Impact Of Social Media On Recruitment

Human Resource and Talent Acquisition forms the most essential part of an organization’s function. While organization use sourcing avenues like Employee Referral, Job Portals, Recruiting Agencies to find suitable Talent, the latest trend is hiring through social media. The current trends in digital recruitment marketing reinforce the idea that candidates have to be on major social media channels like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. This is, however, a trend that might not last long. Looking for jobs or candidates on what are considered alternative social media networks might yield better results.

There is really high competition for finding your company or you as a candidate on major social media networks as everyone else is there. Especially for tech-savvy or specialist roles in your industry, going to specific networks is a better plan. As far as Indian context is concern, there are multiple views presented by experts about which particular platform is actually leading the way but one thing is for sure, “Social Media Recruitment” has actually taken off and Indians have accepted this with open hearts. What favors the use of social media in Indian context is the personalization factor which is the crux of communication through social media channels.

Considering the other end of horizon, even job seekers have understood the importance of social media in getting new jobs. Social media tools and social networking sites have revolutionized communication methods, both privately and increasingly, at work.

Communication through social media involves the use of an online platform or website (a social networking site) that enables people to communicate, usually for a social purpose, through a variety of services, most of which are web-based and offer opportunities for people to interact over the internet, e.g. via e-mail and ‘instant messaging’ (a form of real-time, direct text-based communication between two or more people using personal computers or other devices).

The Benefits of Using Social Media in Hiring

Candidate Quality – Those who frequently use social networks may be the highly desirable “early adopters”. This source may identify higher-quality candidates (including those who are more technically savvy and innovative). Note: The simple act of listing the primary source (that generated the resume) on the top corner of every resume will, over time, educate hiring managers and eventually lead them to shift their recruiting efforts toward sources that appear most frequently on their short list.

Hidden Candidates – The perfect candidates for your position may not be actively looking for a new job. Networking through social media can help to identify qualified candidates who cannot be found or successfully messaged using other sources.

Candidate Diversity – Social media may assist in identifying a higher percentage of qualified diverse candidates in managerial and professional jobs.

Cost per hire — The recruiting-related transactional costs can be significantly lower compared to other sources.

Employer Brand – Social media sites increase your visibility as an employer and significantly improves your leading-edge employer brand image among targeted prospects (even if the image-building it doesn’t result in immediate applications).