Facebook Recruiting

It has been established here on Jobcast how Facebook has become an effective platform for recruiters. This is especially true now, with more job seekers turning to Facebook for job postings than ever. Companies that are not active on the popular social media channel are missing out on opportunities to attract the best talent. However, some organizations that do have a presence on Facebook may not be utilizing it the right way. As discussed previously on this site, the ideal content ratio for job postings should only be 25%, while the rest must focus on other relevant topics. These include tips on how to get hired, as well as fun or lifestyle content. With only one-fourth of your material dedicated to job postings, recruiters must make sure that these career-related posts count.

Videos and Images Over Text

When it comes to content, video is king. Facebook statistics from Social Media Today reveal that video posts have 135% greater organic reach than photo posts. If it’s within budget, recruiters should utilize the video format to capture the interests of potential talent. For instance, the video content could use creative motion graphics to show the responsibilities handled by a certain position. If videos are not possible, then opt for photo posts since they are a better alternative than pure text posts. Social media users are generally more visually oriented, so videos and images should take priority in terms of the type of content a company should put out.

Clear and Compelling Messaging

A “We’re Hiring” Facebook post should follow basic advertising fundamentals, as a company may have only one or two seconds to pique the interest of a candidate. This means content with broad messaging won’t be very effective. A good hiring post should be able to clearly convey key points, such as the specific position needed and the exact location of assignment (in case your company has several branches).

Sharing Insider Information

When it comes to attracting job seekers, recruiters are not limited to “We’re hiring” posts. They can explore other types of content, like testimonials from employees. A post could highlight an employee’s experience as well as his or her growth within a company. One could also focus on content about the work environment or behind-the-scenes stories. This information can help job candidates visualize their future in the business, thus increasing the chances of them applying.

Speaking the Language

Consider the audience. If the recruiter is tasked to look for millennial candidates, then the content should include topics that interest them. The Globe and Mail shared some insights on how companies can recruit millennials, stating that they should emphasize mentorship and career development. Millennial job seekers are generally eager to hone their craft, and thus would be interested in companies that can provide them the necessary resources and training. For instance, a marketing company may share information about sponsorships for employees’ continuing education and personal development. This could be a great way to lure talent who are hungry to learn.

Ad Targeting

Utilizing Facebook Ads is perhaps the most efficient way to reach top talent. Facebook has numerous features that make it easier for recruiters to specify the users they want to serve their ads to. However, Facebook has a constantly evolving algorithm, and it may take a while to come up with a definitive strategy that yields the best results. Social media specialists Ayima suggest several key Facebook targeting steps you should consider, such as choosing an audience that’s neither too niche nor too broad. Ideally, recruiters will want to talk to people who are most likely to engage with an ad, and defining a relevant audience can help them achieve that. Once the target user profile is decided, recruiters can leave it to Facebook’s algorithm to reach potentially valuable audiences for your posting.

Keeping these tips in mind can improve the quality and performance of a company’s recruitment posts on Facebook. That said, recruiters who don’t work to maximize this massive platform’s potential are already way behind.

Article composed by Charlotte York
 for jobcast.net

We've all heard how important portraying a professional presence online is, however what you don't hear about is how many jobs are lost solely because of a unprofessional or weak social presence. Without any sense of exaggeration it can be said that social media is a necessity in today's job world. It's important you have profiles built-out to show off who you are, your achievements and job history. Being inactive on social media will, in many cases. jeopardize your chance at getting your dream job. Careerbuilder's great infographic demonstrates just how many employers actively look at their employees or future employees social media accounts. The numbers speak for themselves in this case. When done right, social media platforms can be a major help in getting noticed and eventually soliciting offers. While Facebook and Twitter are popular, it's important your presence doesn't end there. Being well-rounded, and at least having built-out accounts with several other sites is helpful. While there are obvious no-no's on social media, simply taking an hour or two to accurately build-out a profile is easy and beneficial. It's beneficial because it populates Search Engine Results Page's (SERP) when your name is queried, and it's easy because many sites draw off other and therefore don't force you to enter much additional information. To help job seekers better understand the role of social media in their job search, CareerBuilder.com conducted a survey last year that asked 2,303 hiring managers and human resource professionals if, how, and why they incorporate social media into their hiring process. This survey came back with results that showed direct correlation between active social media users and success in job hunts. In some cases it was that the employer got a good feel for the candidate’s personality. Others chose to hire because the profile conveyed a professional image. In some instances it was because background information supported professional qualifications, other people posted great references about the candidate, or because the profile showed that the job seeker is creative, well-rounded, or has great communication skills. A big thing that many employers look for is consistency. Listing your accomplishments and profession on Linkedin isn't good enough because some employers may only look at Facebook. Having a consistent message and imagery across your social media presence will make life easier on your potential suitors, as well as on you as you won't need to reinvent the wheel for each social media profile you build. Overall, social media isn't brain surgery. All it takes is a few focused hours and a goal in-mind. It's best that you simply sit down and map out where you'd like to go with your career and build your profiles with said goal in mind. Also, make sure you maintain a clean profile, instead of just cleaning it up when the time comes you think that they'll be analyzed. In this digital age, you just never know who is looking at your profiles when, so it's best to be safe rather than sorry. Scroll down for Careerbuilder's awesome infographic:

