Social- Powered Recruiting Embracing the Potential of Social Networking for Recruitment

Social- Powered Recruiting Embracing the Potential of Social Networking for Recruitment

Social Media and the Workforce Social networking (also referred to as social media or simply social ) may once have been thought of as a fad a trendy distraction that would never find its place in a professional setting. Many suspected that businesses would dabble in social media while it was popular, only to eventually return to more traditional methods of interaction with the labor force. That time is past. With over 1.15 billion unique accounts, roughly one out of every seven human beings on the planet uses Facebook 1. 190 million tweets, in all their 140-character glory, are posted each day 2. Almost 75 percent of adults using the Internet regularly use social media in some way 3, and most importantly: 98 percent of recruiters are taking advantage of social media in some form while searching for candidates 4. Applicants are adapting their personal profiles into powerful presences in the professional realm, while hiring managers immediately tap popular websites to help zero in on the right talent for the right job. When a business is ready to fill an open position today, a flurry of social networking activity is guaranteed to follow. By taking advantage of the existing wealth of people data already present in the social media space, embracing social metaphors for an engaging user experience and harnessing complimentary technologies such as mobile access, businesses are poised to make better hires faster than ever before. With the right cloud-based, unified human capital management (HCM) solution, your company can enact these philosophies and revolutionize every stage of the recruitment process. 98 percent of recruiters are already taking advantage of social media to some degree while searching for candidates. Leverage Existing Social Networks and Profiles Despite the advent of social media and enormous advances in cloud technology and data security, most businesses still rely on a traditional application process to promote open positions and collect vital information from candidates. Although an enormous quantity of this information is already published and available to recruiters on the Web, many companies and analysts have long viewed candidates social media profiles simply as a means to scour for any inappropriate or unprofessional content that would disqualify an applicant. Additionally, guides spelling out what not to do on social networks are available online to jobseekers by the dozens. This is just scratching the surface 1 http://investor.fb.com/releasedetail.cfm?releaseid=780093 2 http://www.statisticbrain.com/social-networking-statistics/ 3 http://pewinternet.org/commentary/2012/march/pew-internet-social-networking-full-detail.aspx 4 http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2013/02/05/new-survey-linked-in-more-dominant-thanever-among-job-seekers-and-recruiters-but-facebook-poised-to-gain/

potential of these sites for recruiting, however, and moving beyond a search for red flags approach to social media can yield substantial benefits in your search for the best talent. Let s consider the professional social network of record: LinkedIn. As of December 2012, one out of every five adults that regularly uses the Internet has an active LinkedIn account 2. And this hasn t gone unnoticed: 97.3 percent of staffing professionals use LinkedIn in some fashion as a recruiting tool 4. There s no question as to why, with its vast database of relevant data from jobseekers including contact information, connections to any current employees, previous employment history and education, skills, and more all stored in the cloud. In fact, considering the scope of this information and its usefulness to recruiters, it s no surprise that LinkedIn completely disabled the ability to upload a traditional résumé in 2012. Everything that would be included in such a document can simply be represented on the profile itself. Yet when it comes time to apply for a job, many candidates must provide every single piece of this information again, no matter how complete their profile might be. In the worst case scenario, this means completing application forms by hand introducing paper waste and error-prone manual data entry to the equation. Even companies utilizing paperless online application systems frequently require applicants to reenter all the information they had already assembled for LinkedIn. With a best-in-class, unified HCM solution for recruiting, candidates can be offered the ability to connect their entire LinkedIn profile to an application for any open position rather than attaching a résumé or filling in the data piece by piece. Once populated, this data can even be pulled into a candidate presence, similar to a social profile, which can be reused to apply for multiple positions at your company, even if they re listed months apart. Enabling this seamless, hassle-free data collection provides a unique, engaging, and memorable experience that will stand out against the traditional application process, while ensuring consistent and accurate information for your hiring managers. In 2012, LinkedIn completely disabled the ability for users to upload a traditional résumé. All relevant candidate information is stored in his or her online profile. A cloud-based recruiting solution can also allow for the posting of open opportunities on Twitter with one click, enabling candidates to quickly and easily share job openings that may not be right for them but could be perfect for a friend or acquaintance. By embracing this collaborative social functionality, jobseekers can essentially function as additional recruiters and even brand evangelists.

Employ Familiar Social Features for User Experience A job search is not often considered a particularly fun or engaging experience. Candidates might wade through the same application process, entering the exact same information, dozens of times, to the point where they begin to blur together. At the same time, they must contend with the problem known as the candidate black hole: the feeling of sending applications into the void, only to receive no response whatsoever about the desired position. How can you set your organization apart from the pack and avoid these issues? Best-in-class recruiting solutions have begun to embrace gamification, or adding in atypical, user-friendly features that bring the application process closer to the familiar and enjoyable experience of using social media. Recruiters know that obtaining the most relevant information from their candidates can be like pulling teeth. Instead of presenting a static form to be filled out for every available position, your recruiting solution could present questions about applicants themselves using natural human language, displayed sequentially with choices that adapt to reflect each preceding responses. Merely presenting these fact-finding questions as optional contributions to a candidate s professional presence with your organization can result in more accurate and complete information than a traditional application, while simultaneously fostering engagement. A feature as simple as allowing users to attach a personal profile image can engender a much more memorable and engaging experience. Offering features as simple as the ability for users to attach a personal profile image can engender a much more memorable and engaging experience. Automated email notifications to candidates with status updates regarding their applications can also foster engagement and avoid the black hole feeling among candidates. This functionality provides another link to the familiar and fun social experience of using sites like Facebook that employ similar notifications. Taking advantage of these features that streamline and enhance the recruiting process for candidates will put the focus on them, creating a lasting positive impression of your business that can persist even if they are not hired. Choosing a cloud-based recruiting solution that embraces these familiar social metaphors can turn the mundane process of applying for a job into a unique, memorable experience that will engage jobseekers from the moment they interact with your company and fully engaged candidates become fully engaged employees.

Embrace the Mobile Generation About 40 percent of cell phone owners regularly use at least one social networking device on their phone. And one out of every four does so at least once a day. These statistics only skyrocket when considering the younger generation, including and especially the Millennials, who comprise the largest percentage of the current pool of jobseekers. With the advent of tablets and other mobile devices, the link between mobile and social is undeniable. Many companies are not capitalizing on the growing reliance on mobile technology. Even those that do offer cloud-based recruiting will frequently only offer access to their recruiting solution through a traditional desktop interface. Social networking sites, in contrast, frequently offer a fully functional experience to their users no matter what kind of device they happen to be using. By taking advantage of a solution that provides every feature available through a computer to mobile device users, your organization maximizes the talent pool available for hiring while continuing to foster engagement through a constructive, progressive experience. With the right unified, cloud-based HCM solution, you can empower candidates to browse and apply for positions from a mobile device so that no matter where they are, there won t be a single missed opportunity. At the same time, a fully enabled mobile solution for recruiting offers your hiring managers the ability to review applications, communicate with candidates, and even begin the hiring process from anywhere, anytime. Conclusion Social networking is here to stay. Leading businesses have already begun to use new technology, Web infrastructure, marketing, and more to squeeze every drop of potential from this powerful platform for talent connections. As the Millennial generation begins to occupy a larger and larger portion of the workforce, now is the time to do the same with your recruiting solution. By offering integration with existing social media, providing a familiar and memorable user experience, and making it available through the mobile platform, you can transform recruiting into a unique and constructive process for both managers and candidates. Choosing a best-in-class HCM solution that incorporates these features is the first step toward better, more engaged hires.

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