Social Media Recruitment – Optimizing Your Hiring Leads

Entrepreneurs and hiring managers in the United States are currently suffering from the current state of the US employment market. Companies are faced with difficulties when they try to fill vacant and new positions, for many reasons.

These reasons include the resignation of 4.5 million workers between November 2020 to March 2022, contributing further to the 11.4 million US job opportunities. ²

These are all reasons for the current national shortage of workers, but companies need to be able to adapt. It's not the same job market as it was in the past. Instead of being discouraged, get curious about how you can best navigate it.

Most likely, your company has posted job openings on job boards and LinkedIn. We encourage you to continue your efforts on these sites. Social media is the best way to promote your company culture and connect with potential job candidates. Job seekers can use social media to “window shop”, see the available positions, and decide if they are a good fit.

Research shows that 86% of job-seekers use social media to find work. 92% of employers also use it to recruit talent.

These are the top social media strategies for recruiting the best talent to your company.

Enhance Your Recruitment Social Strategy

Solidify your employer brand

You must ensure that your employer brand is strong before you can build momentum. Your employer branding platform includes powerful tools that allow you to market your company to potential and current employees. This checklist will help you determine the status of your company in relation to each key component of an effective platform. Consider which areas are strengths and which areas need improvement.

• Employer branding – Mission, story, values and reasons to join the group
• Social media presence. Profiles, culture and company content.
• Recruitment Strategy: Dedicated Careers Website, Clear Job Descriptions, and Recruitment Channels
• Experience onboarding: Clear expectations, adequate training, regular check ins
• Employee Satisfaction: Competitive Salary, Benefits, Career Paths, Teambuilding Initiatives
• Employee advocacy, satisfaction surveys, and employee website testimonials

Knowing all these aspects will help your company to be a better employer and show your growth to others. There is always room to improve. Consider how your business is run and the image you wish to project to job seekers and employees.

To properly assess your readiness to hire, use this Employer Branding Checklist.

Move beyond LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a well-known platform for its reliability. However, it's and not the last frontier in recruiting. Once you've created a job posting on LinkedIn, copy the link and share it on Facebook and Instagram. This is a great opportunity to distribute ads on Facebook and LinkedIn if you have the budget.

Reaching out to universities and colleges that are relevant to your situation is a budget-friendly option. Ask them to include your link in their newsletters and job posting listservs. You might be invited to join the university's network site and create an employer profile. Many universities use Handshake, for example. These funnels can be used to encourage potential applicants to apply.

This avenue offers many benefits, including networking opportunities with alumni job seekers and students. Alumna from schools with a strong career center often help students in their job search. This means that there will be professionals at all skill levels within these networks. This is a great opportunity to attend information sessions, job fairs and webinars if someone in your team is an alumni. You can build relationships with career counselors and professors to help you find talent.

Encourage employee engagement

Strong employee engagement is a sign of a healthy company culture. Social media interactions by employees are more powerful than you might think. Studies show that potential job applicants rank current employees as their most reliable source of information about a company. Information from past job applicants and employees was ranked second. Before they hear from the executives and the csuite, applicants want to hear directly from their employees. This is to ensure that applicants feel comfortable with their employees and have the trust that they will be heard objectively. ⁴

This is a big deal, and potential employees need to be aware of what they are getting into before they apply or give up on other opportunities. You can use social media to showcase the best features of your culture and employee engagement. Share your mission and values and show how your organization and team apply them in their daily work.

Encourage employee advocacy by making it easy for employees to interact with the company's accounts. This is a great way for employees to get involved, foster camaraderie and build a following. Share content that speaks to the human side your company. Highlight fun aspects of your company's day, milestones, teambuilding events and celebrations.

Social media is a great place to congratulate your organization and recognize your team's achievements, leadership, growth and accomplishments. Recognize and applaud promotions and years of service. Applauding employees and celebrating their years of service shows appreciation.

Practice Consistency

Regular posting is key. Don't delay between posts. A great way to keep your feed current is to post regularly or use the social calendar. It is important to keep your design and message consistent across all platforms.

You must also respond promptly to all engagements (DMs, tags, likes and comments). You should keep notifications active so that you can respond to potential applicants quickly and answer their questions. This is particularly important when you are working in recruitment. You want to be able to move quickly from social media to the interview process.

Use Measurables

Track traffic, applicant conversions and engagement with tools. Use the data to improve your approach and take advantage of it. There may be different best practices and posting times for different social media platforms depending on your target audience. Flexibility and being proactive are great places to start.

Send a link

Send your potential applicants a form with contact information. Attach a resume and make an offer for an informational interview. This information can be found in your bio.

Demonstrate your value

Why should people choose to work at your company? What makes you different from other similar companies of your size? Use your employer brand strategy as a platform to highlight your unique benefits, how you give your employees flexibility, and ways they can improve their quality-of-life. These can be used to reference any workplace awards or high ratings on employee reviews apps. These are bonus credentials!

Attract Talent Today

Social media is here to stay. We strongly recommend that you embrace its potential for recruitment. This guide will help you integrate social media into your hiring processes. Launching your social media strategy for recruitment will help you solve your hiring problems and attract the best talent to your company. Do you need help with social media recruitment and employer branding? Get started now.

Sources:

1. https://www.uschamber.com/workforce/understanding-americas-labor-shortage
2. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.nr0.htm
3. https://www.careerarc.com/social-media-recruiting/
4. https://www.careerarc.com/blog/future-of-recruiting-study-infographic/