10 Social Media Tactics for Finding Talent

We all know how hard it is to attract talent, actually I should say the right talent! This is another area that if I was still a Group HR Director I would be looking at closely. Here are 10 social media recruiting tactics I would be thinking of employing

1. Use Twitter to advertise talent gaps - it is the ultimate friend recommendation.
2. Use Facebook to create a company page, showing why talent should entrust their career with you. Create a story around their career with your brand.
3. Use Google Reader to cover your industry area...be searching for talent through RSS feeds. Blogs/Podcasts are a shop window for personal brands.
4. Use social media on your site - For example, an interview from a board member to say why talent is at the core of strategy, a video of the environment.
5. Use a wiki for FAQ on recruitment
6. A bar camp for people wanting to know more about your industry (not your company)
7. A podcast helping recruits to understand how to build a career from leaving college/university.
8. As with Microsoft, encourage blogging from within to show the talent, to show the openness, to engage with future consumers of your employer brand.
9. Use networking sites such as Linked In, Facebook to find talent.
10. Sponsor a podcast which attracts the talent you are looking for...if you want designers choose a creative podcast...

You don't need a large budget for recruitment, you need a passion for reaching the right people...

Atr

Comments

[Bryan Person, Bryper.com]

All wonderful suggestions here, Anna. I'm going to pass along this post to our recruiting team at my day job at Monster!

Your note about a company holding a *camp event, such as a BarCamp, on the relevant *industry* and not just about itself is an important one. Doing so shows a commitment to the community and support for creating good discussions, networking opportunities, etc. And that positive experience will be a positive reflection of the host company.

[Anna Farmery]

Bryan - I take that as a compliment from you Sir!

I think the hardest thing is to get people not to see these social media tools as new, but as an enhancement to networking....they are there to simplify the recruitment process, to remove the barrier of cost. It is about connecting with people rather than moving paper...

Thanks Bryper

[Dan Schawbel]

At the core of this Ann is a company changing it's business processes to reflect social media. Without that, it simply won't work like it should.

Said by both a personal brander and a corporate brander (EMC).

-Dan

[Anna Farmery]

Do you know Dan I am not sure it is about changing processes it is about changing mindset, and not to social media about openness/transparency

[Ben Yoskovitz]

Hi Anna - Great list of possible ways to attract talent. It's all about reaching out in new ways (and they're not hard!) to where the talent is "living."

#4 is of particular interest to me, because improving your online recruiting presence / career site is one of the more straightforward things you can do, before you start a major outreach program (through Twitter, etc.)

Most companies don't have an appealing, engaging or sticky Career Site and they lose out on a lot of visitors who come to look at possible jobs but never convert into applicants or even interested individuals. I hope that will change in the near future.

[Rising Superstar]

Those are definitely some good tips for finding talent over the world wide web. Thanks for the links and keep up the good work.

[UK Careers]

Thanks for writing this beautiful tips a. Also let me know if you post more tips.