What is social recruiting? It refers to the process of hiring new staff using social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram.
More people than ever are interacting online, so it is quickly becoming an essential space for businesses to reach new candidates. In fact, nearly 80% of the UK population are now using social media so they can be great channels for employers to target a new pool of people they may not have reached with other methods.
When you think about social media recruiting, LinkedIn is probably the first platform that springs to mind as the site has been specifically designed for its users to build professional connections and for employers to share their new jobs. Establishing a following for your company on LinkedIn is a great way to engage more people and boost your reputation with regular posts to share your business’s activities and values – and this should lead to more people wanting to work for you.
87% of employers are now using LinkedIn to source new employees, this is both through promoting their roles on the site and using the platform to target the ‘passive candidates’ – those who are not actively applying for a role but businesses can see that they are suitable candidates.
As online recruitment specialists, we also use LinkedIn to promote our services and build our network, but it is a great platform to promote all our clients’ roles too. We actively share roles to our page and LinkedIn is also partnered with some of our job site network, so all our vacancies are shared to the platform’s active job board to reach relevant jobseekers.
Another platform that needs no introduction, Facebook is the most popular social media site in the world with 2.79 billion users!
With its huge user base, the potential of Facebook for social recruiting is just as big. Especially as the site launched a specific job function back in 2017 so employers can now share roles to their pages which can be seen by any jobseekers in the area looking for relevant roles.
Our experience with Facebook’s job board has been great as we receive hundreds of applications directly through the site for our clients’ vacancies. It is actually found that Facebook is even more popular than LinkedIn for jobseekers despite LinkedIn being the preferred platform for employers.
Two of the less obvious sites when it comes to recruiting on social media, Instagram and Twitter can be great platforms to utilise in addition to recruitment activity across LinkedIn and Facebook.
Using hashtags are especially effective when trying to reach more candidates for your vacancies on Instagram and Twitter. For example, your business may be looking to hire a new Accountant so using hashtags like #financejobs and #accounting will place your post in relevant searches across the platforms and can really boost your applications.
Instagram and Twitter also give your business the opportunity to connect with candidates on a personal level and present yourselves positively. Sharing engaging content and joining relevant conversations are an excellent way to get more recognition across the platforms and increase the popularity of your vacancies!
Start making the most of social media when it comes to recruitment!
It’s increasingly important for businesses to take advantage of social media as part of their recruiting activity which is why 9 out of 10 businesses already are using it to some extent.
If your business is not using social media for recruiting at all or you just think there is more you could do to attract the best talent then Get Staffed are here to help! We will use our experience across the best platforms to place your role in front of those that need to see it, targeting relevant job seekers and guiding them through the application process so you have the choice of more candidates for interviews.
