Incorporating a range of recruitment strategies is key to reaching a diverse group of candidates and finding those who are likely to be a good fit in your organization. One recruitment tool gaining recent popularity is social media. Below, let’s talk about how valuable social networking sites are in the recruitment process by weighing the pros against any potential limitations.
Social media opens opportunities to connect with ideal candidates in almost any type of position. The most used social media sites enjoy a huge number of enthusiastic users. Facebook, for instance, has close to 3 billion active users. LinkedIn and Twitter are other popular examples.
These networks, among others, provide a place for HR professionals to begin to source candidates. They can also start to create relationships with potential employees as a long-term strategy.
By building an online brand on social networks, organizations can also begin to grow a following. That can attract top talent and increase the number of job applicants if you post vacancies on these platforms.
Your recruitment costs can also decrease as you use social media to promote job openings. While social recruiting is not free, the value you can get from the hires you find through social media can make this approach very inexpensive.
As with any other approach, there are potential limitations. For example, biases may crop up, often without recruiters realizing it. These professionals may favour candidates with a large social media presence over those who are not as visible online.
Also, a person’s social media account may not accurately represent their personality. The individual may change overtime, as well, so looking at posts published a few years ago may not clearly represent their way of thinking now.
With that said, social media recruiting can provide a key part of an HR team’s recruitment strategy. Organizations that successfully use social media to recruit and hire take a balanced approach consisting of online and offline tools.
It also can be helpful to work with a social media expert to populate your account with content that your target audience deems useful, in addition to adding recruiting posts. The last thing you want to do is bombard potential candidates with posts or, on the other hand, be inactive.
Consider using automated tools with social media efforts to help save time in the busy HR professional’s schedule. Recruiting software solutions like that available from Talcura make sharing job openings to leading social media networks effortless. Easily share the vacancies across multiple networks with the personalized configuration, saving HR leaders valuable time in the day.
Automating job posts to social media channels provide a great way to boost awareness of your vacancies. Plus, spending less time on administrative tasks frees up time in HR departments for activities that require more critical thinking.
While there are a few potential downfalls to social media, the positives generally overshadow them. Plugging into social media can strengthen brands and attract top talent. It also can save organizations money in recruitment and save time when automating job posts to share to social media channels.
