SOCIAL MEDIA

RECRUITMENT
What is Social Media Recruitment
(Social Media Recruiting)?
Social Media Recruitment

● It is the use of social media platforms to identify, engage and

vet people the organization may want to hire.
● This HR practice, which is sometimes called social hiring or
simply social recruiting, uses social media sites and other
internet options, such as blogs, to reach potential job
candidates.
● The ubiquity of social media has prompted HR departments to
develop fully formed social media recruiting strategies and
include them as a formal part of their organizations' human
capital management strategies.
How?

● To pursue social media recruiting, organizations create a

presence on social media sites as a way to bolster their brand,
showcase their corporate culture and, ultimately, interest people
in applying for jobs.
● They launch paid media campaigns -- in which social media
networks target ads to people identified as being most interested
in the messaging -- use an "organic" (nonpaid) approach or a
combination of the two.
● HR leaders see such tactics as a way to more effectively and
efficiently attract both active and passive job candidates. Active
candidates are looking for work; passive candidates aren't trying
to find new jobs, but are receptive to opportunities.
The emergence of social media recruiting
● The emergence of social media recruiting in the first two decades of
the 21st century tracks with the rise of social media itself. Employers
quickly recognized that vast numbers of working-age individuals --
particularly those in the millennial generation and later Generation Z
as that cohort entered the workforce -- spend significant time on social
media sites.
● According to a report by research company GWI, "The biggest social
media trends for 2022," 58.4% of the world's population uses social
media, with daily use averaging 2 hours and 27 minutes.
● The growth of both social media and social media recruiting has
similarly given rise to HR professionals who specialize in this area.
The symbiotic relationship between social media and enterprise
recruiting efforts also means that social media platforms now make
recruitment features and tools available to organizations.
Why use social media for recruitment?
● Employers have little choice but to include social media in their 
recruitment strategy because job candidates are using the technology to
find jobs.
● According to research from software company CareerArc, 86% of job
seekers use social media in their job search. Its research, published in its
"2021 Future of Recruiting Study," also found that Facebook; review sites,
such as Glassdoor; and LinkedIn are the top three sites workers use to find
employer information.
● Organizations, whether actively hiring at the moment or anticipating it in the
future, can also increase their visibility by using social media channels.
Doing so enables enterprise leaders, such as recruiters and HR managers,
to position their organizations as positive places to work by highlighting, for
example, a good corporate culture and great benefits.
● Social media also lets organizations create easy channels for prospective
candidates and job seekers to interact with them, thereby smoothing the
recruitment process.
● However, social media recruiting hasn't fully replaced job boards,
advertising on corporate websites and other conventional
recruitment methods; rather, it is supplementing them.
● The "2022 Job Seeker Nation Report" from talent acquisition
software vendor Employ reinforces the point: Although online job
boards remain the most popular vehicle for posting openings (cited
by 59% of respondents), 46% named friends as the source of job
opening information; 39% said social media sites, such as LinkedIn
and Facebook; 33% said employer career sites; 25% said
professional connections; and 23% said career fairs.
● Indeed, social media use among professionals in general, and job
seekers in particular, continues to climb, with HR leaders
acknowledging that they must meet workers where they are if they
hope to reach the broadest and best pool of potential employees.
Which social media platforms to use and how
● For many recruiters, LinkedIn remains the center of their social
media universe. 
● Recruitment platform vendor SocialTalent found in one of its
global recruiting surveys that 98% of all recruiters use LinkedIn.
● However, that statistic doesn't mean all job seekers use
LinkedIn. It only means that recruiters value LinkedIn as a
resource.
● Job seekers -- in particular, younger people -- use a variety of
social media platforms, so recruiters must have a way to reach
them there.
● Large social media sites, such as Facebook and Instagram, aren't the
only worthwhile targets. There are talented people who are more
engaged on sites that fill both social media and professional needs.
This includes Dribbble, a community for designers, and the software
development platform GitHub.
● Meanwhile, younger professionals tend to be more engaged in social
sites such as TikTok and Instagram than older people.
● It's important to note, too, that people tend to group online based on
personal affinities or shared interests and gravitate to social media
platforms that cater or appeal to their particular interests.
● For example, Twitter and Reddit tend to draw users who want to
engage in dialogue -- or at least share their ideas -- on current
happenings, while Pinterest tends to bring in more visually minded
people who create communities around shared ideas.
• Successful social media recruiters understand such distinctions between
sites and can develop messaging that matches the types of engagements
typical to each platform, which is key to generating interest and discussion.
• They also know when to limit or avoid recruiting on platforms where the
activities are contrary to the organization's brand, image and values.
• Understanding each platform's personality also helps HR professionals know
which platforms engage the professionals who best match their job
requirements.
• Good recruiters also know how to take advantage of the different sites' tools
to most effectively engage potential candidates.
• They cultivate a positive presence for their organizations on social media
sites so professionals can learn about and engage the organization beyond
the online recruitment activities.
• Moreover, successful recruiters monitor the social media market to identify
emerging platforms that could become important additions to their 
recruitment marketing strategy, as well as watch for shifts in use that could
impact the usefulness of social media as a recruitment vehicle.
GROUP ACTIVITY #1
● Many companies have begun to use social
media in their recruitment process. This
technological advance has compelling
reasons for and against its use.
● List the compelling reasons for and against
the use of social media in recruiting.
● What are the implications for candidates?
● For employers?
 Compelling reasons FOR the use of social media in recruitment
- Reachable
- Free / accessible
- Practical
- More opportunities
- Easy
- Cost effective
- Saving time
- Saving identity
- Good offers
- Better target
- Better communication
- Easy contact
- More information
- Higher quality
- Good companies
 Compelling reasons FOR the use of social media in recruitment

