Whether you’re a job seeker or an employer looking to find new staff members, in the modern age social media is playing a bigger and bigger role in recruitment and employment circles. And it’s little wonder, with so many of us online these days. It only makes sense that the internet – and social media in particular – are going to have impacting roles in the process.
In this post we’ll be taking a closer look at social media and job recruitment and try and nail down why it’s such a vital cog in the recruitment wheel.
Potential Employers Love Social Networking
According to recent research, around 90% of employers rely on social media and social networking, to some degree, to recruit the right staff. Long term websites such as LinkedIn have always specialised in the employment market, but other popular social media sites such as Facebook are proving to be favoured hunting grounds for employment opportunities.
So whether you’re the manager or boss looking for quality staff, or someone seeking employment or a change of jobs, it only makes sense to take full advantage of the stats and use social media to your advantage.
Social Media for Job Seekers
Potentially the two social media networks already mentioned present the best opportunities for finding employment if you’re a job seeker. LinkedIn is more of a “professionals” site, where you get to network with your peers and possible employers alike, whereas Facebook, you can readily access your network of friends and put the word out that you’re looking for a job.
On Facebook you might have hundreds, or even thousands of friends to put the word out to. Now, not all of those in your network are going to be nearby, but these days there are loads of opportunities to work remotely from home, so depending on what kind of work you’re chasing and what your skill set is, this is a distinct possibility too.
If you’re wanting something local, you can specify what and where when you outreach. Not only will you be connecting with your own audience, but your friends can tap into their own networks as well to spread the word.
The other power of social media is joining groups relevant to your interests, or groups relevant to job seeking opportunities.
Including those we’ve mentioned, other common social media sites are:
- YouTube
- Tumblr
- And others…
Another thing to keep in mind when it comes to landing employment, is more often than not, the opportunities come through word of mouth rather than official advertisements.
It’s the old adage of not what you know, but who you know.
Social Media for Employers
For starters, employers can get a feel for potential candidates through social media, which is one reason why everyone should be somewhat mindful of the kind of stuff they post.
We’ve all heard the stories of employees being fired for posting negative stuff about their job or their boss online, so it’s never a good practice to vent your frustrations on SM. If you flip that around though, then posting positive, helpful information is always a good thing.
So employers, bosses, managers and recruitment agencies alike can take advantage of social media to help them screen actual candidates, but they can also harness the networking power of SM to find candidates to look at more closely.
Just like job seekers can put the word out to their network and through relevant groups that they’re seeking work, so too can employers put the word out in much the same way to advertise their vacant positions.
For employers, let’s list some potential benefits derived from using social media to your advantage:
- You can quickly and easily reach a vast network of potential candidates
- You can screen candidates online based on information on the SM profiles and updates, including assessing character
- If you’re seeking tech savvy candidates, then you have a far better chance of finding those people online
- Any advertised vacancies and positions you do have can reach a far greater audience through social media
- The cost of advertising and screening is vastly reduced using SM, and so can the time it takes to find the right staff
- If you’re SM savvy and on the right platform, you can really laser target the right market for the best potential candidates
- When seeking the right staff, they’ve got to want to work for you and your company, so SM also provides the perfect platform to present your brand in the best light, as well as enabling you to interact with possible employees before you reach any official interview stages
Social Media Can Even Work for Labour Hire Companies
Labour hire is about providing employers with suitable workers when they need them, therefore, labour hire firms need to recruit workers into their stable so they have this ready workforce on hand.
Once again, everything we’ve mentioned so far about taking advantage of the power and scope of social media also applies, as the labour hire recruitment processes are much the same as what a recruitment agency of employer has to go through to find the right staff.
Labour hire companies that specialise in providing skilled and experience blue collar workers, for example, can target this market of job seekers directly on numerous social media platforms, and in particular Facebook and LinkedIn. Much of the screening process can actually take place even before someone knows they’re a candidate if need be.
The Takeaway
As we can clearly see, social media now plays a massive role in the job seeking and recruitment processes, and this is only going to increase over the coming years.
Whether you’re an employer, agency, labour hire company or a potential employee looking for work, it only makes sense to take full advantage of the power that’s right at your figure tips in the modern world.
Social media and the internet are here to stay, and that’s good news for recruitment and the job market.
https://socialmediaclub.org/blog/uncategorized/the-importance-of-social-media-for-job-seekers
https://recruitloop.com/blog/8-advantages-using-social-media-recruitment-advertising-strategy/
