September 10, 2013
Direct sourcing of candidates using social media. Forget branding for a moment if you can, this is not about candidate attraction nor is it about creating a pipeline, this is about filling a role you needed to fill last week and how to do it using social media!
So, your hiring manager has sent you a barrage of emails, left you two voicemails, and visited your desk umpteen times with useful hints and tips on how to recruit – as well as advising using recruitment agencies with all that nonexistent budget they have. You are in a slight panic and have a million other roles open and subsequently a million hiring managers banging on your door to get the best candidate. You need to STOP and BREATHE, the right candidate is out there and you do not have to pay a recruiter fee (sorry consultants, you have your place, but not in this scenario).
Where to start?
Take 20 minutes to plan what platforms to use, LinkedIn is a must, Facebook a close second for direct sourcing and let’s give Twitter a go as it does have 554,750,000 active users.
Use Linkedin Recruiter: this will allow you to search the platform’s whole network, in excess of 200 million globally. The LinkedIn Recruiter tool allows a recruiter to search for specific requirements, including current and past employment, qualifications, keywords (XHTML/Java etc), even salary if required (I personally find this less useful). You can then send your relevant candidates InMail, which is targeted messages direct to their inbox. This is of course in addition to being a savvy recruiter and headhunting them directly from their current workplace. You can also save searches and when anyone new falls into your search criteria, LinkedIn will send you an update.
Use Facebook: a hard one. You have access to a lot of data, but remember Boolean search does not work on Facebook, so your criteria should fall under companies worked, cross referenced with location– that is my personal view and I have found it most effective when searching for individuals this way.
Use Twitter: post the job, assuming you are an active user and have a following. Ask followers to RT, this also enters Twitter’s search criteria, so you can look at what is trending and put this in to the tweet somehow – this guarantees some response and interest, although unfortunately untargeted.
Admittedly, this is a very brief intro to direct sourcing through social media. But when I have an urgent role I use LinkedIn, and this has produced results 80% of the time. The other 20% I have found through job boards. I personally have a strong network on LinkedIn, from working in media and then as a recruiter within media, and know that you need to be a good networker to fill any role.
NB: I have been a recruitment consultant and the way they network is outstanding. If all in-house recruiters had the same attitude, then more roles would be filled faster and easier… #justsaying
© Vichaya Kiatying-Angsulee, “World recruitment” Photo. Free Digital Photos
© suphakit73, “Business man with recruiting concept” Photo. Free Digital Photos