Social Recruiting: 3 Trends Making it the Status Quo
Going Mobile
Almost half of daily Facebook users access the network exclusively through mobile devices ; on Glassdoor, 40 percent of our visits are happening on mobile devices.
This rise in the use of mobile devices means that your social recruiting strategies must be mobile-compatible. A recent Glassdoor mobile survey reveals 89 percent of employees who admit they’ll look for a new job in the next year say their mobile device is an important tool and resource for their job search. Plus, they’re not just turning to their mobile devices to look for jobs – more than half (54 percent) read company reviews from employees and 52 percent research salary information. In order to stay up to speed in this environment, your recruiting and branding strategies must be compatible with mobile.
Targeting the Talent
Gone are the days of post and pray job descriptions that you simply hope will make it to the eyes of great candidates. Today, social media provides so much data on potential candidates and passive candidates, and recruiters have the ability to use that information to target those specific job seekers who may be a good fit. Glassdoor’s JobAds, for example, allows companies to put their open positions in front of the right candidates based on demographics and interests; a very targeted strategy for bringing in talent.
Going Outside the Resume
Rather than requiring a traditional resume before considering a candidate for a potential position, growing numbers of companies and recruiters are accepting online profiles, such as a LinkedIn profile, in lieu of a resume. They are also trusting employees to make great hires, by incentivizing referrals and encouraging social networking to bring in talent. Glassdoor suggests companies encourage employees to Get Social and Get More Referrals.
Social recruiting is about more than staying aware of the social networks; it’s about diving in and engaging in conversations already taking place.
And speaking of engaging in current conversations, Stephane Le Viet, founder and CEO of Work4, has his own points to add to this discussion of social recruiting, a practice he deems as the “status quo.” Le Viet writes:
Recruiting has been quick to capitalize on social tools. With 73 percent of online adults now using at least one social networking site, it’s easy to see why. Social networks are home to a goldmine of passive talent waiting to be tapped. While many companies have begun to integrate social media into their recruiting initiatives, 2014 will see the emergence of social recruiting as the status quo.
When people think of social recruiting, they immediately think of LinkedIn. While the network undoubtedly plays into building a company’s talent pool, the majority of blue collar workers are unreachable via LinkedIn. However, many of those candidates are on Facebook. With 1 billion people on the platform, what used to be thought of as a purely millennial stomping ground is now just as prominent for older generations – the 55+ age group has seen more than an 80 percent growth in the last three years, making for an even larger, more diverse talent pool.
Our customers like Hard Rock Cafe and Ancestry.com are leading the use of Facebook for recruiting, turning to the social network for employer branding, targeted advertising, social sourcing and referrals. For example, Hard Rock’s page reached 25,000 potential candidates just two months after opening and has had 95 percent of candidates extended offers through Facebook accept them, and Ancestry.com used a mobile-optimized site and Facebook ads to drive the majority of their job views (53 percent), with 55 percent of total job views now coming from a mobile device.
As companies come to realize the myriad opportunities that come with tapping social networks for recruiting, we’ll see growth in adoption of Facebook to target top talent, drive referrals and find top-quality candidates.
This story is a part of Recruiter.com’s 2014 Recruiting Technology Trends series