Did you know that 76% of companies have indicated that social media is their go-to method for sharing and growing their employer brand?

With so many different social media networks and so many different audiences to reach, it can be a little overwhelming figuring out where to start building your employer brand. In order to prevent yourself from become discouraged by all of the different choices in front of you, it’s important to identify one or two platforms to start off with. By choosing key channels to focus on, you will be able to use your time and resources more effectively. Once you feel that you have a grasp of a platform, you can begin to introduce a new network into your employer branding strategy.

Each network offers you different ways to share content and engage with online communities, so how do you figure out which social media network you should start off with?

To help you out, we’ll be posting an overview on some of the most prominent social media networks right now and share some examples of how you can use them to build up your employer brand. The first post will focus on the two of the most popular platforms: Facebook and LinkedIn. 

Facebook

Facebook is likely the first thing that pops into your head when you think of social media. With over 1.65 billion monthly active users, Facebook is a great channel to connect with tons of people.

With a company page on Facebook, you have the ability to share status updates, photos, and videos that highlight what working at your company is like and what your culture is like. Beyond the basic features, you also have the ability to add Facebook Apps (like Jobcast) to your page. With these applications, you have much more flexibility – you can host contests, create photo walls, or even host your own Careers site right on your Facebook page!

You can also take advantage of individual networks and groups on Facebook to help build your brand. You likely have a Facebook profile, as do your recruitment team and employees – use these networks to spread the word about your company to your Facebook friends! By leveraging these networks, you can greatly expand your reach and make passive candidates more aware of who you are, what you do, and what types of opportunities you’re offering.

• Jobcast tip

  : Images go a long way toward engaging people on social media – make the most out of your Branding options with Jobcast. Through your Jobcast Dashboard, you can add banner images to the top, side, and bottom of your Careers Page on Facebook. You can even go one step further and add a video showing off your company to the sidebar! Click here to watch our video tutorial on Branding.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn has solidified its status as the social network for business and professionals, with over 433 million people signed up on the platform. LinkedIn is widely used and one survey showed that it was also the most effective social media network to find new employees.

On LinkedIn, people can follow your Company page, which means that status updates and announcements will appear in their LinkedIn feeds. You can also position your company as a leader in your field by having your employees publish insights and opinions on news and developments in your industry. Just like you can on Facebook, you can also create and join Groups on LinkedIn.

Engage your current employees to boost your employer brand on LinkedIn – they are 70% more likely to engage with the updates on your company page, which means that their own connections are more likely to see these updates too! These employees’ profiles can also act as a source of information for job seekers doing research on your organization and the different opportunities you offer. You can also invite employees to join LinkedIn Groups, where they can start discussions about working at your company and other topics that interest them.

• Jobcast tip: you can add your personal LinkedIn profile to Jobcast and share out new job openings automatically just like you can with your company page. Check out this video tutorial to get set up Autosharing!

Want to hear more?

Stay tuned for future posts, where we’ll have a closer look at Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Snapchat. For now, click here to connect your Facebook and LinkedIn profiles to Jobcast today!

Pinning Facebook Posts is an incredibly useful aspect of Facebook your profile.

Along with the basics like your profile picture, cover image and customized tabs, pinned Posts offer an awesome opportunity for branding.

