Hiring via social media: 7 advantages recruiters should consider

It doesn’t matter the size of your company or the type of industry you are in, success and growth depends on successful recruiting. You have many options available when it comes to sourcing talent. You can outsource the process to recruiters and staffing firms, you can hire directly by placing advertisements on various job sites and newspapers, and you can use social media to find quality candidates. If you haven’t been using social media in the recruitment process, now is the time to consider it. Chances are you will find it to be a beneficial part of your overall recruiting strategy. If you are unsure if your organization will benefit from social media recruiting, here are seven advantages to consider.

1. Reach candidates who aren’t actively looking

You probably already know that some of the best talent out there aren’t actively looking. They are either happy where they are, or they are talented enough that people seek them out for recruitment. If you want access to passive talent, use social media to reach them. The only other option is to directly recruit them yourself or pay headhunters to recruit for you. This is a lot of time and money to invest in going after talent who, while desirable, may be unwilling to change jobs at this time.

2. You are already active on social media

Presumably, you have created a social media presence. By engaging in social media recruiting efforts, you aren’t entering new territory. You are simply using familiar channels in a new way. This means the learning curve isn’t very steep, and you can begin using social media to recruit fairly easily.

3. Social media recruiting is a low-cost option

Social media recruiting is probably the only global talent acquisition level that costs virtually nothing. Creating a social media account costs nothing. Tweeting, blogging, and writing Facebook posts to recruit talent also costs nothing. On the other hand, most job boards and newspapers require that you pay to solicit applicants through their websites. Even if you decide to pay a professional to help refine your social media recruiting or take advantage of premium options for posting jobs, chances are you will find that your return on investment will be much higher.

4. You will shorten the time between job availability and hiring

When reaching out to potential candidates through social media, you give them the opportunity to communicate with you directly about your needs and their talents. This removes a lot of complexity from the recruiting and hiring process, and it also removes extraneous people from that process. As a result, you will fill positions quickly.

5. Social media recruiting increases brand recognition

Posts about hiring generate shares, feedback, and commentary. Much of that will be the result of curiosity about your brand and the work environment you provide. This gives you and your employees the perfect opportunity to advertise for your brand. Make yourself available to participate in those conversations.

6. Reach a larger pool of candidates

The reason many employers limit their search to local candidates when using traditional recruiting methods is they have no way of engaging with potential hires in a meaningful way before they begin the formal interview process. It is also because recruiting beyond the borders of your locale is usually extremely expensive, and the payoff is pretty unpredictable. With social media hiring, you can reach out to potential employees from around the world, and you can become more familiar with them through their own social media activity before moving forward. This lowers your risk of flying in a candidate who turns out to be a poor fit.

7. Encourage your employees to join in your recruiting efforts

Your employees know what your needs are when it comes to finding good candidates. They are also perfect ambassadors for your brand. This makes them the perfect candidates for getting the word out through their social media accounts when you have a position available. Make the idea of promoting your job openings attractive to employees by offering incentives. Even if you end up paying staff a small bonus whenever a new hire makes it past their probationary period, you will probably save on professional recruiting costs.

These are just seven of the advantages employers might reap if they give social media recruitment a try. Once they get started, employers may find even more benefits. In fact, many companies are dropping other recruiting efforts and focusing solely on social media. Perhaps your company will make this decision in the near future.

Rick Riddle is passionate about the self-development process and wants to share his experience with more people via his articles. He believes that self-sufficiency and discipline lead to great results. Follow him on Twitter.