From Creeper to Class Act: Social Recruiting Done Right

Ask your Marketing Director, and they’ll be able to tell you exactly how many sales leads have come in via social media. But what about candidate leads?

Despite the fact that a whopping 84% of hiring organizations use social media to source and recruit high-quality candidates, the thought of looking for applicants in the same place you look for travel inspiration and cat memes makes many hiring execs uneasy. And we get it.

There’s a fine line between the kind of relevant, personalized social media recruitment that makes your dream candidates swoon — and well, looking like a total stalker. ✋

Here are few tips to help you nail your social recruiting strategy at every stage of the process, without ever feeling sleazy or sneaky. (Okay, maybe just a smidge sneaky. 🕵)

Smarter Social Media Sourcing

Even with a Pulitzer Prize-winning cover letter, there are some (actually several) things a social media profile can tell you that a job application just can’t.

• What are the candidate’s personal passions and motivations?
• How does your brand message align with those?
• Do you offer perks and benefits you know they’ll love?
• What do their posts say about their character?
• Does this person love their coworkers? Or do they rant about their work situation?

While there’s plenty of tools out there that can help you find these insights, we’re a fan of keeping it simple and effective.

Don’t get us wrong. There’s definitely a place for Facebook, Instagram and even Snapchat in your recruitment strategy but for the sake of your ever-loving time (and sanity) these social channels are best used as an additional layer to support targeted outreach and screening after you’ve narrowed down your best options (more on that in a minute).

Rather than frantically splitting your time between X number of social channels, start with the trusted sources. By that we mean professional social networks where your candidates go to purposefully and intentionally position themselves as experts in their field, and engage on work-related topics. 👌

Already a Breezy user? You can use our Chrome extension to import top prospects from LinkedIn, Xing, AngelList, Dribbble, or Github in one click.

Conversion-Focused Outreach

At the end of the day, there are only two types of recruitment strategies: Recruitment that’s all about finding the perfect fit, and recruitment that’s all about hitting a number.

Star talent can always sniff out the difference.

Between spammy DMs and connection requests from complete strangers — social media can be a BIG can of worms, both for employers and candidates. Make the experience worth it for everyone by going in with the right mindset.

You’re there to find — and secure — the best of the best, and that means using a personal, relevant approach from your very first touchpoint to your last. 😍

Here are a few sleaze-free ways to get to know your prospects:

• Participate in online discussions (LinkedIn Groups, Slack Forums, Facebook Groups)
• Comment on your prospects’ public posts
• Share or retweet something that they‘ve said
• Get introduced via a mutual connection
• Invite them to a relevant group, webinar or event

Once you have a legit reason to send them a message, don’t wait! Make your friend or connection request asap and always add a personalized message on why you think they’d be a great fit.

Not sure what to say? Check out our awesome suggestions here in Step #7.

Ethical Hiring

We know we don’t need to say this, but we’re going to anyway. Be careful not to let bias enter the picture when sourcing, engaging and screening leads on social media.

Looking at an applicant’s Protected Class information could get you into hot water.

At the Federal level, Protected Class information could include age, color, disability, genetic information, military status, national origin, race, religion, sex, and veteran status. And it varies at the State level, so you’ll want to take a close look at the rules in your state before going in.

While this will be much less of an issue on professional networking sites like LinkedIn and AngelList, other social media channels are rife with this kind of content. Unless your hiring managers have been trained on how to spot bias, this is probably a job best left to HR.

Wait until you’ve got your top 5 applicants in front of you, then take a quick look at their social media profiles and posts to go after those deeper character insights that will help you seal the deal (or not) more effectively.

And remember, trolls, bots, and hackers are real. If you’re ever in doubt about something you’ve seen on a candidate’s profile, you can always ask them directly. After all, open and honest communication is what great recruitment is all about.

Want to hire better talent, faster? Get started for free, today.