Month: July 2022

Recruitment is one of those industries which, in terms of processes, hasn’t changed much over the years. The core principles have remained pretty much the same since people first started hiring. However, as it currently stands, with so many opportunities on the market, the emphasis falls heavily upon employers (and their recruiters) to make their organization an appealing place to work for both prospective and existing employees.

Regardless of the recruitment vertical, when it comes to making the right hire, social media plays an increasingly important role in sourcing the best candidates. As digital natives, who have grown up with social media, continue to trickle into the talent pool, social media recruitment is fast-becoming an essential tool for attracting the best talent.

We spoke to Steve Gipson, Sales Manager at Recruiters Websites, about making the best use of social media in recruitment.

Why use social media recruitment?

In today’s war for talent, an employer’s social media presence is no less than an expectation for prospective employees, with 56% of candidates actively seeking jobs on social professional networks like LinkedIn. On the flip side, nearly 60% of North American recruitment firm employees believe social media is the best source for candidates. These figures represent a clear shift in the way recruitment gets done. Candidates evaluate prospective employers from their social media presence. Likewise, recruiters use social media as part of a more targeted talent acquisition strategy, which enables them to identify and engage with potential hires.

Although social media enables recruiters to reach a wider talent pool, it’s not as simple as pushing out a job posting across multiple social channels and expecting the best candidates to come calling. Different social media channels appeal to different demographics. For example, in 2022, Facebook’s largest user group is people aged between 25 and 34. Instagram is similarly popular with that audience group, but it equally appeals to slightly younger users – around 30% of whom are aged 18 to 24. With this in mind, recruiters need to carefully consider which social media platforms to target in order to drive the right applicants through the door.

Welcome to the world of social recruiting.

What is social recruiting?

Social recruiting – also known as social hiring, or social media recruitment – is a way of sourcing potential candidates through social media platforms, such as LinkedIn, and other online channels, like blogs. However, it is also a way of marketing an employer brand by raising awareness about their value proposition to potential employees.

In order to engage in social recruitment, employers need to build out a presence across social media channels as part of a wider effort to enhance their employer brand. In doing so, they can promote their brand values, offer an insight into company culture, and invite engagement from prospective future candidates.

The rise in social recruiting correlates with changing generational habits around the use of social media in working-age prospects, with social networks reaching 90% penetration in the U.S. during 2022.

How is social media used in recruitment?

Recruiters use social media in two main ways. Firstly, many recruiters still follow the age-old model of using job postings and paid advertisements to announce and promote available roles. However, instead of using print media, they appear on social media. Secondly, they use social media as a tool to drive traffic to a job site, whether that’s an external recruiter or a company’s own website.

Whether as a recruiter you use one or both of these methods, the most important thing is to have a clear strategy for reaching your target audience. If you’re posting on Twitter, but the most ideal or suitable candidates hang out on Instagram, your recruitment efforts are going to be wide of the mark.

Recruitment has always operated within different verticals, and within those verticals, specific niches. The platform you choose to promote your latest opening needs to align with your target candidates. With an estimated 70% of the global workforce considered passive talent, targeting potential candidates through the right social channels is a strategic way of reaching people who aren’t actively seeking a new position.

The benefits of using social media to hire

Social media is an important channel for boosting your employer brand, demonstrating your expertise, promoting your company culture, and employee value proposition. It’s important not to think that having a wider reach means all the hard work is done for you.

The vastness of the Internet means you have the potential to connect with more of the right candidates for the role. That’s why making strategic use of social media is so important. What that reach actually gives recruiters is the potential to drill-down and uncover suitably qualified and experienced candidates based on the role’s criteria, whether that’s a particular type of degree or a certain number of years experience.

Unlike static job boards or print media postings, social media content helps you to broaden your reach with company information and open roles, increasing your chances of engaging with both passive and active candidates. Drawing upon established employee networks and connections can also help to attract the right talent, as they share and re-share social content which might lead prospects through the door.

Promoting your employer brand and job postings through social media is also a much more time-efficient and cost-effective way to reach candidates, as opposed to more traditional one-to-one methods such as cold calling potentials or even attending job fairs.

Strategies for using social media in recruitment

Most recruitment professionals are highly disciplined and plan the next day’s calls the day before. For recruiters new to employing social media tactics to bring in the right hire, it’s important to treat social media in the same way as your call list. Consistency is key.

Here are six strategies to consider when implementing social recruitment:

1. Focus on the right channels to find your target audience, and don’t be afraid to look beyond the main players – certain industries have developed their own niche social platforms.
2. Clear and consistent social media profiles are essential for presenting your employer brand and delivering content relevant to potential candidates, aligned with your company’s culture and overall brand values.
3. Social media is awash with images and video because it attracts engagement. Relevant and on-brand visual content is a sure-fire way to increase engagement from potential candidates.
4. Encourage employees to share your posts. The number one way people discover a new job is through a referral. When employees share your posts, you not only tap into their network, but you improve the chances of finding the right hire through personal recommendation.
5. Paid ads on social media can be surprisingly affordable and can be targeted based on a range of key criteria, from current job titles to relevant experience. They’re also easier to track in terms of engagement.
6. Content marketing is a great way to build a connection with your target audience, from videos and images to blogs. Use social media to point potential candidates to content that can provide added-value and a stronger connection with your brand.

