6 Social Media Recruiting Trends to Find Your Perfect Candidate
Having trouble keeping up with all of the new social media recruiting trends? What is Facebook Zero, and is Linkedin still #1? These are questions that modern recruiters have, and today we will answer them for you.
Social media recruiting is basically like social media marketing; you need to stay on top of all changes, or you will find yourself falling behind other companies.
To ensure you’re using social media to attract the very best candidates, here are 6 trends you need to be aware of.
1. Using Your Own Social Media to Get Better Candidates
As much as we know your company slaved over its mission statement, and the About Us page on your Site.
But today’s job seekers don’t really even look at that until the day before your interview. However, when they first apply for the job, they are very likely to look you up on social media; your Facebook, LinkedIn, and possibly Instagram page.
You’ve never had more access to more social media recruiting tools, so take advantage of them.
If you want to convey to your audience that you have a cool workplace, that needs to be all over your social feed. If you offer work-from-home days, feature pictures of your employees working from the cottage or something like that.
If you want to position yourself as a thought-leader, prove it. Share thought-provoking blogs and videos on Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
2. LinkedIn’s Slow Burn
LinkedIn is now without question the defacto social media recruiting tool. But, it took a while to rise to its current prominence.
It basically arrived just after Facebook and Twitter, and it’s usage lagged behind those two. Nobody was quite sure what LinkedIn really was, or what it could be.
LinkedIn has reached well over 530 million users, helped by the fact that millennials are now very much a part of the LinkedIn fleet, and Generation Y (more on them later) are starting to fill out their accounts.
But there’s more to the growth than that. LinkedIn is now one of the top ways for companies to share their content, whether it’s a blog or video. It’s no longer just a place to meet and network. LinkedIn is now one of the world’s top publishers.
3. Gen Y Hits the Workforce
Just when you thought you finally figured out Millennials, they are now “so last week.” The much-anticipated Generation Y is entering the workforce, which could change the recruitment playbook completely.
What does Gen Y want, and how will it affect your recruitment strategy? Great question. It is still way too early to tail. They literally just entered the workforce, and their moms are still ironing their shirts.
You don’t want to make too many assumptions on what the next generation will want in a workplace.
We all assumed millennials wanted to work from home on beanbag chairs, but certain surveys revealed that they actually preferred a more traditional workplace.
4. Beware of a Social Presence That Looks Too Professional
By now, it should be common practice for people to give their social accounts a good scrubbing before they start applying for jobs. And it still remains a red flag not to hire somebody when they publish some inappropriate comment.
However, you should be wary of a social account that looks too professional. By that, we mean pretty much devoid of any real personality.
What are they hiding? Don’t go through the hiring process and find out the hard way.
5. Passive Candidates are the Dominant Force
Today, about 70-75% of the workforce is now considered passive. That means up to 3/4 of your best candidates are not looking for work right now and currently killing it for another company.
But, of course, they’re always open to conversations.
LinkedIn remains your go-to tool for finding these candidates. It’s an incredibly dialed-in way to search for the skills, education, and experience you need to fill your next role.
However, the LinkedIn engagement door swings both ways. If you’re going to reach out to candidates on LinkedIn, you have to make sure your company’s profile is showcase-ready, with all of the elements we mentioned in the previous section.
6. Facebook Zero’s Impact
Recently, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook’s major focus in 2018 will be giving people what they want. And that’s more content from their family and friends in their newsfeed, with fewer businesses.
What does that mean for using Facebook as a social media recruiting tool? It means it’s going to be very difficult to get organic content in front of your passive candidates’ eyes. You now 100% have to pay to boost your content.
It also means you should be actively encouraging your current employees to publish and share things about your company. That’s free and will likely yield better results, with a broader reach.
You also need to embrace LinkedIn and Instagram. Both of these platforms still offer you an affordable organic reach, with strong engagement numbers.
Instagram is now so popular that it’s pretty much eating all of Snapchat’s traffic. Instagram’s introduction of their own “stories” has resulted in a major decline in Snapchat’s numbers.
If you were still strategizing how to leverage Snapchat for your business, you can stop. It may not be worth your time to get on this ship while it’s sinking. Focus your energy on Instagram.
We Can Help You Take Social Media Recruiting to the Next Level
Since 2007, PT Systems has established itself by matching a multitude of exceptional talent with Fortune 500 companies and other world-class organizations like yours.
How can we help you today? If you’re a business, learn about our solutions. If you’re looking for a job, let us help you.
