A RECRUITER S SOCIAL RECRUITING SURVIVAL GUIDE MASTER THE SOCIAL ARENA
Social Recruiting Defined Social recruiting is when companies and recruiters use social platforms to source and recruit candidates for employment. There are many benefits to social recruiting. To start, social recruiting enables organisations to hire the best talent. This can be done by connecting, educating, and inspiring people through social networks. While some businesses have dabbled in the social arena, the majority are hesitant to fully pursue social recruiting. By effectively developing social strategies and reporting on social recruiting efforts, recruiters can help hire quality personnel (and save their company money!). Considering 74% of all Internet users have at least one active social media account, it is clear that social recruiting is the best way to reach the largest audience for the lowest cost. 1 1. Hiring Insights, 2015 2
Table of Contents The Power of Social Recruiting...4 Define Your Audience & Reach the Right People...5 Build a Strong (Social) Employer Brand...6 Utilise Today s Top Recruiting Tools...7 Encourage Staff Referrals & Make Social Distribution Easy...8 Track, Measure, then Improve Your Social Recruiting Efforts...9 3
icims A Recruiter s Social Recruiting Survival Guide The Power of Social Recruiting Social recruiting is more than sourcing candidates and advertising career opportunities via Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn. Social recruiting is about being present, authentic, and active. The social landscape is a space that lends itself to conversation. Therefore, feedback and continual sharing of information is important for your organisation and vacancy seekers alike. Social networking sites such as LinkedIn and Facebook stand strong as some of the most powerful tools available to recruiters today. It is important for businesses to understand how social media can be used to reach candidates quicker and at a lower cost than other traditional recruiting methods. In 2016, Facebook had over 1.70 billion users, LinkedIn 450 million, Twitter 320 million, Instagram 400 million and Google+ 300 million users.2 icims Social Distribution automates the process of sharing your company s vacancies. 2. Brandwatch, 2016 4
Define Your Audience & Reach the Right People 43% of companies reported that social professional networks were their top source of quality hires. 3 Getting started: Determine who your ideal target is then get to know them and which social networks they frequent. Focus on your message. What do you want this audience to know about your employment brand? Explain it simply. Create a posting schedule and make note of the content that receives the most views, likes, and comments. Build your social brand presence.»» Create an engaging branded Facebook vacancy page or share news on LinkedIn where vacancy seekers can search for vacancies or refer friends. Focus on a few sites or platforms your ideal candidates visit often.»» Do not try to master them all and avoid corporate jargon that could turn viewers away. Once you ve mastered one or two, test drive others. Share informative articles from credible, well respected sources. There are plenty of free ones out there. With today s vacancy seekers researching potential employers and following their favorite brands, recruiters should highlight their employers as desirable places to work. Remember to maintain an active yet professional presence on social media. Sharing vacancies, company news, and other job-seeking tips can go a long way. You never know which followers today will be candidates tomorrow. 3. LinkedIn, 2016 5
Build a Strong (Social) Employer Brand of organisations report social media presence being their most effective branding tool, with... 47% 61% saying specifically that professional networks like LinkedIn were best. 4 A company s employment brand influences the perception and beliefs held by current personnel and potential vacancy candidates, including: Company culture General attitude towards company Beliefs about the pay and benefits Tips: Figure out what makes your company unique. Every company has something original to it! Keep your story consistent across social channels (and your career site) to establish a recognizable brand.»» Think of Apple, Google, or Coca-Cola. What do they have in common? A unified brand story. Have your recruitment materials reflect your company s mission statement and story. Be authentic and you ll find people who share similar values. By building a strong social employment brand you ll attract the top talent that you want to work for your company. On the flip-side, your social employment brand also serves as a way for candidates who might not be a good fit to screen themselves out. 4. LinkedIn, 2016 6
Utilise Today s Top Recruiting Tools Today s candidates are looking for vacancies on social media. Are you connecting with them? Social recruitment technology can rev up social media efforts and easily connect you with more candidates. Serve up an application experience that s quick and easy. Let candidates apply using their social profiles. Leave no social vacancy seeker behind. Access social recruiting tools that are mobile-friendly. Craft compelling posts. Engage those who aren t ready to apply today, but might be later, by giving them the ability to receive information about vacancy opportunities tailored to their interests. icims Recruit makes social media recruiting a sourcing powerhouse by easily cultivating a social media presence and connecting with more vacancy seekers. 7
Encourage Staff Referrals & Make Social Distribution Easy Set-and-forget-it vacancy publishing takes the hassle out of your personnel manually posting vacancies to different social media sites. With intelligent publishing, you can schedule and automate staff-wide vacancy postings to their various social sites. icims Social Distribution makes it possible to automatically post vacancies to participating staff social profiles at a frequency of their choosing and without any effort after initial set up. 8
Track, Measure, then Improve Your Social Recruiting Efforts The potential for data to transform your social recruiting can be huge; however, a survey from Software Advice reports that only 37% of small companies and 27% of medium-sized companies are currently using data analytics to recruit. 5 Social data and statics are available and these numbers can shape the type of branding or messaging you showcase. Ensure you re company is using only the most effective efforts, when and wherever possible use your social experiences and data to measure the impact of your social recruitment strategies. As a result, you ll likely increase your recruiting efficiency and effectiveness, filling vacancies faster, for less expense. 5. Software Advice, 2015 9
How icims CAN HELP icims is the leading provider of talent acquisition solutions that help businesses win the war for top talent. icims empowers companies to manage their entire hiring process within the industry s most robust Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS). Built on the foundation of a best-to-market talent acquisition software suite, icims PaaS framework, UNIFi, allows employers to expand the capabilities of their core talent acquisition technology by integrating with the largest partner ecosystem in talent acquisition to help them attract, find, screen, and manage candidates. Offering scalable, easy-to-use solutions that are backed by award-winning customer service, icims supports more than 3,500 contracted customers and is one of the largest and fastest-growing talent acquisition solution providers. To learn more about icims go to www.icims.co.uk today! Connect with icims on social media! 10