Social media can be a powerful tool for a wide range of business needs, including recruiting. Like all tools, however, they can actually help or harm depending on how you use them. For social media to help your business and recruiting efforts, you need to use it effectively. Here are 4 mistakes to avoid when recruiting on social media.
- No social media presence
All social media platforms operate on algorithms. The more active you are on social media, the more you show up in people’s news feeds. Placing a recruiting post on social media doesn’t actually do you much good if you don’t have an active presence on social media. If you don’t have an active presence on social media, you probably won’t get many responses to any recruiting efforts.
- You don’t know what you are looking for
There are some truisms that are true of all areas of life – including recruiting. One of those truisms is that before you can get what you want, you have to know what it is you want. You can’t get to New York if you don’t know that New York is where you want to go. You can’t achieve a goal until you set a goal and you can’t set a goal until you know what it is you want to do. Don’t go looking for employees before you know exactly what it is you are looking for.
- Failure to interact
Filling out applications and submitting resumes takes time. Any time a candidate applies for a job, they are already making an investment. In many cases, they may have questions they want to be answered first to determine whether they should make an investment in applying or not. Make sure you are responding on social media, not just posting. If people think you won’t respond, they will most likely not even ask.
- Using “canned” catch-phrases
Yes, phrases like “motivated self-starter” or “customer-oriented team player” may communicate what you are looking for, but they also sound canned. What you want is an employee that is a perfect fit for your company, not one that is “good enough.” If you want a perfect fit, then you need to tailor your job description specifically and individually towards the exact candidate you are looking for.