Whenever you hear the name “social media”, what is the first thing that pops up in your brain? It can be Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. These were once the platforms for connecting and communicating with strangers. But they now have turned out to be effective recruiting tools.
Not only has the job market shifted to searching for the latest and updated skill sets and talents, but finding ideal candidates has also turned on its head.
Millennials and Gen Z talents search for jobs on social media rather than job boards. If you target this population, share your vacancies on LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. Moreover, social platforms have allowed companies to reach a wider talent pool in less time.
All these contributed towards the urgency of adopting social media recruiting in your company. We will share more about it and a few other social media recruitment advantages and disadvantages in our guide today.
What is Social Media Recruiting?
Five to six years back, you could have posted vacancies on online job boards and get quality candidates. But as the younger generation is getting more attracted to social media, more people are applying for your company on networking platforms like LinkedIn.
According to research, nearly 79% of job seekers today use social media for job hunting. Therefore, you need a solid social media recruitment strategy to target this mass that promises the best outcomes.
Social media recruiting refers to your approach of using social platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for job postings, networking with professionals, and reaching out to potential candidates.
Significance of Social Media Recruiting
Are you wondering if recruiting through social media is beneficial for your company? We have listed some advantages of social media recruiting below to answer your question.
Actively Reaching Out to Passive Job Seekers
These talents are not actively searching for jobs but will switch companies for better opportunities. They don’t visit job boards or career sites to find jobs, making targeting these people difficult for you.
However, if you implement a social media recruitment strategy, you can reach out to these people through your posts. If they find you interesting or you’re offering better opportunities, they will apply for your vacancies.
Hiring Top-Quality Candidates
As you get an opportunity to reach out to passive and active job seekers, the chances of hiring top talents are high. Moreover, suppose you are using paid social media job ads. In that case, you can target particular audiences and hire candidates who fit your organisational culture.
Lower Time and Cost Per Hire
With social media recruiting, you must spend fewer resources on hiring top candidates. Compared to other recruiting platforms, social media helps you connect with people quickly and ensures you don’t get a bad hire. These candidates further contribute to improving your overall business productivity and performance.
Better Brand Awareness
Whenever you share company posts on social media, they reach your network. It means people who didn’t know you will now recognise your brand from the posts. This helps you improve brand visibility and reputation so that more talents apply for your positions.
Better Interaction With Potential Candidates
Social media helps you to personally interact with potential candidates and motivate them to apply for your vacancies. For example, some candidates may ask you questions about your vacancies. With social media, they can send the questions directly to your inbox or comment on your posts.
You can respond to their questions timely and start building professional relationships even before they submit an application.
Finding Niche Network
Suppose you hire people with specific technical skills; social media will help you connect with these people. Otherwise, you may need to post ads on extremely niche sites where people may or may not apply for your posts. Moreover, you can also find candidates for incredibly niche roles from multiple social media pages and online forums.
Disadvantages of Social Media Recruiting
While there are numerous advantages of social media recruiting, you may also need to face some disadvantages.
For example, you need a solid recruitment and targeting strategy to meet your ideal candidate. This requires investing a good amount of time and resources in developing creative ideas. Some challenges of implementing social media recruitment are:
Requires Expert Advice
We understand how difficult it becomes to target your ideal candidate among billions of active users on social media platforms. This requires a solid recruitment and targeting strategy that only an expert can help with. It is primarily because you need to be creative with your ad copies, graphics, and job descriptions. 6 Pence can assist you with this.
Can be Expensive
Sometimes, your posts may not have a good reach, especially when you have fewer followers. You need to boost your posts using paid social media ads to reach your target audiences. This can be expensive for startups or companies on tight budgets.
Time-Consuming
We have previously said that top recruiting social media best practises can help you attract candidates in less time than other sources. However, this doesn’t seem easy in reality, and all your candidates won’t be available on a certain social platform.
It means you must post your vacancies on multiple platforms and source candidates separately. This can be time-consuming and disrupt your business processes if not handled by experts.
What are the Top Platforms for Social Media Recruiting?
Numerous social media platforms in the market can help you connect with your ideal type of candidate. However, according to studies, LinkedIn (78%) and Facebook (65%) are the most commonly used channels for social recruiting.
This doesn’t mean other platforms are far away in the recruitment race. Let us explain the best social media recruiting sites that can improve your hiring standards and maximise your ROI.
This platform is designed specifically for individuals and companies to network with professionals. It offers you tools for posting jobs and accepting resumes efficiently. Additionally, you can promote your job postings to millions of people with LinkedIn’s post-boosting features.
Firstly, you can start by connecting with prospective candidates globally. Then, you can send either personalised messages, post your vacancies on the wall, or share content to attract candidates’ attention.
For example, Google uses this channel to highlight their employees’ accomplishments and share resources for candidates’ learning. On the other hand, candidates share their work, experiences, and other posts that determine their fitness with your company’s needs.
Facebook and Instagram
With billions of active users on these platforms daily, they form a major channel for social media recruiting. You can share valuable content to promote your brand, create groups to fill your positions and interact with prospective candidates.
Facebook allows you to post vacancies on your wall and boost your postings to reach more candidates. On the other hand, Instagram allows you to create appealing visual content that captivates your candidates’ attention. Moreover, this encourages them to follow your company page and apply for your vacancies.
X (Formerly Known as Twitter)
Though X may not help recruitment, it allows you to share news and events that engage people worldwide. To build trust and credibility, you can share your employee accomplishments on Twitter within 280 characters or their testimonials.
It makes people visit your site and apply for your vacancies when they know your workplace culture. On the other hand, you can assess your candidates’ X handles to better understand their interests and preferences.
Conclusion
Social media recruiting is an effective method that allows you to target active and passive talents. Not only does it improve your reach to a broader talent pool, but it also helps to assess candidates properly. However, if you have difficulty hiring ideal candidates for your company, call 6 Pence.
We are the leading temporary and permanent staffing agency offering numerous other services to Oman, Iraq, Bahrain and Dubai businesses. You can connect with us anytime and share your requirements, and we will do the remaining tasks on your behalf.
Also Read: Reasons Why Businesses Need Permanent Staffing Solutions
Frequently Asked Questions
What are social media recruitment methods?
Social media recruitment methods refer to using multiple social media platforms, e.g. LinkedIn and Facebook, to post your job vacancies, network with professionals and reach potential candidates.
What types of media will be used for recruiting?
You can use multiple types of media for social recruiting, including LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
How do you recruit social media?
You can recruit on social media by participating in different conversations, promoting your work culture, using niche networks, conversing with top talents, etc.
