Sourcing and recruiting candidates requires a tailored, multi-faceted approach in regards to experience level, industry and more. And when you’re zeroing in on entry-level talent for internships or first jobs out of college, it’s important to know what they prefer and where they draw the line for contact with companies online because these will impact your social recruiting strategy.
Unfortunately, sometimes the lines are blurred on this matter, so you must be ready with alternate approaches for connecting with job seekers online. Here are three social recruiting options you can use to reach candidates without going too far.
3 Ways to “Do” Social Recruiting Without Overstepping Boundaries
1. Look, but don’t touch. One of the top arguments for social recruiting – especially on Facebook – is the number of active users, which trumps all other sites. However, numbers alone don’t make this platform the best. It’s really the opportunity you have to search through a massive pool to find talent that best fits your needs. But for many college students and recent grads, being contacted by a brand on Facebook is… “creepy.”
These less experienced (both in the workforce and in life outside of college) job seekers aren’t always comfortable connecting for professional reasons. If you think this might be the case, use Facebook as a place to source candidates without initiating contact on the platform. Instead, get creative and conduct a few Google searches, scope them out on LinkedIn, etc… to make contact another way. Social networks provide a great opportunity to see the more casual side of a potential candidate, but sometimes you should leave it at that.
2. Let them come to you. Targeting likely fits for your company and even specific job opportunities is not difficult, thanks to Facebook advertising options. So, instead of reaching out directly, develop creative copy and design to attract relevant users to either your Facebook careers page or back to your corporate careers site. Recruitment ads can be focused on recruiting applicants for an open role or simply improving the visibility of your employer brand with users you’d ultimately like to connect with. This is another hands-off approach that puts the job seekers in control and won’t make less experienced users feel you’re encroaching on their personal space.
3. Show, don’t tell. The idea surrounding social media is that it’s great for conversation, so of course you have to talk to your users. But when it comes to social recruiting and repping your employer brand online, it’s more important to show target job seekers what you have to offer, instead of just telling them why you’re great. Whether you’ve attracted them to your Facebook careers page through advertising, e-mail campaigns or other, it’s important to remember they aren’t likely to return to your page often – unless they’re seeing compelling content in their main feed. This means it’s time to use videos, photos and infographics to create visual appeal and encourage ongoing engagement.
What other social recruiting tips do have? Are entry-level candidates less likely to connect on social? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments.
Image: Emory Maiden/Flickr
Author: Autumn McReynolds
Autumn McReynolds is a master of communication, and with two years in the recruiting industry and over five years of experience in journalism and content creation, she was thrilled to take her career in a new direction as a Blogger and Content Strategist focused on talent acquisition in the digital age. In addition to writing, Autumn spends her time managing social media accounts for business and pleasure. Follow her on Twitter @AutumnMcRey.
Hi Autumn,
This is such a great guide to the basics of social recruiting! One of the best and most comprehensive tools out there for tackling all of the facets of recruiting on Facebook you mentioned is Work4 Labs’ application Work for Us, which allows recruiters to post jobs directly on their company’s Facebook Page, create targeted Facebook job ads, implement scalable referral programs, and distribute jobs using proprietary social broadcasting tools to Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Check it out!
Geraldine
http://www.work4labs.com
[...] gslevin@work4labs.com Hi Autumn, This is such a great guide to the basics of social recruiting! One of the best and most comprehensive tools out there for… – Read Post [...]
[...] talent pool are different. Before jumping in, consider who you’re looking for and how they really want to be contacted. Facebook may not be their preference, but LinkedIn (a social but professional network) could be a [...]