

So many aspects of running a small business have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic. And one of the areas that have been most impacted was employee recruitment. It was, after all, quite challenging to find potential new hires when you couldn’t meet and interview them face-to-face.
According to a survey by LiveCareer, many businesses turned to social media as a recruitment tool. The company says the social platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook allow businesses to learn “a lot about a candidate’s personality.” In addition, for their survey LiveCareer defined social media as “any digital tool that allows users to create and share content with the public.”
Since social recruiting is relatively new, many people still don’t have a social presence. The good news for potential employees is, for now, “90% of hiring managers would still invite a candidate to interview for a job—even if they can’t find them online.”
From the small business’s point of view, most will search online to see if a social presence exists. The survey shows:
In addition, the social media components most often checked by companies when recruiting are:
And here’s what they look for:
The specific red flags hiring managers look out for include:
Of course, the job candidate may have deleted or made some of their posts private, so you still need to conduct other due diligence before hiring.
The LiveCareer survey shows that Facebook was the number-one site searched when checking potential candidates’ online presence on that platform.
For some, this may be surprising since LinkedIn is the social network best known for B2B interactions. But, but its sheer numbers—and the reported number of job offers received, Facebook is the most popular professional social network. That said, most (68%) of the hiring managers and recruiters expect potential candidates to have a presence on LinkedIn.
PostBeyond says social recruiting has several benefits.
1—You can connect with more candidates. It helps businesses “get their job listings in front of candidates you wouldn’t otherwise reach”—those who aren’t necessarily looking at job boards but are looking at their social feeds.
2—You’ll save money and time. PostBeyond says, “In general, it costs businesses over $4,000 to hire new talent and takes 42 days on average to fill a given position.” One of the keys to social recruitment is leveraging not only your social platforms but those of your employees. Essentially, you’re reaching out through their networks to find job candidates.
3—Showcase your company culture. Younger workers (millennials and Gen Z want to work for businesses that reflect their values. PostBeyond says you can highlight your employer branding on social media by:
PostBeyond also lists the seven steps to building an effective social recruiting strategy.
If you’re not sure how to incorporate social recruiting into your hiring strategies, a SCORE mentor can help. Find one here today.
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