Create a custom tab on your page called “Careers” or something similar, so you can post current opportunities and other information for easy review for job seekers.
  • Post when you are attending a recruiting event or hosting a job fair
  • Post pictures and videos of recruiting events, office renovations, or other company outings. Highlight your company’s culture, perks, and benefits to generate interest in your company.
  • If you have a bit of money to spend, you can even create a Facebook ad for your job post, and you can target an audience by demographic.

Overwhelmed? That’s okay, start with one platform and work your way up as you get comfortable. Consistency is key with social media. Don’t forget to ask your company’s marketing team for help if available.

Now Take it to the Next Level

Adding visuals to your posts makes them exponentially more likely to receive views and clicks from job seekers. The easiest way is to look for other great content of social media with pictures or videos to share or retweet on your account. You can use internal photos whether they’re from a professional photo shoot or casual behind the scenes snap shots.

Think about your business’s culture and what content best represents the type of candidates you want to attract. For example, at Austin, we look for candidates who like to be a part of a “work family”, be involved in the community, and who can bring fun to insurance! Our images and videos referenced in job posts reflect those aspects of our culture.

 

job advertisements

Video is the way of the future in social media as a whole, so it goes without saying this is a top method for recruiting as well. Of the “big three”, video is the most important for Facebook, and will bring the most success to gain more reach (more eyes on your post). You don’t need a big budget. Short snippets are great to entice people to spend a bit of extra time on your post or share it with their friends.

Since video may be the most time-consuming content to create, keep the content “evergreen” or not specific to a particular time, job post, employee, etc. This way it will be able to be attached in multiple posts over time.

As more millennials enter the workforce, using social media for recruiting becomes more important. Don’t let your business fall behind and miss out of great talent. Use these strategies to reach more qualified candidates and make your company stand out in your industry.

Get the ball rolling with our free sample social media posts optimized for LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook below. Simply add your company name, link, optional photo and you’re off to the races!

Did you know Austin Benefits Group is hiring? Check out our open positions here.

 

 

Sources:
ZyWave, Inc.  Succeed with Social Media
www.careerprofiles.com/blog/hiring-innovative-talent/11-social-media-recruiting-statistics-to-make-you-rethink-your-current-strategies
www.careerarc.com/blog/2016/01/13-recruiting-stats-hr-pro-must-know-2016/

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Amanda Coe
Marketing Specialist