Dear Old:
A word to the wise: You don't have to be everywhere, but you must be in the right places in social media.
To prevent the effects of the traditional “post-and-pray” method in social recruiting, be strategic in how you source and interact with candidates. If you have a current employee in a similar role to the one for which you are recruiting, find out where they spend most of their time online. Most likely your employees in entry-level positions are using Twitter— and it’s likely that your next entry-level candidate is as well. In this case, you would want to target Twitter to spread the word and spend less money on LinkedIn Jobs or job boards.
Here is a simple checklist:
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Partner with marketing. You save time and raise the bar on quality with a consistent message. Your marketers hold the key to your messaging, voice, audience and brand perception. Marketing knows the why, how and who to build your approach are already known.
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Create a message. You will get more targeted candidates — quality over quantity. A compelling job posting needs to speak to the candidate you desire: Old job descriptions that are on career page websites are too boring. Create a short tagline and use it in the social platform you chose with a link to a more fully defined write-up. Candidates need to see themselves in the write-up in order to raise their hand.
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Be mobile-compatible. You will reach possibly the demographic you seek, look contemporary, and keep top talent interested. On average, anywhere from 30 percent to 50 percent of candidates use a smartphone or tablet to view postings. If your recruitment pages don’t support mobile viewing, top talent will leave the site. You will reach possibly the demographic you seek, look contemporary, and keep top talent interested.
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Select your social platform. This is critical to reaching the right audience. You want to choose a platform that matches the demographic. Have your team research where candidates live. Are they upper-management or hourly? Start small and experiment; you can track response and results.
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Introduce a screening question. You avoid having to sort through applications that aren’t valuable. If you want to make sure you only assess candidates that fit, add a screening question to your application process. It can be something that determines their culture fit, interest level, or even basic requirements (education, etc.). You avoid having to sort through applications that aren’t valuable.
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Be human. Candidates want transparency regarding there they stand in the recruitment processes. Reach out to promising candidates with a personalized message. While automation saves time, it can be impersonal and cause you to lose great candidates. Tailor messages to reveal something about the organization. Maybe it’s a short video in which one of your recruiters lays out the next steps for candidates, or a “day in the life” video of one of your employees. Even if that candidate turns out to not be a fit for the role, you have built an advocate for your brand and it is likely that person will apply again or share with a friend.
SOURCE: S. Benjamins & Co., Seal Beach, California, Oct. 24, 2014.