Social tools are becoming indispensable in business. But Snapchat for recruiting -- seriously?! Learn how to build your brand and recruit amazing talent with the latest social recruiting tools, and why a strong recruiting partner is more important than ever:
You need a social media recruiting strategy for the simple reason that people hang out on social media. From professionals to entry-level workers to students who are about to graduate, social media is part of the fabric of everyday life.
Are you using social media to connect people who could make a difference in your company's success?
Connect With Young Talent in A "Snappy" New Way
In case you're not familiar, Snapchat is a photo messaging app that allows users to take photos and record videos ("Snaps"), add text and stickers, then send the message to a specific, controlled list of recipients. Each Snap has a time limit placed on it that restricts how long a recipient can view it. After the limit is up, it disappears. Nearly 700 million Snaps are sent through the app every day (which is nearly 70 percent more than Facebook) and most users are millennials.
Savvy employers are using Snapchat as a means of branding to get their organization's message, mission and culture in front of young talent.
What's the Story?
Snapchat stories can be used to:
- show potential applicants what it's like to work at an organization;
- showcase company events;
- announce that the company is hiring; and
- even to provide links to the company's online application process.
When using Snapchat, it is important to remember that the platform is all about storytelling. Snaps must be fun, compelling and interesting. Users need a reason to want to watch your Snaps and to learn more. If your stories don't grab attention, you'll have wasted your efforts.
Rethink the Way You Facebook
Facebook has officially gotten into the recruiting game with Facebook job listings. Businesses can now use their pages to post job openings directly to their news feed as status updates, and they can also list them on a new profile "jobs" tab. Users can then apply directly through a link on the ad.
While LinkedIn has cornered the market on middle and upper-level recruiting, Facebook is finding its niche in the hourly and entry-level market (where job seekers often don't see much benefit from LinkedIn). Savvy employers are using Facebook to spread their employer brand and culture, and connect with passive job seekers who aren't necessarily actively looking for work, but who are open to change when the right opportunity comes along.
Facebook is a great way to start upping your social media game, since it's likely that your internal HR team already knows how to use the platform and the learning curve for the jobs features isn't steep.
Yes, Twitter Is Still Worth Your Time
Twitter can be a great place to differentiate yourself as an employer, share useful information and connect with passive candidates. Most people include their professional job title in their bios, which means it's easy to search for and connect with passive talent -- laying the foundation for a relationship.
The key to making Twitter work is to provide genuinely useful and interesting information and not spam people with direct messages. A Twitter feed can be a great place to showcase company culture through short videos and photos. Once you build up a following, you can host live Q and A sessions using branded hashtags like #ABCCorpJobChat where interested people can ask specific questions about working for your company.
Maximizing Social Strategy
No matter which platforms you use for recruiting, always remember that a strong social recruiting strategy is about branding and building relationships, not closing deals quickly. Social media is a place to showcase your employer brand, get people interested in learning more about your company and to make connections with passive talent. Videos, photos and interactive media are extremely important if you want to catch and keep attention.
Unfortunately, building a meaningful social media recruiting strategy isn't always simple. It takes a lot of time and resources, and ROI is not guaranteed. However, there is a way to take advantage of someone else's expertise in social recruiting and leverage it to your benefit. Developing a strategic staffing partnership with a company that has mastered modern recruiting and has cultivated a strong pipeline of passive talent can help you stay on top of and get in front of trends so you can find the right people, fast. You don't necessarily have to reinvent the wheel to succeed; you just need to hitch your wagon to the right expert.