Recruiting via Social Media

Recruiters need to think like marketers. All talent is not the same and you won't find them in the same place. Segment talent, target your audience, and put together a comprehensive marketing campaign. The great thing about "social activities" is we can go where the best hang out. It's easy to identify thought leaders . . . and even easier to approach them through conversation. LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter . . . all have their purpose but still very broad. Be specific . . . who is your audience and where do they live online . . . join in the conversation . . . id the best.

It's all in the way you use it. The use of social media in active or targeted searches is very effective. Sites such as LinkedIn, Plaxo and others provide excellent candidate profiles from which to search. Using social media for passive recruiting-- asking interested and available candidates to come to you--will generally lead to greater quantity but the same quality as more traditional methods of recruitment.

I agree with Nik. Social networks like Facebook or Twitter are to informal to be a sure place to find candidates. On the other hand, used in the right way, they can give some useful information.

@Jo, in my experience all Facebook and Twitter lead to is high-volume and low-quality referrals, and bring more work than they bring reward.

A recruitment strategy is about tailoring the fastest possible route to a reasonable number of suitable applicants, and Linkedin is built for that, yes there is a "red light district" feel to it, in that everyone is touting their wares, but that's fine - it is a professional recruiting tool.

A side note . . .

Monster . . . Craigs List . . . all serve a purpose. If you are looking to fill turnover positions and need a huge recruitment pipeline this might be the right answer.

If your looking for an Open Source developer Twitter or Buzz might be just the place but I'd follow O'Reilly Media is doing.

If your looking for a Sr. level HR strategist, follow conversations in HCI community.

The point . . . still the same . . . go to where your audience lives . . . in person or online.

Hv seen lately job postings by Google, Roche, Vodaphone. I am sure they know what they are doing, and definitely they use all possible channels for attracting as many good candidates as possible.

The use of social media within the recruiting space is definetly a hot topic and you will more than likely get a different answer from every recruitment professional in the field.

My experience is that you need to tailor the medium used to the need of the role. In other words, there isn't a one size fits all social media tool out there. The important thing is to be familiar and versed in the tools available and be wise in how you utilize them to advance your staffing goals.

Just like we used to evaluate which paper or journal to place an ad in, the same is true for social media. While I have had the best success with LinkedIn, I have also made some interesting connections for a couple of IT jobs on Twitter. That being said, there are still a number of roles that we recruit for that aren't enhanced by the use of social media, so we don't.

I have challenged my team to be familiar with the technologies available to them, and to be creative in getting the word about our organization and the opportunities we have. That is key...the right tools for the right job should just follow from there.

Some great points here. LinkedIn groups are a great source, but you have to evaluate the ROI where “I” is time. It can take a significant amount of time to find and participate in the right groups for your target audience.

Facebook, from our experience, is not a great place to find candidates (yet) but it is a place you can build brand awareness which can lead in the long term to more candidates.

We have had mixed results with Twitter. Like Facebook it helps build brand awareness but people have not adopted it yet as a place to look for jobs and as someone said, without people it ain’t social.

To your quality question, Social Media Recruiting returns a slightly higher quality of candidate in my opinion but perhaps the best part is that unlike the job boards, there is not a flood of resumes to plow through to get to those higher quality candidates. Also from a cost perspective at least you are not paying the job boards for IP (a resume) that they got for free.

It is hard to say where Social Media Recruiting will lead but it is definitely changing the game.

While I am keeping my options open, my preference is to use (targeted) job boards. I use Craig's list a lot for basic admin or trade jobs and have been extremely pleased with the response and the candidates.

It makes my head dizzy to even think about trying to use Twitter or Facebook for recruiting (too much stuff/junk). Would consider LinkedIn, but have not used it for recruiting so far. Perhaps when the market opens up a bit more.

Absolutely! To me it's the comparison of marketing. The (social media) venue is about branding oneself. One is visible to the whole world so it matters what a person puts on their profile. Generally speaking, social media didn't start out being about job search, but it removed the limitations for exploring opportunities for those who are employed, "discreetly". This is where social media has excelled and what makes it such a valuable recruiting tool!

My current employer contacted me through Linkedin and I'm so happy I made the switch.

That being said I think using social networks you need to be very considerate of the person you're pursuing. It would be pretty easy for people to have an interview and then say something about it on twitter (great interview with @usernamehere). That could compromise their current position.

I think LinkedIn and Focus are two great networks to find candidates. They are both PROFESSIONAL networks that concentrate in business, technology, and other specific industries. Where as Facebook and Twitter are more social networks meaning, friends, socializing, and off topic conversations. I personally, feel that twitter is a waste of time and does nothing for your business besides procrastinating and the occasional click. Stay to job boards, it's there for one reason and that's to advertise and find people employment.