What Your Social Media Says to Employee Candidates

Social media is an important tool for presenting your brand to the public. It is an excellent way to create a positive impression with customers but what you may not realize is that it is also highly effective at attracting employees. With the increasing prevalence of social networks and the ease of targeting the desired audiences, it makes perfect sense that social media is becoming a very effective recruitment tool. Highlighting the most appealing aspects of your company like internal culture leaves a positive impression on anyone who may be interested in becoming a part of your team.  

Positively Post Your Culture  

Everyone wants to work for a company that values its employees and works to support positive company culture. If you are using social media for recruiting only by posting open positions, you are missing an opportunity. Sharing content that highlights your company culture is a very effective way to attract candidates. It not only makes customers feel better about buying from you, but it alerts people that your business would be a quality place to work in a more organic way.  

If you have a unique company culture, you really need to lean in and display it on social media. People are interested in companies that take the extra effort to create a unique and interesting environment. That type of content is shared frequently, helping to bring more awareness to job seekers. By being transparent, job seekers can determine if your business would be a good cultural fit for them, saving both of you time and effort. 

Show Photos of Your Employees and Workspace  

Letting candidates have a window into the workplace is always a good idea. Photos help them visualize the workspace and also show them how employees dress. Workplace pictures also give potential employees an idea of how diverse your staff is and what other amenities your workplace offers. By giving job seekers a view into your culture, you create excitement and give them the opportunity to visualize themselves working for you. 

Have Employees Share Content  

Your employees are the most credible representatives of your company culture, so encourage them to advocate for you by sharing reposts or links to your page. To illustrate how much more likely candidates are to trust fellow employees than an official company page, take a look at these statistics: 

• Employees have 10x more connections – Reach is vital for advertising, and any opportunity to increase that is valuable. Consider that your employees have many more connections than most companies have followers. When your employees share your social media posts, you are increasing your reach to potential job seekers exponentially. 
• Candidates are 3x more trustworthy to candidates than the CEO – People generally expect the CEO to say that their company is the best place to work. However, most people tend to believe an employee’s opinion is more authentic and will believe them over a CEO. 
• Employee reshares have more than twice the average click-through rate of the original post –  2.1x to be exact. That means your expanded audience of employee contacts combined with a doubled click-through rate and the increased believability has exponentially more impact than your original post.

These statistics show that you have a vast amount of untapped potential in your workforce to help you recruit candidates. It could be a good opportunity for both you and your employees to leverage social media in your employee referral program. Make sure your employees are educated on using social networks in a professional capacity, particularly when representing your company. Encourage them to share job postings and any relevant company or industry news that may pique the interest of potential candidates. 

Don’t Shy Away from Paid Ads  

Paid radio or social media ads can be a good way to reach job candidates and grow your business. Advanced targeting allows you to fine-tune your potential audience by job title, industry, field of study, experience level, and more. You can also tailor your ads for seasonal, part-time, or freelance workers. Another benefit of paid ads is that you can more effectively reach not just active job seekers but passive ones, as well.  

Paid ads such as those on popular radio shows and on social media can have long-term benefits. You can extend your brand awareness to a larger audience and create interest for future job seekers. They also provide the ability to run concurrent campaigns for existing and future openings as part of a long-term growth strategy. Using paid media can not only extend your brand recognition but pay off with immediate candidates and a viable pool of applicants in the future. 

Leverage Your Social Media as a Valuable Recruiting Tool 

Your company’s social media account gives you a unique opportunity to reach your ideal candidates. You’ve likely used it to post your mission and values, achievements, your executive team bios, and a little about how you serve the community or industry. Some may also go so far as to post job openings. However, it can be an excellent way to tell candidates why they should want to work there. 

Social media gives you multiple options for creating interest with job seekers. You can create excitement about opportunities and allow them to get an insider’s view of working there. Sharing pictures and descriptions of your company culture, having your employees repost your content or share job openings, and using paid media can increase your audience and the chances of finding candidates who are a good fit.