Social Recruiting – keep it real.

{ 06/17/2012 @ 11:33 am } · { Candidate Experience, Employer Branding, Recruitment, Social recruiting, Technology }
{ Tags: Employer Branding, Social Media, Social Recruiting, Technology }

As more and more recruiting ‘technology’ for social media comes on-line and everyone becomes distracted by the latest shiny advance, there is a danger that we forget what the primary use of this arena is – to be social.

It’s not just about sharing, linking and searching. There’s engaging and talking. And most importantly, that happens when your audience wants it to. So that isn’t always 9am – 5pm, it’s more than likely 5pm – 9am. There’s no point automating updates – if you’re not around to take advantage of their impact or talk to any interested candidates. That’s the beauty of social media, it doesn’t close when the office does.

Posting (and sharing) jobs through apps can be time-saving but it can also be seen as the most prescriptive (or should that be pre-scripted). Think of all the “I’m Hiring!” and *NEW JOB* tweets that you see around. Surely a more creative and intelligent message will add more credence to your employer brand representation.

And speaking of employer branding. It wasn’t ‘invented’ by the advent of social recruiting. Any good employer brand represented the culture of an organisation, was talked about and encouraged people to join, way before you could Tweet, Like or Pin it.

Much like the Candidate Experience. Now this shouldn’t be confused with User Experience. Having a slick application process certainly makes it a pleasure to apply, but ‘touch points’ on social media say more about you as an employer. Engaging potential employees with conversations (and not just about working at your organisation) pay real Word of Mouth dividends. No applicant spreads the word that everyone should join Company X because their ATS system makes applying so easy.

And finally, for all the sharing content, engaging candidates, etc, etc, let’s not forget the main purpose for all social recruiting.

Ultimately, it’s about attracting and hiring the right people.