Hireforce has broken down the process of building a social media recruitment strategy into 7 simple steps for easy follow-up. By reading this article, you will learn how to choose the right social media platform, target the right candidates, and successfully communicate with them.
What is the role of social media?
Social media has become an indispensable part of daily life, especially in online communication. Platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram have billions of users, indicating the importance of paying attention to these platforms.
Is a social media recruitment strategy really necessary?
One of the common and useful activities you can carry out through social media is recruiting candidates. Using social media for recruitment, also known as social recruiting, is one of the most effective recruitment marketing strategies.
Social media is a tool that candidates frequently use to search for jobs compared to other methods. According to a recent survey by LinkedIn, half of job seekers follow companies on social media to stay updated on job opportunities.
Every company has positions to fill for various reasons, and your company is no exception. So why not utilize social media to find candidates and promote your company's employer brand?
In this article, Hireforce will explore some steps that can help you attract suitable candidates and recruit top talent quickly.
7 Steps to Successful Social Media Recruitment Strategy
We've broken down the complex process of building a social media recruitment strategy into 7 easy-to-follow steps for you:
Step 1: Choose Appropriate Platforms Social media comprises various groups and serves different purposes. Some users engage for personal communication and staying in touch with friends or family, while others use it for B2B networking, corporate blogging, or other activities.
Selecting the right platform that aligns with your company's industry and job description is crucial. For instance, you might seek candidates for a Content Manager position through Facebook, but you're likely to find more suitable talent on LinkedIn.
The same principle applies to the content groups you're about to post. Blog-style posts perform better on LinkedIn than on Twitter or Instagram. Identify your expectations and choose one (or multiple) platforms that suit your company's industry trends.
Step 2: Target Specific Candidates Finding candidates isn't as simple as it seems. You may have incredibly attractive job advertisements, but if you target the wrong market, no one will apply. Ensure you have a clear understanding of the candidate profile you want to attract.
Are you seeking recent graduates, highly experienced professionals, or senior-level candidates? Are there any specific requirements like work ethics, job experience, family status, etc.? These are critical questions to help you find the right candidates your company needs.
To save time, you can create a template candidate profile and focus your entire recruitment campaign on it. Inappropriate candidates will proactively refrain from applying, while encouraging suitable candidates to submit their resumes.
Step 3: Create a Content Calendar Persistence and patience are key to attracting quality candidates. Ensure you've created recruitment content for the upcoming weeks.
You can automate the posting of this content on social media platforms by scheduling posts. Articles will be automatically posted at your request, allowing you to focus on evaluating data and creating subsequent content.
The more frequently you post, the higher the chance of reaching candidates. However, avoid posting too much similar or low-quality content. Excessive postings, even if they're useful content, can label your page as "spam."
Step 4: Encourage Interaction Call to Action (CTA) plays a crucial role in social media recruitment. While job-seeking candidates may automatically engage with interesting posts, it's essential to ensure this interaction happens. Include encouraging, empathetic messages in your recruitment posts.
Content such as "register today - change your future" should be included in your social media posts. These contents are easily received, encouraging candidates to consider and apply.
If you're looking for freelancers or digital nomads, consider rewriting content in the local language to enhance effectiveness. Learn about major translation companies online and seek the help of a professional translator. If your target audience is in Vietnam, consider hiring a Vietnamese translator or a recruitment company in Vietnam.
Step 5: Set Guidelines and Requirements Before posting anything, define detailed application processes in your job descriptions (JD).
Regarding guidelines and requirements, social media recruitment strategies don't differ much from traditional recruitment. You need to establish regulations regarding format, documents, and profiles for applying candidates.
Don't let everything happen naturally, and don't expect all applications to comply with your guidelines. Those who don't adhere to the guidelines may continue doing so if you accept it. Ensure you aim to find professional colleagues similar to your expectations in the future.
Step 6: Communicate via Social Media The essence of social media is direct communication. Social media pages act as customer support channels - informal, unorthodox contacts with potential candidates.
Interested parties may inquire about job positions, the company, or the recruitment process. Instruct your company's social media manager to respond to all recruitment-related inquiries.
Don't ignore these messages, as it will negatively impact your company's ranking and visibility. Websites like Facebook and Twitter prefer to display pages that regularly respond to private messages over those that don't. Show goodwill by using your company's identity to respond promptly to candidates' inquiries, even those unrelated.
Communication via social media may be straightforward, but to demonstrate professionalism, consistent employer brand image, company values, and culture, Hireforce encourages you to communicate with candidates based on your company's identity rather than personal ones.
Step 7: Don't Keep Candidates Waiting Social media platforms encourage quick response times and prompt information delivery. Adhere to this principle if you intend to use social media for recruitment.
Once resumes are submitted, reach out to candidates as soon as possible. If nothing else, set up automated notifications to ensure candidates have a perfect experience.
Your company's reputation can suffer if you neglect messages, especially job-related ones. Anyone who sends you a resume is in desperate need of a job. Show them the respect they deserve by responding to their inquiries or scheduling interviews as soon as possible to avoid a negative experience for the candidates.
Repeat and Continue
Once established as a reliable recruitment source on social media, candidates will be more open to exploring job opportunities at your company. Create guidelines to attract followers' attention to job-related posts. Gradually, you'll build a natural following that you can use to promote not only job openings but also other related products and news.
