Attract the Nation’s Best Candidates with Our 5-Step Social Recruitment Guide
Sourcing and hiring the right talent is still one of the biggest challenges for Fortune 500 companies and local businesses alike.
Since May 2021, the number of job openings (10.8 million) continues to be almost double that of unemployed workers (5.7 million). This gap is why 45% of recruiters are stressed that there are “not enough qualified candidates” to fill open positions.
This makes it very difficult to meet recruitment goals for specialized positions in the professional services, healthcare, manufacturing, and skilled trades fields—and it’s why 77% of recruiters across industries report having trouble recruiting for full-time positions in the last year.
The persistent labor shortage isn’t just impacting HR—it’s impacting employee morale in other departments, whose workers are “frustrated by staffing shortages and the toll that heavy workloads take on them.” That’s why the U.S. workers (and key decision-makers) recently gave HR departments a “C-” grade on talent acquisition and 75% of workers report feeling “burnt out as a result of staffing shortages impacting their workloads.”
Many companies have responded to this crisis by lowering standards, but this isn’t sustainable. That’s why 49% of HR decision-makers are prioritizing “improving the quality of candidates.” Another 41% prioritize “getting more candidates for each open role.”
It is still a candidate-driven market and will be for the foreseeable future. Companies still need to pay attention to the candidate experience, their employment brand, and the speed of their recruitment process. Terry Terhark, Founder and President, NXTThing RPO
The best recruiters are responding to this new reality by embracing out-of-the-box ways to attract candidates. One of the most effective strategies is using popular social media platforms to attract active and passive candidates.
What is Social Media Recruiting?
Passive candidates are the holy grail of recruitment. This term refers to workers who are currently employed and aren’t looking for a job. They make up 37% of US workers.
Workers under 30 are the most likely to be actively searching for work, while experienced professionals over 40 are the least likely to be active candidates. Workable
They’re often very skilled and have a wealth of experience. But they’re happy with their current employer. This means they aren’t applying for jobs and won’t show up in your stack of resumes.
However, you can still reach these workers—and get them to reach out to you—by following the proven strategies below.
Passive recruiting, also known as headhunting, involves searching for employed workers at the top of their field. If you are doing this headhunting through resume databases or LinkedIn, you’re pursuing them when they might not be ready to talk.
When you create a robust company presence on social media and post content that appeals to target candidates, this strategy convinces them to come to you.
In addition to creating a strong social media presence, you can also embrace the power of paid ads to reach candidates when they actively search for new roles and employers. Otherwise, you’ll miss the best workers when they start Googling salaries, organizational reputations, role comparisons, and other key details.
We’ll talk about capturing them with Google and Bing searches in a future post.
Getting Started with Social Media Recruitment: A 5-Step Guide
We’ll show you exactly how to use social media to attract the right candidates for your needs. Often, this includes passive candidates—those who aren’t applying for jobs but are a perfect fit for your company.
Follow our 5-Step Guide to start attracting the best candidates and outperforming the competition.
Step 1: Identify Your Target Candidate
The first step is to identify your target candidate and build a mock persona. This should include:
- Educational Level
- Career Goals
- Personal Values
- Workplace Pain Points
So, you’ve built out a candidate persona. Now you can customize branding, social media content, and job advertisements to meet their needs. This will help entice qualified candidates and convince your target audience that you’re the right organization for them.
Step 2: Choose a Social Media Platform
While you can find candidates on several popular platforms, LinkedIn is typically the first choice for candidate recruitment.
41% of recruiters say that LinkedIn is their preferred platform for finding workers. Facebook is the top social channel for another 20% of recruiters, with Instagram (11%) and X (Twitter-10%) trailing.
Another advantage of these other social platforms, apart from LinkedIn and a little bit of X (Twitter), is that potential candidates go to them to escape. They do not expect employer messaging there and your message stands out more, making a much bigger impression.
Step 3: Set S.M.A.R.T. Goals
You’ve clearly described your target candidate and have identified the best social channels to reach them. Now, it’s time to set goals for your candidate marketing campaign.
We suggest checking out an insightful article on S.M.A.R.T. goals from our sister brand, AMG Defense Tech. This resource will help you set clear expectations for your recruiting and marketing teams. Make sure that your goals are:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Attainable
- Relevant
- Time-Bound
If you follow each of these steps, you’ll set your recruiting team up for success.
Step 4: Create Your Messaging
Combine your candidate personas with your internal S.M.A.R.T. goals. Then, create messaging that resonates with workers and gets results. We encourage companies to create content that focuses on their target audience’s personal values and pain points.
For many workers in the Gen Z and Millennial generations, this often means crafting content that highlights the social good of this work.
Candidates love hearing how potential employers are:
- Developing products that transform the world
- Prioritizing their employees and building a unique culture
- Giving back to their local community and those in need
You can also focus on career progression, work-life balance, and diversity/inclusion.
Step 5: Develop a Social Media Following
Once you’ve created your messaging, it’s time to put all your work into practice. You can start by posting relevant content 2-3 times a week on your social channels, which will give you maximum impact and takes advantage of social media algorithms.
You can still make an impact with a once-a-week cadence, but keep in mind that most social media posts only achieve a 2-5% engagement rate from followers, on average.
Make sure to highlight:
- Employee Accomplishments
- Corporate & Non-Profit Partnerships
- Employee Testimonials
- Team-Building Sessions
- Company Events
- Job Opportunities
You’ll also want to make sure you have a strong company website. Interested candidates will visit this site after exploring your social media.
The website should reinforce the messaging from your social media team. You should also combine this messaging with original content like blog articles, workplace spotlights, and employee testimonials that underscore your expertise. The candidate wants to feel they are joining a leader in their field.
Over time you can optimize content through social analytics. Pay special attention to what content gets the most engagement. You’ll also want to analyze which posting days/times are best and which content attracts the right type of candidates.
Advance Recruitment Can Accelerate Social Recruiting Success
With this 5-Step Strategy in place, you’ll quickly begin to attack hiring quotas. Your team can also show stakeholders why social recruitment is a key to long-term success.
Want to get beyond your followers? A paid campaign from a qualified agency can target the specific personas you have identified for these roles. Contact Advance Recruitment today and learn how our experienced recruitment leaders can help you outshine the competition on social media and source the right candidates.
