According to a recent Global Workforce Survey, just under half of all UK workers have been contacted via social media about a job opportunity in the last 12 months.
As the recruitment sector evolves, so do the tactics used by hiring teams to attract the best talent. In an era where social media dominates the lives of Gen Z and Millennial workers, it’s no surprise that recruiters are turning to social strategies for sourcing and screening candidates.
With this in mind, we’ve put together a guide to using social media in your next hiring campaign. Whether you’re aiming to improve your online visibility or appeal to hard-to-reach talent, these five tips will help you make the most of each platform on the web.
Boost Your Brand Visibility
Before you embark on a social hiring campaign, it’s important to first establish your brand as a player in the social sphere. Candidates are more likely to interact with your hiring ads if they have seen your company pop up on multiple social platforms.
Take a close look at your candidate demographics and use this to influence which platforms you share content on. For example, if you’re looking for your next research associate, building visibility on a channel like LinkedIn is crucial. Here you can share long-form articles, current research projects, and value-driven content that attracts candidates aligned with your mission.
However, for those looking for creatives, marketing executives, and young talent, building visibility on platforms such as TikTok and Instagram will drive more engagement among these audiences. Here, you can share behind-the-scenes reels, day-in-the-life TikTok content, and even host live employee takeovers that showcase your workplace culture.
Post Jobs Across Multiple Channels
As a modern-day recruiter, it’s essential to broaden your search for candidates. Don’t just rely on traditional job boards; instead, share your openings across multiple channels for the best chance of success.
According to recent data from CIPD, nearly a third of recruiters who used social media reported an increase in employee referrals compared to traditional channels.
The key here is to tailor each job posting to the social platform. Take this Igloo Software job posting on LinkedIn, for example. The company has used an employee quote to caption their ad and posted a simplistic ‘We’re Hiring’ graphic to capture the attention of lunchtime scrollers. Finishing with an accompanying link, the ad encourages candidates to engage further and learn more about the role.
Taking this one step further, platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook allow recruiters to run targeted ads based on industry, interests, location, and experience. This ensures that your job posting is seen by the best-fit candidates for your role.
Screen Candidates
According to experts at Reppler, a whopping 91% of recruiters now use social media to screen prospective employees.
If you want to know more about an applicant during the recruitment process, their social media footprint is often a great place to start. Using LinkedIn, in particular, is a great way to gain insight into their previous work achievements shared on their profile and learn more about their endorsements from other industry professionals.
Screening public profiles on X, Instagram, and Facebook can also provide insight into a candidate’s character outside of the workplace, based on the content they post, like, and share.
As an alternative, you should consider hiring an EOR solution like Remote People to take care of your hiring needs on your behalf. For instance, if you need to hire someone from Australia and do not have a local entity, you should go ahead with EOR to act on your behalf.
Engage in Relevant Communities
Another fantastic way to utilise social media to your advantage as a recruiter is to engage with industry-specific online groups.
On platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn, there are numerous opportunities to engage in industry-specific discussions. Here, you can build relationships with rising talent and establish your company as a thought leader in industry development.
If you’re hunting for niche groups and discussions, check out platforms like Reddit and Discord, which feature specific threads dedicated to thousands of niche industry topics. Here you can witness some of the best minds in your field sharing their knowledge, skills, and experiences.
Here is where you’ll find some of the best talent for your business.
Leverage Employee Advocacy
Last but not least, when building your social media presence, don’t forget to encourage team members to get involved.
Utilising your employees as brand ambassadors is one of the most effective ways to enhance brand credibility in the social sphere and encourage candidates to engage with your job postings.
Employee voices often carry more weight, and job seekers rely on real experiences and role reviews to determine whether a position is right for them.
There are plenty of ways to leverage employee advocacy. Consider encouraging team members to share job openings on their own social media profiles as a starting point. Once your social platforms begin to grow, invite these employees to share their experiences in their role on company pages in the form of day-in-the-life videos, quotes, and even full-scale channel takeovers.
The recruitment team at Eneco builds trust amongst candidates by hosting regular Instagram takeovers.
Allowing employees to access their channel for the day to share their own relatable experiences, office life, and their role in practice, Eneco strives to give potential hires an honest perspective of their company culture in a bid to encourage more applications.
The key here is to create fun and relatable content that directly speaks to your target candidates.
