Social Recruitment Strategies to Learn From: Starbucks

By Lindsay Shoemake, JWT INSIDE Account Coordinator

For many, working for Seattle-based coffee giant Starbucks would be an absolutely caffeine-filled dream. Since its flagship opening in 1971, the brand has rapidly dominated the coffee retail market, recently expanding its product offerings into the realm of specialty teas, pastries and fresh organic food.

Starbucks’ social recruitment strategy is one to admire for its strong, cohesive branding, its uncanny ability to communicate personable messaging to its target hiring audience and its undivided attention to the most integral element of the company – the people.

Let’s take a closer look and see how the java giant is making moves in the social recruitment realm with its creative social strategy:

Starbucks’ career site is an information-rich portal
All it takes is one visit to Starbucks’ career site, and you’re in for a comprehensive education of the well-known coffee brand. The site is great in that not only is it educational, but it’s also visually appealing and broken down into easy-to-navigate modules. The site has educational sects (Working At Starbucks), as well as distinct portals for corporate careers, retail careers, manufacturing and distribution and career opportunities for military and their spouses. With clear messaging that states that Starbucks gives its applicants a chance to be more than an employee, but a partner, the people of the company are placed at the forefront of its immense success.

Source: www.starbucks.com/careers

Twitter jumpstarts the initial candidate/HR conversation
Starbucks isn’t just an expert at brewing a great caffeine buzz – the brand also excels at generating noteworthy social buzz and engagement, too, and most notably on its career-specific Twitter account, @StarbucksJobs. The account is personalized from the get-go, even identifying the company partner, Maxine, who manages the account. Any given scroll down the account’s feed will reveal current job postings (using the on-brand hashtag #tobeapartner), shout outs in recognition of Starbucks partners, links to Starbucks in the news and pictures of company events. With an impressive following of over 71K, it’s easy to see that Starbucks’ Twitter recruitment strategy is working, and is enticing interested candidates by the thousands.   

Source: www.twitter.com/starbucksjobs

Opportunity runs rampant on LinkedIn
Upon first glance, Starbucks’ LinkedIn page appears to be an impeccably designed hiring hub for hopeful candidates. Upon second glace you’ll quickly realize that Starbucks is committed to educating its employees, both current and prospective. In addition to a slew of current job postings running the gamut from retail to roasting to corporate, the account posts insider accounts of what it’s like to work at Starbucks from their partners (the company’s all-inclusive identity for employees) and recent informational articles on Starbucks in the news. For interested candidates, LinkedIn is undoubtedly a one-stop shop for the company’s history, current news, employee news and hot job postings.

Instagram illustrates a great day-in-the-life
Often overlooked in social recruitment strategies, Starbucks expertly leverages its career-specific Instagram account, starbucksjobs, to portray what it’s really like to work a day for the most well-known coffee brand in the world. The account is all-inclusive in that it shares snaps from happy partners in its retail store, as well as corporate partners and roasters. Light-hearted images of office antics are also supplemented with images of value, like announcements for career fairs and hiring days. What’s interesting about this account is that it is very people-focused, rather than coffee-focused. Starbucks makes a valiant point to place the emphasis on the importance of who they hire, rather than what they sell. 
Source: www.instagram.com/starbucksjobs
 

To follow along, visit each of Starbucks’ social recruitment accounts here:
- Career Site
- LinkedIn
- Twitter
- Instagram