With most of us spending an average of over 90,000 hours at work in our lifetime it is no wonder that a poor work environment can affect our mental health. Work-related mental ill-health is estimated to be costing businesses up to £26 billion every year, so we need to make sure we take care of our employees’ mental health.Recruiting Through Social Media is on the RiseIn our recent twitter poll on the future challenges for recruitment businesses, Talent Shortage was voted as the number one cause for concern going into 2019.
With this in mind, it’s important to understand other avenues for finding potential candidates. With an individual using more than just one social media platform, it’s essential to consider ways you can use several.
See our 7 tips for recruiters who want to use Reddit or Facebook as part of their strategy below.
With over 2 billion users of Facebook alone, social media is becoming a useful hub for talent, with lots of companies relying on these alone to fill vacancies.
Whilst most recruiters rely mostly on LinkedIn, by utilising other social media platforms, engagement with passive candidates can be improved.
When this is combined with the niche groups platforms such as Reddit and StackOverflow provide, filling the more challenging vacancies can become easier.
However, whilst these platforms can provide some answers, it’s important to get your approach right, with each platform requiring a different one.
Whilst larger companies with in-house recruitment teams have taken to posting job ads on their company pages, as a recruiter, you too can utilise the platform in different ways.
Facebook has over 2 billion monthly active users and this will include profiles which can’t be found on other networks. Whilst posting a job to your own friends’ list won’t be effective, there are plenty of other ways to use it as a database for talent.
How to Use Facebook as Part of your Recruitment Process:
- Check out whether the company you’re recruiting for has a Facebook page. Be sure to look at reviews, activity & comments, as candidates will most likely go on this and it’s good to be prepared to answer their questions. (55% of job seekers who read a negative review decide not to apply)
- Make sure you’re using the search bar. Facebook’s search bar is under-utilised but can be a powerful tool. When searching, you can be as specific as ‘People who work for “…” in “…”. Whilst this relies on people putting their place of work on their profile, it can still be useful to find potential candidates who might not be as active on other platforms.
- Search local groups and pages. With many groups for different interests as well as locational ones, it’s another way to find potential candidates who might not necessarily be on some of the other platforms.
- You might be tempted to contact people on Facebook, but if you’re not friends with them, this is not the best approach. People don’t expect to be recruited on Facebook and due to message settings, they’re unlikely to see the message anyway. Instead, it might be worth trying to find them on LinkedIn or through groups they might have participated in and replying openly.
Reddit offers a completely different experience to the other social media platforms and therefore has a different audience as well as a large millennial presence.
With subreddits on most topics and dedicated communities, Reddit often has members that exclusively use the network. If you’re recruiting for more technical, niche roles, utilising Reddit properly can be an incredibly effective method.
To be successful using Reddit for recruitment, use these following tips:
- Don’t just make an account and start posting ads. Reddit relies on Subreddits which are specific communities dedicated to certain areas. Most things have a subreddit but be cautious before posting as they normally have rules to follow.
- It’s a good idea to build your profile for a few months before posting. If you’re unfamiliar with the platform, it’s good practice to subscribe to a subreddit outside of your recruitment interests and understand how Reddit works.
- Don’t be fake on Reddit; it’ll tarnish your reputation and Redditors know their communities. People dislike being targeted by recruiters who know nothing about Reddit or the subreddit topic.
- Begin interacting frequently and be open & honest about your role. In certain subreddits, job posts will be normal, however, in others, they might not be acceptable (be sure to check the rules). Therefore, it’s really important to try and interact/build relationships with the active Redditors.
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