Pinned Facebook Posts live at the very top of your Page’s Timeline and, as such, they are the first piece of content visitors to your Page encounter… If you’re actually using them!

Unfortunately, pinned Posts are often overlooked. Many of the Jobcast users I speak with don’t even know that the feature exists.

Pinning Facebook posts will help you get more ROI and better reach for your most important content. The results you’ll see will depend on what you want to measure, but there’s no doubt: pinning tweets should be something you add to your Facebook strategy, today.

You can pin any Facebook post that you want and it will instantly move to the top of your Timeline and stay there for 7 days or until you pin a new post.

How to pin a post

Quick note, you’ll need to be an admin or editor to pin Page Posts.

1. Go to the post on your Page’s Timeline.

2. Hover over the top-right corner of the post and click the dropdown arrow

3. Select Pin to Top.

Your pinned post will move to the top of your Page’s Timeline and a small yellow icon will appear on the top-right corner of the post.

Your post will stay pinned to the top of your Page’s Timeline for 7 days. After that, it will return to the date it was published on your Page’s Timeline.

Keep in mind that you can only pin Posts created by your Page.

You can’t pin Posts that other people add to your Page’s Timeline and you can’t pin Posts to your personal Timeline.

Pinned Posts are not re-shared so they will not reappear in anyone’s Timeline.

What Posts should you pin to your Facebook Page?

Now that you know how to pin here are a few ideas for what you should pin.

What you pin will depend on the main goals of your company’s Facebook Page.

If your Page is specifically geared towards hiring then you may want to focus on promoting your Career Site or specific job openings.

If your company Facebook Page is used by multiple departments then you’ll need to incorporate a variety of different content into your pinned posts and may want to keep your social recruitment posts focused on promoting your employer brand rather than specific jobs.

Here are some specific types of Posts that you can pin:

• Job openings that you need filled right away

• A link to your Facebook Career Site

• Current job listings

• On-going job posts, the ones you always need filled

• Recruitment videos

• Current and on-going promotions

• Time-sensitive campaigns

• Top performing content

• Photos or video from recent company events

• Important company announcements

• Information about upcoming events

My number one recommendation for Pages dedicated to Facebook recruiting is to create a post that advertises your Facebook Career Site and pin it to the top of your Timeline.

In this post, you’ll want to include a nice image, a clear call to action, and a link to your Facebook Career Site.

Here’s how to create a Facebook Post that advertises your Jobcast Career Site.

No matter what you choose to pin, remember to think about why your company is using Facebook and make sure that what you post is in line with your goals!

Are you about to take the plunge and launch your social recruiting strategy? Do you want to reach the largest number of job seekers possible and promote your employer brand? Then Facebook is the perfect fit. Facebook is the most active social network, its Company Pages feature is great for employer branding, and the ability to add a Career Tab to your Page makes Facebook a top choice for social media recruitment. Launching your Facebook recruiting strategy takes planning, consistency, and as much creativity as you can muster. In this article, you’ll learn the basics of launching an effective Facebook recruitment campaign.

Start Early and With a Plan

Start planning your launch well ahead of time, two months is good, but three is better! In the months leading up to your launch, you’ll need to devote some time to compiling intel and making a plan. Research the best social recruiting tools, research your target audience (the candidates you wish to attract), and determine any restrictions or policy-based constraints you may face. Then map out your launch strategy. Plan what materials and content you’ll need to create buzz around your employer brand, how you’ll create or acquire that content, and how much time you’ll need to dedicate to implementing your strategy. Build Up Your Content

Start a stockpile of content that you can use on your Facebook Page and for Facebook Ads. You’ll want to create content that is visually appealing, consistent with your employer brand, appeals to the job seekers that you want to reach, showcases company culture, and includes a variety of different formats. A few suggestions are:

• Employee profiles

• Infographics

• Photos of Staff events

• Educational content

• Job postings

• Information about perks and benefits

For more ideas, check out these 11 types of content for social recruiting.

Build Excitement

Let everyone at your company know about your plans and ask them to Like your Company Page. Start posting some of the content that you’ve made to promote your employer brand and ask your staff, audience, and personal connections to share the content that you post. Video is an especially good medium to use at this stage of your launch because video has a greater reach and receives a higher level of engagement on Facebook than text-based content. Launch With a Bang!

