Recruiting is a key responsibility for a company's internal human resources department. Recently, social media has become a core component of many HR departments' recruiting strategies. LinkedIn and its networking brethren have proven valuable for hiring managers as the websites have streamlined the vetting and recruiting processes.
As social recruiting becomes more and more prevalent, HR representatives have to develop best practices for these mediums. Below is an examination of how to capitalize on social media when expanding your company's staff.
Creating connections
Building relationships with active and passive job seekers is the most effective way to generate leads via social media. Review your connections to determine whether any of your followers could become great additions to the team. Once you've found strong leads, reach out and ask them if they're interested in learning about your organization.
Don't pressure candidates into taking job interviews. Instead, develop a rapport with each professional so that he or she will trust your company and independently seek out information. If a prospect seems comfortable communicating with you, carefully broach the topic about an in-person meeting to discuss what you expect of your employees and/or a job position that may be a fit for them.
Establishing a brand
According to Blogging 4 Jobs, employment branding plays an integral part in social recruiting. For this approach, enterprises are establishing an online presence to attract job seekers. The objective is to create a sterling reputation that motivates candidates to apply to the company.
Every social network comes into play for branding initiatives. Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest and others all affect public perception of a business. Further, various form of content can be used to enhance brand equity. For instance, videos and pictures are frequently posted to show candidates what it's like to work in an enterprise.
Actionable information
Social presents employers with a library of data about their applicants. However, some of the information is useless for recruitment and other facts can lead to potential headaches down the road. Eric Meyer, a partner at Dilworth Paxson, told the Society for Human Resource Management that companies shouldn't let certain information affect their hiring decisions.
"In both the recruiting and screening process, you run the risk of learning and utilizing protected information. The pitfall is using it to make an employment decision," Meyer said.
Clearly state that you're an equal opportunity employer and that information like race and gender will not influence who you hire.
