The Dos and Don'ts for Using Social Media to Connect With Candidates
Social media is on a steady rise in becoming a crucial asset for recruiters to find to source talent. It’s also a good way to dig deep into the personal background of potential candidates as well, and continue growing a professional relationship with them. Although social media is a great tool to use at your disposal to connect with talent and widen your network, it’s important to understand the best practices associated with using these channels. Below are some of the dos and don’t for using social media as a way to connect with candidates and grow your recruiting network.
Do...
Share relevant and insightful content
Quality is essential when posting and sharing content on social media. Therefore, it’s important to give your audience content worthy of their time and energy. What information will benefit them the most? Is the content relevant and timely? It’s important to make sure that you give your followers information that is resourceful, insightful and helpful.
Engage with your audience regularly
Many recruiters forget to be mindful that building connections online is something that goes far beyond simply liking and following people. Keeping them engaged is another piece of the puzzle that needs to be taken into consideration. Make sure to reciprocate the support that others are giving your content and return the favor by liking, commenting and sharing others’ content as well.
Research the best social media channels to use
Not every social media channel is worthy of utilizing for your recruiting efforts, so it’s essential to choose the best ones for your needs. It’s a great idea to do some research to find out which channels your potential audience use the most and focus on those.
Be careful of what you post
Establishing boundaries is important when posting content, and some things aren’t worth the risk. Avoiding discussing touchy subjects like politics, religion and more is a good rule-of-thumb to follow. There’s nothing worse than offending a large segment of your audience and risking the loss of quality candidates and clients.
Join and actively participate in groups and forums
Groups and forums are a great way to gain clout and stay in the loop on hot topics and trends in your industry. It’s also an excellent and easy way to connect with a large group of like-minded individuals who can be a great source for any future recruiting needs.
Don’t...
Wait for a job opening to start networking
In line with consistency, there should be a healthy balance of continuous relationship building on your social media pages. You should be steadily building your network overtime as opposed for waiting for a hot job to land on your plate to make contact. It comes off more genuine if you’re building connections despite the ebb and flow of job openings.
Get too personal
Although it may be tempting to show off those vacation photos or showcase your favorite happy hour spots, it’s not always the best idea. While it’s great to have a healthy mix of personable content mixed in with the professional so that your pages feel more down-to-earth, it’s best not too delve too deeply into sharing personal content.
Bad-mouth a candidate or client
No matter the circumstance, it’s never a good idea to badmouth a client or candidate. It’s a major turnoff and can make others feel like you can be untrustworthy or even insensitive. Avoid delving too deeply into sharing anything that could cause conflict or added drama. It can negatively affect your brand and take a long time to rebuild your reputation.
Post spammy content
One of the worst things anyone can do is post irrelevant or spammy content to their social media pages. You may be excited about a new job opening and hoping to land the right candidate as soon as possible, but flooding your social media accounts with frequent posts about the role will do more harm than good. If you want to make sure that your posts are getting optimal views, try posting at times when your audience is most active on social media.
Connect with everyone
While it may be exciting and promising to connect with as many people as possible to have on standby for future needs, always be mindful of the company you keep. Screen your connections as you would potential candidates as your network is often perceived to be a broader reflection of you as well.