Samara Parker

Social media is all about transparency, but how far is too far? You've heard the horror stories about job applicants that get turned down because their potential employer discovered their outstanding tweets, or saw personal pictures of he/she partying on Facebook. There are many tips and articles that discuss keeping your online activity from damaging your career, but when social media profiles are handled correctly, it can help you professionally. Social media can be used to boost or enhance your personal brand, establish yourself as an expert in a specific field or showcase your talent with all things digital.To help do so, it is imperative to be proactive about managing the content you are sharing along with your image. There is no such thing as private space online

Most people have tested some form of social media. If you already on social media platforms (which I am sure you are), it is important to think about how professional contacts view you. Ensure that you decide which social media channels you will use for specific purposes (ie: LinkedIn for professional purposes and Google+ and Facebook for personal). Build your personal brand

When people come across your profile and look through your social media activity, they certainly can get a sense of what you are about. The more you post on a specific topic, the more likely you will be affiliated with it. Even a small amount of content can go a long way towards establishing you as an "expert". If you are passionate about a specific topic and openly share your opinion and perspective in a compelling way, you can begin to generate a following. Essentially, social media is an avenue to demonstrate your familiarity with a specific topic. Showcase your knowledge of all things digital

Being proficient in social media and showcasing your skills through being active in online conversations is an extremely strong way of differentiating yourself from others. It shows your competency to potential employers who are increasingly looking for these types of skills. Continue to learn about the latest digital trends

Social media creates engaging conversations. Interact with professionals, industry media and experts in your desired field of work which will allow you to deepen your personal level of knowledge in that industry and stay on top of the current trends. When you post your thoughts or content on social media and have the opportunity to hear other people's opinions through comments, shares and "likes", you are creating a conversation that provides you with valuable insight. Follow the rules

Most companies have policies on social media regulations. So before you begin blogging and posting tweets showcasing your expertise, be sure you know your company's policy before proceeding. It's important that you do not violate your current employer's rules!

Social media has made huge strides in the business world, especially in 2012. The methods of sharing information have greatly changed and in order to succeed in this highly technologically driven world, businesses have been forced to take notice. As the techniques for effective communication diversify, employee responsibilities will take on new roles as well. Include employees in your social media strategy by encouraging them to get involved in online communities to promote your brand. It is likely that no one knows your company better than it’s employees – so why not utilize them as social media ambassadors? Take the Fear Out of Facebook

Some employees may not need motivation and guidance to become an ambassador. They may be well versed in the world of online communications and find it enjoyable. However, others may find the idea of it daunting, especially if they aren’t technically inclined. So take the stress out of it for them! Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter are actually quite user friendly, especially when paired with a bit of helpful direction. Provide group training sessions for your employees, or organize online webinar viewings to help them feel comfortable integrating social media into their online activity. Lead by Example

Create a strategic plan for your current social media practices. This will make it easier for employees to follow by example. Share tips from your experience and guide them on the best ways to share online. Show your ambassadors examples of previous posts from your page that you find best represent your brand to illustrate your vision. Start a Discussion

Social networking is nothing more than an ongoing virtual conversation. Stress to employees that essentially, they are using their own voice and opinions to further promote their business.This will simplify the concept and encourage their posts to sound more organic. A great tip is to start a centralized site within the company – a place where employees can go to discuss how they feel about the brand. This will aid in developing effective online dialogue and useful keywords. Here’s a concept; sharing can be fun!

When developing your strategy with employees, try introducing the concept that sharing results of their hard‐work with colleagues, co‐workers and customers through social media can be actually be rewarding in itself. Sharing the news of an event or accomplishment within the company and receiving instant feedback from consumers is beneficial and will provide a sense of achievement. Employee Rewards for Sharing

If employees are effectively sharing content they should be rewarded for it. Congratulate them and take notice to show that you appreciate their effort. Create rewards programs for your top ambassadors to further motivate results. The more buzz that can be created around your brand the better and social media is one of the fastest ways to get there today.

Do you want your Facebook page to feel less like a collection of sales pitches and more like an engaging online community for possible employees? Obtaining new followers isn’t easy but the more likable your page is, the easier it will be to obtain followers who genuinely want to be a part of your online presence. Give new fans, visitors and potential candidates good reasons to want to “like” your page with these easy‐to‐follow tips:

Design & Functionality

• Visually appealing Facebook pages make a big statement! Add photos and videos to your page which best represent your brand. You may only have a few seconds to catch the eye of a potential or current follower with your post and this small trick can make a big difference. Use images that highlight important moments in your company such as events, new employees, product updates, etc.

• Try to update photos on a regular basis to keep followers interested. One of the reasons for Facebook’s popularity is it’s visual content. So, the more you take advantage of this feature the better.

• Facebook recently added the new Timeline feature for Facebook business pages. This template features larger enhanced photos, organizes status updates into a timeline format and allows for private messages with fans.

Activity & Content

• A Facebook page has the ability to become stale if not updated frequently. In order to ensure steady user interest, create frequent updates that followers will find interesting. The updates don’t always have to be directly from within your company. Include features from the community or news items of relevant content to build common interest among users.

