Connecting Employers and Candidates through Facebook
Recruiting has long been at the forefront of technological advancements. In the late 1980’s, Prodigy and AOL were already in use as recruitment tools.
The advent of Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) revolutionized the business. Shortly thereafter Monster – with one Super Bowl ad – created a whole new way to recruit. Now Monster, CareerBuilder and the other “boards” are fading out of favor.
Job Boards and ATS have Weakened Recruiting Skills
I ache for the “old days” when recruiters “hunted.” There were no resume repositories. We had to be subject matter experts in our industries as well as responsible networkers. RELATIONSHIPS were the key to successful recruiting.
It’s likely true that easy access to active applicants has allowed many agencies to reduce training and hire more customer service oriented recruiters. While this may help provide a good face to the recruitment, it has also diminished the experience level for both candidates and hiring authorities.
Social Media as a Way to Build your Résumé
It seems arbitrary to me that LinkedIn is a “Business” network and Facebook is a “Social” network. They are virtually identical platforms. LinkedIn seems to appeal to a more technically oriented crowd; less user-friendly. LinkedIn has 400 million users, while it seems as though EVERYONE is on Facebook!
With over a billion users, it is incredibly wasteful for recruiters to ignore the Facebook pool of recruitment talent. LinkedIn makes identifying specific job titles and resumes easier, but the data is mined by every recruiter. You are competing with all the other agencies in LinkedIn.
Facebook users check their statuses constantly and they are much more active on mobile devices. LinkedIn you pay for messages, or you can be blocked. You can message ANYONE on Facebook.
Recruiting the Active Social Media Users
Because of Facebook’s pure volume of users, it is more likely to promote your firm better too. Also people on Facebook are more likely to respond; they can ‘like’ your page, share it and are more likely to do so. Facebook users are ACTIVE while LinkedIn users tend to be more passive.
Facebook presence indicates a company in tune with today. It’s hip, not expected. Whether you’re in technology, marketing, customer service, or banking, today’s hot candidate prospects will respect your savvy entry into Facebook as a B2B/B2C tool.
LinkedIn active recruits are going to make contact with LOTS of recruiters. Landing and holding onto one of these candidates in such a competitive recruitment environment is difficult. Facebook, with its social nature, is more likely to produce referrals and be more personal. Facebook gives the recruiter the opportunity to hold onto their candidate through the process.
LinkedIn charges for job posting, data mining, and messaging. Facebook is FREE; yielding a much better return on investment/cost ration/profitability.
LinkedIn is a clumsy networking tool. It is mostly designed for one-to-one communication. Facebook is a COMMUNITY. Your presence on Facebook presents much better networking opportunities and better exposure to your firm/brand/personality.
Still think Facebook isn’t a business venue? They have 26 MILLION business pages. Firms from the Fortune 100, to non-profits, to bootstrap start-ups have Facebook presence. Facebook click-throughs are 50% higher than LinkedIn.
Check out this study conducted by Facebook that discovered how useful the social media powerhouse can be in the recruiting industry.
