How Social Media has Changed the Hiring Game

Using LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Blogs to Find the Perfect Addition to Your Team

Social media is a game changer. We’ve seen it affect how we interact and share with friends and family, make decisions, hear and spread news, market, and much more. It even affects the way people hunt for jobs and the way companies look for potential employees.

Rather than just listing a job opening in your local newspaper or posting it on your website where limited audiences will see it, social media allows you to reach a much wider, much more diverse audience. By posting job opportunities on social media sites and reaching more candidates, you will be more likely to find the person who is exactly what you are looking for and a perfect match for your company. Because of the viral effect of social media, news of your job opening will spread fast, helping you fill roles more quickly.

Here are some ways you can use social media to find that perfect candidate to fill the role at your company:

LinkedIn

Because LinkedIn profiles should be set up like resumes, you can check out applicants’ profiles to see what kind of experience and recommendations they have. You should also make you’re your profile is updated in the same way in case potential job candidates check you out to make sure you are a renowned and trustworthy company to work for. Your contact settings should be set to include that you are interested in job inquiries so people know it’s okay to contact you via LinkedIn regarding employment opportunities.

You can post job openings in the job section on LinkedIn, which people can find by searching for a specific location, field, job title, and several other options. People are more likely to trust a job posting on a professional networking site like LinkedIn than they are on a random job listing site they find on Google. Many people also use the headline portion of their profile like an objective on a resume, stating exactly what kind of job they are looking for and specific qualities and certifications they have to make them a good candidate. You can use this to do your own searching and seek out exactly who you are looking for and contact them about an opportunity to interview with your company.

Facebook

People often will use Facebook to let the world know when they are searching for a new job and you should also use the same method to get the word out there that you are looking to fill specific roles. This will not only let people know to contact you if they are looking for a job themselves, but also keep you in mind if they see that someone else they know is looking for a similar job.

You can also use Facebook in the hiring process to check out a candidate’s profile to see if they are an influencer and know how to effectively and professionally use Facebook. Having someone who will use their social media influence to spread the word about your company could be very beneficial in increasing awareness and establishing credibility.

Twitter

There are more than 190 million Twitter users. Among those millions, there are always many actively seeking jobs. Use the opportunity to search this large community for people to you’re your team as well as publicize that you are currently hiring – in this economy word about job openings will spread fast.

While Twitter users send more than 75 million tweets per day, Twitter search allows you to look for people tweeting specific terms or keywords relevant to what you are looking for — For example “copywriting jobs” “administrative assistant positions” etc. The reverse can be done with your tweets: People looking for jobs can type in search terms and pull up any of your tweets that contain those words – so make sure you are using keyword rich terms in your tweets.

Blogs

Not only can you use your blog to advertise the fact that you are looking for certain candidates, but many other people would be willing to put your job postings on their blog if it’s relevant. For example, Mashable lists jobs in the social media industry for companies throughout the world.

You can use social media sites to not only post job opportunities and how to apply, but you can also look for people who are using these sites to promote themselves as potential candidates.

How have you used social media in the employment process? Leave a comment below and let me know.