The Importance of Social Media in Hiring

Social media is becoming ubiquitous with job searching. 

• 79% of job applicants use social media in their job search.
• 73% of millennials say they’ve found their last position through social media.
• 84% of organizations are now using social media for recruitment efforts. 

Companies looking to remain competitive when it comes to recruiting and hiring the best candidates absolutely must be incorporating social media into their hiring strategies. 

An Additional Glimpse Into Your Job Candidates

An interview is not enough for getting to know a candidate. Sure, it will give you some information about the interviewee, but you can never know whether it was just an act. According to Rosemary Haefner, the chief human resource officer of CareerBuilder, “tools such as Facebook and Twitter enable employers to get a glimpse of who candidates are outside the confines of a resume or cover letter."

While combing through job candidate's personal social media used to be considered unsavory, gate-keeping behavior, many people curate their public Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn profiles to showcase their skillsets and talents, highlight their thoughts and values, and celebrate professional achievements and entrepreneurial endeavors. In some cases, blogs, vlogs, and other created content can be just as valuable as a resume or cover letter in fleshing out everything a candidate could bring to an organization. 

Find Candidates

According to recent statistics, the use of social media for recruiting employees has grown and 84% of organizations recruit candidates on social media. One of the best business platforms that you should consider incorporating into your hiring strategy is LinkedIn. You can use it for recruiting candidates by visiting their profile and reviewing their work experience. Make sure to know all the possibilities that LinkedIn offers and the proper ways to use it in order to make the recruitment process easier and faster.

Create Company Social Media Accounts

Many possible candidates are passive in their job seeking, so you have to make it easier for them to find out that you’re hiring. You can achieve this by creating a profile on social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Tik Tok, YouTube, etc.) where you can post job openings and celebrate your company culture. Check out this advice from the professionals from the Liquid Creativity branding agency in Melbourne for some employer branding social media advice. 

Social media is one big way to increase your organization's applicant traffic. Need more ideas to take your recruiting strategy to the next level? Check out the The HiringThing Guide to Increasing Your Applicant Traffic.

This post was updated on 11/23/2021.

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