Social Media as a
Recruitment tool
Aylin Ahmet

“Social media describes a new set of internet tools that enable shared community
experiences, both online and in person.
SM is a community of people with common interests who connect with one
another to learn, play, work, organise and socialise. Communities can be large or
small, local or global. They can be public or restricted to members.”
Geoff Jennings, Online Recruitment Specialist

OverviewDefine Social Media
Social Media in Recruitment
Social Media Tools & case studies
Recruiting Strategy
Challenges and Roadblocks
Questions
Overview

Social Media by the numbers
346,000,000 number of people globally read blogs
700,000,000 number of photos added to Facebook
monthly
273.1 minutes on average spent watching online video
each month
55% Internet users who have uploaded and shared
photos
57% users who have joined a social network
93% people expect companies to have a social media
presence
Sourced from: SlideShare Presentation by Marta Strickland

Social Media as a Recruitment Tool
 Source of candidates
 Builds and leverages off networks
 Employee/employer branding
 Research tool
 Complements a company’s careers site (not to be
used instead of a corporate careers site)
 Employer transparency
 Engage in conversation with customers, suppliers
and internal stakeholders
“[Social Media] is NOT a Recruitment Strategy on its own. The key is to understand where the talent
hangs out online and then develop a strategy to engage with them on their terms”
Michael Specht, industry blogger

What does this mean to us?
If candidates
are using
Social Media
to find what they
are looking
for…..
You need to get
into the mind of
candidates &
how they search

Let’s examine some really cool
Social Media trends…

What is Twitter?
Twitter is a social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users
to send and read other users' updates (known as tweets), which are text-based
posts of up to 160 characters.
Who tweets?
Sourced fromPew Internet and American Life Project -
http://www.pewinternet.org/~/media//Files/Reports/2009/PIP_Twitter_Fall_2009_web.pdf

Twitter as a Recruitment tool
• Advertise job opportunities
• Network with industry leaders
• Source of candidates
• Employer branding tool
• Reach a wider and passive audience
• Respond to comments, requests, feedback, complaints
in real time
• Follow discussion on various recruitment topics
• Engage in conversation and headhunt talent

Company presence on Twitter

Facebook
Ernst & Young, Deloitte,
Hallmark, Apple and the CIA all
have dedicated Facebook
recruitment strategies
 Facebook is being used as a
strategy to connect with passive
candidates and to build long term
talent pools
 Aussie iconic brand Bushells
have successfully created a group
with a following of 8500 people
who make comments and share
ideas
The median age for Facebook is
now 33, up from 26 in May 2008
Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project
“Facebook is more than social networking, it’s a force for social
action” Mark Zuckerberg, founder

LinkedIn
Seen by users as a credible extension of their resume
and a way to research relevant industry information:
 Search employees and target organisations
 Join Groups to join in discussions and have access to
industry information
 Network with other industry professional
 Reference check

LinkedIn
Researching through
Groups
Contributing in discussion
Advertising job opportunities
Networking with
prospective
candidates/ clients/
colleagues

Slideshare
• An online forum to share
or browse PowerPoint
Presentations or Word
Documents either publicly
or privately.
•Information source:
• Search for webinar
presentations or topics
of interest
• Reports/ stats

Slideshare
…But what makes Slideshare
Social Media?
• It is a highly measurable
online tool
• It allows you to become part
of an online community to
share information
• You can comment and create
discussions on topics of
interest
• Allows you to network with
industry professionals

YouTube
YouTube is the leader in online video, allowing people to
easily upload and share video clips on www.YouTube.com
and across the Internet through websites, mobile devices,
blogs, and email.
Founded in February 2005
• Channels created as a portal for
recruitment videos, resumes
• Available measurable data
to calculate ROI

Yammer
Yammer is a social media
tool to assist organisations
in being more productive
through the exchange of
short frequent answers to
one simple question:
'What are you working
on?'

Online social communities – Ning
Ning provides a platform for
people to join and create social
communities and meet new
people with similar interests.
Benefits of social communities:
• Build network connections
• Easy way to communicate
• Forum to share knowledge and
ideas
• Share photos & videos
• Enable discussion
• Free

Online social communities - Wetpaint
• Share information, experiences and ideas
• Social community around anything you want
• Conferences/ Webinars/ Social Recruiting Summit
• Creates discussion and open communication

Online social community for
Candidates –
Glassdoor & Even it up
 Candidates have the opportunity to
provide feedback on:
 Recruitment organisations
 Jobseeker selection
 The interview process
Tool that gives job seekers an insight
into working for a organisation
 Anonymous rating of employers,
CEO’s and the publishing of salary
data
 See how your organisation stacks
up
 Get recognised for what matters
most

Blogs to follow
Phillip Tusing writes about “talent” and observes the
Global Recruitment space endeavouring to join Talent
Providers with Employers
Thomas Shaw was the first
person to create social
networking applications for FB
and My Space
Michael Specht has over 5000 followers on his
blog. He has a great knowledge on HR Technology
and the value add of Social Media
Mashable is the online bible to source
information on everything that is Social
Media. Read comments, blogs and updates
Mumbrella is more dedicated to
Marketing and Media industry but has
just unveiled a free job board

Having a Recruiting
Strategy
Strategy
•What will social media do to your
customer relationships?
•Will the customers become more
engaged with your organisation?
•Who within your organisation needs
to be involved in your strategy?
People
•Who are your customers of the strategy?
•What are they able to use?
•How are they likely to engage with your
organisation?
Objective
• What do you want to achieve?
• Is this an internal or external
activity?
• Do you want to listen to or support
your customers?
Technology
•What tools should you use?
•What applications should you build?
•How do they work with your existing technology
environment?
Sourced from: Inspect – Networks of
expertise, 21st Century Recruiting 2009

Challenges and Roadblocks
 Legal & privacy implications
 Be prepared to be overwhelmed
 Spam
 It’s a moving target
 Companies need to overcome their fears i.e. giving control back to the
consumer
 This is a different form of communication – its much more than marketing
 Be real & honest to the audience
 Can be a lengthy process to implement
 Being aware of your Social Media policy

Questions?
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