 Hire high quality candidates, because of the ability to reach

both passive and active job candidates, social media is also one
of the best sources of the highest-quality job candidates.
 Reduce time and cost per hire: Recruiters who use social
media for hiring usually spend fewer resources to hire new
candidates, and they fill their position faster compared to
recruiters who focus on other channels.
 Showcase the company’s brand: According to research, 
75% of candidates research a company’s reputation before
applying for the job, and 62% of job seekers have reportedly
used social media as a way to evaluate the employer brand of a
company.
Compelling reasons AGAINST the use of social media in recruitment

- Security
- False information
- Unreliable
- Not qualified candidates
- Not all candidates are on social media
- Scammers
- Hacking
Compelling reasons AGAINST the use of social media in recruitment

 Social media profiles can present unreliable and/or inconsistent

representations of candidates.
 How companies use social media to recruit may be illegal.
 Not all candidates are on social media.
 Some people express privacy concerns and feel uncomfortable
with employees checking on their accounts.
 There is a tendency for biases that can arise. Unknowingly, an
employer can be biased toward people with good social media
presence, as compared to people who are not as active online.
Implications of the use of social media recruitment
for candidates
Implications of the use of social media recruitment
for candidates

 To research employers and jobs.

 To apply for jobs.
 To Learn about companies and their corporate culture.
 To size up a company’s reputation, learn details about the
organization, and even connect with current corporation
employees through platforms like LinkedIn. 
Implications of the use of social media recruitment
for employers
Implications of the use of social media recruitment
for employers

 Social media enables recruiters not only to reach vastly more people, but at
the same time pinpoint professionals who have the credentials they're
seeking.
 Social media enables recruiters to spread information about job openings
to both passive and active candidates.
 Social media enables recruiters to use other people -- namely, fellow
employees, professional connections and associations -- to amplify their
messages through online networking.
 Social media enables these broad yet targeted capabilities at a lower cost
than such conventional methods as job fairs and generic advertising
campaigns.
 Social media often delivers these benefits more effectively than
conventional recruitment methods.