Posted on 1st March 2019 by Caitlin Ielasi
Almost eight in ten people are now use social media in Australia.
It is pivotal for Employers to incorporate social media into hiring processes or you could be missing out on reaching potential candidates. Not only is social media useful for employers but can be incredibly helpful to job seekers.
(Sensis 2018)
For the Employer
Utilising social media as a recruitment tool is not only cost-effective but brings about a new way of hiring.
Using these tools can be effective in gaining an insight into how a prospective employee presents themselves in an online space. Although do not mistake this tool as a medium for 'professional screening'. Judge prospective employees’ suitability on their current and previous industry experience. Social media does not portray an accurate representation of 'who' an individual is. If you think they may be suitable and conduct themselves in a professional manner.
Top Social Media Recruitment Tips
- Promote your job opening on all social media channels for maximum reach. Don’t overload audiences with information, you want to grab their attention and gain a click-through. A click-through is where you direct audiences to a destination of your choosing. In recruitment, direct your audience to where you want a candidate to apply.
- Utilise your networks! LinkedIn is a great way to connect with people who are in a diverse range of employment industries by using a keyword search. Active job seekers often display in their profiles whether or not they are open to employment opportunities. Those who aren’t may know someone that is! Advertise your role, you never know who may see it!
- Join Groups! There are many employment groups created for those who are looking for and advertising employment. The benefit of groups is having access to a targeted audience, unlike general posts which go to a global audience. Be careful though, many groups have strict rules about brand promotion. Advertise a job, not your company as a whole.
For Candidates
Gone are the days where the newspaper classifieds were one of the few ways to seek employment, we now have the wide world web and social media. However, when using social media there are some contributing factors that don’t always help candidates with maintaining or gaining employment.
Top Tips
- Set your Facebook and Instagram profiles to private or utilise the filter audience tool (only for Facebook). This well help! Social media is a timeline of events that feature photos, status updates and content that isn’t always work appropriate. If you do want to showcase your profiles to the general public, be mindful of who may be looking and how it will affect your employment.
- Up to date & key information. Specifically, on LinkedIn, Seek Profile or any portfolio profiles you may have it is important that information is consistent, up to date and relevant. Make it match your CV or vice versa. It will also be helpful to create a mission statement that is indicative of your career goals for example, 'Recent Law Graduate of Adelaide University, seeking full-time employment in Family Law' or state your current position, 'Senior Marketing Manager at the Guardian Australia'. Online profiles operate using keywords, therefore having your profiles in tip-top shape will make you appear more visible to recruiters.
- Utilise social media to gain insights into prospective companies. Has a prospective employer released information specific to what they are looking for in a new hire? Have they listed their company culture or other key information? Researching and doing your due diligence may give you an edge and impress your future employer.