AlignMark Recruiting and Selection Blog

Top Five Corporate Social Media Recruiting Strategies

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Social media marketing isn't the only thing on the rise these days--so is social media recruiting. It's not surprising considering how successful social media marketing can be for businesses with a few well-planned strategies in mind. Why not apply that same social technology towards recruiting new Gen Web talent?

There are a plethora of strategies for social media recruiting, but let's focus on the five that will have the greatest ROI for a company in terms of Gen Web recruitment:

1. Support existing traditional strategies--don't replace them!
   It's not cost-effective to completely overhaul an existing hiring system that has working components. Job boards aren't obsolete--they're another piece of the puzzle. Recognize the differences between traditional and social media recruiting and the advantages to each. Job boards give a broad spectrum of talent--social media hones that selection.
2. Branding is key.
   A brand matters just as much for sales as it does for finding fresh talent. Having a positive brand in social media circles attracts driven employees. How many top programmers are looking at smaller, unknown tech firms when Google or Facebook are offering cutting-edge jobs on the same boards? Social media can allow companies to see trends in targeted workforce interests to brand themselves as an enticing counter-offer to the recruiting competition.
3. Social Media Recruiting is more than micro-blogging.
   Gen Web's: viewing photos and videos, reading blogs, listening to music, and much, much more--but it's sharing all of this through integrated social media networks. A multi-platform strategy is needed to access these channels and navigate the wealth of candidate data. Company blogging alone won't bring successful, long-term employees that drive sales for a business.
4. You might not be hiring--but social media is!
   Traditional recruitment campaigns are a lot of work and investment that take serious time to find the right candidates--and then they end. The advantage of maintaining a strong social media presence is passive recruitment. A company may not be hiring, but social media allows recruiters to keep a working organic database of Gen Web candidates for when it's ready. 
5. Current employees are integral to a campaign.
   Leverage the clout of current employees in the social media realm. Convince them to support their company in their own social networks and actively participate in their company's own social media interactions. Public employee opinions resonate with Gen Web as a trustworthy company assessment when looking for employment opportunities.