Five best practice tips for social media recruiting and staffing

As a staffing and recruiting professional, you’re using a number of different technologies to boost your presence and monitor key industry trends. One of those tools is social media, and it is referred to as social recruiting. With social media, a recruiter can grow his or her talent pool and increase the number of candidates stored in their recruiting software database. Social media-savvy workers are often eager to hear about new career opportunities and represent a valuable resource for staffing professionals.

Build effective talent pools using social media

By using social media channels like Facebook, Twitter and Google+, a recruiter is better able to expand his or her reach. As a result, the sea of qualified candidates expands and you are now able to take advantage of the increased number of people available to you. Blogging 4 Jobs, a human resource professional advice website, reported that the best way to increase your brand on social media and build a talent pool is with active engagement. Communities within social media networks exist so that industry professionals can discuss current trends and build relationships. As a recruiter, it’s your job to turn these resources into opportunities for professional relationship growth. Social recruiting relies on you focusing your attention on engaging community members by commenting thoughtfully on topics and introducing new ideas to the group.

Use #hashtags

While hashtags have been incorporated into a number of social media networks like Twitter and Google+ for years, Facebook has just recently added the feature. The organizational tool allows recruiters to monitor key industry trends and to post jobs to further increase the talent pool. For example, Dice.com reported that one recruiter has used the #IT hashtag to increase the likelihood that IT professionals will see job postings and respond to a Tweet with either a direct message, ask for more information or send a resume and cover letter to the designated contact. This tool also allows you to track the progress and trends impacting your industry. Make sure to not overpopulate a Tweet with too many hashtags because that will reduce the readability of the message.

Use Facebook Fan Pages

A Facebook Fan Page is one available marketing and communication tool that allows a recruiter to directly connect to various individuals. The medium allows recruiters to engage with more than 750 million Facebook users from across the world. Just like a corporate blog or website, a Facebook Fan Page allows a recruiting and staffing professional to spread company value propositions and provide potential candidates the information they need to determine if a business or position is right for them. The page provides an audience information so that they are better able to find the right position and it establishes a long-term relationship. In addition, Facebook provides an audience with an open forum to ask questions and demonstrate a transparent front.

Optimize LinkedIn strategies

LinkedIn is highly regarded as the premier social networking tool for staffing and recruiting professionals. This is because the professional networking site allows individuals to place their credentials in a systematic format that is easy to digest for recruiters who are looking to fill positions. Keyword optimization and search techniques enable staffing professionals to browse through dozens, if not hundreds, of potential workers without struggling. Recruiters can use the information found in these profiles to narrow down searches and to corroborate with other research into the skills and past of potential hires.

Spread brand messages

Social media is built on the basics of social communication principles. People like to talk and share what’s going on in their lives – this is true for professional and personal developments. Use Twitter, Google+ and Facebook to talk about the new developments in your professional and sometimes personal life (with discretion) to attract an audience and engage with these people. Use language and various communication tools like video, images and graphics to further demonstrate key brand qualities.

How are you using social media tools to further your staffing goals? The right combination of tools and procedures will help any recruiter or staffing professional increase his or her talent pool and engage an audience. Capturing candidate social media profiles in your staffing and recruiting software can simplify your candidate searches. And that results in greater productivity and faster fills on every customer order.