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HR Recruiting on Social Media: HR Best Practices

Attract top job seekers with these HR best practices for social media.

4 min read

HR

HR Recruiting on Social Media: HR Best Practices

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Your company’s future top talent could be just a few clicks away on your company’s social media platforms. When HR professionals use social media effectively as a recruitment tool, they can more easily target top candidates. In fact, posting job openings on social media platforms can lift application rates by 30% to 50%, according to a recent white paper from iCIMS.

If you aren’t using the latest social media techniques, you might be losing some top talent to other companies’ HR departments. According to a study by the Aberdeen Group, 73% of workers between ages 18 and 34 found their last job via social recruiting. Here are some quick, effective social media recruiting best practices. . 

Diversify Your Platform Strategy

Using various social networks is ideal for targeting top talent. Here’s how you can optimize your social media strategies to fit each platform:

  • LinkedIn: You don’t want to cast an excessively wide net, so it’s best to seek communities of professionals in target industries. Limit your job postings on this platform, but don’t neglect it altogether. Instead, visit groups regularly to contribute to conversations, answer questions, or spotlight industry news.
     
  • Facebook: Here, you can expand your talent acquisition search by creating job postings from within your company’s Facebook page. Post accurate descriptions of job openings, and include a photo if possible. Invite ideal candidates to get in touch via Facebook Messenger with any questions.
     
  • Instagram: Because many young professionals spend most of their time on Instagram, use this space to capitalize on visual messages. Post pictures to highlight examples of company culture — such as employee lunches or events — and showcase employees’ achievements.
     
  • Twitter: Post job openings with relevant hashtags, including the general job-seeking terms and job location. You can also use this platform to search for job candidates who are seeking positions similar to your openings. Try reaching out to them directly with an invitation to check out the job listing.

Provide Visuals

In general, mix up the content you post to keep visitors returning. Successful employer brands use images and videos to their advantage, and the same holds true for recruiting efforts. 

Use your phone to take photos of employees in your workplace and give potential hires a realistic look into what a day at your company looks like. Showcasing high employee value events like training and development sessions can also serve to make your company look more enticing. 

Post Frequently

Potential hires who are social media savvy want to see that your company regularly updates its social media pages. Ensure that you are posting content at least two or three times a week. The key: Give reasons for potential hires to keep returning, even if they aren’t actively job-seeking at the moment. Industry experts call this recruiting process: sourcing passive candidates.

Include a Mix of Engaging Content

You’ll want your social media platforms to be a place where you can highlight company culture. Some examples include infographics relating to your industry, surveys regarding trends in your field, and news affecting the workforce you’re targeting. You could also pose questions to potential candidates. If a certain article might appeal to a target audience for a job you’re seeking to fill, provide a link.

Involve Your Whole Team

Include all of your employees in your social media recruitment efforts, not just the communications and social media departments. Encourage them to engage with the company’s social media platforms, contribute to conversations and interact with followers. You might ask that each employee take a few minutes each week to contribute to the social media in these ways. Over time, their efforts will compound to showcase a strong employee brand at your organization, which can be a top draw for potential job seekers.

Social media is a highly effective tool for HR to promote jobs and attract talent in today’s world. If you invest time into refining your company’s social media recruitment strategies, you can quickly widen your talent pool at very little expense. It’s definitely a social recruiting best practice for any human resources manager.

 

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