Many companies still use relatively traditional methods to find job candidates — newspaper classified ads, job boards such as Monster.com and aggregators such as Indeed.com. More recently, however, Web-based tools have become the more significant resource for finding talent.
Social media sites, namely Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook, enable employers to identify specific types of people through their online profiles. Simultaneously, companies can brand themselves as a top place to work by highlighting their culture and posting thought-provoking messages to their own pages.
“For the younger generations, it’s as much about skillset as it is culture and fit,” says Aaron Grossman, CEO of Alliance Solutions Group.
Smart Business spoke with Grossman about leveraging online recruitment tools when searching for top talent.
Why is social media an important medium for talent acquisition?
Millennials make up 36 percent of the U.S. workforce. In the next couple years they will overtake generation X as the largest workforce in the country and by 2020, they’ll comprise 46 percent of the workforce.
Millennials are huge adopters of social networking and social media. So if you’re really trying to attract young talent to your business, you’ll need a social recruitment strategy or you’ll miss out on a lot of talent.
What tips do you have for using social media effectively for talent acquisition?
Companies can use social media to showcase who they are and why they do what they do — essentially marketing their culture.
When someone has interest in a company or an opening, they’re going to research it online. Companies that are actively recruiting should leverage social platforms so when candidates do their research they can get an understanding of what the company can offer and how they might fit within it.
Social recruitment also offers the chance for companies to be more proactive in their talent searches. Organizations can search candidate profiles on various social media based on skills, traits, groups, etc. Facebook ads, for instance, are a great way to target the types of people you want.
What’s important for employers to know about leveraging electronic tools to find qualified job candidates?
The information a company conveys to the public must be easily read on multiple electronic devices, including smartphones and tablets. Make sure your website is optimized for different devices so it can be navigated quickly and easily.
When actively hiring, create a job board that’s mobile friendly, which will make applying for a position simple. For instance, you could allow candidates to import information directly from their LinkedIn profile into your system. This simple and easy application through mobile allows a company to drive more talent through the portal to be evaluated.
How is video interviewing being used during the hiring/interview process?
Most companies want to meet a candidate before they’re brought on board. Larger companies may be relocating someone, which may mean flying the person in multiple times before a hiring decision is made and that’s costly. With video interviewing, there’s no need to pay for transportation, yet the candidate can still meet multiple stakeholders at the company.
Video interviewing also allows interviews to be recorded, which gives a company more time to review and analyze the interview to see if managers interpret what was said the same as when the interview was happening.
How should talent searches be conducted?
The first place any company should start before investing money into identifying talent is their referral network. Social recruitment should be undertaken in the second phase, and then move to local job boards. Depending on how much success you’re having in your search, utilizing a third-party search firm would be the next step.
Generally, leveraging social networks to help promote your culture should be ongoing. It takes time to build, but you never know who might be looking at you and that could be the person for which you’re looking.
Insights Talent is brought to you by Alliance Solutions Group
