How to Fix Your Social Media Recruitment Strategy

Social media is a powerful tool for attracting applicants and expanding the reach of your job postings. In fact, 92% of companies use LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to augment traditional recruiting methods.  But if you’re just dipping your toe into the social media waters, you may be discouraged by a lack of response. Why isn’t your social media recruitment strategy working for you? You have to know the basics of how to recruit using this tool.

You’re not reaching beyond your followers.

Unless you have a very large following, simply posting your job to your page isn’t going to provide you with fresh new applicants. Don’t just promote the job to your current network. Expand your reach using paid social advertisements to get the job in front of qualified candidates who are looking for an opportunity like yours. LinkedIn is a great place to start. Don’t feel like learning the intricacies of each platform? An applicant tracking software like ApplicantStack can automatically post your job listings to the relevant social media sites.

People can’t find your job postings.

Ask a friend to use the various social media sites to find your company’s job postings. How long does it take that person? If your job postings are too difficult to locate, no one is going to bother accessing them. On Twitter, many applicants search for job postings using hashtags. If you haven’t added hashtags to your job listing, it won’t come up during the search. Consider using hashtags like #JobOpening, #JobListing, #MarketingJobs, or other relevant terms. Advertising a new post on your Twitter page will help applicants find and apply to your postings. On Facebook and LinkedIn, you want your job postings displayed clearly and in their own sections, so they aren’t lost amid frequent updates.

You’re not being social.

Just because a person is employed doesn’t mean he or she isn’t open to new career opportunities. There are passive and active candidates out there. Use your social networks to build personal relationships with followers who seem like they could contribute to your company. When a job opening that fits their skills comes up, you can reach out to them directly. Cultivate candidates and build your talent pool even when you aren’t actively recruiting.

You assume social media is for the youngsters.

Younger people aren’t the only group on social media. Don’t assume that you won’t be able to find a candidate with the years of experience you’re looking for. With the exception of Tumblr and Instagram, social media sites are popular with people of all ages. Older users are flocking to Facebook; 78% of Americans between the ages of 30 and 49 have a Facebook account. If you neglect social media recruitment, you’re missing out on an entire network of qualified prospects.

It’s hard for applicants to apply online.

When you’re recruiting via social media sites, people need a simple way to apply. Once a candidate has found your posting, how easy is it to submit an application? Do you have a dedicated career page that you’re driving traffic to? Is there an email address that he or she can send a resume to? Can candidates apply via LinkedIn or using another social media profile? Take out the unnecessary steps and make it easy and obvious for people to apply.

When crafting your job description on social networks, include some requirements to weed out unqualified applicants. And remember, your current employees can multiply your social media recruitment efforts. Make your jobs postings fun, and encourage current employees to share the listings on their own social networks. For every person that shares your posting, you’ll get dozens – if not hundreds – of additional eyeballs on it. You can even offer referral bonuses to employees who recruit applicants who become new hires. Everybody wins!