It’s now common practice for employers and hiring managers to use social media to screen candidates’ Tweets and Facebook posts to see if they would be a good cultural fit within the companyWere Human Resources Managers would once place an ad in a local paper or with a radio station and pick from a pool of candidates from the area, the search is now a lot more expansive, and candidates will no longer restrict themselves to their hometown, and will take jobs further afield.
Social Media has opened the doors to a lot of opportunities for HR managers, however, when mismanaged, social media could have a negative effect on the business, and the whole issue can create a lot of extra work.
Fortunately, these 7 tips help you seamlessly maintain an amazing company profile, and ensure that you have your pick of the best and brightest staff.
1. Show Off Your Business
Before you can even think about using social media for recruitment, you need to really showcase your business. This means maintaining Facebook and Twitter accounts, as well as having a presence on LinkedIn.
And merely having social media profiles isn’t sufficient, it’s imperative that you use this platform to exhibit all of the positive aspects that come with working for your business.
Whether it’s flexible hours, a great work/life balance, or amazing opportunities for career progression, you need to make sure that potential candidates can look you up, and will be impressed by what they find.
2. Use Your Current Employees
When you have great staff, the chances are that they know other people who would be amazing employees too. It’s easy to find these people by asking your staff to share job openings over their personal accounts.
Plus, even if you don’t end up recruiting a friend of a current employee, the fact that your staff is happy to recommend your business as a place of work really puts you in a good light and makes you more appealing to the current job pool.
3. Outsource Tasks to Professionals
Creating high quality online content is time-consuming, and requires a very specific skill set. This is not something you can rush, as the content that you post online will be the first impression you make on potential employees, and if you want to be able to secure the best candidates, then you need to make yourself look like the best job option.
Many businesses are now outsourcing tasks like content creation to professionals, the following are incredibly popular:
- UpWork: this is a great site where you can post a traditional ad, and then interview potential candidates to do the work.
- UK Writings: if you want a simple and automated service, then you can select the services you want here, and it will then be assigned to a professional
- Freelancer: there’s a great talent pool for all kinds of areas of work on this website, and by posting an ad you can find the perfect person for your job
- People Per Hour: you can post an ad on this website and find the perfect candidate for any kind of writing or editing job, or even for other tasks too
- Big Assignments: if you’re looking for a fast and efficient service, then you can select the task you need completed here, then relax knowing it has been allocated to an expert
4. Remember That Size Matters
When you’re posting content online to entice new employees, then you need to consider how much to write in order to maximise interest and engagement.
You can monitor this with Easy Word Count, and bear in mind that 1500 is optimum for engagement for posts shared on twitter. The forums at Paper Fellows are a great place to get advice if you’re struggling with writing topics or structure.
5. Use LinkedIn
While it may not be the most viral platform for social media, it is definitely one of the most conducive for finding staff. Make the most of the recruiter homepage and groups to really target your search to qualified job-seekers.
6. Pay for Advertising
As the old adage goes, you’ve got to speculate to accumulate. Advertising used to be entirely paid, whether it was a TV ad, or a piece in the newspaper, however social media has massively reduced the costs of advertising.
This doesn’t mean paid advertising is redundant though, as Facebook ads allow you to target specific groups, with much clearer demographics than age, and appear on their newsfeed.
This is a platform most people check several times a day, so being able to reach them on here can make a low cost ad highly effective.
7. Engage With Responses
If people comment or ask questions about jobs on social media, make sure you reply, even if that reply just redirects them to a website with relevant information. This shows straight away that you will appreciate staff, rather than ignore them.
Taking charge of a social media campaign is a lot of work to add onto a HR manager’s plate, however using the tips above can help make managing modern human resources online easier and more effective.
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