We are very lucky to be living in an age where we have access to such a wealth of information.

Big data is all around us and, when used wisely, it can enrich our lives and our work.

When it comes to social recruitment, the information at our fingertips can help you navigate the vast world of social media in order to build effective strategies by better understanding the candidates that you wish to attract.

We’ve poured over the latest research on social recruiting and job seekers to find the most salient data points to share with you, our readers. And, in case the numbers alone fail to inspire you, we’ve also including some insight as to how each one of these powerful statistics can help guide your social recruiting efforts.

73% of 18-34 year olds found their last job through a social network. (Source: Aberdeen Group)

By 2020, less than 5 years from now, Gen Y will make up 50% of the workforce.

According to this stat, that means almost 50% of the workforce will be using social media as a key part of their job search.

Millennials grew up online and they spend most of their waking hours plugged into social media (an average of 9.5 per day), so it makes perfect sense that they would turn to social networks in their job search.

If you want to reach them, or at least make it easy for them to reach you, then you’ll need a social employer brand and recruitment strategy.

 59% of recruiters rated candidates sourced from social networks as “highest quality.” (Source: Jobvite)

Yet another reason to get social with your recruiting.

Gen Y isn’t the only generation on Facebook, 80% of Gen Xers and 70% of Boomers are also active on the social network. So, if you are looking for a way to recruit the best quality candidates, then social media is the way to go!

3 in 5 job seekers have used their mobile device to look for a job in the past year. (Source: Glassdoor)

If your career site isn’t already mobile-friendly, then it’s time to make a change.

If not, you risk losing out on over half of your potential candidates.

Even if you aren’t ready to make your application process mobile, you should at least make it easy for candidates to view, save, and share your job opening from any device.

(Learn how the Jobcast Jobs Widget can make your application process mobile.)

94% of recruiters are active on LinkedIn, but only 36% of candidates are. Job seekers, by a wide margin, prefer Facebook; with 83% reporting they are active there, compared to just 65% of recruiters. (Source: Jobvite)

This stat does not necessarily mean that you need to make Facebook your number one choice for social recruiting.

What it does is emphasize the importance of knowing your audience.

Social recruitment strategies aren’t all that different from any recruitment strategy in that the end goal is to reach the largest number of qualified candidates possible.

The best way to do this is by figuring out where those candidates spend their time. Do some research and run some test campaigns to learn where your candidates live online and tailor your social recruitment strategy to match your findings.

Content containing images attract 94% more total views than content without images. (Source: Heidi Cohen)

No matter which social networks you choose to focus on, you must share visual content. Even on your company blog and career site.

Visual content is highly engaging, increases social sharing, and captures job seekers attention immediately.

A successful social recruiting strategy is a visually compelling one. Always.

 73% of recruiters said that to compete against other employers they highlight company culture. (Source: Jobvite)

This is especially important for companies looking to improve their recruitment of millennials who value company culture more than any other generation.

Unemployment is way down and the competition for talent is at an all-time high. To win the war for talent, a strong employer brand is the best weapon in most companies’ arsenals… Unless those companies are in the Fortune 500, then an obscenely large paycheque is tops.

For those of you not able to offer staggering salaries, focusing on growing an attractive employer brand is the way to go!

Videos are shared 12x more than text and link posts combined. (Source: Sprout Social)

Sprout Social’s research shows that sharing video as a part of your content strategy is great.

Combine this info with the previous stat from Jobvite about the importance of employer branding and I think that we can all agree that sharing a recruitment video is even better.

The takeaway is clear. Whenever possible, make a recruitment video!

Share that recruitment video on all of your social networks, you career site, and even via email. Use that recruitment video to express your company culture, thereby making it a potent employer branding tool.

Your video does not have to be perfect, but it does have to be a reflection of what makes your company awesome and highlight your best employees.

(Learn more about social recruitment with video.)

21% of candidates say they found their favourite or best job through a social network. (Source: Jobvite)

This one’s my favourite! 21% may not seem huge, but what is huge is the potential for growth that it represents.

If 21% of candidates found their best job through social media, then chances are they will continue to use social as a key part of their job search.

Chances are that they will talk to their friends about how great their job is and how they found that job.

Chances are that their friends will try using social media in their next job search.

And chances are social recruiting will just keep on getting bigger and bigger.

Until, the time when the Internet is replaced by some crazy new technology that our current brains cannot even fathom.

But we’ve got at least a couple of years until we have to start worrying about post internet recruitment, so until then just focus on that recruitment video and staying social!