The UK is still in the early stages of using social media to this effect. By being one of the first to utilise smartphone technology for recruitment purposes, you’ll boost your company’s reputation for being forward-thinking and ahead of the curve. Given the public’s insatiable appetite for smartphone applications and mobile communication, there is the potential to tap into new markets and to reach new clients. Brand awareness is key.

You see, social media – unlike most other forms of media – is about being able to create an emotional attachment to employer brands. If you create meaningful content and communicate with friends (that’ll be the candidates), you automatically build relationships. What’s more, by opening up the doors to your company, people are able to see what your organisation is really like.
The second reason why mobile app technology is a useful tool in the recruiter’s box is because it can reach passive candidates anywhere, anytime and anyplace.

And the icing on the cake? You save money by avoiding more expensive recruitment methods.

So how do you do it? Well, here’s our step-by-step guide to social media recruitment.

1. Choose the Right Platform

When it comes to social media, there are three giants to contend with: Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Facebook allows you to create a fan page, where fans (or potential employees) will receive updates every time you post. Write about a job opening, invite people to an event, and inject a light, convivial tone to put forward your company’s down-to-earth approach. Twitter only allows you to write 140 characters, but if you’re a skilled tweeter and update regularly, you’ll soon accrue followers and initiate interaction. Lastly, LinkedIn is tailored to recruitment: you can use it to attract passive candidates, or to search for the perfect employee.
2. Stay Active

A Facebooker’s work is never done – or is it a Tweeter’s? Either way, keep your page active with updates and conversation. Candidates won’t find a stagnant page attractive, as they’ll associate your company with silence and a lack of interest in social media. Even if you write about the company’s approach, ethics or product on occasion, you’ll keep people interested, and the employees flooding in.

3. Screen Candidates

Once you’ve received interest from potential candidates, get moving and start screening. Google their name and check their social media pages – you’ll get a good idea of their character from just a simple search. Of course, your focus should be on whether they’ll be suitable for the job, not what they got up to in Malaga five years ago.

4. Return to Normality

Remember, social media is useful for finding potential candidates – it cannot simply hand you perfect employees. You’ll still need to go down the old-fashioned route of telephone interviews and email correspondence. Take advantage of the reach that social media has, and you’ll create a great first impression for your company, but there’s no better means of judging a candidate than with a face-to-face meeting.

When it comes to recruitment, social media is a great tool to have – but it shouldn’t be the only one in your armoury. Used wisely though, social media can enhance your brand and attract new talent to your company. Your dream candidate could be just a tweet or ‘like’ away. What’s not to like about that?

ABOUT THE WRITER

Simon Drew writes on behalf of Best Mobile Contracts, the UK’s number one mobile phone comparison website.

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Suppose you continually need…let’s say…wireless engineers, and you currently employ ten, then take the time to informally interview them and gather information about their media habits. This can be of immeasurable help in the future when you are called upon to recruit other wireless engineers. Regardless of job category, it can pay to set up a mini focus group among your existing employees to investigate their general media habits. Some questions that could help are:

1. If you were looking for a job, where would you look? (An obvious, but very important question.)
2. What platform hosts your personal email (e.g., gmail, yahoo, aol)? One can run banner ads targeted to specific geographic locations (e.g., Nassau County, teachers).
3. What publications do you read for industry information and updates? (A great place to brand your company.)
4. Are you affiliated with any industry association? (Listnet, ieee.org, swe, etc.)
5. What websites do you find helpful when seeking industry information or news? You can place a banner ad on these sites and drive traffic and interest to your site or a splash page.
6. Do you read newspapers? If so, what Sunday and daily paper do you normally read? (Never assume people read newspapers; many people today get their news over the Internet – especially the younger generation.)
7. What news websites do you use to get breaking news during the day (e.g., MSN, CNN, yahoo, Bloomberg etc.)?
8. Do you have subscriptions to any other papers or local periodicals? (Are they any other papers you may not know of that they are reading?)
9. Do you have a presence on Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter (i.e., where are they in regard to social networking)?
10. Do you search on YouTube? (This is the largest search engine in the world and, with regard to recruitment, could make investing in a YouTube clip about your company a good idea.)
11. What radio station or stations do you usually listen to? One of my clients, a pharmaceutical company based on Long Island, discovered that the candidate group they researched all listened to the same radio station. Consequently, they now recruit using just that station.
12. What movie theater do you usually visit? (Movie screen advertising can be quite effective.)

Basically, it’s about finding commonalities among like candidates and then honing in on the medium or media that they appear to share. Some major companies have created surveys that are over 80 pages in length, just to really get inside the head of their prospective candidates. If you understand where the professionals you are trying to hire are going for their information, you have a better chance of catching the 84+% of passive job seekers who comprise the preferred pool.

ABOUT THE WRITER

Tricia Folliero is a Vice President for Sanna Mattson MacLeod, Inc., (http://www.smmadagency.com), a marketing and advertising firm, and directs their recruitment advertising division. She has more than 15 years experience in such areas as employer branding, recruitment marketing, hiring process re-engineering, web solutions and staffing technologies. She holds a BA in Business Administration from Stony Brook University, is a member of the Society of Human Resources Management, and serves as Chairperson of the One-Stop Committee of the New York State Department of Labor’s Workforce Investment Board.

