Social Recruiting- adding a new dimension to the Hiring process

You must have come across the word- Social Recruiting in recent times. How many times have you googled it? Did you get the right answer? Here, we'll deconstruct this process for better understanding and gradual implementation. 

To start off with, what does it really mean, well Social Recruiting is nothing but the new-age process adopted by companies and recruiters to source and recruit candidates for employment, using social media sites like LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. 

As per a survey carried out by a leading firm in the year 2009, more than 70% of the hires were made through Internet. Print has lost its relevancy and currently accounts for only 15% of all hires, followed by Employment agencies and others. With more than 2/3rd of the world’s internet population visiting social networking sites every day, it makes it one of the most popular online activities (even ahead of Email!). And with the exponential growth of ‘social networkers’ on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, et cetera, recruiting via social media is a great option.

Accenture was in the news recently, it has plans to recruit 50,000 people this year, with 40% sourced through social media and websites such as Twitter and LinkedIn. Another big player- Deloitte(in the Netherlands) is using social media to improve its recruitment process and websites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, all have parts to play.

Lets talk about Recruiters or Headhunters first. Their prime task is to ‘attract’ the candidates with the help of these social platforms. Gone are the days when a company solely depended on their website and other job boards. Biggies like Google, Microsoft may be a little relaxed when it comes to social recruiting but for SMEs and the Not-so-Biggies, Social media is the perfect channel for hiring. Recruiters need to have a complete social footprint to ensure job seekers find them. They should also integrate social media into their websites and use these social networks as traffic drivers to them.

The next step involves the screening of the candidates and a background check. Sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter can be used extensively to attract the best of talent and screen them. On Facebook, the employers can extend their recruitment brand as well as have two-way conversations. Coming to LinkedIn, the companies can set up a corporate profile page and use an RSS feed to list the vacancies. Vacancies can also be posted in User groups. The use of Hash tags and lists in Twitter make it another possible option for Employers. YouTube is a difficult option but if done right, the employers can get masses to their doorstep. It can help immensely towards Brand building and job offering.

We recommend the following tools to Recruiters- LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Jobvite, Jobmagic, HirePlug, Work for Us, Zubed Jobs and a few more that can help recruiters track down the best of talent.

The recruiters need to remember that social media will eventually become intrinsically linked to their hiring strategy as well as their brand.

Now, coming to Jobseekers; Companies are increasingly using Social Recruiting in their hiring process and it pays well to get a good understanding of that process which can be used to the advantage of the Job seekers. The job seekers can position themselves better to be discovered by companies this way. They need to make sure they don’t post any inappropriate content on social networking portals. Bitching about your peers, Boss, co-workers, your organization can have a perilous impact on your social as well as professional life. In recent times, cricketers Kevin Pietersen, Dmitri Mascarenhas, Phil Hughes were severely reprimanded for their untimely outbursts on Twitter.

Bickering on social networks can even lead to loss of jobs as in some cases. At the same time, it may also affect your future prospects. So, one needs to be extra careful with what he posts on these sites.

To increase your chance of ‘being seen’ on social networks, you need to Position yourself well by posting relevant, informative content through blogs, content sharing and discussions. Always look to make new and useful contacts who’ll be helpful in your future undertakings. Initiate and participate in conversations to enhance your knowledge and establish a healthy relationship with your co-networkers.

We recommend the following social platforms that can help job seekers in their quest-  LinkedIn, Xing, Facebook, Viadeo, Twitter, Ning and Koda

And now to close it off, I’d like to say that Social media is just a new means for recruiters, but the fundamental process of effective communication and building relationships with the candidates remains the same.