Start posting jobs, promoting those job posts with Facebook Ads, and reach out to job seekers. Make it known that candidates can now learn about your latest job openings through social media and that they can ask your recruitment team questions and apply for your jobs via Facebook. This should be the focus of the content that you post when you first launch. During this period engagement is vital so you’ll want to focus on fun posts with high-quality images, videos, and strong calls to action. Measure Results

Sit down with your Facebook analytics and any other reports that you have access to and figure out which techniques worked the best for you. Do your video posts get the most engagement? What does your audience demographic look like now? What Facebook Ads worked best for you? Then take this information and use it to help you improve your strategy. Say Thank You

Thank your team, staff, and anyone who helped you spread the word about your Facebook recruiting efforts. Show your audience that you’re thankful to them for following your Page and Liking and sharing your content with a post to your Facebook Timeline. Facebook is an awesome tool for getting the word out about your social media recruiting. If you would like to learn more about how the Jobcast social recruiting app can help you set up a Facebook Career Site and automate your social sharing check out our website. Or try Jobcast Premium free for 30 days!

There are over 1.44 billion monthly active users on Facebook, according to the social network’s first quarter 2015 earnings announcement. Facebook is now up to 936 million total daily active users and has 798 million mobile daily users!

Facebook just keeps on growing as does the amount of hiring managers and recruiters turning to Facebook to reach candidates and share their job openings.

Social recruiting is rapidly becoming an essential part of hiring strategy and Facebook is the major network being used by companies, such as Pepsi and the Gap, to spearhead their social recruiting efforts.

Facebook recruiting is particularly relevant today as millennials continue to take over the labour market.

Does Facebook Recruiting Actually Work

The line between passive and active candidates has blurred to the point of near irrelevance. These days, everyone’s a candidate!

And, these days, everyone’s on Facebook.

To keep up with the competition and win the war for talent, companies must adapt to the millennial way of thinking about and looking for work. They must have an employer brand presence on Facebook.

What 1,355 Millennial Candidates Want in a Job

Most of the Jobcast blog readers are already savvy enough to know that Facebook recruiting is an awesome way to reach top talent, but it never hurts to be reminded of why we do the things we do!

Nor does it hurt to revisit some of the keys to running successful Facebook recruiting campaigns.

3 critical things all companies should be doing for Facebook recruiting:

1. Start with Employer Brand.

Your employer brand is how your company’s values, purpose and corporate culture are perceived on the social web.

Your employer brand helps ensure that job seekers know what your company is all about and whether or not they are a good fit. It’s also what will attract top talent to apply for your jobs.

You need to communicate all of the perks being employed at your company has to offer and show job seekers that your company is a place where they can grow.

Your employer brand must also be consistent in the way that it is communicated across all of your social networks and on your company website. This communication should involve not only words, but also photos and video!

5 Innovative Ways to Build Employer Brand

2. Social Means Getting Everyone Involved.

Facebook recruiting success is not possible if you ignore the social part of the network!

The most effective way to reach top talent, communicate your employer brand, and get more high-quality applications is to get your employees/colleagues involved.

Ask for their help!

“When you ask for support, you are trusting in others, which strengthens the trust between you and your supporters.” – Lorie Corcuera

You’ll be surprised by just how eager most people are to lend a hand.

Have employees spread the word that your company is an awesome place to work. Encourage them to post on their Facebook Timelines and the Company Page’s Timeline about their work and the office culture, share photos and engage with job seekers.

People are significantly more likely to consider a job if they hear about it from someone that they know, so capitalize on all of the social connections that your employees have.

3. Share, Comment, Like, Engage.

Content marketing plays a huge role in social recruitment.

Your company should be marketing itself by putting out a variety of written and visual content about accomplishments, events, and awards and sharing this content on Facebook.

You’ll also want to share links to other people’s content that is interesting to the candidates you are targeting.

11 Content Ideas for Social Recruiting

But on top of pushing content out, you also need to engage if you want to draw job seekers in!

Joining Facebook groups, liking other people’s content, commenting on posts, and engaging with anyone who reached out to your company via Facebook is an essential part of building a well-rounded social presence.

