Social Media Recruiting

Recruiting – it’s a difficult topic for applicants as well as for employers who are looking for qualified staff. What is known as the ‘war for talent’ has gone social and is now increasingly important. Both companies and applicants recognize the effectiveness of social recruiting. Furthermore companies benefit in long term of measures for social recruiting regarding employer branding and brand awareness. So it is not surprising that social media channels like LinkedIn and the German alternative Xing experience a growth of participants. LinkedIn currently has about 350 million members worldwide. In the beginning of 2015 LinkedIn stated that members in German speaking countries exceeded 6 million. However, in Germany Xing outperforms LinkedIn with currently about 9 million users. No matter which social media platform will win the race, it shows that social recruiting is a trend which needs to be observed.

Social Media Recruiting for B2B companies

Especially for B2B companies social recruiting offers great opportunities. Graduates often are more aware of B2C companies than of B2B enterprises. Sometimes even the business model, products or services need to be explained. Hence, social media offers the possibility to not only address your target group specifically but also your potential employees. They have the chance to get to know your business and your corporate culture. The “war for talents” is on again so firms have to apply to employees. Applicants then can decide if they fit into your company. Your company benefits by better ways of filtering out suitable candidates. Social media recruiting is quickly advancing. A study by Jobvite shows that social media recruiting is gaining in importance and offers great opportunities for companies. This is in congruence with results of the yearly study concerning social media for B2B companies by “Erster Arbeitskreis Social Media in der B2B-Kommunikation” founded by Jacqueline Althaller. Results show that business related platforms gain importance and social recruiting is one of the most significant topics that companies want to address in the future.

Social recruiting – what to consider

• See the recruiting process as two way process. Don’t think only about how to get good applicants, but think also about what to offer candidates to promote your company
• Use your company’s profile to tell a story about your company. Show more than just information, for example your corporate culture. “Southerly“ show interesting insights and best practices on how to achieve that.
• Try to use the application process as a starting point for your general social media presence. Engage your newly hired employees to share their experiences and to act as your company’s testimonial.
• Employer branding is best integrated in your overall corporate strategy. Think about what you want to tell about your company and be aware that out of every recruiting process emerge winners and losers. Make sure that you are prepared for negative statements by rejected applicants.
• Think further. Social recruiting is only the first step. The next step is to optimize your recruiting for mobile devices because mobile is the place where many of the social media activities take place.

Social Media Recruiting changes the way of hiring and helps to find qualified employees. The only thing that is left for us is to wish you:
Happy Hiring!

By Manuela Nikui