In 8 Items to Consider with Social Media Recruiting and How to Make the Most of 5 Social Media Platforms, we discussed what social media recruiting involves, and how to do it, including specific tips for six different platforms. Today is the exciting part – how does your commitment to social media recruiting pay off? What are the benefits? Here’s a list of nine winners.

1. Build Your Brand Awareness-

Active participation on social media sites increases your brand awareness and build trust with industry talent. It’s an opportunity for you to reveal who your company really is on a daily basis. It provides candidates with a clear picture of who your company is, what you do, your culture, and whether you are the solution to their career goals. Showing your company’s personality and values through your posts and participation will capture the interest of the talent you need. In fact, according to Talent Works, nearly 60% of candidates use social media to research companies. This is your opportunity to showcase your company culture and brand.

2. Increase Visibility-

When taking into account the number of social media users – see the Hootsuite chart below – it only makes sense that sharing your vacancies on your social media pages will increase visibility.

Platform – Active Monthly Users
· LinkedIn – 260,000,000
· Facebook – 2,190,000,000
· Pinterest – 200,000,000
· Snapchat 187,000,000
· YouTube – 2,500,000,000

Social Networks create a platform for identifying and targeting the specific group of talent that you need, enabling you to put your position in front of the caliber of talent you’re seeking.

3. Trigger Engagement-

The more that candidates check out your job postings, the more engagement you experience on your social media networks. The more activity, the more people will share your post among their connections. These conversations not only keep your page alive, but they also open the door for you to engage with talent. This includes talent that would never have heard of your job opening if you hadn’t posted it on your social media.

4. Engage Passive Candidates-

According to a 2017 Jobvite survey, 82% of satisfied employees are still open to new opportunities. Recruiting via social media presents an opportunity to engage with these passive candidates. If a professional’s social media profile stands out, find your connection and take that first step – especially when recruiting for niche roles. After all, isn’t recruitment the sourcing of specific talent for specific positions? Social media recruiting opens the door for connection with the right talent.  And having a social media presence allows candidates to look for your company and your jobs.

5. Engage Higher Quality Candidates-

Professionals who are actively involved in social media posts, forums, and discussions tend to be a step ahead in tech savviness, business trends, market knowledge, etc. They know the skills in demand and often pursue them. If they have niche skills, they tend to participate in niche groups. For example, Developers hang out at Stack Overflow or GitHub, while Marketers love Moz or Warrior. Posting your jobs within specific circles opens the door to a higher level, specialized talent.

6. Boost Your Referral Success-

It’s the “friend of a friend” avenue. Social media is where “sharing” happens. It’s a great place to maximize your referral program. People connect within their industry – which means your employees know who is out there with the right skills. When they share job posts, it will be in the right talent pool. This personal element makes social media a fantastic way to expand your recruiting pool.

7. Screen Candidates Effectively-

Social media platforms give you a more in-depth view of the whole candidate – more than the face they bring to an interview. It provides an inside picture of how well a prospective candidate will fit into the company’s culture. It also provides insight into personality, lifestyle, and values. Take caution, however, to stay within the legal realm. Most professional candidates willingly include links to their social media networks in their resume and cv, but don’t step over privacy boundaries.

8. Shorten the time of each recruiting journey-

Social networking sites not only make it easy and fast to communicate with candidates, it also allows them to respond faster. As a result, excellent work relationships often emerge. Furthermore, when talent shares with talent, ties based on shared values, interest and work styles are strengthened and often accelerates the speed with which you will find that best-fit professional for the position.

9. Reduce Hiring Costs-

Last, but certainly not least. We all understand the high cost of the search – recruit – hire process. Recruiting via social media reduces the cost and broadens the talent pool at the same time. Of course, there are costs for some social media features, such as FB ads, LinkedIn Job Posts, Recruiters license, etc. but, the totals are lower than most other methods. Better yet, sharing a job post on FB, LinkedIn, or via Twitter is absolutely free as well as increasing your visibility – which is the next benefit.

Today’s social media users have an average of 8 social media accounts. Social recruiting is no longer a new trend that recruiters need to try. It has become a mainstream strategy that offers positive results. It pays to tap into this incredible source for high-quality talent while gaining multiple benefits. Award Staffing taps into social media every day. We use this and many other avenues to bring the best talent to your doorstep. Contact us today.