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1. Bring the outdoors into the office. Some office workers rarely get to enjoy the great outdoors, so bring the outdoors in with some plants. If taking care of plants is too much hassle, you can even rent plants and leave the maintenance to someone else.
2. Encourage cubicle-dwellers to personalize their space. Provide some tasteful guidelines and let employees use their imaginations.
3. Create a focal point with an accent wall. Accent walls command attention, so use them in spaces where clients and employees gather such as the reception area or conference room.
4. Liven up the floor. When most people think of office décor, they forget the no-color architectural carpet at their feet. Area rugs can add a burst of color and define work areas. For inspiration, look to the colors of the company logo and marketing materials.
5. Cut out the time-wasters in meetings. Everyone dreads unproductive meetings where employees watch the clock, wondering when they can get back to work. Have a strict time limit for reports, and eliminate self-explanatory items from the agenda.
6. Invite a guest speaker for the next meeting, particularly someone with a humorous bent.
7. Think beyond doughnuts for office snacks. Try some healthier and more interesting snacks such as bruschetta or hummus on crunchy mini artisan bread slices.
8. Consider team-building activities such as sporting events, retreats or conferences. The best team-building activities will be ineffective, however, unless employees’ needs are met. One big need is insurance. BusinessInsurance.org can provide quotes on a wide range of products.

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How Do Recruiters Use Social Media Sites As Talent Pools?

In the past few years, recruiters’ interest in social media has dramatically increased.

In a 2011 global HR Professionals survey by StepStone Solutions, it was noted that over 96% of recruiters believed that social media has a role to play in recruitment because it’s one of the best ways to reach out to potential employees worldwide and build new talent pools, especially for high demand skills like mobile application developers or managers with experience in emerging markets. And over 82% of candidates responded positively for contact via facebook, twitter and linkedin.

Thus, social networking sites feature a huge network of recruiters and job seekers that are looking to connect with each other online.

What Role Does Social Media Play in the Recruitment Process?

In a 2010 Vault.com survey that included 150 companies and 3,500 job candidates, it was revealed that – while 93% of employers did not care what people did outside work, almost two-thirds of them actually looked into candidates’ social networking profile during the recruitment process. Nearly 28% of companies confirmed that they use social media to “spot check” on candidates.

Over the past few years, many recruiters have started to leverage social networking sites like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter in creative ways to source talent and build relationships with fans that may one day be candidates. LinkedIn is known to be the most popular professional networking site and has proven to be a great resource for recruiters.

According to Jobvite survey of U.S. Human Resources & Recruiting Professionals, social media has played a significant role in the recruitment processes of several companies. The number of companies that use social networking sites for recruitment has increased from 68% in 2009 to 80% in 2011. And the number continues to grow. From 2010 to 2011, companies that have successfully hired through a social network have increased from 58% to 64%.

Naturally, these numbers will continue to escalate during 2012 and beyond. What remains uncertain is the extent to which social media can transform from a connecting tool to a recruiting tool…

Why Do Companies Need A New Social Media Recruitment Strategy?

Considering the extensive number of active users, it has become increasingly challenging for recruiters to screen the right candidates. It is indeed difficult to pick the “most interested” or “best fit.” However, a number of recruitment apps have been developed to specifically enhance recruitment on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Many of these recruitment apps not only help “recruiters find the right candidates” but also enable “job seekers to apply for the right job.” Thus, companies are able to identify the ideal talent for their jobs quickly and more effectively.

To best utilize these resources like Facebook and LinkedIn, many companies are developing new social media recruitment strategies. In fact, many companies are now employing a social networking recruitment expert on their HR board to maximize their use of such opportunities.

Watch Out For New Apps For Social Media Recruitment!

In light of evolving recruitment trends, it is prudent for both “the recruiters” and “the job seekers” to utilize recruitment apps:

• LinkedIn Apply: LinkedIn, the #1 professional network, indeed leads the charge with its “Apply with LinkedIn.” The new LinkedIn Applyis the now the norm for nearly every ATS from Taleo to BrassRing.
• Pooldip: Pooldip is an emerging new job app on Facebook that allows users to create Facebook professional profiles to connect effectively with recruiters. Pooldip ‘sexecutive board is comprised of tenured HR professionals. It is an ideal addition to the LinkedIn Profile. Pooldip provides quick connections between company recruiters and interested job seekers.
• Mobile Job Apps- Innovative companies like Pepsi are creating mobile apps to connect with their talent pools. This is an efficient means of bringing recruitment from laptop to palmtop, in essence hiring on the go.

What Do 2012 Recruitment Trends Look Like?

• Companies will embrace social media recruitment and are likely to spend more time on social networking sites like LinkedIn and Facebook for recruitment activities including identifying, screening and connecting with candidates.
• Companies may consider increasing budgets for social recruiting and developing new strategies to best utilize the social recruitment apps.
• Recruitment departments may employ social networkers to fully screen candidates on social media sites and it would play an important role in the recruitment process.
• Job interviews may likely be preceeded by online interactions via a social networking site. The communication method during the recruitment process may change from calls and e-mails to IMs/chats on social sites.
• While social media will continue to increase its role in recruitment, more traditional offline career events may diminish in importance as recruiting methods. Additionally, offline events may be replaced by similar online events, group chats or conferences on social media.
• Job seekers may need to build online resumes through Facebook Apps as well as CV-websites and online portfolios. Candidates will feature their resumes through professional Facebook and LinkedIn profiles.
• Application developers will continue to build core social recruitment apps to enhance e-recruitment. Additional one-click recruitment apps are likely and social media may feature more professional job boards.
• With the emerging variety of Facebook recruitment apps, Facebook may become a strong contender as a professional network like LinkedIn.
• In tandem with the recruitment apps on social networking sites, more networks like Google+ may attract recruiters and job seekers as well as developers for facilitating talent recruitment.
• Companies may encourage candidates to apply through social recruitment apps so they can quickly complete social-media background checks prior to consideration.

For certain, social media will continue to play a vital role in the recruitment processes in 2012 and beyond.

ABOUT THE WRITER

Mary J. Thompson - As an experienced researcher, my idea is to learn and share everything I can with my readers. Stay tuned for more business, travel and career ideas as I love to write about this subjects and more…
 

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