What you should know about Social Media Recruiting

We all have profiles on social media. We post our skills and employers there. Hence, social media is also used in corporate recruiting. The following article describes what social media recruiting is, how it works and provides best practice recruiting strategies.

About Social Media Recruiting

Social Media Recruiting is the recruitment of new employees using social media. Initial contact is possible via direct approach or advertising. Social recruiting uses various social media profiles, networks, blogs and other web tools to find information about potential candidates and to approach them or reach them with advertising.

How does social media recruiting work?

Social Media Recruiting has 3 core methods:

• Direct Contact
• Posting of Vacancies
• Employer Branding

In this way, suitable candidates are identified and approached after the classic active sourcing process. In addition to a direct approach, the methods of social recruiting also include publishing job advertisements on social media and establishing an employer brand.

What role does social media play in recruitment?

With the strong growth of social media since 2005 and the establishment of networks such as Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, XING, Github & Co, the idea that these networks can also be used for recruiting was also born. Thus, personnel marketing is expanded with new strategies of mobile recruiting.

The name social media recruiting is derived from the connection between social media and recruiting. Due to the fact that almost everyone can be reached on social media, this has become one of the most important places for recruiting activities.

How are they used?

The use varies depending on the type of medium. There are platforms that allow job ads to be published on the network (e.g. Facebook). On many networks, advertising (social ads) can be booked and used to promote a career page or a job ad.

Another option is active sourcing, where suitable people are contacted directly via their social media profiles.

What is a good recruitment strategy?

In order to successfully find employees via social media, a social media recruiting strategy is needed in addition to access to the channels.

Social recruiting – when is it worthwhile for a company?

The desired target group is represented and active on the channel The channel maps to the company’s philosophy When the company is active on the channel and communicates appropriately with the target group

Recruitment strategy

First of all, the goals of the recruitment strategy are defined. The next step is to select the appropriate media and the form of address. Thus, depending on the job profile, the strategy can differ greatly in the selection of platforms and the way of addressing. Active sourcing is a very good example when searching for a Data Scientist. In contrast, placing a job ad makes more sense for positions that are easier to fill. Target groups on different channels such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Xing or even LinkedIn need different strategies. Managers need to look at how social channels can be used for recruiting. Often, there is the possibility to place ads via advertising placements or to contact individuals via a direct approach. The strategy that is right for one channel may not bear fruit for another.

What are the advantages of social recruiting?

The advantages of social media recruiting are manifold. Most notable is the viral effect at a comparatively low monetary investment. One advantage in particular stands out, which stems from the principle of recruiting:

I have to be where my target group is.

In order to reach young people, other paths have to be taken than placing ads in newspapers. The media world is changing and recruiting must adapt to these changes.

For companies, it is a great added value to be able to find out more authentic information about these candidates via channel profiles than is the case with conventional letters of application.