A Few Thoughts on Leveraging Social Media for Recruitment
3 Tips For Recruiters Leveraging Social Media
#1: Investigate Across Several Social Channels to Start
Because LinkedIn is viewed as the most professional social network (and, indeed, it brands itself as a networking space for professionals), it often seems like the most obvious place to concentrate recruitment efforts, and yes indeed it is a great place to start. The problem is that LinkedIn users spend an average of just about 17 minutes per month on the site. That doesn’t give them a lot of time to commit to engaging in all of the activities you might like to see them doing there, such as participating in groups, sharing relevant content, and keeping a continuously updated profile.
Therefore, don’t just limit yourself to LinkedIn. While that site can be a good place to start, look at other social profiles that might be linked to that account – in particular, Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ accounts.
#2: Keep an Eye Out for Personal Blogs and Websites
Because social media is such a popular method of promoting content, if you make it a point to get a clearer image of a potential candidate through a variety of social channels, it seems likely that, if that person has a blog, you will find it. Don’t undervalue blogs when it comes to social recruiting. At the very least, they give you an idea of what kind of writer that recruit is, and writing can be very telling. Do they show a strong attention to detail? Are they consistent? Can they put coherent thoughts together in meaningful ways? Do they make an effort to provide quality material that will be valuable to readers? Do they write with a clear, authentic voice?
With the rise of content marketing, writing is becoming a skill that employers are valuing more than perhaps ever before. Writing tests are even becoming common in job application processes. What better way to assess his writing skills?
Beyond writing skills, though, looking at recruits’ blog scan give you an idea of what they already know and could bring to the table, as well as what ideas they have. For example, are they merely repeating things that “talking heads” and big names have made popular opinion? Or do they have original ideas? A person’s blog can be a great indicator as to whether their ideals are in line with your company’s.
#3: Make Efficient Use of Subscriptions, Lists, Circles, and Connections
As you’re seeking recruits, you might find that it helps you to monitor their activity on social sites. If you’ve narrowed your search down to a manageable amount of people, you can use various organization techniques on different channels to help you monitor in an effective, efficient way.
Facebook: This one can be, perhaps, the trickiest, as many candidates will use Facebook primarily for personal correspondence. You might not find it to be a solid means of obtaining information. However, if you have an account used specifically for recruiting, and recruits have their profiles set to allow subscriptions, go ahead and subscribe. This will allow you to receive all of their public updates right in your news feed.
Twitter: Twitter allows you to create multiple lists and add people to them. You can create public or private lists specifically for those you are recruiting and easily monitor all of their Twitter activity. This could potentially be much more telling than Facebook – especially as Twitter lends itself well to more frequent updates.
Pro-tip: If you don’t want them to know you’re scoping them out for possible recruitment, be careful about what titles you give the lists, as they will be able to see that.
Google+: With Google+, you can add recruits to a Circle. While they will receive notification that you’ve added them, they won’t be able to see the Circle, specifically, unless you share it. Be aware that, much like with Facebook subscriptions, you will only see those updates that are shared publicly unless the recruits add you to their own Circles, as well.
LinkedIn: It’s pretty easy to view a person’s LinkedIn profile without actually connecting, but in order to get a full view, you may want to. This is no guarantee that the person will choose to connect with you; however, if you work to build a relationship on other social channels such as Twitter, you might find that he or she is more likely to connect with you on LinkedIn, as well.