Social recruiting

…power or propaganda?

By Adele Williams

The noise around social recruitment methodologies continues, but with mixed reviews as to its success and effectiveness. The question around whether social recruiting is the way of the future has been posed over and over and has remained unanswered for several years now.

In our recent employee survey Dixon Appointments 2013 Victorian Workforce Review which incorporated feedback from active job seekers and permanently employed candidates, the results were clear; social media and networking sites are not primarily where candidates are looking for job opportunities. Even professional networking sites such as LinkedIn, which has experienced huge success and reaches hundreds of millions of users across 200 countries, has limited functionality for a job seeker.

So where do job seekers look?

Resoundingly, candidates still go to traditional job boards where they can access, review, filter and apply for jobs that are best suited to them and their needs. Good candidates are selective and generally only find their needles in a hay stack when they are actually shopping in a haystack; that is, one with lots of hay and a really good filtering mechanism.

But everyone says that social media is the way to go!

Firstly, let me say that a metaphorical ‘tap on the shoulder’ approach through a channel such as LinkedIn will flatter your prospective candidate. However, you may have a harder time selling them on your offer. Why? Because they are not necessarily looking and because the power now sits with them!

Let me explain…

By using a job board, the candidate engages in the process from the minute they hit APPLY. They are eager to please, impress and convince you of their suitability. However, if using a social media channel, the shoe now sits on the other foot.

And the age old adage of WIIFM (what’s in it for me) will need stronger deliberation if you are trying to entice a candidate to your organisation.

Also, you need to ensure that you are not wasting your time chasing candidates who aren’t looking and/or don’t end up being suitable.

Can social media be harnessed?

The trick to ensuring a return on investment is in designing a strategy that gets the best of both worlds: accessing hidden talent who you can proactively approach through social media and networking channels, while still providing a hay stack; that is, the job boards where the majority of the candidate market still goes to look for needles.

Which is better?

A big part of getting it right is being able to decide which avenue will better suit your needs. This means assessing the role and choosing a path.

Is there a good volume of candidates seeking your type of position? If the answer is yes, a traditional job board is probably the best place for you to start; then filter the responses down to the best applicants to screen and interview. If the volume of applications is unmanageable, there may be more cost effective solutions available to you, such as outsourcing the screening and shortlisting – this can save you hours (‘time’ often being the significant investment currency) and thousands of dollars.

If you are seeking niche or very specific skills and the response that has previously resulted from job boards has not been relevant, a LinkedIn strategy might be just what you need.

4 Top Tips for Social Recruiting Success

Whichever path you choose to go, remember that as with most things, a diversified strategy is going to be the most effective.

If you are wading out into the world of social recruitment there are a few top tips for improving your social recruiting strategy that everyone can benefit from, so keep a few things in mind:

• Use it to target skilled, passive candidates (not administration/support staff you need to start NOW).
• Review the candidate’s peer endorsements. No endorsements?? Why not?
• Looking for a niche skill? Find the online community or group dedicated to that area of expertise… trust me, it exists!
• Make sure your LinkedIn company page sends the message you want…candidates are turned off by a poorly designed company LinkedIn page.

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Adele Williams is a Senior Consultant in Dixon Appointments’ Recruitment Team. For further information, contact Adele at awilliams@dixonappointments.com.au  or call 03 9629 9999.