The more positive exposure and engagement that you cultivate for your company, the more your content will be shared and the more qualified candidates will want to connect with your company online.

Working with Facebook is both a blessing and a curse. You probably feel the same way as you try to navigate Facebook recruiting! You love the volume of job seekers that Facebook gives you access to, the ability to share job postings and recruiting videos, and the opportunity to highlight your brand. If you’re anything like me, you hate the constantly shifting rules, disappearing features, and declining organic reach! One specific thing that all Jobcast users and Facebook app developers struggle with is that Facebook hides third party apps from their mobile users. Our clients and other companies with Facebook Career Sites find this extremely frustrating as it makes it difficult for them to advertise their Facebook Career Site to mobile job seekers. And we all know that mobile recruiting is essential!

In response to Facebook playing hide and seek with our users’ Career Tabs, we added a mobile-friendly custom URL feature to Jobcast. Your custom URL is smart, so it can tell if a job seeker is using a mobile device or desktop. When the job seeker is using a mobile device, they are directed to a mobile-friendly version of your Facebook Career Site. Once the job seeker lands on your FB Career Site they can browse your jobs, and even apply directly from their mobile phone by using Dropbox (iOS & Android) or the upload button (Android.)

Check out this tutorial to learn how to create your mobile-friendly custom URL with Jobcast But you still need to advertise your custom URL to the mobile job seekers that land on your Facebook Page. Here’s how: Create a post that advertises your Facebook Career Site and pin it to the top of your Timeline! Start with a nice large image that fits your brand well. I like to use Pixabay.com for this because the images are free to use for commercial purposes (always make sure that your images are legal to use!)

Then find yourself an image editing tool. I usually go with Photoshop, but unless you do a lot of graphic design I would recommend using Canva instead. Canva is an excellent tool for making all kinds of great graphics for social recruiting! Use this tool to add text to the image that you’ve selected that let’s people know that you are hiring or that you’re company is a great place to work. Here’s an example of how to do this using Canva. Select Facebook Post from their templates:

Upload your chosen image:

Then add your text by choosing either the simple text editor or a template:

Download your image and save it somewhere safe :D

Now go to your Facebook Page and create a Post that features your custom URL and instructs job seekers to click the link and view your job posts:

Add your image and then click Post:

Once you have shared your post, click on the little grey arrow at the top right of the post and select “Pin to Top”:

A small bookmark symbol will now appear at the top right of your post and it will remain pinned to the top of your Page’s Timeline for 7 days:

After that it will return to the date that it was published. You now have the option to re-pin this post to the top of your Page or to create a brand new post advertising your Facebook Career Site. If you have the time, we suggest creating a new post to keep your content diverse and interesting!

Hello, It's almost Christmas. So, if you celebrate that holiday, hopefully all of your shopping is done. At Jobcast we tend to celebrate with food. This is why our Holiday staff party consisted of a two hour lunch at a fancy Thai restaurant followed by doughnuts. I am not complaining! We also like to celebrate with knowledge. When we get together our entire team loves to discuss new podcasts, books, and blogs we've found and what we've learned. So, to celebrate the upcoming holidays, I thought that I would give all of you, our awesome readers, a gift as well. It's the kind of gift that employers everywhere dream of (in lieu of sugarplums): A free white paper about how to use Facebook for recruiting. I know, I know, there are a lot of white papers out there. This one though, is full of great tips and tricks, has a really easy get-started guide, and is very thoroughly researched. It even includes real life examples! What's not to love? Check out our free white paper for an awesome guide to Facebook recruiting. Happy (holiday) social recruiting from all of us at Jobcast.

The process of HR recruiting has changed dramatically over the past few years. While recruiters once had to meet candidates at career fairs or wait for resumes to get dropped off at the office, they can now target and communicate with potential candidates on social media.

Sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn have millions – even billions – of users. They’ve become the go-to resource for recruiters looking for top talent. And done well, social recruiting can have a big impact – in terms of hiring, but also in terms of reputation. Companies that succeed at social recruiting hire some of the best job seekers – and they create modern, tech-savvy brands.

