Social media is a natural choice for human resources professionals, with networking and socializing at the heart of both fields. Businesses have been leveraging their social presence to allure highly qualified candidates, and these free tools have opened the door for smaller companies to level the playing field.
As the work force turns to millennials for open positions, social media has become a critical tool for reaching these candidates on their own turf. However, social recruiting is most effective with solid planning in place. With that in mind, how can you best use the tools at your disposal?
By and large, these three overall guidelines can help you get a great start on one of the newest hiring trends:
1. Start at the Top
LinkedIn is one of, if not the most popular business networking sites on the planet, which makes it a crucial tool for recruiters. Resume-style information is clear and apparent for a seemingly limitless pool of talent, with the ability to build a network over time.
However, scouting on LinkedIn is a two-way street, which is why your company pages must always be kept current and professional. Industry-specific groups can also help you find talented candidates within your industries, making you accessible through your own personal profile.
2. Take Your Physical Network Online
Speaking of personal profiles, one often-overlooked advantage of social recruiting is the ability to network through your current employees. Referrals have been in place in the hiring process for decades, so why would online recruitment be any different?
Your own employees can leverage their social networks with status updates or shared job postings, which opens up your talent pool to a number of outlets. While your employee’s networks may not hold the answers, friends of friends can help lead the way to even further outreach for your openings.
3. Post Updates Early & Often
It may sound simple, but frequent sharing of your own job postings in simple statuses can be the best tool for utilizing social media to its full potential. These are the most visible updates to your page, and can be automatically pushed with your small business’s applicant tracking system.
This automation will keep your business in the limelight for your social followers, making the most of your network. To see what our solutions can do for your social recruiting initiative, request a demo of ATS OnDemand’s small business applicant tracking system or call (800) 585-3084.