The latest statistics from GlobalWebIndex reveal that 98% of digital consumers are social media users with an average of 8 social media accounts. Which leads to the obvious – social media is a hotspot for connecting with prospective talent. In fact, social media accounts provide access to many candidates, particularly passive ones, who cannot be found via more traditional sources.

Successful social media recruiting, however, isn’t a “pin the tail on the donkey” with a blindfold covering your eyes (although sometimes it may feel that way). It’s a well- thought out and planned strategy. Read on for 8 how-to’s and best practices to get you well on your way.

1. Go beyond posting open positions-

Sure, they won’t know about your available jobs if you don’t post them, but they won’t be looking at your site if you haven’t first connected. Post relevant content on various networks. Share content that offers thought-provoking insight, helpful tips, and reveals your workplace culture. Build a positive social media presence.

2. Join the conversations that fit your company-

Participating in forums is an excellent way to get your company brand noticed and win the trust of potential talent. LinkedIn is the top choice (55% of recruiters use it), and Facebook isn’t far behind at 39%, but don’t neglect other options – such as Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Snapchat. There are also niche social media networks for specific industries, such as Warrior Forum and Moz for marketers or GitHub and Stack Overflow for developers. Taking the time to know which groups fit your ideal candidate is crucial. Ed Nathanson, founder of Red Pill Talent LLC, believes this is best done by talking to current employees – after all, they are probably spending time in the same digital space as prospective talent.

3. Build the relationship first-

When approaching talent via social media, never begin with a sales pitch. Be personable. Express your interest in them and why you believe your company is a great fit. Share articles of interest. When an opening comes up that fits them, you will already have a relationship of trust, and they will be much more receptive. It’s all about relationship.

4. Maintain a professional, yet personal candidate experience-

We’re talking from start to finish – from initial contact to onboarding. Treat prospective candidates like customers. Kurt Heikkinen, President, and CEO of Montage points out,

“You can’t just have a great initial impression and not continue it throughout the candidate experience. The modern candidate is making a direct connection from their consumer experience with a consumer brand and the employer brand. As consumers, they expect information at their fingertips, to have a high-tech experience and to engage through the media they consume every day. Their interactions on social media begin their impressions of the company as an employer.”

5. Hashtags are key-

Using the right hashtag is the best – and easiest – way to not only place your post in front of the right people but also place the right talent in front of you.

6. Encourage employee participation-

When employees, who each have their own social media networks, post job openings, your reach is magnified. Furthermore, if you have an incredible work culture, your employees will express that in the language that attracts talent.

7. Be careful not to introduce bias-

Heikkinen also reminds recruiters not to use the information they collect to form a bias, but rather to engage a prospective candidate.

8. Get educated on your choice of social media-

Don’t take a flying leap – learn the ropes of a platform before using it.

Now that you have an overview of social media recruiting, we’ll share some pointers on several platform options. Moving beyond the overview and into specific social media platforms. We’ll start with LinkedIn since it currently dominates.

LinkedIn-

• Keep your personal page update: Your photo and headline should reflect your brand. Write an attention-getting summary that genuinely shares your expertise and place in your industry. Include keywords and a showcase page for your company. Ensure your contact information, including a customized public profile URL, is correct and easy to find.
• Develop every aspect of your company’s page: This is where you showcase your mission, values, and culture. Make it easy for potential talent to find out everything they want to know about your company/organization in one spot.
• Use filters wisely: Filters, such as experience, location, current, and past companies, help you narrow a large playing field down to your ideal candidates but use caution. Don’t filter out a winner.
• Stay active: Post one good status update per/day. Share valuable, relevant information and events. Join a couple of groups and be an active participator in discussions.
• Personalize your job posts: When posting open positions, present them as unique opportunities – don’t just direct people to a job board. When you reach out to potential candidates, don’t resort to the copy and paste method. Send each likely candidate a personalized message. Share what attracted your attention and why you think they would be a great fit.
• Take care of the basics: Boost your SEO – get help if you need it. Take advantage of LinkedIn’s analytics page. Learn who’s engaging, as well as the demographics of your followers. This information will help you to target the right audience with your content.

This is an opportune time to update your LinkedIn profiles and brush-up your recruiting-via-LinkedIn skills. But don’t forget to come back for part II in our Social Media Recruiting Trilogy. We’ll give helpful recruiting tips using 5 additional platforms – Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, YouTube, and Snapchat. Why? Because we’re Award Staffing. We care about our clients. We partner with companies and organizations for all their staffing needs, so offices, factories, events, buildings, c-suites, restaurants, and businesses can flourish and succeed. Contact us today.