Simplifying sourcing from socials and the wider web

The right technology can also help your social recruitment efforts.

PCR Capture is a seamless browser plug-in from PCRecruiter which enables recruiters to import and update candidate data found on a variety of popular websites, job boards, and social networks.

With PCR Capture, you can import new candidates and clients, and also update existing records by merging data. You can even use it to look up names you find online and determine whether they’re already in your database, with quick access to contact functions.

To learn more about PCR Capture or how PCRecruiter can help you make more of your social recruiting strategy, contact a representative today.

Whatever business you’re in, your brand is your reputation – not just to your customers or clients, investors and other stakeholders, but to the people who make up your organization. Without them, there is no business.

That’s why getting the right talent through the door to fill the right roles in your organization is so vital for your business success. After all, you don’t want to waste time and money on acquiring and onboarding the wrong people for your organization.

However, in a competitive job market where you need to be quick on the hire to secure the best people for your business, attracting the right talent is easier said than done. That’s where employer branding can help. In this blog post, we explore the importance of employer branding and how it can make a difference to the effectiveness of your hiring process.

What is employer branding?

Employer branding is the perception of your business amongst your prospective workforce and your current employees.

Like your business brand, which defines your value proposition of your products or services within a particular market, your employer brand defines your value proposition as a place to work, develop a career, and grow as a person within the employment market.

Your employer brand embodies the essence of your enterprise, representing your people, policies, and values. In the same way that a consumer brand is designed to create attract customers, create familiarity, earn trust, and build loyalty, your employer brand is more than just your approach to managing people and business, it runs much deeper. Employer branding helps define and communicate your organization’s unique cultural and ethical standpoint, as reflected by your employees and your business actions.

Whether you’re looking to hire a part-time cleaner, or an experienced CEO, it may seem counterintuitive to focus on your offering, rather than theirs. But those prospective hires not only need to know that their skills, experience, and talent are a good fit for the role and your business, but also what they’re getting in exchange by becoming an employee.

Why is employer branding important?

Your employer brand is important because it helps to communicate what kind of employment experience you offer prospective candidates, what kind of experience they can expect when they come to work for you, and why they should consider working for you in the long term.

Effective employer branding communicates a positive message about working for your organization, encourages engagement, and creates a buzz around your company as a desirable place to work. Think of it as marketing for your role as an employer to existing and future employees.

If that sounds like an additional layer of complication over what your HR department or recruitment team does, it’s worth remembering that you already have an employer brand. It’s up to you to shape perceptions and the way it works best for your hiring efforts.

A recent study by LinkedIn revealed that the number one obstacle for candidates looking for a job is not knowing what it’s like to work at the company. So guess what 75% of those candidates look for before they put in an application? Employer brands. 

How can employer branding benefit your business?

The bottom line of effective employer branding is that it boosts your bottom line. So let’s dive a little deeper into that.

First impressions count. So getting employer branding right brings the right candidates knocking on the door, and if you’ve been actively pursuing the right hire, it welcomes them inside. That’s important because candidates have a world of openings to choose from.

To make your organization stand out in a competitive market, you need to make your offering more appealing to them. With over 50% of recruitment leaders investing in and deploying a proactive employer branding strategy, the competition for the best candidates is heating up. Standing by and doing nothing isn’t an option unless you want to get lost in the pack.

By more closely aligning your employer brand with prospective hires, it can significantly boost your recruitment efforts. LinkedIn’s study revealed that an effective employer brand results in:

• 28% reduction in turnover
• 50% more qualified candidates
• 50% reduction in your cost per hire
• 1-2 times faster hires.

There’s also a positive impact on engagement and retention. An effective employer brand makes it easier for recruiters to introduce your organization to prospects. And it’s only as good as the people that work for you. In fact, it’s the message that they put out about your organization that does the most employer branding work for you.

With the right organizational culture in place, you can begin to grow that positive messaging and become a trusted employer, someone that people enjoy working for, and one that they’re happy to champion to others.

How the right recruitment software can help

The right CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE won’t do your employer branding for you, but it can be a valuable tool for delivering the right message at the right time to prospective candidates.

Communication is a key to acquiring the right talent. You need to ensure a cohesive experience of your employer brand at every touchpoint of the hiring process, and you also need clear oversight and control over the entire recruitment process.

PCRecruiter provides scalable CRM and ATS functionality with a host of features designed to make communication with candidates quicker and easier, from seamless integrations for SMS and Email campaigns to automations for identifying the best candidates.

See what PCRecruiter can do for your recruitment.