Where do you look when you have an open job position? If you’re like many employers, you start with active job boards online or by posting the position in your storefront window.
Is that enough? Are you certain you’re getting the best pool of candidates from these efforts? Many employers didn’t think so, which is why more of them are using social recruiting.
What Is Social Recruiting?
Social recruiting involves using social platforms to source and attract talent. For example, if your company uses LinkedIn to find qualified candidates, you’re engaging in social recruiting. Or, if you announce your open position on your social media platforms, you’re targeting the social media crowd, which is social recruiting.
This type of recruiting method has gained popularity over recent years. It’s easier for companies to deploy and it tends to give a high quality pool of candidates.
When a job prospect sees an ad on social media, they’re somehow already invested in your business. This can be because of a specific interest they already share, a contact they know in your industry, or a connection and familiarity to your brand. All of these are beneficial when trying to find someone to fill an empty position in your business.
Here are 6 ways you can improve your social recruiting and continue attracting a high caliber pool of candidates.
#1. Ask for Referrals
Posting a job isn’t good enough these days. Social networking is all about engagement and getting people involved. The more people who interact with your posts, the more people will see.
When you post an opening on social media, ask for people to refer candidates to you. The benefits of this are two-fold.
- You get people thinking about who they know who would do great in the position;
- You spread the word about your business, marketing what you offer at the same time.
People love to help whenever and however they can – especially on social media. Get the masses involved in your talent search and you’ll get access to more potential employees.
#2. If You Offer Flexible Scheduling, Say It!
77% of Millennials believe flexible work hours lend themselves to higher productivity rates, according to a study by Bentley University. Many employers undervalue how important this is to job candidates or they fear they’re offering flexible enough schedules.
Flexibility in the workplace can be as simple as nixing the nine to five standard hours. There are five types of flexible scheduling.
- Work from home
- Working a part time schedule
- Working hours most convenient to the employee instead of having set hours
- Offering an alternative schedule for hours outside regular business hours
- Freelancing
For small businesses, this can feel frightening. If you need your store staffed, you need to ensure people are there to cover the shifts. One way to continue offering flexible scheduling while still ensuring you have a full schedule is to use a company-wide online scheduling app. You can also give your employees flexibility to choose their ideal shifts and then fill in the gaps afterward.
No matter how you do it, offering flexible scheduling is a big advantage to many employees. Get people talking about this offering in your business and you’ll see a flood of new candidates.
#3. Search On Multiple Platforms
LinkedIn is the most widely used social network for recruitment. That’s because it’s designed for the business world. Job candidates put their best professional foot forward on LinkedIn and talk about their qualifications here more than any other social network.
Still, there’s a gold mine out there of people who aren’t using LinkedIn.
By using Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to promote your business further (or Snapchat if you want to hire teenage employees) you’ll get your job listing in front of more candidates. You’ll also get a better glimpse into your potential hire’s daily life.
- Is he into illegal drugs?
- Does she post sexual references often?
- Does he use poor grammar?
Checking out other social media outlets when trying to find the right new team member will help you access a broader pool of candidates and help you narrow the choice of the right candidates for your business. It’s a more effective way to research each person who applies to work in your small business.
#4. Don’t Over Promote Your Open Positions…
Social media is an outlet for your business to connect with customers and job candidates alike. By over promoting your open positions, you could turn off quite a few fans and followers.
Remember, it’s not about people seeing your job opening on a daily basis. It’s about the right person seeing it and getting excited about working with your business.
#5. …Pay for Promotion Instead
To solve the problem of overpromotion, pay to promote your job opening instead.
Paid promotions are an excellent way to narrow the pool of candidates who see your job listing and avoid irritating your current loyal fans. For example, on Facebook, you can sponsor your job listing post and choose an audience that meets your target employee demographic. This will get your job opening in front of more people than if you were to use referrals or active searching alone.
In paid promotion, always use a call-to-action. Try to drive people to your website to submit their resume instead of having them email or message it to you. This will show you whether someone can follow directions. It will also help you stay organized so you avoid massive overwhelm with job candidates hitting you with resumes from all angles.
#6. Promote With Video
Video is one of the hottest new trends in social media. Twitter uses Vine to incorporate video. Instagram offers videos. Facebook allows you to upload your videos and some accounts to use live streaming.
The reason video is so effective is that it stops the scrolling. When people see movement, their eye is drawn to the message.
To get more eyeballs on your open job position, put together a video of yourself or your business. This will give your prospects a better idea of your company culture and help you attract more potential employees.
It’s Time for Social!
Social recruitment has picked up steam over the past few years. More employers are seeing the benefits of targeting multiple channels when searching for prospects. If your business is looking for the best and brightest, social media will help you bring out the cream of the crop.
Images: ”Businessman works with Future Social Network Display /Shutterstock.com“
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