Using social media to find the right person faster
Recruitment is one of the costliest things a company can do. A trusted employee leaves and you need to:
- Advertise the job
- Go through the applications once they arrive
- Follow a long and possibly costly recruitment process
It doesn’t have to be like that. You can have a network of people mentioning and then repeating your vacancy across the Internet and really make the most of your extended network, through the medium of social networking.
Why is this important?
Time costs money and time spent without the right candidate in a post costs more. The sooner you can get back up to speed the better – and the more switched-on candidates are looking at Twitter, at Facebook, right now. They are looking for jobs and the right company that moves fast enough will get them, cutting time and money out of the recruitment cycle overnight.
How do I get involved?
Begin by ensuring your basic job advert on your website is up to par. No matter how good your social media pitch is, if it leads back to something less than compelling it’s not going to deliver the result you deserve.
Join the social network most likely to contain the people in whom you’re interested. See our article on social networks – start pushing your recruitment page through it and see how many high quality applicants you get – without the overhead of advertising spend.
Who’s done it?
Large amounts of companies have benefited from social media in their recruitment processes. The applicant benefits even more. Social media recruitment specialist Twitjobs placed its first candidate in a job while he was on the way to look for employment somewhere else – he checked his iPhone en route to the Jobcentre, found a suitable post had been put onto Twitter, clicked through and had applied before he got off the bus. This process saves time for everybody.
And if you think it’s only going to be the newer, trendier companies which are going to use social media for recruiting, think again. MI5 now recruits through its Facebook page, and if you’re interested you can be “friended” by an actual current MI5 operative who will tell you everything you need to know. Within limits, we’re guessing.
Benefits of using social media for recruitment
- Clearly there is a cost benefit from recruiting in this way. Advertising in professional or national journals can cost thousands and this is a swathe of cost which vanishes.
- Time to recruitment is slashed as your job can be out there picking up recommendations as soon as you want rather than waiting for a particular issue of a magazine.
- Self-selection – the people who hear about the job are those already engaged with your business, or who have a friend who’ve drawn it to their attention. There will be fewer applicants who don’t know your business if you advertise it this way.
Action points:
- Join some social networks after checking where your customers and prospects are
- Work on the website copy. If you’re advertising a job on, say, Twitter, you’ll have 140 characters in which to do so; that’s enough for a “sell” but the click-through has to be compelling.
- Consider allocating staff to “friend” potential applicants on social media so they can engage with the business before applying. Better they decide you’re not the right match early on than start the interview process and cost you money!
