This article is a guest post.
Although the mainstream social media platforms have been around only recently since the mid-2000s, they have had a massive impact on the recruitment industry. It has completely changed the way prospective candidates are sourced, the way clients are attracted, and the way recruitment agencies are branded. You will find at least nine out of ten recruiters using social media platforms to source, attract, and even hire a candidate. And accompanied by the right candidate management, recruiters who use social media for recruiting are mostly satisfied with the results.
How big is the impact of social media on recruitment process, and HR firms in general?
As you take a closer look at the use of social media by different recruitment agencies, you will wonder why they need to have a social presence. Experts have indicated that the number one reason for the increased use of social media platforms is to build a brand. It means the recruitment agencies are taking into consideration the long-term benefits of the use of social media instead of just opting for short-term gains. Having a good brand is crucial as there are several recruitment agencies out there vying for contention. You must try and become a consistent voice that customers can rely upon for relevant info. There are many long-term advantages of building a brand such as lead and candidate attraction.
Social recruiting is the second main reason for using social media to discover suitable candidates. Social media allows recruiters to extend their reach for advertising the job vacancies and proactively source qualified candidates to find suitable ones. This is particularly the case for LinkedIn. As there is a shortage of skills in various markets such as construction, education, and healthcare, it is not surprising that more recruiters are turning to social recruitment as a way of bridging the gap.
The recruitment agencies can also benefit by partnering with the PEO services available in different countries. For instance, a recruitment agency operating from Canada can approach a professional employer organization in Canada for this purpose. Let’s take a closer look at the benefits of using channels such as LinkedIn for recruitment agencies.
Getting access to emerging talent is a big challenge for different recruitment agencies especially industries that are experiencing a skill shortage. However, you need to be aware that almost everyone in the age group of 18 to 24 years is on social network. Although this fact might not entirely be shocking, numerous market reports indicate that the use of social networking websites is ubiquitous within university and school leavers. Therefore, social media opens the doors for the pool of young talent many of whom are unemployed.
Apart from attracting just millennial job seekers, social sites might also be utilized for engaging passive candidates. As the name would suggest, these passive candidates are not actively looking for employment. However, they are interested in changing their current employment if they are provided the right opportunity. You need to employ a tactful approach for attracting passive candidates and thank the recruitment agencies for helping reach this distant talent market.
Although it is tempting to straightway dive into the use of social media, it might be a better idea to use a measured approach. Here are some tips for recruitment agencies to get the most from social networking platforms,
The very nature of social media is that everything you write immediately becomes public. This also means that recruitment agencies cannot get their strategies wrong, not even initially. A poorly laid out tweet or failing to maintain a consistent presence on the platform is only going to reflect adversely on your brand and make things difficult for getting the leads.
Social media is affecting the way recruiters communicate with job seekers and employers. It doesn’t matter what you are looking to achieve whether it is increasing the talent pool or boosting the image of your brand, the social networks are a terrific resource for professionals.
Author bio
Aurora Heidrick is an experienced HR Manager with a demonstrated history of helping businesses to deliver people-related processes, vision, and strategy. She helps managing company staff, including coordinating and supporting the recruitment process. She contributed to many websites by writing about different business fields and HR challenges and solutions. She likes to write about these topics to reach out to a greater audience and to share valuable information for people in that industry.
She can be reached at auroraheidrick1@gmail.com.
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