Using Social Media for Recruitment

Introduction:

Today's competitive work environment makes it difficult for Human Resource Managers to find possible candidates for open positions in their companies. Many candidates have very similar resumes including their completed Bachelor degrees, previous work experiences and possible community service work. Since there are so many similar candidate features, employers could interview candidates face-to-face to see who best fits the position based on personality. However, this would cost companies a lot of valuable time and is very costly to interview multiple candidates. In the past couple of years, a simple solution has been recruiting through social media. Though networking online doesn’t fully take the place of face-to-face interviewing, it has become a major part of the recruitment process. For both employers and job searching employees in the past couple of years, social networking has expanded. Passive applicants are those who are not looking for a job but are found on social media site by employers, and will take the job if it's presented to them. Passive applicants are big in employment pools found online. Technology has grown to help people become more productive in their everyday lives and one example would be through recruiting employees for future job positions.

Social networking websites

Today it is difficult to do anything without using our technological devices. Technology growth has helped introduce many new online businesses such as Facebook, Monster, LinkedIn, Twitter and CareerBuilder to name a few. These businesses are all well-known, successful websites that help individuals communicate with one another. Most of these websites listed above help employers communicate with potential employee candidates. LinkedIn is a website that specifically was created for recruitment situations where individuals are able to "network" themselves. Being able to network yourself refers to people listing their previous job experiences, education level, interests, strengths, weaknesses, and where they would be interested in working.

They also are able to upload their resumes and cover letters in which employers who follow them on their profile can view. Once an employer has viewed candidates’ information they are able to tell if they would be interested in interviewing them. Having a social media presence is non-negotiable in today's job market because it helps recruiters find you and helps you be open to new job opportunities (Hannon, 2013). Social networking is a cheap and easy way of advertising yourself while being able to edit your posts. If an individual was employed at a doctors office once they had created their social media profile, for instance, and they are currently employed elsewhere, updating their profile to their new position can easily be done.

Social networking helps employers recruit candidates

Before social networking was critical in the workplace, Human Resource Managers were given the responsibility to police their use internally due to suspicions of the Internet (Doherty, 2010). Since the Internet has emerged, organizations are embracing social networks and encouraging Human Resource employees to attract and retain individuals for specific jobs while using their own social media links (Doherty, 2010). In fact, social recruitment has become an ideal starting point for social media usage in Human Resources because key metrics, such as time and cost to hire, can be measured and improved (Doherty, 2010). Organizations continue to do their best at keeping operational costs low and an excellent part of social recruitment is that human resource managers don't have to necessarily interview each candidate in person. For example, social recruitment allows candidates to provide information on their social media pages that helps attract recruiters. Once recruiters are in the process of searching for a new hire, they are able to view profiles and even open forums to discuss informally with candidates who can later apply for the job (Doherty, 2010). If the recruiter is impressed with their profile, their communication skills online, and the skills they can bring forth to the job, they can then take it to the next step and invite them for an interview.

Social recruitment has become one of the top tools to find potential candidates. When surveying 600 employers about how social recruitment is linked to employees, one in five admitted to using social media to find information on candidates. The survey continued by stating that social media influenced the decision-making process of 59% of these employers (Parker, 2008). Social recruitment is taking over the way human resource management finds its future employees, as shown from just one survey.

How should recruiters preview their job openings online?

Nowadays, it is rare if companies hand out applications to fill by hand. Most jobs require applicants to apply online. When employers list a job on their networking page or company website, it is helpful if they present candidates with a realistic job preview. A realistic job preview gives applicants information they would need to know about the job opening before they apply. This allows potential employees to get an idea of what the workplace would be like and what their expectations for the employee would be. Although we can use social media to help find potential employees, we can also use it for the exact opposite.

Employers can usually tell if a candidate fits in well with their organization through the interview process. If the realistic job preview consists of any information as to what the job consists of it can give candidates the idea of whether or not they would like working in that type of environment.  

