We all know that social media is fast becoming a powerhouse in the recruitment world. Those who can leverage it successfully are reaping the benefits of sourcing fantastic candidates quickly, easily, and cost-effectively. But, as with all recent developments, it can be difficult to get your head around at first. So, we have put together a few do's and don'ts to help get you started…

DO

Have an objective in mind

What are you hoping to get out of social media? It’s important to answer this question before you start posting. Maybe you’re looking for specific candidates for a particular role in mind. Or, you may be hoping to simply broaden your candidate pool, with passive candidates who may be valuable in the future. Whatever your goal, let it shape your activity on social media.

Use the opportunity to promote your brand

Employer branding is pretty high up everyone’s agendas these days. Social is a great way of promoting your brand as well as your vacancies, so make sure you take advantage of the opportunity. Simple things like having a well designed profile image, high resolution and including your logo gets your brand in front of every person who sees your posts. If you use Twitter, you can also change the colour scheme to match your company colours. It’s a small change that makes a big difference to your profile!

Share a variety of content

Posting vacancy after vacancy, and nothing else, will not interest any passive candidates not currently looking for work. However, by sharing industry news, images, interesting facts and inspiring quotes, you’re giving people more reasons for people to follow you than just job opportunities. This way, when a vacancy does come up you’ll have a large following of industry professionals to choose from.

DON'T

Try to use all social networks at once

Recruiters are busy people – don’t create yourself more work by trying to manage six social platforms too! LinkedIn is the obvious choice, but you may wish to compliment it with one or two other sites. However many channels you choose, just remember it’s better to use 2 sites well than 4 sites averagely.

Duplicate content on each network

We’re not saying you have to come up with completely separate content – just present it according to the channel. Facebook or LinkedIn, for example, allow for more detailed posts than Twitter, where you are limited to 140 characters. Stick to this limit – no candidate wants to see half a tweet with a link to read the rest of it – they will simply disregard it.

Talk at your candidates

Talk to them! Social media is about conversations, so ask questions, and enter into discussions. The former shows you are interested in what candidates have to say, and the latter is a chance to show off your industry expertise. Both of which will endear you to candidates and make them much more attracted to your vacancies.