14.4 million people in the United States have used social media to search for jobs. That is 14.4 million active job seekers, but there are millions more who are passive candidates actively involved in social media, but not using social to job hunt.
Don’t leave Social Recruiting up to the Intern: We have all been interns at one time or another and while they are an amazing source of work and ideas, they are not qualified to man your social recruiting ship. Your team should be the one owning the content and the message because they are most familiar with your organization and its needs.
Do develop a Social Recruiting Strategy: Identify your target audience, find out which platform they spend their time on most, set goals as a team for your recruitment efforts, and look critically at the social management tools, and applicant tracking you will need to get the job done.
DON’T replace traditional methods completely: Social media should be part of the strategy, not the whole thing. Social media can tell you a lot about a candidate, but it cannot show you someone’s soft skills, leadership traits, or team mentality. The only way to truly know if a candidate is the right fit is through the traditional interview and screening processes.
DO put emphasis on candidate’s social experience: Make the application process as seamless as if they had walked into your office and filled out an application. The links that you post should always be mobile compatible to ensure efficiency and recruiters should be prepared to answer candidate questions via social media. Even a small acknowledgement that a candidate’s application was received to a candidate's email inbox can make a world of difference.
Remember… social media may be your first interaction with a potential candidate. This is your chance to attract top talent and leave them with an impression that makes them want to learn more.
DON’T treat every platform the same: Each social platform has different audiences, niches, and purposes. For these reasons, it is critical to treat each platform separately, but show consistency in your messaging. The voice should be the same, but the delivery should vary based on who you are targeting. Understand the age group, demographic, and target position for each platform and tailor to their tendencies. This kind of customization will pay off in quality hires.
DO target your efforts: Social media has an inept power to suck time. In order to avoid the time suck vortex, target your efforts. Participate in one to two twitter chats per week, but don’t feel obligated to participate in the thousands that go on daily. Tailor your content and time to the audience you are after. This is also where that sneaky social media strategy comes in handy.