So – which companies are succeeding at social recruiting? Here are 5 of the best:

Home Depot

Recognized as being an industry leader in social media recruiting, Home Depot proves its recruiting expertise by posting job openings both on Twitter, and on its dedicated company careers page. The company also builds interest in employment opportunities through its Facebook page. Home Depot doesn’t just send posts into a void, either – their Twitter account has 245,000 followers, while its Facebook page has over 60,000 likes.

UPS

UPS takes advantage of multiple social media platforms to recruit new staff members. They have a presence on the big three – Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn – but they’ve also expanded to Google+, Pinterest, and other social sites. The company is willing to explore new platforms – and they’re savvy enough to create dedicated careers pages on Facebook and Twitter. This combination of strategies has helped add over 14,000 professionals to their workforce.

Sodexo

This company knows the value of social media. Sodexo has been successful in its recruiting efforts because of the various social communities it has created such its Careers blog, Career Connections Newsletter, Talent Community, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Flickr, Google+, YouTube, and other in-house venues that applicants can join to stay up to date on everything Sodexo has to offer.

Zappos

The shoe retailer has made a big impact in the social media world with its bold stance on recruiting. Zappos has eliminated traditional job postings and online applications in favor of an Inside Zappos page, which it hopes will help applicants learn more about Zappos and choose the department or position that’s right for them. The Inside Zappos page, along with accompanying social media profiles, aims to give job seekers a real inside look at Zappos’ culture and help them get a feel for what it would be like to work there.

M9 Solutions

M9 Solutions is a strategic staffing firm within the HR industry, so it’s no surprise that the company is well versed in using social media platforms for recruiting, both for itself and its clients. M9 Solutions’ recruiters are able to gain leverage with candidates at an exponential rate using social platforms.

Their focus?  Using social media to build better relationships with more candidates, reaching out to thousands of people every year.

Social recruiting statistics

While these companies are well known for launching social media recruiting campaigns and building strong relationships on social platforms, statistics indicate that social recruiting is becoming more and more widespread every year.

According to Jobcast.net, more than 90% of recruiters have adopted social media marketing strategies to bring new workers on board. When integrated with a variety of high-tech and demographically targeted strategies, recruiters have a better chance of finding and hiring the highly skilled and talented applicants they want.

What strategies do you use to succeed on social media? What companies do you see leading the pack?

Abby Perkins is Editor in Chief at Talent Tribune, a data-driven blog dedicated to jobs, workplace culture, and HR software.

If you want to make social recruiting work for you, try the Jobcast social recruiting app. Follow this link to get a free trial of Jobcast Premium.

This Week's Link Love is going to be a little different because Facebook recently released a new app; Facebook Rooms. Not only is Facebook's latest app big news in the social media world... it’s also really, really fun. I’ll admit, I’ve been a little annoyed with Facebook since the release and forced adoption of Messenger, but Rooms is awesome and definitely worth a download. Its major strength is that, unlike Facebook, Rooms is an app for connecting with people based on interests alone.

If you're into photography the VSCO Room is awesome! I don’t know about you, but as much as I love my friends, I don’t always love their hobbies.  Your Facebook news feed is populated based on the content that your friends share. For me, that means a lot of fashion, tech gadgets, and emo looking musicians… No thank you! I’m about as interested in these posts as my friends are in my posts about proper squat form, and who won last nights TUFF fight. Facebook’s new app is a lovely alternative that allows you to create “Rooms” based upon common interests. These Rooms resemble a Facebook Timeline but instead of a random assortment of content, the entire feed focuses on one specific topic. To join a room you need to use QR codes which you can get via invite or by searching #rooms on Instagram and Twitter.

We recently created a Room for Social Recruiting, which you can join by installing the app, then using the “invite” pictured above. If you're not reading this on your phone, email the image to yourself and save it to your phone's photo library so that the Rooms app can access it.

This room is dedicated to anything remotely related to social recruiting, so if you have blog posts, comments to share, or questions to ask, please join us. Hope to see you there! More on Facebook Rooms: Straight From the Horses Mouth:

The Rooms Blog

3 Reasons to Pay Attention to Facebook Rooms

The Future of Anonymity on the Internet is Facebook Rooms Facebook Rooms is a fun little app, and we think it may even have recruiting potential, but more on that next week! For now we want to know: Have you tried Facebook Rooms? If so, what do you think? Let us know in the comments. Or in the Social Recruiting Room!