• Generally speaking ‐ no news is too small. You may think the promotion of an employee or the order of a new product line wouldn’t interest potential Facebook fans. However, it’s surprising how the small victories within your company can be converted into news headlines and contribute to the buzz around your business. The new Facebook timeline for businesses has a company milestone feature that highlights events such as these so users take notice.

• Don’t be afraid to show you’re human. Forget about Facebook as a marketing tool for a moment and remember what it’s like to be a user yourself in order to create relatable content. Utilize the brand of your business for inspiration when trying to build a fun environment for your users.

• Create online discussions. The more you invite users to become involved in the activity on your page, the more relevance users will feel it has in their lives. This will serve well for your likeability and is also a great way to build long‐lasting consumer relationships.

Creating & Posting Likeable Jobs

• Facebook is a great word‐of‐mouth tool for promoting your job postings. Once a job has been posted on your website, it’s easy to further promote the posting  by using Jobcast to post to your  page along with other social media sites.

• When creating the Facebook status update, make sure it is clear, brief and best outlines the position so that possible candidates are targeted effectively.

• Highlighting where and how applicants can apply ‐ either in your status update or an easy‐to-find location on the linked job posting, is essential and highly effective.

We hope that these tips help with creating a more engaging and likeable Facebook page!

Facebook Timeline for Pages is now available. What does this mean for your company? There are a plethora of new features that are now available which will in turn give you an opportunity to promote your company further, boost engagement, turn your visitors into fans, and those fans into potential candidates. We recommend that you start experimenting immediately as the changes will be pushed live to everyone on March 30th. So, you have just about 1 month to preview the new look and review your page before the changes take effect. Here are a few tips on how to get started:

Select your Timeline Cover Photo One of the most exciting features of timeline is the large cover image featured at the top of the page. Choose an image that reflects your company, culture and mission and that is dynamic enough to grab a page visitor's attention. The cover image is the first thing that people see when they visit your timeline, so give the person a reason to like your page by selecting imagery that you feel is likeable and represents your company best. You can change your cover images as often as you like, but must adhere to Facebook's policies regarding cover photos: Covers can't be deceptive, misleading, or infringe on anyone else's copyright. You may not encourage people to upload your cover to their personal timelines. Covers may not include:

• Price or purchase information, such as "40% off" or "Download it on socialmusic.com"

• Contact information such as a website address, email, mailing address, or information that should go in your Page's "About" section

• References to Facebook features or actions, such as "Like" or "Share" or an arrow pointing from the cover photo to any of these feature

• Calls to action, such as "Get it now" or "Tell your friends."

Select Your Profile Picture

Facebook will then prompt you to select or adjust your profile picture, which is the image that will be shown next to each of your updates on your page's wall and in user news feeds. Logos are a great choice for this, or an image that represents your company's brand. Share Your Relevant Stories

Go back to the beginning and share and highlight relevant stories on your page's Timeline with your followers. This is where you can share the start of your company, the path it went down and where it is today. Some examples of significant stories include:

• When your company was started

• When your company launched new products or services

• When you expanded

• When you brought on new hires

With each milestone, choose an interesting image to compliment the post and encourage your staff members to share it with their networks. Reply to Candidates and Followers in Confidence

With timeline, page administrators will have the ability to respond directly to users and send them personal messages. Regardless if it is a question from a customer, inquiry from a candidates or comment from a followers, you can send them a private and confidential response that will not appear on your page's wall. Pin Specific Stories That Highlight Your Company

Another great new feature to mention is that you can pin a specific story to the top of your timeline for up to 7 days. You can highlight calls-to-action, promotions, events and other remarkable content. Pinning these updates to the top of your page will prevent it from getting buried by more recent updates. Update Your 'About' Section

Even though the 'About' section of your company's Facebook page isn't exactly a new feature, it is still worth noting due to the prominent placement it gets with the new timeline design. Describe your business and let new visitors and potential candidates quickly understand what your business is about. Keep it brief so that the decryption does not get cut off and include a URL to your company's website. There is a lot to learn and get used to with Facebook's new page design. Have fun over the next month to experiment with it!

In order to receive the highest amount of qualified candidates that apply to work for your company, it is important that your job listings rank high on major search engines such as Google. These simple SEO tips will ensure that your job listings come out on top.

Keywords are Key:

• Use descriptive keywords rather than numbers when creating a title for your job postings. This will make it easier for the search engines to categorize results in your favor.

• Make sure to use phrases that best describe what the advertised position entails. When deciding on keywords consider using these title options: job title, alternative job titles, industry terms that applicants would be familiar with & location of position.

• Once you have selected a job post title, include relevant key words in the body of your text as well to further ensure website optimization.

Tools for Success:

• Google’s Keyword Tool

  evaluates the keywords you are using and determines the popularity of the keyword based on the number of searches per month. This helpful tool also provides other commonly searched terms to help you decide on the most effective keyword combinations.

Branding the Culture of your Company:

• The culture of your company is important – so make it visible. Conveying your company’s branding strategy through your website will help applicants better understand what it would be like to work for your company. This will streamline the candidates and further sell the position.

