How Staffing Agencies Can Use Social Media for Candidate Attraction

How Staffing Agencies Can Use Social Media for Candidate Attraction Recruiting is in many ways a sales function. Not only does your timing have to be perfect, your message relevant and your ‘product’ flawless, but you have to make use of every possible medium from which you can source the perfect candidates. Social media is one of these platforms that could really help recruitment agencies reach their utmost potential. Heres our tips and tricks for attracting the right candidates on the social media challenge. Understand your objective: Preparation is key in any business strategy. Your particular industry will determine the approach you take. What type of candidates do you want to attract and how will you do it? Also, think of why you are making use of certain social media platforms? Are you trying to get an idea of the candidate’s background, interests and goals? Determining your ideal candidate’s social media personality will help you choose the platforms most relevant to your search. Having a clear objective in mind will avoid confusion and allow you to explain exactly why you would recruit that particular individual. Don’t just flood newsfeeds with potential jobs and name dropping â€" but become a valuable resource within your industry. Let them find you: Too many updates about open roles  is really something that could drive away potential candidates and prevent business relationship from forming. As a recruitment agency, you have to make it as simple as possible for candidates to find you. This means you have to have a clear representation of your business online. Make sure that your online representation is uniform â€" with the same logo and business information on all the platforms your company is featured. This will help prospective candidates to identify your company and objectives. Building a following naturally on all your respective platforms will attract the right candidates. Use content management tools such as Hootsuite to make sure that you reach the right people at the right time. Hootsuite allows you to schedule your social media posts ahead of time, assuring that your presence is known. More at Content Marketing for Recruiters on Social Media [INFOGRAPHIC]. Make use of your current workforce: LinkedIn showed us just how powerful referrals can be. Many times you will find your next candidate via another, or a recommendation from an employee, friend or family member. In order for them to approach your recruitment agency they need to be fed information from someone other than just the recruiter. Motivate your current employees to spread the word and do a bit of reconnaissance. Not only will that open up an entire new network, but it will add to the credibility of the company as well. When employers are open to exposing their company  to their network  they  indicate  a high degree of loyalty. Further tips at  How Social Employees Make Great Brand Ambassadors. Make subtle suggestions: When communicating with possible candidates, ease into the conversation of employment. Test the waters and see what they feel comfortable discussing. Career details and background matters can be rather sensitive â€" you don’t want to come across to curious and pushy. Remember, during the online recruiting process other people might also view your correspondence â€" don’t ask questions that the candidate won’t want to answer online. “You will gain much more insight into your candidates by gaining their trust first, as opposed to diving into a question they may view as off-putting at best”. â€" CBN News If you have a casual and comfortable recruiting approach this will attract even more candidates. Answer their questions: As mentioned before, social media is all about engagement. In order for your company to inspire engagement within an industry, they have to become a reputable resource in the community. Establish your recruitment agency as a resource by answering general questions for other people without expecting something return. “Talented job seekers can’t apply for your client’s jobs if they can’t find these jobs. Think like a search engine optimizer and make sure you focus on keywords when drafting job descriptions and posting to social channels”. â€" The Staffing Stream A way to do this practically is by searching certain terms or hashtags on various platforms. For instance ‘looking for a job’, ‘How do I get into marketing’ or #jobless. This will give you a range of conversations already taking place without your field. Join online forums and offer additional support to candidates, before you know it they will be asking you for advice â€" evolving into more engagement and popularity online. Follow some of the basic social media and recruitment tactics in order to attract some of the best candidates out there. Don’t be afraid to plan ahead, showcase your agency’s strengths and connect on a personal level in order to grow your influence online. RELATED: How  a Recruitment Agency Can Use Social Media for Marketing [Case Study]