Things included in a realistic job preview:

• The types of tasks that need to be done
• The level of education candidates must have complete (whether they're in school or graduated)
• Whether the job is an internship position, paid or unpaid, full-time or part-time position
• If the applicant will be working closely with other employees and/or clients
• If the applicant needs to be outgoing, have good communication skills
• Benefits of the position
• Employee needs to be flexible
• Downfalls to the position (ex. working long hours, working weekends, unpaid vacations, etc.)
• Why previous employees have left our company

People might wonder why companies tend to list downfalls of the job. This is actually a strategy used by employers who want to minimize the applicant pool. Employees who don't want to work long hours or who don't want an unpaid vacation are going to opt themselves out of the application and eliminate people who aren't fit for our already competitive position. We want the best future employee who is able to work long hours and have a flexible schedule (if we had listed that in our job preview). Also, if we list why previous employers have left our company it can help applicants see if the job is right for them by agreeing or disagreeing with why the employer had left. This all helps the recruiters save time and money by listing their job opening information on the web instead of having ten face-to-face interviews and finding out only two are possible fits.

How social recruitment helps and hurts applicants

Social recruitment has been said to help all applicants when job searching. It has been most affective for older employees who haven't grown up using the technology that today's generation has. An amazing example is of a man named Alan Kennedy who at the age of 54 lost his job and was in desperate need of a new one, fast. Alan had never used any social networking site until he was laid off from his job in which he created a Facebook and LinkedIn profile. One day Alan received a "jobvite", e-mail invitation, from a former co-worker who was sent to search for potential candidates by his boss. He saw Alan on social media and flagged him as a good fit for the opening. An interview and new-hire orientation were both held within a week of the e-mail Alan received (Weed, 2009). This is a story which shows how powerful social recruitment can be to anyone in the process of seeking any type of job. Although, social networking cannot always benefit candidates and can even be the cause of why current employees are let go from their companies.

While social media can really help individuals find a job, recent studies from a website called CareerBuilder showed that social media can hurt individuals seeking job opportunities or even those who already have job if they don't handle their social networks appropriately. In the survey taken this past year, two out of five employers have confessed that they didn't go through with hiring a potential employee after they searched them online (Hannon, 2013). While searching people online, many employers tend to find inappropriate photos of individuals, which can give the wrong representation of the company. Social networking sites allow for categories to be viewed such as where the person is employed. If people see inappropriate action connected to a certain company, their image is completely lost. This is very bad and costly for most organizations because building up to a good reputation and image is what companies work years and years for.

The study shows the reason behind the downfall of the employee/candidate and the percentages of employers who were affected by it which are listed below (Hannon, 2013):

1. Information listed about candidate drinking and using drugs, 48%
2. Candidates have bad-mouthed previous employers, 33%
3. Poor communication skills shown by candidate, 30%
4. Discriminatory comments were made about gender, race, religion, etc., 28%
5. Information about job qualifications were not true, 24%

Conclusion/Take Away Points:

With my previous experience with social media, I have always been aware that networking is a major key to finding future job opportunities. Individuals use social sites as a way to advertise themselves. Employers are looking for candidates who fit their criteria and job descriptions just as individuals are looking for job openings which they fit the job preview. Passive applicants can also find better opportunities through social media websites like LinkedIn where employers present their company to the applicant. Networking will always bring forth new opportunities even when you aren't particularly searching for any. As long as employees and candidates keep their networking sites clean, social networking will always work in their favor. Employers who use social networking are using a great tool, which can help them reduce the amount of time and money put into interviewing when the candidate isn't applicable. Minimizing the applicant pool online is a great way to find who we are really looking for, the right person for the job.

References:

Parker, Matthew. (2008) Can social networking sites be recruitment tools? Retrieved from www.search.proquest.com

Doherty, Richard. (2010) Getting social with recruitment. Retrieved from   www.search.proquest.com2
 
Hannon, Kerry. (2013, June 30)  Social Media Can Cost You a Job: 6 Solutions. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com

Weed, Julie. (2009, May 30) Finding New Employees, via Social Networks. Retrieved www.nytimes.com