Our company has invested heavily in social media over the past 12 months in both time and money. We have redesigned our website, set up both Twitter and LinkedIn accounts and built a Facebook page. I have also attended webinars and workshops on how to create these sites and engage with our “online communities” and “passive candidates”. All of which has made me think, are our candidates & clients using social media to find their next job or are recruitment companies ahead of the game with social media recruitment?
Social Media is the “buzz” in recruitment right now; if you listen to the hype, it’s going to mean the end of job boards like Seek; recruitment companies will become non-existent as internal recruiters pick up on social media
and resumes will become redundant with the use of LinkedIn profiles….. But isn’t recruitment supposed to be more than just sourcing and flicking resumes to our clients? Surely social media will only help open the doors to the passive candidate market for recruitment companies rather than replace agencies all together?
I agree with most of this in theory and already other countries like the United Kingdom and the United States are having massive success with using social media for recruitment. You just have to look at the numbers; millions of people are using sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn every day, connecting with people, keeping in touch with family and friends and reaching out to new and prospective business contacts. But are they using social media for their job search?
The biggest road block we have found while trying to implement our social media strategy is a lack of engagement from our followers. We have been able to build up a solid base for our “online communities” however getting them to interact with us has been near impossible. We would love to know what information our followers want to see, what improvements we could make; in both our service and information provided, but a lot of the time our posts are left unanswered. This has left me thinking…. are our followers ready to engage? Are they just not interested in the information we are providing? Or are they still yet to fully accept social media recruitment?
As the world’s financial pressures are causing businesses to close up shop, let go of staff and freeze headcounts again, the recruitment industry will need to look at new ways to attract top talent in a flooded candidate market. Social media can be a cheaper alternative to newspaper or job board advertising, enabling recruiters to headhunt star talent and engage with passive candidates who might not be necessarily active in the job market.
More and more recruitment companies are becoming sold on the fact that social media is the future of recruitment and job searching. Maybe it’s time we start getting our LinkedIn profiles up to date, start following reputable recruitment companies on Facebook and twitter, and get ourselves out there. You never know who might come and tap you on the shoulder.
So, will you be using social media to find your next job?
Nyssa Hurt – Corporate Services Manager