Now we know the true value of using social media as a recruitment tool, it’s worth covering the common pitfalls a lot of recruiters, HR professionals and business owners make on a daily basis.
Yep, that’s right – it’s not just a case of posting something or searching for a candidate.
There are certain ways you should do things, an etiquette if you like, to ensure that your brand looks professional and forward-thinking to potential new employees.
It might even help your company appeal to more customers and clients too!
How many of these social recruiting mistakes are you making?
Failing to spellcheck
Boy, if I had a penny for every time a professional, recruiter or business made a spelling mistake on a social media post, I’d be sat in the Bahamas sipping champagne 365 days of the year!
Spelling errors, grammatical mistakes and poor punctuation can really make a person think twice about joining your company.
Particularly if it’s in a role which requires a high level of communication skills.
In fact, according to usability.gov, “the first credibility cues are perceived very quickly.”
In other words, the reputation of your brand will be judged within seconds.
That means making mistakes on social media can potentially paint the wrong image to thousands of people.
And if you mix recruitment posts with your standard posts aimed at customers, you might be shocked to hear that 42.5% of consumers would be most influenced by a company’s spelling or grammatical blunders.
If you need a helping hand brushing up on your English skills, download grammarly.
It’ll pick out any glaring errors and even give you tips on how to improve your content moving forward.
Don’t just use LinkedIn
While your business might be using various social media channels for customer posts, you should adopt the same principle for recruiting too.
According to research, 94% of recruiter use LinkedIn to vet candidates.
But the fact of the matter is, LinkedIn is a professional platform.
So if you want to do a bit of light research on a potential candidate, you won’t find any red flags on that social media platform.
Contrary to belief, LinkedIn isn’t always the best for headhunting passive candidates as well, because they won’t use their account until they are actively looking for a position.
Instead, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or even Snapchat are top ways of spreading the message about an opening and reaching a professional on a more personal level.
Being too ‘vanilla’
To stand out from your competitors, it’s vitally important that you dare to be different with your social media posts.
The recruitment process can be as exciting or as dull as you like.
So you can either simply post all of the details about a position like salary, location, experience and job title, or you can start thinking of other more creative ways to present this kind of information.
Video content is becoming increasingly popular.
This makes passive candidates stop momentarily on their feeds to see what the attractive looking video is all about.
By all means, search the internet for tips and tricks to stay ahead of the social trending curve, but if you want to be truly remembered by candidates, do something original.
The social recruitment space is extremely noisy and competitive.
So, think about fun and engaging ways to grab the attention of potential candidates.
For this very reason, several recruiters have started to implement Snapchat into their social media strategy, as it isn’t deemed as a typical space for recruiters and businesses to headhunt professionals.
As a result, this has opened up a brand new talent pool for them to use.
Can you find the new Snapchat?
Only posting job ads
This next point predominately applies to HR professionals and passive social media users.
If you find yourself just using social media to post job openings, your followers will soon lose interest.
Think of it in marketing terms; you wouldn’t usually sell to a bunch of ‘cold’ prospects, would you?
By posting engaging, value-led content on and off, you’ll keep your followers engaged in what you do.
More importantly, showing videos of work perks and social events can also subconsciously play a pivotal role in enticing professionals to apply when you do advertise for a job.
After all, a candidate will be more inclined to join a progressive and fun company than one they know absolutely nothing about.
Ultimately, it’s about selling your brand through social media in a non-salesy fashion.
Over time, you’ll build up an engaged audience.
It doesn’t have to cost you anything, it’s just a case of being patient and always focusing on the professionals’ journeys.
Final thoughts
The main thing to consider with social media is that it has the potential to reach hundreds, thousands and millions of people.
So if you don’t present your brand in the right way, you could damage the reputation of your company and lose out on some of the best professionals in your industry as well.
Create a journey for your followers and recruitment will become easier, more cost-effective and extra fun too.
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