Toolkit

MORE than 80% of companies are using social to recruit. To drive applicants to your jobs, target the right talent, and build a strong employer brand, social recruiting is an effective strategy.

In the article “So You Have a Website“, Becky Hughes of Hughes Customat discussed having great success on Facebook. In fact, 63% of job seekers are active on Facebook, making it a great source to reach a high volume of job seekers. Facebook attracts a high percentage of users over the age of 45—as does LinkedIn. Facebook’s users are also predominantly women. What to do if you’re looking for men? Stick with LinkedIn. Younger men? Twitter, which has the highest percentage of millennials. If you want to reach strictly users with a bachelor’s degree or higher, again, LinkedIn is for you, with 64% of its users having finished at least four years of college.

So, what does all of this mean? There’s no question that social media can be highly valuable when it comes to hiring. The younger the potential audience is for your position, the more likely it is that you may find your candidate on a social site. Keep in mind, the size, demographics and engagement level of the audience you reach with your job posting depends on which social network or networks you choose and what content you choose to post.

For example, you’ll reach more job seekers on Facebook, but your actual job posts will get more views on LinkedIn. You’ll reach more millennials on Twitter, but you can’t actually post a full job description in 140 characters. Think about YouTube, also: It doesn’t receive a high level of traffic from job seekers, but recruitment videos are one of the best ways to increase application volume.

If possible, consider a multi-pronged approach that might look something like this: use an image-based Twitter post with hashtags to drive traffic to your Facebook page, where you can share a full length job ad alongside a recruitment video, and even create a career form where candidates can apply. Share your job ads to LinkedIn, but also share a shorter version of your ads to Twitter.

Excerpted from JobCast.net