Social Media Recruiting and Talent Search

A Job Agency Article by Dougles Chan – The Recruitment Guru

It is definitely not an exaggeration if it is said that more and more companies are using social media for getting the best talent possible. Social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter are used by most of the companies. In fact it can be said that there are very few companies that do not use LinkedIn or Facebook for their recruitment.

The question that now arises is why has it become so important for the companies to hire talent through social media platforms? One can say that the main reason for this is the change in the thought process of the new generation. This generation communicates more via internet than through any other medium and hence the recruiters are also using this means to get people for their companies. But, the most important thing to keep in mind for both the job seeker and the recruiter is to make sure they present themselves well so that both the parties are impressed with the other. Also, if either of them does not present themselves well, there are chances of them going unnoticed.

When looking from the recruiter’s point of view, social media recruiting and talent search are interrelated in many cases. But, it is also understood that social media recruiting does not work in every area. The most popular recruits through social media platforms are for Information Technology and Media professionals. The reason for this can also be that these people understand internet and communicating online much better than anyone else. This would not be the case in the other areas like finance or operations but, the effectiveness of using social media cannot be judged for these areas without testing it out.

The major advantages of suing social media for recruitment are its undeniable ability to reach out to millions of internet users in a span of just few seconds. The cost of reaching out to these millions is also very less or sometimes there would not even be a cost involved. Companies that do not get good talent through social media are those who just post the vacancies but do nothing further to that like interacting and being active. They use the social media as a job posting directory and hence would not be able to get good recruits.

After announcing the vacancy it is important for the company to be active and interact with the users in some way or other. More information about the company should be given as this helps in creating an interest among the job seekers. Informing about the job vacancies and no further interaction is only as good as posting a newspaper advertisement.

The recruiting companies have realized that talent search and social media are very much associated with each other and this is something no recruiter can avoid no matter how much he tries. Social media in fact helps the recruiting companies identify the right kind of talent who would suit the organizations work culture and vice versa and this definitely the most important step in recruitment.