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5 tips for social media recruiting strategies

The translation of the article was prepared especially for students of the IT-Recruiter course .



People and companies most often use social media to promote their products and present themselves and their brand in a better light.

However, did you know that 92% of recruiters use social networks to find staff? And not just for posting job vacancies.

The Millennials , quickly forming the backbone of the workforce in the United States, and Generation Z (the nickname given to the generation following the Millenials), following in their hot pursuit, seek to find themselves in the chosen industry. A focus on these two social groups should be the focus of all recruiters.

Most of the lives of these people take place on social networks, and not only social life, but also many other aspects, including the search for new jobs.

This is where you need to look, and invest your efforts in the selection of personnel in social networks. If you still do not have a clear action plan, do not worry, these 5 tips on strategies for finding personnel through social networks are just for you.

But first of all, let's figure out what the search for personnel in social networks entails?

Let's delve into this side of the issue.

What is social media recruiting?


Recruiting in social networks is a way to search for candidates using social media platforms as a talent database or to post information about open vacancies and positions.

Recruiting in social networks can be advertising vacancies either through HR vendors or through crowdsourcing, where job seekers share vacancies through personal social profiles.

This practice allows you to identify, attract and hire active and passive candidates through the social networks in which they live. Recruiters can study profiles of potential candidates on social networks to get an idea of ​​what they are doing and what they are looking for.



Recruiters use different channels in their strategies. to search for candidates on social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Glassdoor, YouTube and Snapchat.

How is social media recruiting different from other ways?


Recruiting in social networks differs from other types of recruiting (such as online recruiting, direct recruiting, internal and external recruiting, global recruiting, employee recommendations and mobile recruiting) in that it allows the recruiter to communicate directly with both active and passive job seekers.

You can find key candidates by attracting them with common hobbies, ideals or mutual acquaintances, which you will not be able to achieve with other methods of staff selection.

How effective can recruiting through social networks be?


Determining the effectiveness of a recruiting strategy through social networks and return on investment can be a little difficult. This is largely due to the fact that the vast majority of candidates do not apply for a vacancy to which they responded through social channels where they found it.

However, do not let this confuse you. If the search for candidates through social networks works for 92% of recruiters, then this is something, isn’t it?

So, let's look at the ways in which we can most effectively use social networks to find the perfect employees.

Social Media Recruiting Strategies


Some of these strategies are aimed at passive candidates, that is, those people who are not currently looking for work, but they can be persuaded to leave the ship if the opportunity presents itself.

Some of these strategies are aimed at active candidates, that is, those who are actively seeking new horizons.

You can implement one or all of the following recruiting strategies through social networks, you are limited only by imagination and your budget.

1. Build your company’s reputation on the Internet

Create your brand on the Internet and become a company that everyone knows about and in which they want to work. Become an authority in your field, and not just focus on customers. If they have already invested in you, they may turn out to be exactly those people who will help the company grow from the inside out.

Millennials seek to establish an emotional connection with the right company , so give them what they will get involved in. Share content that shows your company in the best light, talks about how you work well - organically engage in attracting candidates.

Think about the companies that are constantly talked about, companies with a unique work environment, great benefits for employees - can you become one of them?

First of all, be consistent. Adhere to a common position, send messages on schedule and be open in conversations about your values, ethics and beliefs.

Check out the SodaStream video where they talk about greening, diversity, and enterprise.

2. Use the video to interact with passive candidates.

Once you have established your presence on the social media channels of your choice, you should take relations to a new level, interact with candidates.

One of the most effective forms of interaction is video. Video is the environment with which users of social networks interact 10 times more often than with any other content.

This type of content, according to 52% of marketers around the world, provides the greatest return on investment .

This may be due to the fact that the human brain is able to process visual information 60,000 times faster than text information , or because you can transmit much more information than just text in video format, thanks to a combination of non-verbal messages, body language , verbal hue and visual cues, which may include video recording.

Be that as it may, use the popularity of video content to attract passive candidates and other professionals in your industry.

  • Use Live-video for special Question-Answer sessions.
  • Let people look at the company from the inside and experience the corporate culture of the company.

People love behind-the-scenes footage, so give them what they want.

3. Engage employees to share posts on social networks.

The point of social networks is to expand your reach.

Lean on an existing network of employees to carry your word to the masses. Ask your employees to take part in the recruitment process, share your posts in your accounts on social networks.

Never underestimate the power of personal recommendations, both from the company and from the applicants. In addition, the ability to share posts on social networks is one of the most effective recruitment sources.

Just make sure that you have a corporate policy on social media, and that all employees know about it and know what is expected of them. In the end, they will be the ambassadors of your brand, and you absolutely do not want them to accidentally damage the reputation of your brand.

4. Share quality content

If you share content, whether it’s your own or curated content, make sure that it does not look like spam. Keep up to date with what questions your audience is interested in and give them timely answers. Let your audience stay involved.

Social networks will not work for you if you don’t have something that readers don’t want to share - this is a kind of communication sense. Your content should be fun, useful and interesting.

The format can be any:

  • Video
  • Tutorials
  • Blog posts
  • Images
  • Photos
  • Infographics
  • Podcasts

Essentially, everything that is not just a statement of fact or the length of a sheet of a boring text. If you want your content to become viral, give people what they want to share .

For example, LEGO showed how their LEGO Technic works in real life by assembling a controlled Bugatti.


The video has collected more than 2.6 million views as of June 2019.

5. Maintain the involvement of potential candidates - create a community

As mentioned earlier, you can’t just flood your audience with inferior content, give them something to share and create a community of like-minded people in this way.

Do not throw them naked information and do not turn your interaction into a one-way street, let your communication be mutually beneficial, start a dialogue and continue to conduct it.

Address messages to specific people, find an approach to those people from your network who could potentially become part of your talent cloud. Talk with readers about the company, about the benefits and potential opportunities to work in it.

Be active and go towards your audience, do not wait until she comes to you.

Key points


Recruiting on social networks takes some time. Rome wasn’t built in one day, and your company’s presence on social networks will not be built in one night.

Do not forget that your strategy for finding employees in social networks should be well thought out, planned in advance and documented to identify your target audience, understand where they spend time on the Internet, formulate recommendations for establishing contacts and understand which social channels should be used. Without planning anything, you plan failure.

If you are not sure if the social media search strategy is right for you, consider the following:

  • You have the opportunity to reach elusive passive candidates;
  • You can see someone’s profile first hand without needing a resume;
  • By sharing your company's culture on social networks, you can find a clear balance in it, it can be as important as your overall competence.
  • Ultimately, you can save money on recruiting, since most of these strategies cost almost nothing (if they cost at all), all you need to invest is your time.

You can learn more about four strategies for recruiting through social networks here !

That's all. See you on the course !

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