How is Social Media helping the recruitment industry?

There is no denying that social media can be used for anything these days. For businesses, job seekers or recruiters, social media has been an insightful tool and it has undoubtedly changed and helped the recruitment industry in many ways.

Every business needs to establish their employer branding. A few months ago I attended a presentation by Mark Puncher, CEO of Employer Branding Australia , who talked about what employer branding is all about. He pointed out the obvious that being honest about a company’s employee value proposition is what will make a difference and how they leverage their social media presence to drive thought leadership and convey their business’ purpose is a good way to showcase their culture. If a business has a positive social media exposure, candidates who look them up can have a better idea of what kind of company culture they have. According to a whitepaper published Robert Walters, almost 70% of job seekers use social media to capture a glimpse of an organisation’s culture.  They look for more information about the organisation either on the website or on their company social media page as these may offer more staff information, photos, events, etc.

Everyone can find detailed information about a candidate, a hiring manager or a CEO who will be doing your interview. For candidates, social media can help them prepare for that interview with a hiring manager. They can check for mutual professional connections, gain insight on how the interviewer communicates through their social posts, their physical appearance so they recognise the interviewer as soon as they see them and be able to give a strong first impression. All this information helps them better prepare for an interview. For recruiters, a candidate’s LinkedIn profile would have career history and educational background. This information backs up their resume details and organisations they might mention they are affiliated with. It provides authenticity to the details they have included in their resume as well as their cover letter.

Anyone who is about to meet someone for the first time can now go on social media and do a little bit of research about the type of person they are. When candidates find information about the company they want to work for or when recruiters find talent for roles they need to fill, often times, they look on social media and see if their interests match. Also, the majority of the workforce now come from Millennials and Millennials are very social. Attracting a generation of talent on social media makes so much sense than it will ever be. There is a lot of transparency on social media accounts and this gives everyone an insight into a company’s or a candidate’s hobbies allowing each person to evaluate if they have a mutual cultural fit.