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How Employers Can Use Social Media as Part of the Recruitment Process

Richard McMunn
Director and Founder of How2become.com

The process of choosing reliable individuals for jobs is becoming more and more difficult.Where face value once held such honesty and intrigue, the electronic evolution has led to evaluation based on fine print.Let’s face it, with the proper delivery and phrasing it doesn’t take much to make yourself seem impressive in a few paragraphs.Pointing out your strengths with minimal emphasis on your weaknesses and all the options in the world to ignore your failures, the electronic day and age of job recruitment comes with as much convenience as it does loopholes and problems.

That being stated, it should be put into proper consideration that social media grants an excellent advantage to employers and could play a key part in selecting who is right for the job you have to offer.Things to put into consideration and the true benefits of using social media are as followed.

  • Social media grants a large portion of the control of selection in your hands, the employer
  • It allows you insight on the applicants’ general behaviour and who he associates himself with
  • It will give you a large pool of candidates to choose from given the fact that social media has made such an impact on everyday living
  • It can be cost-free and simply a minor inconvenience to you, the employer

Social media is buzzing.It is what people of all ages have turned to as a means for general communication.The days of picking up the phone to make a phone call are slowly diminishing, and everything is becoming computer oriented.As an employer you can really useLinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter as 3 key social media ports to really take advantage of this form of recruitment, and it can all be cost-free.

LinkedIn is generally a site for professionals, and while posting typically costs some money to put on there, they don’t have to truly cost you a penny.With the proper procedure you can generate a pool of applicants, and all it will cost you is your time.On LinkedIn you can browse through it, join various networks and groups, and once you have enough of a generated audience, you can post exactly what you are looking for.This takes away the expense, and maximizes your potential of finding a prime candidate.It is a win-win situation, done on the site most likely to land you a business professional.

Twitter and Facebook are almost directly relevant to one another.They are heavily based on networking, at no expense.Once again it is a matterof getting involved with groups that are going to grant a pool of access to individuals you are trying to reach out to.With little to no effort given the current job market an employer can get several responses by posting the need to hire ‘x’ amount of people, but generating the interest of the RIGHT candidate is what needs to essentially be done.

With the proper research of groups and statements they allow you to formulate an expectation of maturity level and professional value.If it seems like a group of immature children, then as a professional, this is where you can move on without wasting your time.Whereas, if it is a group of soon to be college graduates hungry for work and discussing their qualifications, then you have hit a gold mine.

As an employer all the power is in your hands to make decisions that will be beneficial to you.You can only truly help yourself if you’re willing to let yourself.The more time and research you put into this, the more successful you will be at finding that candidate you feel you need.It can’t be emphasized enough that there should never be a rush in choosing a candidate; that leads to an initial ‘needy’ relationship which is bad all around.You post what you are looking for; your expectations both in experience and professional etiquette, and then you begin to actively discuss it with those you feel are worth your time.By taking social media into your hands as a tool of hiring you can capitalize and find the person that could potentially make or break your company.

About Richard McMunn: Richard is the author of this article and founder of How2become.com, the UK's leading training and recruitment website for public sector careers. The focus is on providing applicants with the knowledge they need to prepare for and pass selection processes for careers in the police, fire service and ambulance service . The website currently offers over 150 different titles. You can also find How2become on Facebook