Amid this shift in candidate values are the tools recruiters are expected to use. What constitutes a sound social recruiting strategy?
Amid this shift in candidate values are the tools recruiters are expected to use. Chief among these is social recruiting, or using social networks to build a brand, an audience and a process to engage with, source and hire potential job candidates.
But what constitutes a sound social recruiting strategy? In the age of LinkedIn, most are privy to the idea that job postings can be pushed out via social networks, Facebook, Twitter and others included. To most recruiters, however, the push in social recruiting is only scratching the surface.
First, an organization needs to have a social media presence that is separate from any other function. To Chris Gould, senior director of the talent acquisition solutions group at HR consultancy Aon Hewitt, setting up an account is only half of the battle. The other half consists of actively pushing out content outside of job advertisements, taking a point of view on important industry issues and marketing the company’s value proposition.
Companies must then be prepared when the audience talks back. “When you push information out, people are going to come back with questions and comments,” Gould said. “And you can’t let them die on the vine.”
But what constitutes a sound social recruiting strategy? In the age of LinkedIn, most are privy to the idea that job postings can be pushed out via social networks, Facebook, Twitter and others included. To most recruiters, however, the push in social recruiting is only scratching the surface.
First, an organization needs to have a social media presence that is separate from any other function. To Chris Gould, senior director of the talent acquisition solutions group at HR consultancy Aon Hewitt, setting up an account is only half of the battle. The other half consists of actively pushing out content outside of job advertisements, taking a point of view on important industry issues and marketing the company’s value proposition.
Companies must then be prepared when the audience talks back. “When you push information out, people are going to come back with questions and comments,” Gould said. “And you can’t let them die on the vine.”
Such communication also has to feel personal; it can’t just replicate other content the firm is sending out. Gould said recruiters also should evaluate the behavioral traits of each social network — building engagement on Facebook, for instance, will be different from LinkedIn.
One of the ways to ensure that social recruiting connections remain personal is to have individual recruiters create their own presence, GE’s Tresca said. For example, in addition to having a Facebook or Twitter profile representing the company’s recruiting function, recruiters should create their own profiles, branding themselves as the talent acquisition expert in a given field.
“You really have to have recruiters willing to put in some element of themselves publicly with names and faces,” Tresca said.
Another way to personalize the social recruiting process is to include as much video as possible. At aerospace manufacturer Boeing Co., the recruiting function promotes its YouTube channel, which shows the company’s people and products, as part of its social recruiting strategy.
Using video helps humanize communications with candidates via social networks, said Renee Hairston, a senior recruiting manager with the Chicago-based company. It gives candidates a realistic look and feel, and it helps build a stronger relationship between the candidate and recruiter.
Finnigan, of Jobvite, whose platform helps organizations track and manage social recruiting efforts, said the ability to build a database or talent pool also makes social recruiting invaluable. This is especially true when it comes to passive candidates, who while not actively looking for a job may still choose to engage to absorb industry news or other company developments.
“Just like your marketing people down the hall have a database for prospects, you [the recruiter] have a database of prospects that will then convert at some percentage rate into high-quality applicants the moment you’re looking for someone to fill the job,” Finnigan said.
There are a few caveats to social recruiting, however.
Kate Donovan, managing director of talent acquisition services firm ManpowerGroup Solutions Recruitment Process Outsourcing, said it’s important for recruiters to remember that social recruiting is one of many outlets in the process. More traditional channels — picking up the phone, attending university career fairs — need to have a place in a firm’s recruitment strategy. “It’s certainly a very strong arrow in the quiver of a recruiter,” Donovan said. “But it’s not the only arrow.”
Social recruiting also may be limited across borders. For instance, Donovan said people are generally less mobile in a country like China, where visas and other government registration may be required to move from city to city. Therefore, social recruiting may not be as effective as in the U.S., where its fluid nature works well for candidates willing to move quickly for a new job.
Social recruiting, to a large extent, also may be industry specific — it is hard to imagine a brain surgeon being courted via Twitter, whereas software developers and engineers naturally take to that method.
The era of social has opened the floodgates to a more transparent talent acquisition ecosystem. This environment favors the talent, whose access to enhanced information gives them more power to choose as coveted skills remain scarce.
“We’re seeing a tremendous amount of movement in the workforce,” said Robert Hohman, CEO of Glassdoor, an online community where employees post reviews, salary and other information about companies. “The [companies] whose brands are perceived to be the best, and that are using social media channels to talk to talent, are disproportionally going to grab talent that’s moving and hold onto their own talent.”
One of the ways to ensure that social recruiting connections remain personal is to have individual recruiters create their own presence, GE’s Tresca said. For example, in addition to having a Facebook or Twitter profile representing the company’s recruiting function, recruiters should create their own profiles, branding themselves as the talent acquisition expert in a given field.
“You really have to have recruiters willing to put in some element of themselves publicly with names and faces,” Tresca said.
Another way to personalize the social recruiting process is to include as much video as possible. At aerospace manufacturer Boeing Co., the recruiting function promotes its YouTube channel, which shows the company’s people and products, as part of its social recruiting strategy.
Using video helps humanize communications with candidates via social networks, said Renee Hairston, a senior recruiting manager with the Chicago-based company. It gives candidates a realistic look and feel, and it helps build a stronger relationship between the candidate and recruiter.
Finnigan, of Jobvite, whose platform helps organizations track and manage social recruiting efforts, said the ability to build a database or talent pool also makes social recruiting invaluable. This is especially true when it comes to passive candidates, who while not actively looking for a job may still choose to engage to absorb industry news or other company developments.
“Just like your marketing people down the hall have a database for prospects, you [the recruiter] have a database of prospects that will then convert at some percentage rate into high-quality applicants the moment you’re looking for someone to fill the job,” Finnigan said.
There are a few caveats to social recruiting, however.
Kate Donovan, managing director of talent acquisition services firm ManpowerGroup Solutions Recruitment Process Outsourcing, said it’s important for recruiters to remember that social recruiting is one of many outlets in the process. More traditional channels — picking up the phone, attending university career fairs — need to have a place in a firm’s recruitment strategy. “It’s certainly a very strong arrow in the quiver of a recruiter,” Donovan said. “But it’s not the only arrow.”
Social recruiting also may be limited across borders. For instance, Donovan said people are generally less mobile in a country like China, where visas and other government registration may be required to move from city to city. Therefore, social recruiting may not be as effective as in the U.S., where its fluid nature works well for candidates willing to move quickly for a new job.
Social recruiting, to a large extent, also may be industry specific — it is hard to imagine a brain surgeon being courted via Twitter, whereas software developers and engineers naturally take to that method.
The era of social has opened the floodgates to a more transparent talent acquisition ecosystem. This environment favors the talent, whose access to enhanced information gives them more power to choose as coveted skills remain scarce.
“We’re seeing a tremendous amount of movement in the workforce,” said Robert Hohman, CEO of Glassdoor, an online community where employees post reviews, salary and other information about companies. “The [companies] whose brands are perceived to be the best, and that are using social media channels to talk to talent, are disproportionally going to grab talent that’s moving and hold onto their own talent.”
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