1. Why Social Recruiting is Inevitable
I was inspired by the recent blog post by Bilal Jaffery who landed a social media job via
Twitter. His story is a great example of how some Gen x and Gen Y’s are approaching
job sourcing. It centers around engagement and conversations on
social networking platforms. The relationship component plays a
bigger role in helping candidates determine if a company is the right
fit for them. At the same time it also gives organizations the chance
to interact with potential candidates to build a qualified talent pool.
His story also validates the shift happening within recruitment. Candidate behaviors are
driving employers to adopt social recruiting practices to solicit passive talent.
Companies who have been social media shy are at risk of being bypassed as a
destination for top talent. Candidates are judging the employer as much as the
employer is judging the candidate. Bilal’s blog post highlighted a few things that
employers need to do to remain competitive:
• Social media is mandatory- The fact of the matter is, if
you’re not on a social media channel, at a minimum to build
brand awareness, chances are you may be screened out as a
potential employer. Much like dating, candidates want to build
a relationship with their potential employer before they make a
commitment. Your social media presence provides some
insight into what your brand means to consumers and how you engage with
them. The focus is on engagement and responsiveness.
• Employees are your best brand ambassadors- There are hundreds of blog posts
that attest to this. In the case of Enterasys it was the CMO’s tweet about a job
opportunity that enticed Bilal to reply.
Social media has empowered
managers and other employees to
actively participate in the recruitment
process like never before. Many
managers have embraced social media
as a way to partner with recruitment, actively share jobs to networks and identify
possible candidates to contact. At the executive level, interaction
via social media is a reflection of an organization’s willingness to
working in a modern, forward thinking way.

2. • LinkedIn will become the universal social job profile- LinkedIn has established
itself as the professional social networking channel. This is the place where you
can really create your own professional brand, market your experiences,
projects, languages and portfolio of accomplishments. Consider that 100 new
profiles are created every minute on LinkedIn*. According to Mashable.com;
student use of LinkedIn increased 700% in 2012 as students and new grads
used the tool as the primary way to learn about new jobs and engage with
potential employers. As a result profiles are being used as virtual resumes. As
social media log on’s to third party applications continue to proliferate the virtual
landscape, applicant tracking systems have also embraced LinkedIn integrations
providing candidates an option to use their profile as the basis of their job
application. For those companies still requiring a resume, LinkedIn users can
quickly download a copy of their LinkedIn profile into a resume format.
So what’s the message here? Candidates are learning about opportunities through a
variety of social media channels. If you want to be viable contender in the market, step
up your social recruitment efforts.
By Ann Barrett- Director, eRecruitment & Social Media Strategy
*http://www.linkedin.com/company/linkedin-consultant