The Recruiting Benefits of Facebook Graph Search

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businessman with arms crossed behind head Employee referral program software company Zao pulled together some social recruiting data from Facebook’s Graph Search. This fairly new tool grants users information from photos, people, places and interests. Facebook’s Graph Search has become extremely useful in social recruiting because it allows recruiters to zero in on relevant candidates, using the vast amounts of people data that Facebook has to offer. Here’s the breakdown on Zao’s Social Recruiting with Facebook Graph Search infographic : Make sure your profile is purposeful and insightful; it should reflect the company culture.

  • 47 percent of Facebook users will click “unlike” on a company page due to the frequency of its posts.
  • 80 percent of social media users connect through Facebook

Even the best employer brand and company culture won’t attract great talent if it isn’t put on display. A JobScience post states :

Your company culture, value and history are important parts of your branding message – particularly when it comes to hiring. Your job postings, career page on your website and job boards must convey this messaging as well as be consistent with your branding from your main website.

Each interaction or communication with the candidate should bring the brand front and center. Wherever the candidate is going for information on the company, they should see and feel the same brand throughout. Facebook is in the lead for new hires from a social media network.

  • 47% Facebook
  • 41% LinkedIn
  • 16% Twitter

As of late 2013, Facebook was the 3rd most popular website in the world, following Google.ca and Google.com. Although adding diversity to social recruiting initiatives is imperative to evolving, Facebook sounds like a darn good place to concentrate on, especially with new tools like Graph Search on hand. It is important to have a referral reward program in place even for non-employees.

  • Companies can get 10-30x more referrer engagement from non-employees when a reward is offered.

Dr. John Sullivan calls them “Friend of the Firm ” (FOF) referrals, and they’re becoming a popular way for recruiters to broaden their reach in more targeted and insightful ways. Sullivan said:

Although there is some variation, in my experience, you can expect the highest-quality referrals to come from these non-employee groups including board members, former employees, vendors, and family members.

Strong diversity initiatives in recruiting can set a brand apart from the rest.

  • 85 percent of large global enterprises agree or strongly agree that diversity is crucial to fostering innovation in the workplace

As the tech talent shortage in the U.S. becomes more real, recruiters are scrambling to up their diversity and international recruiting practices. Whether your particular area is feeling this high-skilled talent drought, there is still a strong need to incorporate diversity in recruiting for the betterment of the organization. Diversity in the workforce has been known to increase productivity, creativity and engagement. Facebook’s new Graph Search is exciting to recruiters everywhere because of the broad reach they can establish with this tool. When you consider that 52 percent of job seekers use Facebook to help find work, recruiters need to find better ways to tap into this vast pool in an efficient way. Given that many candidates, with that much information online, getting targeted is vital. To check out the Zao infographic click here.

By Courtney McGann