Companies are reporting between 10 to 40 percent of candidates being found via social media. This is a guide on how to start recruiting on Facebook.
There are different statistics been thrown around the internet with companies reporting anywhere between 10 to 40 percent of candidates being found via social media. These companies are usually hiring entry and mid-level positions – anything from blue collar positions, to sales, to retail, to marketing and health care.
So how do I reach people on Facebook for recruitment?
Simple – create a Facebook post. The first step is to build awareness and get people to read your job advert. If you have a company page, then you can create an advertisement from there. The alternative is to create posts as a private person. Find local Facebook groups for job postings or utilize the Facebook jobs area.
Don’t just limit yourself to one post. If you post something in one group then it is not visible in other groups. Your goal is to get as many eyes on your post as possible. With this in mind your best bet is to create an advertisement. Facebook advert tools allow you to specify your advert placement based on the candidate location, their interests, their job title or even their current employer. Try not to overspend on your advert and try to be as specific as you can with your targeting. Your goal is not to reach everyone, only the people who would be interested in applying for the job.
What do I post? What does a job ad look like?
Your advert or post needs to achieve the following 3 things:
Build trust:Avoid silly mistakes such as using a low quality image or making typos in your post. Use simple language and easy to read familiar typeface/font. If your company has a well recognized brand or identity then incorporate that into your advert. If you don’t have access to a designer who can help you with all of that, then feel free to pick one of the easily editable templates Canva has available.
Paint them a picture:You are offering an opportunity for someone to do something new and interesting with their lives, right? So make sure your visual speaks to your ideal candidate. Will you show the work environment on the ad? Or potential colleagues? Or maybe mirror what the potential candidate might look like themselves? If you have a smartphone or a camera, then you can take the pictures yourself or alternatively use some free stock images from Unsplash.
Provide information:You are limited to using certain amount of text only, so you need to prioritize on what information you are putting out there. Keep in mind that Facebook will limit your advert exposure if more then 20% of your picture is covered in text. So keep the essential information only and offer more info as your candidate takes the next step…
How do I get the candidate to send in their CV and cover letter?
Your Facebook advert or post needs to offer the candidate directions to move forward. You can give out the application email address right there on the advert itself, but that has many drawbacks. You most likely want to filter your candidates and avoid spam in your mailbox. So you should direct them to an external web page via link. This can be your Recrur application form or your company recruitment page. There you can offer more information about the job and also collect information from your candidate.
By law you’re required to ask your candidates for consent so you could use their information and you are only allowed to keep that information for a limited time. Failure to do so can result in a fine up to 10% of your company profits (yaikes!). You don’t need to worry about it if you use Recrur since we have the consent request built in to the application form itself. However it is something you should keep in mind when you are hiring a mass of people on a regular basis.
WRITTEN BY
Sirli Spelman
A recruiter and human resource manager. Sirli has many years of practical experience in hiring for the IT industry – excellent in both finding new talent and organizing existing talent.
