Overhauling Your Social Recruiting Strategy

By Social-Hire

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It's fascinating that - for all the ways that technology and social media have transformed recruiting - the fundamental challenges remain the same. Social recruiting offers up an array of different ways to approach the candidate market. Yet recruiters have always been acutely aware of the need to be doing things differently - or better - than the competition. If your adoption of social media - and your social recruiting strategy - are just the same as everyone else's, then what do you expect as the outcome of that strategy.

The exact same results as everyone else!

 

Your Social Recruiting Strategy

Since most companies out there pride themselves on hiring better staff than the competition, social recruiting that merely brings in "the same results as everyone else" doesn't really cut it as a strategy. So we're delighted to share these ideas from Amy Miller on how you might go about doing things differently and differentiating yourself from the competition (to which we'd add and stress the importance of focusing on engagement as a key tactic in delivering social recruiting results)
 

Bigger Budget? Here’s How to Overhaul Your Social Recruiting Strategy

As the new year blossoms into spring, new budget cycles mean promotions for your most talented employees. A recent study found January was one of the top months when it comes to doling out promotions, but what happens after your best employees are settled into their new positions?

Now that you’ve rewarded your star players you might be asking yourself what the next step should be. What about the open positions your superstars have left behind? What’s the solution to keep more of your renewed budget and yet still find the best people?

There’s a reason everyone has jumped on the social media recruiting bandwagon. In fact, in 2012 companies used social media to recruit for more than 80 percent of all job openings. The problem lies with the fact that everyone tends to have the same social media recruitment strategy. Recruiters and hiring managers are searching Facebook and Twitter, posting on job boards, and wondering why these tactics aren’t bearing fruit. To find the very best, you can’t just follow the herd.

The first step is admitting you have a problem with your social media recruitment strategy. The second step is finding workable solutions in order to find the best people for your company. We’re an ideas economy where great employees are the currency smart companies use to get ahead. Utilizing the Internet and social media to recruit can be a great way to find your next batch of superstar employees without blowing your budget.

Here are some common social media recruitment problems, and some simple solutions:
 

Your Problem: Skills Gap

You have great positions open and your inbox is flooded with resumes. So what’s the problem? The people applying for your open positions just aren’t the right fit for the job. The skills gap is very real and plaguing employers in every career sector. High unemployment might mean the pool of applicants for every available position is wider, but it doesn’t mean it’s filled with candidates who have the right qualifications for the job.

Your Solution: Scout Passive Talent

Look for passive candidates who might not be looking for a new job opportunity, but wouldn’t turn down a great offer if it floated their way. Instead of merely posting jobs or using social media to promote your openings, actively look for the kind of talent you need. The benefit of passive talent is that you already know they can perform the job. Social media paves the way for recruiters to more easily make inroads with these prospects in order to find someone ready for a new challenge.


Your Problem: Same Old Candidates

You’re looking in the same places as everyone else, so you’re finding the same prospects as your competitors. Sure, 91 percent of online adults are using social media, but they’re not all using the same platforms. If you’ve constrained yourself to the same two or three platforms everyone else uses, odds are you’ll be swimming in a shallow talent pool.

Your Solution: Look for Hidden Talent Pools

Whether you’re searching manually or using a recruitment platform, search the places online where great talent converges. Don’t convince yourself you’ll only find someone great on Twitter or Facebook. Talent gathers everywhere online and you need to find these hidden caches of prospects in order to hire better.

The big sites aren’t the only social media in the game after all. Look at industry-related Meetup groups, search the list of speakers at an interesting conference, or even search for top quality thought leadership in a discussion group. The best talent might not be advertising themselves on the big networks, but these hidden candidates could be just what your company needs to grow.


Your Problem: Waiting for Mr. or Ms. Perfect Hire

The right person isn’t going to fall into your lap, so why post and pray? You need to do more to find the right person for your company than craft a good job description and post it to job boards. Social media can be a great tool for getting your job out into the universe, connecting with candidates, and promoting your openings. But at some point, you have to stop being reactive and start being proactive in your social recruiting strategy.

Your Solution: Pick up the Phone!

Those top prospects you’ve found, through your talent search engine or on a press release, aren’t just going to contact themselves. Don’t be afraid to use the phone. After all, the key term in your social recruiting strategy is ‘social’. Don’t be afraid to truly connect with talent and tell them exactly why they should be excited to work for your company. If your enthusiasm is infectious, the best people will respond to your personal touch and get excited about your company’s opportunities.


Social media is a great tool for finding the best people wherever they spend their time online without breaking the piggybank. This is why it’s important you’re not falling into the same traps and missing the best people. If you look critically at your social media recruitment strategy, you’ll find the solutions you need to hire better.

What are some solutions for common social media recruitment problems? Share in the comments!


Amy Miller is a Search Consultant at Scavado, a talent search engine empowering recruiters to find the best hidden talent from all over the web. Connect with her/him and Scavado on Facebook and Twitter.


Image Source: mkhmarketing


 

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