When you are recruiting new talent for your business or company, ultimately you want to find the right person for the role you have on offer at the time you need them. Generally that would suggest that just using a single source such as a jobs listings website or one agency isn’t spreading the net wide enough. Therefore it is important to look at social media in the same way – you will find different audiences and demographics on different portals.
Obviously right now Linked In is a fantastic tool for recruiting new talent to your company. I myself probably receive about two enquiries as to my availability for roles every week from recruiters and HR employees who have found me and my details, either through a relevant keyword search or by looking in relevant groups I have joined within Linked In that reflect my areas of expertise. Twitter is also a valuable resource, particularly if the parties you interact with are likely to provide good leads.
As a company though, if you are looking to attract new talent via Linked In, you must make the effort to build your own Linked In company page. If you have been drawn to a potential candidate by their profile, then you must do the same to make your company seem an attractive proposition to them. Plus, particularly if you are B2B, your clients will expect you to have a presence there as it is a great way of introducing relevant people to new contacts via mutual association, and from there you have loads of potential leads you may not have had in the first place. Always ask for recommendations, you’ll be surprised at how many trusted contacts have great candidates they can recommend.
Returning to recruitment though, social media is an excellent way of representing your company and giving potential candidates an insight into your company ethos which they would otherwise never have until they turn up for an interview. Yes, ultimately social media can just be referred to as a tool for recruiting, but that’s a short sighted view. Once again it is all about engaging with your community, all the way from customers, clients, partners, leads and so on – and who better than to tap into as a resource for finding the next big hire for your company than the people who are already engaged with what your company is all about?
Networking has always been the key to successful recruitment. Social media broadens that network even wider, and allows you to really find the right potential candidate for your business.
