A study on the role of social media as a tool for talent acquisition and

employee engagement.
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The advent of technology has revolutionized the way business is conducted. While their
maybe negatives, it is unquestionable that social media is part of our daily lives. Some
may consider the use of social media by potential employers as an invasion of privacy; it
can be further fine tuned and made into a tool that can bring the right talent for the
organization. Especially in the fields of creative arts, marketing, designing and content
writing, social media can act as a benchmark to cull out the right candidates for the job.
This study seeks to learn more about how social media can be used as a source to find the
right people for the organization. How effectively social media can be used to recruit
talent? And what are the areas or things that have to be avoided by potential employers
when using social media as a tool of recruitment.

Key Words; Social Media, Technology, Recruitment.

 A Study on Social Media as a tool for talent acquisition

The continuous change that occurs in technology has changed the way of business. More
possibilities are present in organization, planning and development. And this holds truer
for human resource management. The time from application to the employee retiring or
leaving the organization can be tracked and analyzed with technology.

Social Media is a form of communication that helps in better social interaction and aids
in the fast movement of information throughout the world. Using this particular tool of
technology to creates a more smooth flow of information when it comes to finding the
right people for a given job role.

Social Media is the biggest hub for millennial’s and Gen Z. There are societies and
communities online, where people with similar interests, career goals and arrears of
interest meet together and discuss their ideas. Newspapers which are the premier avenue
for job advertisements are slowing dying out. People prefer to read up the latest news
online rather than look at papers or other sources, most fresher’s use online websites and
portals to apply for jobs.

On an average a study found that most millennial’s have a minimum of five accounts on
various social media, some even have ones particularly for work and for personal life.
There are social media platforms that cater to a particular kind of work profile, for visual
appeal like photography and image heavy work of advertisements Instagram is a good
avenue. For something that requires bite size information that can reach multiple
audiences twitter is a good platform, and if there is a need for a platform with group
discussions and forums, facebook provides overall information on a subject. Linkdn is
one of the largest social media for all kinds of kinds of job related trivia; it provides a
good source for technical and specialty emphasized information about a potential
candidate.

Talent Acquisition is one of the most important functions of any human resource
department. Getting the right person for the job at the right time, and deciding on their
scales so they remain in the organization is of magnitude importance. Sometimes,
advertisements for jobs are missed when it comes to looking at newspapers and internet
portals, when you need more specialized employees, talent acquisitions becomes more
complicated, using social media properly reduces the difficulty involved in such a job.

Review of literature
Social networks offer a powerful tool for recruiters to reach a pool of qualified candidates
that they might not otherwise be able to reach. Social media is here to stay and employers
can gain a significant advantage by adopting hiring methods that have a social media
element. There is no doubt that social media has improved the recruitment process by
making it more open and democratic; increasing the visible talent pool from which to
engage and recruit.

Pavla(2018) in their study says that as a HR professional, social media can never be
ignored, it has seeped into every part of an employee’s lives, social media gives an idea

How to recruit on social media

Every company should develop its own unique social media recruiting strategy. Here are
a few basic ideas your company can use to get started:

 Participate in the right conversations. The key to recruiting on social media is

to cut through the noise and find the right people. Being active in LinkedIn groups
and using hashtags are great ways to get your job openings in front of candidates
you want to apply. For example, #devjobs or #NYChiring can help you reach the
right candidates on Twitter.
 Take a soft approach and promote your culture. Social media recruiting goes
beyond posting open roles from company accounts. You should also share content
that shows your company is a great place to work so you can organically attract
candidates. People love talking about companies with unique cultures so this type
of content often gets a lot of shares.
 Don’t overlook the niche networks. Sure, everyone and their parents are on
Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter these days. But you can find specific candidates
by perusing niche networks and forums. For example, developers are sharing
knowledge on GitHub and StackOverflow. Marketers are bouncing ideas off each
other on Moz and Warrior Forum. And your next great leader may have just
provided a thought-provoking answer on Quora.
 Involve every employee. You likely have some social media power users in your
workplace. Encourage your entire staff to share openings and, in general, be an
evangelist for your brand on social media. Some companies have strict social
media rules but allowing your employees to talk about their work experiences in a
responsible manner can pique the curiosity of a potential candidate.  
 Help your recruiters grow a social media presence. Corporate accounts can
only accomplish so much. Individual recruiters can make person-to-person
connections with candidates but should first know social media best practices and
use their accounts on a regular basis.

LinkedIn recruiting tips

Out of all the social media networks, LinkedIn is of course the best one for recruiting.
Nearly everyone with an established career has a profile on the “World’s Largest
Professional Network.”
You can use the site to attract active candidates and connect with passive ones. Here are a
few tips for getting started at LinkedIn recruiting.

 Fully complete your brand page. A completed company page shows up in

LinkedIn search results and gives you the opportunity to showcase your company
culture. Job searchers will find the page, see your openings and learn everything
they need to know about your organization.
 Use filters to find the right candidates. Since there are so many people on
LinkedIn,  recruiters are able to use filters to find potential candidates. For
example, you can search by location, current and past company, years of
experience, and a number of other factors that help you zero-in on candidates who
check all the boxes.
 Reach out with a personal touch. Experienced and talented people hear from a
lot of recruiters on LinkedIn. Don’t copy and paste the same message to everyone
you try to connect with. Instead mention what about the candidate caught your
attention and makes you think they would be a good fit for your company.

The benefits of social media recruiting

The idea businesses can recruit and hire using social media is no longer a gimmick. It’s
now a vital channel for sourcing candidates and promoting company culture. Here are
some benefits of using social media in your recruiting efforts:

 Reach the elusive passive candidate. Social media is the best way to find and
connect with passive candidates. LinkedIn is essentially a directory of
professionals organized by industry, company, job title and a number of other
categories.
 See talent and passion firsthand. Many people use social media to make it
known they love their career. You can find passionate people and learn what
amazing work they’ve done and creative ideas they have.
 Get resumes details without a resume. On LinkedIn, and to some extent
Facebook, you can view a person’s complete work and education history. You’ll
know if a candidate has the experience the role calls for before you reach out to
them.
 Find a great culture fit. Social media allows you to learn what a person’s
hobbies are and even conclude what sort of personality they have. You can find
candidates who are skilled and will also be a good fit for your workplace.
 Filter out bad candidates. Some people behave poorly on social media. You can
determine if a potential candidate has a bad attitude by seeing what they share
online.
 Save money. Unless you promote job openings through paid campaigns, social
media recruiting is completely free.

Create a social media recruiting strategy

What works for one company, doesn’t always work for the next. Create a social media
recruiting strategy that makes sense for your company and the roles you’re hiring for.
Make it an extension of your broader recruiting and social media strategies so your entire
company continues to operate like a well-oiled machine.

Bibiligraphy
1. https://recruiterbox.com/business-guides/recruiting-and-hiring/use-social-media-
recruit-hire
2.