The advent of social media has revolutionized the way how companies hire and interact with their potential employees. There are very few businesses that are not active on professional networking websites like LinkedIn, and personal networking media such as Facebook, for hiring brilliant talents. Now you might wonder why it is important to conduct talent acquisition through social media? The answer to this question is well understood by modern business leaders who have extensively grabbed on to this opportunity.
For this new generation, the internet is not just a tool that facilitates communication but also a gateway to an entirely different world. This is the reason that social media recruitment has gained high popularity among HR professionals. From the perspective of a job seeker, some of them are still uncertain about the idea of securing a job via social media. However, with the passage of time more and more job seekers can be seen actively hunting for jobs while networking with potential employers and HR professionals.
The contemporary generation is hooked to social media and spends a significant amount of time posting and browsing content online. Entrepreneurs from different parts of the world have always believed in the power of social media not only to market their unique products or services but also to network with potential employees. Rise in smartphone usage and improved internet connectivity has ensured that people of all ages are active on social media and interacting with others. A majority of people can be seen scrolling through social media posts on Facebook, Instagram, etc. whenever they have the free time. They have been quick to realize that slipping their job position ads in between the other social posts is a fruitful way to reach and seek the attention of ideal job seekers.
If you are an employer or a recruitment professional, you must understand that just posting your job opening on job portals is not good enough. You would want to target passive candidates who are not actively looking for a job change. Such candidates are hard to tap into and you would need some great convincing skills to make them leave their existing job and choose you as an employer. Using top social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc. can help to narrow down your search and attract both passive as well as active candidates. As a leading social media platform, Facebook allows all businesses to post their job-related content based on people’s profiles, interests and time of the day. This greatly helps you narrow down your search while reaching a large number of potential candidates at the same time. This is only a fraction of what social media platforms can do to improve the reach of your job posts.
The world is full of unique people who have different skills and talents. While some of them are confident in expressing their thoughts and requirements, on the other hand, there are some who are insecure or uncertain and lack the much-needed confidence. However, employers must understand that a lack of confidence does not mean that a candidate does not have the desired skill sets. In fact, some popular leaders like Mark Zuckerberg are introverts in real life. The majority of individuals who spend time on social media are in fact introverts, who might be hesitant to approach a potential employer by themselves. That is the reason why the highly popular social media portals are a perfect place to not only advertise your job posts but reach the candidates who might be shy to apply. Most successful recruiters are always active on social media sites in order to reach and spot a variety of talents.
Successful recruiters do not just trust a candidate based on their resume or interview, they strive to conduct background checks to avoid making bad hires. More than 60% of working professionals claim that they have lied on their resume during some or the other time of their career. Most social media-savvy candidates are aware that employers would be looking at their social profiles for availing more information. Recruiters usually use search engines in order to see if the candidates have any longstanding professional recommendations, issues with friends or past companies, any legal issues, etc. In addition to this, the social media profiles of candidates can provide you with a huge insight into the personality of your candidates even before they appear for their face to face interview at your office premises. This is really helpful when candidates are hesitant to disclose any personal information during the interview and tend to keep things to them.
Almost every candidate these days conducts enough research about a company before they apply for a suitable job position or appear for an interview. A major part of this research involves exploring the various social media handles or pages of a business. A potential candidate can gain relevant information by going through your social media posts like the culture of your organization, the management members, positions your company is hiring for, company locations, business expansion plans, etc. Therefore, it becomes extremely crucial for your business to regularly post content to better engage with existing as well as potential employees. A well-managed social media page can drastically improve the employer brand of your organization and help you attract exceptional talent to your team. Once your business goes on a recruitment spree, you can easily contact the pool of individuals who have started following your company’s social media pages.
Social media has not only kept us all engaged with each other, but it has also enabled live communication. Candidates do not have to be physically present in a company to appear for their interviews as they can simply connect with an employer or hiring manager via video conferencing. Scheduling interviews, which earlier took at least a week's time, now can be easily conducted using the video calling feature of a leading social media app. Technology has tremendously simplified the sourcing, screening, and interview process of candidates. All you have to do is initiate a conversation with your candidate and wait for them to turn on their smartphone camera and start talking to you in a matter of seconds. This has completely prevented the need for long travels across cities or the need to maintain specialized recruitment offices or cabins. Employers and recruiters can even effortlessly hire international talents from anywhere in the world by using social media platforms.
