Recruitment is one of the most important business processes. You need to gather the right team to accomplish all your goals and work effectively.
However, you should approach this initiative thoughtfully. It’s vital to pick the right channel for sourcing candidates. Many recruiters use social media for that purpose.
Let us explain how these social recruiting tools work. Find the right option for your initiatives!
Benefits of Social Media Recruiting
Conventional recruitment is still pretty popular. However, it may not be as sufficient as innovative approaches, especially when it comes to newer generations.
Social media is becoming more widespread among recruiters. Why, you ask? Well, the reason is pretty obvious – almost every person today has an account somewhere. Around 63% of our population is actively using these platforms.
So, social recruiting tools can offer you tons of benefits as a specialist.
Wider Reach
Traditional job boards mostly attract only active job seekers. Social media allows you to approach passive candidates. You may persuade them with the right opportunity if they’re not primarily interested. Plus, these platforms have a more diverse talent pool.
Lower Budget
Posting offers on these platforms is much cheaper than traditional recruitment procedures. Many of them give you the chance to post your job listings for free.
Even their paid advertisements are usually not as expensive. So, they’re a great place if you have a limited budget.
Higher Engagement and More Insights
You’ll have more opportunities to communicate on these platforms. You can interact with candidates live and respond to their questions. It usually results in faster and more quality hiring processes.
Plus, you get to know your candidates better through their social media profiles. You can observe their activities and posts to evaluate their
- Professional and individual interests;
- Work ethic;
- Cultural fit, etc.
Personal Branding
Moreover, social recruiting tools can help you showcase your company’s culture. You will draw talent that has the same views. Which content can you post for that purpose?
- Team accomplishments;
- Office life;
- Corporate social responsibility initiatives, and more.
Referrals
You can use your workers’ accounts for recruitment as well. You might ask them to share job posts within their network. They can bring more referrals to your firm who are usually more qualified than random candidates.
Top 4 Social Recruiting Tools
You already know that social media can be a great recruiting tool. It allows you to reach more people at a lower budget. Plus, it gives you the opportunity for more open communication.
Now, you probably want to know how to use these platforms to find new workers. We will tell you about the best social recruiting tools available. Maybe one of them will become your ideal alternative.
The first option we want to highlight is Facebook. This resource offers free and paid tools for sourcing candidates.
So, which features can help you draw new talents to your business?
This platform has a tool called Facebook Jobs. It allows you to post job openings directly on your company’s page.
The application procedure is super simple for users. They can autofill their job forms with info they already have in their profiles. It’s especially beneficial if you want to attract talent for entry-level or hourly positions.
Plus, your workers and followers can share the listing after you post it. This lets you present it to a network of passive candidates.
The next function you can use is Facebook Paid Advertising. It allows you to target specific demographics and interests that align with the ideal candidate profile. These ads will save a lot of time on looking through irrelevant resumes and applications.
Plus, you can estimate the performance of your ads. You can view the number of clicks and actual applications. It allows you to refine your strategy regularly.
Lastly, we recommend you don’t neglect Facebook groups and communities. Yes, they are not a specialized recruitment tool. However, active communication in groups related to your niche can help you connect with potential hires. They will be more likely to get in touch with you when looking for a position.
Our next social recruting tool is Twitter (now X). It allows you to showcase your brand personality in a casual manner. Here you can share short updates about upcoming projects and employee achievements. This type of content usually appeals to potential applicants.
Also, X’s conversational nature lets you reach more passive candidates. You can follow some industry professionals and even participate in Twitter chats to connect with them. Active participation will position you as a thought leader in your field. It allows you to reach more people who are not directly looking for a job.
Plus, you can use trending hashtags related to your position. Or you can simply include tags like #jobopening or #hiring. Combine them to appeal to more people.
To find which tags are the most relevant ones, you can use Twilert.
It allows you to find the latest tweets based on the criteria you set. You can filter them by certain words or locations. For instance, you can choose a phrase connected to your niche and see which tags other people are using. This tool will send you all of them to your email.
Another great feature this platform can offer is X Job Cards. They let you promote job openings with rich media.
You can include the job postings directly into your tweets and complete them with images and a link to the application. This format catches the attention better than standard text posts.
We definitely cannot miss out on LinkedIn when talking about social recruting tools. Currently, it is the biggest professional network with more than a billion members.
First, it’s a great place for presenting your brand and its success stories. It also allows you to engage both active and passive candidates. For instance, you can approach them through direct messaging. Plus, the platform’s recommendation system also pushes job postings to users who may not have seen them otherwise.
This platform offers a tool LinkedIn Recruiter, which can boost your efforts even more.
This service provides access to
- Advanced search filters;
- Live candidate updates;
- More InMail credits for direct outreach, etc.
It offers an intelligent matching function to simplify your search. Plus, this tool will give you detailed reports of all interactions, applications, and much more.
Also, you can easily screen hires on LinkedIn. It gives you details about their professional history and skills. You can view recommendations and evaluate possible hires quickly.
The next platform we want to talk about is Instagram. It’s no longer just a place for sharing photos and connecting with friends. It’s become a great business and social recruiting tool.
Instagram is mainly visual-focused which is super beneficial for recruitment. Today, people prefer to see visuals rather than text, as this format is easier to digest. They can help job seekers visualize themselves within your company.
Plus, it offers many interactive features for communication, like polls, Q&As, etc. They make your company more approachable and human.
How can you use Instagram for recruitment initiatives?
- Create a separate career profile;
- Post job openings and inside looks at your organization;
- Use Stories and Reels for company news and BTS videos;
- Run ads for job postings to narrow your search;
- Encourage your workers to post UGC to increase authenticity;
- Use branded hashtags or tags related to your niche.
Challenges of Social Recruiting
Social recruiting tools are becoming more popular due to their cost-effectiveness and reach. They have many benefits over conventional methods. However, they come with certain challenges as well. No approach can be perfect.
Which difficulties you might have on your way?
Professionalism vs. Engagement Balance
Most of these platforms are naturally informal. The tone of communication here is usually casual. It might not work well for more conservative or traditional fields. It’s hard to maintain a balance between professionalism and simple interactions. A casual approach may alienate some hires.
Excessive Number of Responses
The broad reach of these platforms can be a challenge as well. Sometimes it can lead to an overwhelming number of applications. It may be hard to filter through the noise and find the best candidates.
Plus, not all channels can give you all the necessary details about the applicants. Yes, LinkedIn offers more professional profiles, but the other platforms don’t. So, you’ll have to spend more time on pre-screening to find the right fit.
Bias
You might come across personal information that should not impact the hiring decision when sourcing through social media. For example, details like family status or religious beliefs shouldn’t be a deciding factor. It’s important to isolate yourself from these points when choosing.
Negative Feedback
These platforms are a public space. Keep in mind that negative feedback can spread really fast here. It may damage your reputation a lot and deter others from working with you. You have to handle any negative comments immediately. Try to be transparent and positive in your responses to avoid harmful consequences.
Final Words
Every business needs a proper recruitment strategy to work effectively. Many organizations now prefer to use social recruiting tools for that purpose. They have many pros over the traditional methods.
They let you approach a wider audience and usually cost way less than conventional techniques. Platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter even offer specialized recruitment instruments that make the process much simpler.
Try using some of the tools we described here and you’ll be surprised by the results. However, don’t forget about balancing their informality with professionalism.
