Social media trends that can affect your hiring strategy

Written by talentspa on .

By the time we reach 2020, the UK population is expected to have increased by 4.3 million. Whilst this will inevitably provide an increase in the quantity of available candidates to fill job roles, it doesn’t automatically mean an increase in quality too. According to Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) research, there are concerns over the current recruitment market, with 34% of recruiters complaining about a serious shortage of appropriate levels of skills and experience.

So, what are they doing to overcome these concerns? Hiring managers are resorting to social media to search for their desired talent pool. Surveys by JobVite and OnRec show that about 73% of recruiters use social media channels to hire candidates and at all levels (barely 7.7% of recruiters are using job boards) and, of those, 93% review a candidate’s social profile (Onrec Survey) even before contacting them.

Social Media for Recruiting

Whilst other hiring channels like job boards, classifieds etc. are becoming a dying breed, social media is shaping up to be the go-to source for recruiters and HR managers to scout out fresh talent.

With an increasing working population (between 30-45 years of age by 2022), about 79% of candidates are expected to use social media in their job search. For professionals aged below 30, the number goes up to 86% (Pew Research).

As HR managers continue with their current practice of hiring offline and online, it is imperative for them to be abreast of the evolving Social Media trends. As an online recruitment specialist and a knowledge partner to new age HRs, TalentSpa considers these 3 social media trends which are expected to have a substantial influence on the hiring process.

What’s Trending

Social Messaging

Social networking is evolving into social messaging. These new platforms have a wider community, more user reach and better traction than the big brothers of social media like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Messaging apps and communities like Whatsapp, Snapchat, Skype, Viber and similar others, are shaping up to be productive sources for reaching out to candidates. Why? Because it’s quicker, more personalised and happens in real-time. 62% of millennials engage better with brands or companies that connect with them on messaging. By leveraging the larger messaging channels like Whatsapp and Facebook Messenger, recruiters can engage in one-on-one communication with prospective candidates with a view to getting to know them better, rather than jumping into the stereotypical hiring process.

Social Advertising

In the UK, social advertising spends are expected to exceed £26.5 billion in 2017. Facebook’s announcement of new ad options, mid-roll ads on live videos and ad slideshows, aims to enable a better user experience for brands and provide an opportunity for HRs to effectively promote their organisations. Meanwhile, Twitter’s Promoted Tweet Carousel is allowing marketers to ‘bundle tweets into a mobile-friendly slideshow’. Besides these two social media giants, LinkedIn, the stronger professional network, appears to be offering niche, yet high quality, advertising for HR managers to build exclusivity for their brands.

Content Marketing

Millennial candidates are as smart as they are volatile. They are not driven by typical sales pitches anymore. They primarily look for a connection – a more humane angle to the entire hiring process, understanding an organisation like they would understand a friend. Organisations with a successful hiring output are the ones who tell stories, create and publish compelling content that gives an insider view of the company culture and tells candidates who they are, not what they are selling. Talking about community activities, organisational diversity, new age beliefs and by providing engaging content, businesses can make a great impression on job seekers.

With 38 million active social media users, which is over half of the UK’s population, this is a time for advertisers to gear up for a revenue-driven but wise hiring strategy through social media.

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