Julia Weeks
Recently, a fellow experienced recruiter made a comment to me that I completely disagree with. “Third party recruiters don’t need to be active on social media.” While I greatly respect my fellow recruiter, I believe that social media is one of many valuable tools for third party recruiters.
There are 4 benefits to third party recruiters when it comes to being active on social media.
1. Networking is important
As a third party recruiter, it is important that you are always networking with potential clients and top talent. Social media provides an excellent source of networking, allowing many recruiters access to clients and candidates that they may not have had access to otherwise.
In addition, staying up to date with industry related news and happenings through other recruitment connections are very important to third party recruiters. Via social media platforms such as Twitter, I was quite often one of the first to learn of company acquisitions, downsizings, or closures. Through this valuable knowledge, a recruiter is able to be one of the first to contact top talent at these companies to discuss potential opportunities and build strong relationships with this talent.
2. Gain access to passive candidates
It is well known throughout the recruiting industry that social media has helped us to make great leaps and strides when it comes to access to top talent. Top talent who may not have their resume posted, or who have not made it into your referral pipeline, is more than likely on social media and may be open to considering new opportunities. Why not stay ahead of the game and build relationships with passive candidates as you go?
3. Improve your referral pipeline
Building a solid social media network with top talent in your industry focus can help you to grow your referral pipeline quickly. Having access to a strong network can help you to quickly identify the top talent your client is searching for through referrals you receive from private messages and posted updates within your network.
4. Advertise your opportunities
With so many people utilizing social media every day, posts can travel at lightening fast speeds. In the world of third party recruitment, quality as well as speed is of the essence. Social media is an excellent way for you to quickly get the word out that you have a new opportunity. Not only are you able to do this quickly, but for the most part you are able to do this for free! Why not take advantage of free advertisement?
What do you think – should third party recruiters be active on social media? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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