Finding high performers can be challenging, but social media can make it easier. With social networking recruiting best practices, you can find and connect with numerous job candidates, increasing your chances of finding the perfect match for your open position.
What is social network recruiting?
Call it social recruiting, social media recruiting or social networking, the concept is the same: companies leverage social media platforms to advertise job openings and connect with job candidates.
Most companies already have a social media presence, so advertising job openings through these social media accounts makes sense. And, this doesn’t have to be the only way you advertise jobs. If you’re using recruiters, advertising on job sites or posting positions on your own website, you can add social media recruiting to your recruitment process.
The Benefits of Social Networking Recruiting
Social media recruiting offers many benefits.
- You can reach a wide audience of potential candidates. A majority of people in the U.S. use social media. In fact, according to the Pew Research Center, 72 percent of U.S. adults say they use social media, making it a fantastic way to reach many job candidates.
- You can get your job ad in front of both passive and active job seekers. Posting on job sites can be an effective way of reaching people who are actively looking for a job, but you may miss out on people who are already employed and aren’t dedicating time to a job search, even if they would be interested if the right position came along. On social media, you can reach both serious and casual job seekers, further increasing your reach and the odds of finding the perfect job candidate.
- You can post jobs for little to no cost. Some job boards charge employers to post job ads. On the other hand, posting on social media is typically free, although many sites allow users to pay to boost their posts and create social media ads. If you already have a social media presence, putting together a job posting won’t require a lot of time or resources, either.
- You can deepen connections with job candidates. Social media is designed to support two-way interaction, which can be an advantage when looking for job candidates. Job seekers can reply to your posts to ask questions, and you can reply to them with more information. You can also share more about your company on your feed than in a single job ad, giving job seekers a better feel for your company.
Deciding Which Social Media Platforms to Use
There are numerous social media platforms, and while you could post on multiple platforms, for most companies, this isn’t practical or effective. Therefore, you need to decide which social media channels to use.
- Go with the social media sites you’re already using. If you already have an established presence on a social media platform, it will be easier to reach a large audience with your job posts.
- Determine which social media sites will give you the best reach. If you need to develop a social media presence, identify the sites that have the most users you want to reach. Facebook is a good option; according to the Pew Research Center, 69 percent of U.S. adults say they use Facebook. LinkedIn is another great option since it caters to professionals and job searches.
Showing Your Company Culture
A Glassdoor survey found that 77 percent of adults would consider a company’s culture before applying for a job.
When job seekers look at your job postings, they’ll also check out your company. This is a good time to show off your company culture. Doing so can make your company more appealing to workers while also increasing the chances of finding job seekers who are a good fit.
On sites that allow longer posts, you can include information about your company’s mission and values in your job ad. However, you aren’t limited to what you can fit in a single post. If someone is interested in your company, they’ll probably spend time looking at your other posts on that platform, so keep this in mind when deciding what to put online.
Best Practices for Social Media Recruiting
Social media can be a great resource for your recruitment strategy, but to optimize your results and avoid problems, you should follow some best practices.
- Be wary of accidental discrimination. When a job seeker responds to your listing on social media, you may be tempted to check out their profile, but be careful. According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), employers often like to screen the social media accounts of job candidates to avoid obviously bad hires and gather valuable information. However, looking at social media posts can give employers information about protected classes. If you check out a candidate’s social media posts, you may learn about their religion, health challenges, romantic relationships and family life. If you then decide not to hire a particular candidate after looking at their social media profile, you could open your company up to claims of discrimination. To protect your company from such claims, an expert who spoke to SHRM recommends establishing standard screening practices, documenting the process, asking for consent before checking social media and using a third party to perform social media checks.
- Follow applicable federal, state and local laws for job postings. One emerging issue involves pay transparency. Many states have passed laws requiring employers to include pay information in job ads. According to a running list from HR Dive, California, Washington, New York, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, Maryland, Nevada, Rhode Island and Ohio have all passed pay transparency laws, so companies operating in these states need to comply with the relevant regulations.
- Maintain a consistent brand voice. Companies often think about brand voice when creating customer-facing content, but customers can also see job ads. Whether you’re addressing customers, vendors or job candidates, it’s important to stay true to your brand voice to create consistent experiences and cultivate trust.
- Involve your current team members. There’s a good chance that many of your workers know other people who work in the industry, and some of them may be looking for new job opportunities. To widen your reach, ask employees to repost your job posts.
- Monitor your posts. You want your job posts to reach qualified job candidates, but they might end up drawing the attention of disgruntled employees or online trolls. Keep an eye on your posts and watch out for negative responses. HubSpot recommends that companies respond to negative social media comments as soon as possible while being apologetic and showing appreciation for feedback. However, it is fine to delete certain comments, such as those that are offensive or not relevant to the post.
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