Social Recruiting: The Good, The Bad, and The Inappropriate

Social media is a powerful tool for recruiters. It puts you in touch with potential candidates that you may never have had the ability to meet before. Social media also allows you to build relationships quickly. However for all of its positives, there are some potentially dangerous situations that can arise when you use social media to recruit. Here are some tips to make the most of this platform from a social recruiting standpoint, as well as thoughts on blunders to avoid at all costs:

Always post relevant content: When you’re trying to build a presence and connect with others on social media, your focus needs to remain on your content. If it feels spammy or sales-y at any point, don’t be surprised when people are hesitant to connect with you. People want to connect with those who seem authentic. Share useful articles and talk about newsworthy events. Infuse a little humor into your content. People are much more likely to engage with you when they feel like you’re human.

Don’t post until you understand your target audience: You may think that you can target anyone and everyone using social media, but your efforts will go to waste until you’re willing to zero in on a target demographic. Are you looking for engineers? Designers? What you share on social media to attract talent will differ based on position and overall company feel. Try to develop a profile of an individual candidate, then post as if you’re talking to that one person specifically. It will make your content much more enjoyable to read than when you try to paint everything with broad strokes.

Don’t expect results without building a relationship first: Remember that there’s a human on the other side of that tweet or LinkedIn message. Successful recruiters understand that it takes time to build relationships, and they’re willing to put in the effort to build these connections. Trying to hit fast forward can earn you a negative reputation.

Always have a clear message and plan in mind: If you’re just hopping on social media and hoping for the best, don’t be surprised when your work doesn’t pay off. You need to have a clear social media strategy in place in order to succeed. If you’re not sure how to develop a strategy properly, ask for guidance.

Another major faux pas is failing to use social media at all. It’s a significant resource for recruiters from all industries, so make the most of it in order to find talented new candidates.

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How do you use social media to recruit and engage the best candidates?