6 Social Media Sites to Consider in your Recruitment Strategy

Social media has established rich hunting grounds where potential employees congregate. To be effective as a recruiter, you should be integrating social data into your hiring process and developing a unique social media recruitment strategy based around your industry and your hiring needs.

LinkedIn

This online network can be credited with the development of social media recruitment as a discipline. As a hiring manager the more first level connections you have the bigger your extended network. Accept all invitations from known contacts and people in your industry. Join groups not only for your industry but also for your geographic area - invitations and groups will lead you to the biggest candidate pool on the site.

Facebook

Many people keep Facebook more personal, but because of the wide population it can be a great source. Keep your profile professional and connect with individuals you’ve met at industry or networking events. Create a page for your organization if one doesn’t already exist. Use targeted ads and 3rd party applications to attract potential applicants to your site.

Twitter

The microblogging site is all about speed and trends. It can go by in a whirl if you’re not comfortable with the platform. Start by making sure that you have a complete profile. Build your followers by following others in your industry. Identify appropriate hashtags to use within your recruitment tweets - these can be keywords, events and Twitter chats. Whatever you do, make your tweets targeted and engaging so that prospective employees will want to hear what you have to say.

Instagram

This photo sharing site is not the first place that recruiters and hiring managers think about when considering their social media recruitment strategy. However, just like Twitter, this site uses hashtags to search information on the site. Sometimes people will include a hashtag about their job or interest. Consider searching for these and connecting with potential candidates.

Pinterest

Like Instagram this site isn’t known for its recruiting potential however it is a great place to start especially when your industry might have a visual component. Some designers will create boards as a virtual portfolio. Others will design a visual resume. You can also create a board to reflect your company and the types of positions you staff which can attract followers.

YouTube

The video site is another place that can become a two way street for recruiting. Businesses can create a channel to promote videos of their company and attract candidates. Develop videos which showcase your corporate culture, have your employees record testimonials about the organization, and provide video newsletters which can hold a candidate’s attention. Search the site for virtual resumes and future industry leaders.

Often, HR software can integrate these online sources into your recruiting processes. From importing resumes from LinkedIn, to assessing your candidates social influence using Klout, social integration in HR software removes the subjectivity from monitoring a candidates social portfolio, allowing recruiters to make the best hires.