Topic 5

Passage A

8 Advantages of Using Social Media

in Your Recruitment Advertising Strategy
Written by Marquis Matson
Aug. 15, 2018

1. Increases of job visibility

Today, practically every ideal candidate you could consider for any position at your company is
on social media. Facebook enjoys an active user base of over 2.19 billion. Twitter is popular for
the ability to host job search chats and many millennials and Generation X demographic are
active users of LinkedIn as a job hunting platform.
Wherever you look, you see social networks serving as incredible platforms for identifying and
recruiting talented individuals to work for your clients. Certainly, few other platforms can reach
as many people as social media, meaning that you are likely to get the caliber of talent other
platforms can hardly match.

2. Higher quality candidates

Self-reported statistics from many companies show that they get high quality candidates
whenever they recruit via social networking sites. One big reason why this is the case is because
most people you will find on social media are tech-savvy, a fundamental requirement to land any
job in today’s marketplace.
Additionally, they are likely to already be in the know regarding emerging business trends,
adding to the skills they bring to the table. What’s more, if you choose to use your employees to
announce new openings at your company via social media, chances are that the people you will
hire will not only stay longer at your company, they will also be more productive than those you
would hire through other platforms.
3. Better employer brand awareness
Social recruiting is effective, not just in finding you the ideal candidate, but also in increasing the
visibility of your brand. By advertising new positions on social media, you strengthen your brand
and create some level of trust among potential employees.
People view brands that have a strong social media presence as more trustworthy. Therefore, it
would serve your business well to establish a robust social media presence, not just because you
want to find good employees, but also because doing so will build trust among potential
customers as well as make it a coveted place to work.

4. Reducing cost of hire

Recruiting can be a very expensive undertaking. Social recruiting is cheaper, but can still cost
you significant amounts of money. All the same, the value you get from the hires you find via
social networking platforms makes this approach extremely cheap.
Without a doubt, recruitment costs via social media are almost always, lower than those of other
methods. A simple Facebook ad can for instance get you over two times more visibility than the
traditional recruitment methods like classified ads in the dailies and job boards.

5. Opening the door to engagement

Imagine a brand that has taken its time to grow its audience, even using tools like Growr to
organically grow on social media, but finds itself struggling to engage with the followers it has
gathered. Such a brand can benefit from a social media post of a job opening.
As interested individuals seek out more information regarding the job opportunity, your social
media page gets more engagement. Some interested parties will post on the comments section,
others will share with their friends and followers, while others will send you a direct message to
your inbox.
These conversations keep your page active and give you the opportunity to engage with potential
employees. Some of these are people who would never have applied for a job at your company
had you used any other recruitment platform.
Recruiters who know how to make the most of the recruitment opportunities available on social
media will tell you that some of these social conversations are better than one-on-one interviews.
[…]
6. Allowing you to target your vacancies more
Social recruitment comes with incredible ability to laser-target certain groups of people for the
available vacancies. On LinkedIn for instance, you can try to share the job postings in certain
industry-specific LinkedIn groups.
On this platform alone, there are thousands of groups for professionals in practically every
industry you can imagine: from engineers to HR workers, to writers, to finance experts. That
said, remember to post your recruitment messages in a way that would not be deemed annoying.
[…]
7. Screen your candidates
It is now an open secret that employers use social media to get an in-depth understanding of the
people they have hired at their companies. Many people see social media platforms as free
spaces where they can express their frustrations, talk about their causes and share their
experiences as they go through the days of the lives. What you might not know is that potential
employers also check out candidates on social media.
Social networking sites give them a deeper view of who they are about to hire. It gives them
insights into the person’s personality even allowing them to figure out what their ambitions are
and what they can expect once they hire them to work in their business.
Other recruitment methods cannot help you do that. Screening potential employees ensures that
you work with those people who align with your company values and culture.
All the same, it is important to note that you should resist the temptation to review someone
else’s social media profiles without them consenting to it. That said, most people now include
links to their social media profiles in their CVs, a decision that implies that they are comfortable
with potential employers reviewing their social media profiles.

8. Shortens hiring time

The traditional methods of recruitment generally take longer than social media recruitment
methods. This means that when you have an open position that you need filled in the shortest
time possible, social media is the platform to consider. Social networking sites not only make it
easy and fast to communicate with candidates, it also allows them to respond faster. As a result,
excellent work relationships often emerge.
What’s more, recruiting in a talent pool that has people who share common values, interest and
work styles with the hiring manager or company often accelerates the speed with which you will
find the ideal person for the job. This is great news for both the hiring party and the candidates
hoping to get an opportunity to work at your organization.

(Adapted from “8 Advantages of Using Social Media in Your Recruitment Advertising Strategy” written by Marquis Matson on
15-Aug-18 in Zippia; https://www.zippia.com/employer/8-advantages-using-social-media-recruitment-advertising-strategy/; 14-
Oct-21)