Using Social Media as a Tool for Hiring
Should we be using social media for hiring?
The US is paving the way for social recruitment. With 59% of adults in the UK using social media 2hrs+ average a day, it seems like a perfect opportunity to showcase your company and vacancies. With 87% of US companies planning on using Linkedin in future efforts, compared to the UK’s 34% — the UK is clearly lagging in social recruitment. At the moment.
These figures alone, however are not the reason to adopt a social recruitment strategy. It is important, as with any new direction, to plan your route and have a clear understanding of purpose.
Who are you trying to recruit?
Despite Facebook, Linkedin & Twitter being the most obvious and popular choices, this may not be where you should be talent spotting. If you are looking for developing or technical roles, you might be better investing your energy in communities on Github and Stack Overflow. It’s therefore important to have a clear identity for the role you are looking to fill.
In terms of the different social platforms, like in your social media strategy, you need to be aware of the different “vibes” of each channel. Developing content that is cmd+V across Facebook, Linkedin & Twitter is embarrassing. Be mindful of your audience and their purpose of being engaged with the network and craft your content around that.
When crafting your native content, one of the most important aspects is the language used to both write the job spec, and share the opportunity across social. The way in which you communicate with target talent is increasingly important and should not only resonate with your potential candidates but also align with your brand as a whole.
What will they think of you?
This isn’t a one way street. For all the efforts you are putting in to broadcast your exciting opportunities, you also need to dedicate some energy to your digital image. What is the impression your social platforms are going to give to potential employees? How are you going to hook the best talent when they land on your Facebook or Linkedin? Building relationships with talent is a great way of listening as well as establishing an understanding of the talent pools expectations. Insight is invaluable, and these initial relationships might help you hire the best talent in the future. It’s not about instant wins.
Working on your brand positioning from the perspective of both your potential clients & hires is not easy but it is paramount. They way in which you showcase your brand partnerships can be a great insight into the culture and ethos of the company — which are high priorities for candidates.
Be careful, it’s not all smooth sailing.
Although 8/10 people in the UK use the internet, only 59% use social media. You therefore don’t want to exclude this statistic from your recruitment drive. Also, if you make a judgement based on a potential candidate’s social media site and deny them an interview, or even the job, you could be faced with discrimination charges. Just a heads up.
Now if we didn’t have the great jobs we do, where would we want to work?
GoPro
What better way to give people a taste of your action cameras manufacturing company than strapping one to a member of staff and playing football through the office?
GoPro use UGC content across their Facebook & Twitter — this strategy achieves two things, it gives them a huge bank of content from all over the world and it also illustrates how much GoPro value their customers and their customers’ creativity. Every video on their YouTube channel is painfully cool and a great way of capturing aspiring talent to their careers page — (where they’ve made more videos about Life at GoPro)!
BP
BP are a great example of a company making the most of the different social media channels. In support of their careers website, BP have a Facebook page dedicated to Careers, active Twitter & Linkedin accounts and a dynamic YouTube channel.
Working in oil & gas might not be desirable for a lot of people, but BP has created a brand that oozes; autonomy, diversity and change. Their BP People: Our Stories category on YouTube is a great place to start…
Airbnb
“Create a world that inspires human connection”
Looking for a career with Airbnb? Straight away, they give you a peak into their office, just like we want to peak into the potential spaces we are going to rent through their service. The synergy of these experiences is one of many open & honest approaches to attracting the right talent.
The language used across their social media channels is creative, casual and with a twist of adventure. This tone is echoed on their careers page, and their no-nonsense language used to illustrate their values gives you even more of a flavour as to whether you’d be a good fit.
