Bigger Ponds and Better Nets

From personal connections to professional networking, social media has changed how we interact with the world. More and more, social media has become an essential tool for staffing our businesses, as well. 

While LinkedIn is the social media platform traditionally associated with work-related content, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are also increasingly used for recruitment efforts. From sourcing the ideal candidates to screening potential new hires, these social networking sites provide powerful ways for companies to attract and retain the right people.

Finding Workers via Social Media

A wider net with better accuracy
One of social media’s most obvious staffing uses is sourcing potential employees. Social media channels like LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter allow companies to reach a much wider pool of potential candidates than traditional recruiting methods like job boards and internal postings.

In 2023, Facebook will have over 2.9 billion users. That vast pool of potential employees, combined with Facebook’s ability to target ads by demographics, location, and interests, gives you a huge pond from which to fish with a very accurate net.

For example, rather than the shotgun approach of posting a job ad across all of Calgary and hoping it will land with the right candidates, people tasked with talent acquisition can post a Facebook ad that’s shown only to people who reside in the SW quadrant of the city. Or they can get even more specific and show their ads only to people aged 18-35 who live in Calgary’s Beltline neighbourhood and belong to the interest group Forklift Drivers.

Building the brand
Your reputation as an employer goes a long way in influencing whether job seekers want to work for you. By showcasing your company culture, values, and mission, you can convey the benefits of a job with your organization far better than a help-wanted ad ever could.

Savvy HR professionals are now using social media to polish their employer brand by publicizing fun company events like picnics and barbecues, celebrating employee achievements, drawing attention to the company’s values and charitable endeavours, and promoting internal opportunities. All of this has a positive influence on the company culture, making these workplaces more attractive to potential candidates.

Passive candidates
Active job seekers are not the only people on social media. Some of the best job candidates are currently employed and not actively hunting for a new job… but might be interested in a new opportunity if the right fit comes along. A strong social media presence can put your opportunity in front of new talent that isn’t visiting websites typically associated with a job search.

Employee referrals
Social media sites make it easy for your current employees to share opportunities with their network of friends, family, and acquaintances. And since these potential candidates are known to your employees, there is an increased likelihood they will be a good fit for your organization.

Finding the Right Fit
Finding employees who are a good fit with a company’s culture is a key aspect of building a cohesive workforce and retaining talent. A person’s social media profile gives a glimpse into someone’s personality, values, and interests, which can help determine whether a job seeker will align with your company’s values.
Care should be taken when using social networks for this purpose, though – there is the potential to let unconscious biases influence the hiring process. Moreover, the persona people portray on social media often differs widely from the person they are in the workplace.

If You Build It, They Will Come
While it’s now commonplace for staffing professionals to use existing social media platforms, some innovative staffing agencies are going one step further and building social media components into their own applications. Digital staffing agency, Jombone, is one such innovator.

“Users of Jombone can leverage social media right within our app to innovate the job application process”, says Jombone Product Owner, Nikhil Verma. “Candidates can ‘like’ jobs, follow companies, and share jobs via Jombone to traditional social media like Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, and others.”

More than just integrating with existing social media platforms, Jombone has its own built-in social networking capabilities.

“Jombone users can network amongst themselves, send connection requests, send instant messages to employers, create communities of like-minded people with similar skillsets, preferences, and interests, and create video profiles to advertise their skills, education, and work experience to prospective employers”, Verma says. “It’s like LinkedIn for the blue-collar worker.”

The Social Media TLDR

Not too long ago, recruiters had to cast their nets blindly and hope qualified candidates would find their way into them. In the age of social media, they can now go right to where the fish are and target them with precision.

With the right social media recruitment strategy and an ethical approach, social media can be a game-changer for companies looking to stay competitive in today’s job market. Social hiring offers HR departments a powerful tool for finding, evaluating, and hiring top talent. 

And that’s a whole other kettle of fish.