Companies have been investing greater time and effort than ever in making the rapidly evolving communications platform of social media a part of their recruitment strategy.
With more than 60% of adults engaging in social media and 23% of all time spent online occurring on social networking sites, it stands to reason that businesses of every stripe would want to use the likes of Facebook and Twitter for more than just advertising. Hunting for the hottest talent on the market requires a diverse recruitment strategy and social media is becoming an increasingly important element in finding the right employees for sales, marketing, management and IT jobs across all major employment sectors.
Given the vast number of active users on Facebook, LinkedIn and other prominent social networks, each with their own individual network of friends and professional contacts, actively recruiting through this channel becomes incredibly advantageous. Companies are increasingly experimenting with social media recruiting in order to connect with this diverse, active and expanding audience and find the best fit for their job offering.
Not only is there a huge audience to connect with, social networks also provide companies with the opportunity to actively hunt for new talent and engage with them directly. Companies are also using social networks to post job offerings in an effort to let the talent find them. This lets social media users spread the word about desirable job posts among their own network, drumming up further interest in the position that’s been posted.
Social media recruiting also provides a significant marketing opportunity for any company who wants to create a buzz online. A savvy employer will use a job offering to describe how new staff will benefit from working with them, making sure to highlight the most attractive elements of the company’s corporate ethos as well as those of the job in question (salary, perks, etc). Some industries, such as the IT sector, have plenty to be positive about when they market their prime positions socially; a quick salary checker search will reveal that the average salary in the IT industry and other key employment sectors has been steadily rising in the past 2 years.
Sought-after positions presented in this manner usually have a string of high-quality candidates responding directly to the ad. Not only do the respondents initiate the conversation with the employer, many will also spread the word through the social network themselves.