Katrina Collier: Recruiting on social media can no longer be ignored

Recruiting on social media is proven. And no longer can it be ignored, as savvy job seekers take to social channels to check you out.

Not only will job seekers assess the company’s recruiter or HR professional, they’ll also check out the company’s own and employees’ social media behaviour. They do this before they make an application or reply to your message. You won’t even know that you’re missing out on a great candidate.

The number of visitors to UK job boards fell by 26% last year, and though this could be down to a drop in unemployment, now the lowest since late 2008, it is more likely due to the rise of these social job seekers. Job seekers who know that they can circumvent the system and find you online.

Jobvite’s Job Seeker Nation Study revealed that:

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1. Social job seekers are younger, wealthier, better educated, and more likely to be employed full-time.
2. 76% of social job seekers found their current position through Facebook.
3. 27% of job seekers expect to be able to apply via mobile and mobile job seekers are more likely to turn to Facebook over LinkedIn.

Job seekers also visit employee review sites, like Glassdoor, to hear first hand what it’s like to work at your company. I regularly hear of job seekers arriving at interviews carrying copies of the reviews too.

Social media makes it possible to increase your quality of job applicant and reduce the number of unsuitable applicants by sharing information that helps candidates deselect themselves. Let job seekers hear from your employees, peer-to-peer, and keep it real so that they can decide if your company is right for them or not.

Six easy ways to improve your social presence and attract job seekers:

1. Update your company on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Google+ with fresh relevant content, information, and links to your careers pages. Show off your people, projects and successes.
2. People prefer to interact with people so update your company’s HR and recruiter personal social media profiles
3. On LinkedIn use the summary to highlight the benefits of your company and add any presentations or videos that show someone what it’s like to work at your company.
4. Come out from behind your logo on Twitter and fill out your 160-character bio.
5. Lockdown your Facebook profile as job seekers will look you up!
6. Create your own Google+ profile, linking to your careers site, your blog, and add your details and bragging rights.

Investigate other social channels that may work better for you. Ask the hiring manager or team where they chat online, as you may find Pinterest, Behancē, GitHub, Stackoverflow or any of the other niche sites is where you should be focusing your energy.

Share lots of fresh content, your own and information from others, including industry news, blogs, videos, photos, achievements, awards and so on. Show social job seekers that you have your finger on the pulse and are a great place to work.

Ensure that you share at least 5 pieces of content before you share a job and when you do, make it easy for job seekers to apply and ensure that your website is mobile optimised.

Monitor your engagement! Too many times I see companies ignoring job seekers’ comments on social channels. Keep your eyes peeled and respond promptly.

Final thought, the last time you purchased something, did you ask your peers or read reviews?

Job seekers are doing the same about you as an employer. If you want to attract the right people, it’s time to embrace the right social media channel for your company’s requirements.

Join Katrina Collier at her popular “Social Media in Recruitment Workshop” on the 25th September in London.