Use Keywords in Your Company Description and/or Boilerplate:

• Be sure to optimize the keywords used within the copy of your company's description/boilerplate. Try to use keyword phrases that explain your company's business, industry and describe your company culture.

Sharing through Social Media

• One of the best ways to get people talking about your job postings is to make them shareable on social networking websites like Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn. Try using Jobcast to create job listings within Facebook that can then be easily emailed and shared within social networks.

According to ERE.net, the top best-practice employers get 50% of their hires through employee referrals. There have been additional studies that have shown that employee referral programs provide many benefits including increasing the quality of hires, morale and a company's bottom line. Not fully utilizing referrals means that you may miss out on the opportunity to hire a significant number of top-quality candidates. So, let's discuss some best practices to ensure that your company can reap the benefits from an effective referral program. Motivate, motivate, motivate: 

Offering compelling cash incentives will certainly encourage employee participation. Cash bonuses are by far the biggest motivator in getting employees to participate in employee referral programs, however, you can also recognize employees for referring candidates by giving out vacation days, holding a raffle with fabulous prizes or through thank-you notes or gift cards. Communication:

To ensure that employees know the full details of the program and its process,  ensure that employees are well of aware of the program through communication, outreach and training.

Get social: 

Utilize your company's social media networks to post new job listings and encourage employees to share the posting links with their network of contacts. Through educating employees and managers on how to effectively use social networks for professional purposes (through communication or training), your employees can easily seek quality referrals through the click of a button. Offer incentives for early-bird referrals:

Promote friendly internal competition by awarding 'early-bird' (ie: first to submit a successful referral) with additional compensation. Place emphasis on quality referrals:

Create a plan to discourage your employees from referring strangers, acquaintances and relatives. In order to ensure that your employees are bringing in people that they feel are a great fit for the role, ask employees to thoroughly know and assess their referral's work, skills and interest in the job. Provide continuous employee notifications after a referral is submitted:

Once an employee submits a referral, most are usually nervous about whether or not their referrals were a good fit. A recommended best practices it to e-mail employees immediately when their referrals is accepted/rejected, if their referral has been approved for the interview process and if/when the candidate is hired. Measurement and assessment:

Constantly strive to ways to improve the program. Ensure that the ROI is measured and evaluated on a regular basis and that the program is revised based on the results. Ask for employee feedback:

Survey employees post campaign to regularly gain insight into important factors such as thoughts on the current incentives and the effectiveness of the current employee referral program. High-level best practices for a successful employee referral program. Get started through social sharing job postings on social media with Jobcast. Install our app for free here.

With Jobcast, Facebook recruiting could not be any easier. Below are some of the capabilities of our system and how it can help you with your social recruiting needs. Post Jobs on Facebook - Share on Twitter & LinkedIn

Jobcast is simple. It allows you to post jobs on Facebook and source top talent faster and with ease. With Jobcast, you can target the millions of potential candidates that logon to Facebook daily. With Jobcast, you can:

• Drive quality candidates to your company job postings, Facebook page and website, therefore building brand awareness further.

• Manage candidate applications directly through Jobcast. You can also integrate with your ATS. Please contact us here for more details.

• Increase application exposure through social sharing. With Jobcast, you can share jobs through Twitter and LinkedIn and job boards (Indeed, SimplyHired, Juju and Jooble).

Post Jobs Directly on Your Facebook Page

Jobcast is completely integrated into Facebook. The app allows for employers to post, edit and share job postings directly in Facebook. The app automatically creates a ‘Careers’ tab on your Facebook page where candidates can view current opportunities. Jobs are then posted to the Facebook Page wall and can be shared and broadcasted from there. Social Sharing Through Facebook and Beyond

With over 845 million users on Facebook, leverage those users to virally distribute and share your jobs. Jobcast’s social features  encourage users to “Like” and share jobs via public wall/timeline posts, or through private messages. The posts will be seen in throughout social groups from posting to profiles and listed in newsfeeds. Each job posting also includes a direct link that can be easily sent via e-mail or instant messaging. With Jobcast, you are also able to post job openings directly to Twitter or LinkedIn, which increases the number of referrals and therefore increases the effectiveness of your social recruiting. Integrated Administrative Panel Within Facebook

Potential candidates can apply to posted positions directly through Facebook. Applicant information and resumes will be sent directly to the administrative panel, or, there is an option to have the applicant information sent to you via your e-mail account. In the administrative panel, you will also be able to add relevant notes in each applicant file and through our simple Jobcast rating system, give applicants a rating out of 5 stars. Integrate your ATS

Jobcast allows for an option to integrate your job postings from your corporate career page or ATS onto your Facebook Page. For more information, please contact us here. Reporting, Analysis and ROI

With Jobcast’s reporting feature, you are able to see job views by source to determine which networks offer the greatest exposure, applicants by source to see where your applicants came from and total hires by source to identify which networks most often lead to successful candidates. Managing your jobs through social media with Jobcast couldn’t be any easier. Post jobs to your Facebook Page. Get started here.