If you want your company to succeed, staffing it with top talent is key. However, unless you’re working at Facebook, Google or Uber, attracting top talent can feel like a constant battle. To compete with those young, exciting corporations, you have to offer a slew of perks and benefits, as well as competitive salaries so that your opportunities appear just as attractive. You also have to work harder to reach those people as the biggest names in the game are easy to find or even sought out by the best in the business.
Luckily, social media provides an outlet for companies to engage with talent. Social recruiting is powerful because it presents an opportunity to engage on a 1:1 basis with more personalized messaging. This helps candidates feel like they’re cared for and that they’re valued.
Social media does more than just facilitate contact and communication. Brands can use their social pages to showcase their culture, corporate values, and job posts. They can also use employees to help communicate company information via the employees’ own social media pages.
To learn more about what social media recruiting is and how it’s used, check out the statistics below. These powerful statistics showcase the benefits of social media recruitment for building the best team, and how social media works to help you find top talent.
The Majority of Companies are Using Social Media for Recruitment Today
Surveys showed that at least 84% of organizations are currently using social media for recruitment and that 9% of those who don’t yet use it are planning to. Organizations that don’t want to be out-recruited by competitors or left behind should make sure they are also taking advantage of the trend. Developing social media guidelines is a great first step to launching internal and external social media programs.
Social Media is Where Millennial Candidates are Looking for Jobs
A study from the Aberdeen Group revealed that millennials are changing social recruitment practices: 73 percent of millennials (18-34 age group) found their last position through a social media platform. So, if you want to target the youngest and most motivated group in the workforce, make sure that you use platforms that appeal to them.
Social Media is Where People are Spending Time
Studies show that people are spending A LOT of time on social media. In fact, if global social media usage continues to look like what it does today, the average person will end up spending more than 5 years of their life on social media. For that reason, it’s smart to recruit where people are spending their time.
People Use Social Media to Find Branded Content Relevant to Them (Including Your Company’s)
Social media is an excellent resource for people who want to discover branded content that is interesting to them. In fact, a study by Marketing Sherpa showed that at least 58% of U.S. consumers use social media to follow brands.
If someone finds your company (or the available jobs at your company) via social media, they either sought your profile out or it appeared to them because they expressed interest in relevant/related topics or organizations. Therefore, if someone connects with you for a potential job position via social media, it often means they are engaged in your branded content or relate to your company culture content making them stronger candidates.
Social Media is a Great Opportunity to Harness the Power of Employee Connections and Word of Mouth Recruitment
Leverage employees to amplify messages further through employee advocacy and social referral programs. According to a survey from Monster, 65 percent of respondents would consider a new job opportunity if they heard about it through a personal connection. Word of mouth promotion tends to be effective no matter how it happens. In fact, studies by Nielsen show that 92% of people will trust recommendations that they get from friends and family over any other kind of marketing, promotion or advertising.
Social Media is a Good Place to Find Passive Job Candidates
Sometimes, the best candidates are those not actively looking for a job. Maybe they already have a position (but could be wooed away) or maybe they are just not seeking the type of job you’re offering. Despite not actively looking for a job, passive job candidates can often be the best fit for a position, and social media has proven to be a great place to find these candidates. A survey showed that 82% of organizations currently use social media in order to successfully recruit passive job candidates.
Social media recruiting allows brands to showcase their company culture, new job opportunities, and offers organizations a chance to connect with top talent on a more personalized level. This makes social media a key resource for staffing and recruiting. Not sure where to start?
