Social Media Recruitment – It’s not just about the likes, fans and followers

Are you an HR professional considering using social media as part of your recruitment process? Do you want to know how to leverage LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook to attract top hires?

Last month, webrecruit conducted a survey looking into job seeker trends. Results revealed 71% of people now use social media to look for jobs, and the number is only set to increase.

The potential for LinkedIn and other social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, to play a major role in your recruitment strategy increases as millions of potential employees join these sites each year.

But as an HR professional, knowing which resources are best for getting your message out can be time consuming. And as the popularity of these platforms continues to grow, hiring managers’ are asking, what is the key to finding great talent?

Here is a ‘glimmer’ of how you can use social platforms successfully to identify top hires.

LinkedIn boasts over 175 million members and is a hugely powerful networking platform. Ensure you set your company profile up fully and start building your network out. Share your vacancies by targeting them to specific groups.

Twitter is invaluable when it comes to injecting some personality into your latest job opportunities. In 140 characters or less you can use relevant #tags, such as #jobs #webdeveloper #london, to target messages to direct audiences.

Facebook is a good platform for sharing photo’s and giving potential employees a visual insight into your work environment. Operating on a more personal domain, you should aim to provide a blend of informative and fun content alongside your jobs – keeping your audience (or talent pool) engaged.

Pinterest is effective for personalising your brand and making your company more visually accessible. Enabling you to pin and re-pin visually enticing content, it’s a great place to find the creative types or get creative yourself.

It seems fair to say, social media’s reach and ability to grow communities comprising all types of common interest is exceptionally valuable for HR departments looking to find their next talent.

Particularly in this candidate-rich market; finding the right person for your role is tough. But by leveraging the functionality each social network offers you – you can design a recruitment solution that will boost your brand, increase your reach and tap into new pools of talent.

If you’re looking to give your recruitment campaign a boost using social media, download webrecruit’s free social media checklist. Providing expertise and a unique approach to social media hiring, it’s packed with tips to transform your recruitment – and employer brand – today.