How Expert Executive Recruiters Use Social Media

Posted by SRA Admin on Jul 28 2015

Expert-Executive-Recruiters-are-Using-Social-Media

According to one survey, in 2014, 73% of recruiters successfully found a candidate via social media - and 70% plan to increase their reliance on social media in 2015. With results like this, there is no question that social media remains an essential tool for expert executive recruiters. While many job seekers may be well aware that recruiters evaluate social media profiles during the evaluation process to check for employee behavior and tact, many recruiters use social media in other ways as well.

Job Posting

Posting jobs openings is one key way that expert executive recruiters use social media. Over 90% of recruiters use LinkedIn to post openings to their networks. Not only does this draw attention to open positions, but it keep these recruiters top of mind for anyone who may be thinking of changing companies. The more active a recruiter can be on social media, the easier it will be to extend that social reach and recruit top talent.

Increase Employer Brand

Social media is a valuable way for executive recruiters - both external and internal - to increase the brand of the hiring company. Company culture can be a deciding factor that top recruits consider when choosing where they will move, which is why 95% of recruiters use social media, especially Twitter and Facebook, to shed light on the employer brand, mission, and values. By the same token, recruiters also use social media outlets to evaluate candidates for their fit within the company culture, as well as evaluating their openness to new positions through social posts.

Tips for Using Social Media Effectively

Despite the fact that so many recruiters use social media, only 18% actually consider themselves experts. That means that there is definitely room for improvement. Some of the things to remember include:

  • Be authentic and transparent in social media interactions
  • Monitor and respond to social media contacts from recruits
  • Spend time on the networks that reach the most relevant employers and employees
  • Emphasize the quality of social media communication over quantity

Social Media Pitfalls

As with any hiring process, there are certainly potential pitfalls when it comes to recruiting on social media. Some of the top legal concerns around social media recruiting include equal opportunity employment concerns and privacy issues. Social media can absolutely be one of the tools that recruiters use, but using at the only tool can put candidates without a social media presence at an unfair disadvantage - which is not only tricky legally, but also could limit top talent options. Further, because social networks like Facebook and Twitter are not intended for professional use, so evaluating candidates with those sites can be seen as an invasion of privacy and unfairly prejudicial.


Social media has become an essential tool for skilled recruiters, who need to know how to best use it to avoid common mistakes and make the most of the time investment.

 

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Sources:

Jobvite 2014 Social Recruiting Survey

SocialTalent

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