Social Recruitment
News
News
More and more people are finding jobs through social media, and that’s a trend that we expect to see accelerate as the number of people joining social networks around the world continues to grow.
The infographic below, from MBA Online, shows how social recruiting has exploded in the USA, and we’re seeing a similar trend here in Asia too.
The use of social networks in recruitment should come as little surprise though; people have long relied on their personal networks as the most effective way to secure their next job, and social media simply make this process easier and quicker.
For employers, however, the possibilities are particularly exciting, and we’re having some interesting conversations with clients and partners about how they can make use of different social networks to identify, attract, and retain the best talent.
The main advantage for employers is the improved efficiency offered by social media. In particular, LinkedIn offers a wide range of tools to help businesses identify, research, and contact relevant candidates, and we’ve seen these tools deliver impressive results all over the world.
Social recruitment isn’t just about LinkedIn though. Twitter is also a fantastic way to publicise roles in your organisation, especially because your followers have already expressed an interest in your brand.
It’s also a great way to identify people who demonstrate expertise in the areas you’re looking for. Indeed, We Are Social’s first hire in Singapore came about through conversations that originated on Twitter.
And while Facebook isn’t always the most obvious place for recruitment, the world’s biggest social network clearly sees opportunities in this aspect of its service. Meanwhile, many brands are already making the platform work for them, especially when it comes to communicating a strong and persuasive employer proposition.
Asia has its own social media dedicated to professional networking too – we’re particularly interested in China’s Tianji.com, which has already attracted upwards of 8 million members, and Ushi.com, which prides itself on its high-quality pool of talent.
Social recruitment doesn’t just need to rely on traditional social networks either; blogs are another great way to share news of open positions within your organisation (and are one of the main ways we recruit here at We Are Social too).
And for those with a little imagination, there are endless ways to capture the attention of prospective employers.
The most intriguing example I’ve witnessed is a young social media enthusiast here in Singapore who used location-based networks to secure a job with a large advertising network.
She saw that the company’s directors checked in to their office’s location on Foursquare on a regular basis, so she walked past their office every day and checked in too.
Soon enough, she’d secured the office mayorship, which clearly caught the attention of the directors, who had no idea who she was. They contacted her through Twitter to ask who she was and why she was checking in to their office every day.
She explained her enthusiasm for their company and what she thought she could add to their team. They were impressed enough to invite her in for an interview, and she joined the team the very next week.
That’s the kind of initiative that inspires us here at We Are Social too, so if you’ve got similarly inventive ideas for securing a role in social media, we’d love to hear from you.
In the meantime, here’s that infographic…
