Facebook recruiting is more than cleaning up your profile, hitting ‘Add Friend’ a million times, then crossing your fingers that candidates respond to the message that landed in their Other inbox. (“What’s that?” Read on.)
Sourcing and engaging with candidates on social networks is a whole new ballgame with a set of fundamental rules to recruit and hire by. Unfamiliar with recruiting on Facebook? Missed yesterday’s webinar, “How to Recruit Candidates Using Facebook” with Winning Impressions' Katrina Collier?
We’ve round up key takeaways from the event just for you.
Recruiting on Facebook isn’t broadcasting.
Collier compares treating Facebook like a job posting board to yelling. With over 800 million daily active users, Facebook is one of the busiest social sites. Pummeling candidates and friends in your network with open job positions is as untargeted and ineffective as sending mass email messages to a mix of qualified and unqualified candidates.
Facebook isn’t just a personal space.
There’s a good mix of candidates — all of whom spend about seven hours a month on the network. 83% of Facebook users fall within the 18-29 year old range. The fastest growing group of users are those over 40 years old, who may also have children in college or graduating college. 71% of online adults are Facebook users. 84% of social users on only one network choose Facebook.
Job seekers are looking at you, too.
While recruiters are running a search for candidates, keep in mind the search runs two ways. Be sure to audit your profile and adjust settings so candidates only see what you intend – this includes pictures in your album, pictures you’re tagged in, past, current, and future wall posts, and the posts friends write on your wall. Facebook also gives users the option of approving all posts and tags before it shows up on their profile. Everything that can be viewed by connections and public is a reflection of you as a recruiter, as well as your company.
Don’t forget about the Other inbox.
Facebook messages are split into two inboxes — “Inbox” for messages between friends (and friends of friends), and the “Other” for messages Facebook filters out based on your preferences. Most users aren’t aware of the Other inbox, and these messages tend to include Spam, as well as messages from recruiters who opt out of spending the $1 fee to have their message show up in a candidate’s main Facebook inbox. Recruiters should note if they choose to send a message without paying the fee, they risk going unheard or being ignored. In any case, a concise, personalized message is one of the best ways to increase the likelihood a candidate reads it and engages with your outreach.
Conduct an even more specialized search using candidates’ interests.
Running a search for a candidate on Facebook need not be limited to a desired job title or location. Expand the hunt for talent by including Groups, Pages, and other organizations and Likes that may be associated with a candidate’s industry and interests. To perform an even more aggressive hunt, you can also run a search through competitor companies to find talent who may not actively looking for a new opportunity, but are open to learning more about how your company could be a better fit for their career goals.
Want to learn additional tips and techniques for sourcing and engaging with online talent? There’s more where that came from. View the webinar and download the slides from “How to Recruit Candidates Using Facebook” here. Don't forget to join us for other events in our social recruiting webinar series!
