Today, social networks are not just an online platform for people to meet and communicate, but also an effective tool for attracting candidates to your company. 92% of recruiters use social networks to find staff, and they do not only post jobs there.
Why has social media become a popular recruiting tool?
Millennials (people born between 1980 and the 1990s) are the largest generation in the workforce, accounting for 35% of all employees. By 2030, it will double to 75%. While people actively use career sites, they also spend time on social media and may subscribe to groups that post job openings.
In addition to millennials, there is Generation Z, which makes up 20% of the market. Younger users are actively using social media, and for 52% of them, it is the primary method of getting to know a company’s brand.
Who leads social media in a company?
If a company has up to 30 employees, social media can be managed by an HR specialist. Companies with up to 100 employees have an HR department responsible for internal communications. The more people who work in the organization, the bigger the HR team responsible for social media. Sometimes the HR specialist can be assisted by someone from marketing. It is useful to have synergies with marketing once every week or two, where you discuss design, texts, and their message. Colleagues will give you feedback and help guide you in the right direction if something is not working at the moment. And if everything is already going well, you can come up with new initiatives together to attract candidates.
How do you use social media to attract candidates?
- Understand who your target audience is. Are you an oil and gas, media, or consulting company? Are you attracting top managers, construction workers, and salespeople? Every company has an audience that follows its ideas, values, and brand. You can sit down with your Director and Head of Marketing and executives and break down your candidates’ profiles in detail:
Are they men or women?
How old are they?
Where do they live?
What is their income level?
Where do they spend their free time, and where do they travel?
Where did they work before, or where do they work now?
What are their dreams and aspirations?
What is their life position?
There may be many questions, but it’s better to spend time figuring out your target audience than to waste money on ineffective branding and marketing later.
- Determine the social network where you will invest the company’s money. You can choose Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn; you can combine several channels; you can create a company page and a separate page for publishing your vacancies. In 2023, it was revealed that LinkedIn is the most popular social network to get a job, with over 49 million people using the network to find a job every week, and 6 people are hired on the platform every minute. Research your target audience, what channels they use, which social networks of your competitors actively respond to content, and especially to what content. You can borrow their ideas and transform them into something new, memorable, and only yours.
- Get your social media pages right. Make them simple, easy to use, and clickable. Match the tone of voice of the company; use a brand book. Remember that your social media posts should appeal specifically to your target audience.
Here are examples of headlines:
- Want to join an inspiring company? Learn about career opportunities at (your company)
- Wow! Looking for editorial interns (your company): editorial, marketing, UX
- It’s like Barbieland in our company. We don’t understand why we haven’t filled all the positions yet (and here’s a photo of employees from https://www.bairbie.me/).
- We’re launching a summer jobs marathon and contest.
- Ambassadors, unusual info provocations and relationships with former employees: how the HR brand (your company) works.
Use corporate colors, employee photos, memes, infographics in your images.
Don’t stop at posts only: create polls, conduct live broadcasts, organize contests.
Don’t be afraid to get creative and create something new while building on old work.
- Collect feedback on your social media accounts at least once a month, from your audience. You can do a newsletter, pin a post, or attach links at the end of some of your posts. Make the questionnaire not long and the questions not difficult.
- First, say hello to the candidate and find out information about them: gender, age. Use open-ended questions, they help to get the person talking:
What content on our social network do you like?
Have you come across any posts you didn’t like? If so, can you attach links to them?
At what time do we visit our page most often?
- At the end of the survey, thank the candidate.
You can also do interviews with a certain number of participants. Don’t forget that after completing the questionnaire or interview, the person should receive a small gift: a discount, merchandise, a checklist, etc.
- Maintain an online reputation. Respond to questions in private messages and comments in a timely manner; don’t be rude to the candidates or ignore them. Keep up with what’s going on in the company and in the labor market; openly share news.
- Engage with your audience and familiarize them with the company. Above, we have already written about activities, questionnaires, and correspondence with candidates, but you can also add reels, live broadcasts, posts with interviews with employees, employee testimonials, photos and videos of the office, facts about the company, showcasing the perks you can get by getting a job, your awards and achievements, photos from internal and external events, and memes (if relevant). You can also use posts or videos to address objections from candidates in advance so that they get even more insight into the company.
- Create quality content. Don’t create informational noise for candidates; stick to quiet days (e.g., Sunday). Look at analytics: on what days and at what time of day are users most active in your social network? At these times, post sales posts. Enter hashtags and headings, call experts, invent new formats, contests, consult with designers, and pick on the little things. Only perspicacity, creativity, and quality feedback from colleagues, experts, and, most importantly, candidates will take your content to the next level.
To conclude
Most of your candidates regularly use social media not only for fun but also for career development, so a quality, thoughtful introduction to them is essential for the HR brand. They are an additional tool to help find your target audience. Don’t be afraid to experiment, test, and get to know your audience better to be unique and the best at what you do.
Author:
Tatyana Ivanova
