In increasing numbers, companies are using Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter to recruit new employees. Businesses use social media as a source to find qualified candidates and as a way to investigate applicants they are considering hiring.
Recruiting from social media is a new venture for many companies. That means they are still in the experimenting phase and there are no strict rules on what to do and what not to do be successful recruiting this way.
There are some tactics, however, that businesses can use to make the right connections with appropriate people in their industry.
Make connections with people BEFORE you need them. Take a bit of time each day using social media to identify people that have what your business values like graduates of a certain college or technical school, people that work in the same industry, those with certain skills, etc.
Stay in touch on Twitter and the other networking sites. Join specific Groups on LinkedIn and Facebook. Be sure to post your thoughts and join in the discussions.
When businesses are actively involved in different networking media, they may be able to avoid hiring the wrong people. Monitor your potential hires for inappropriate posts or “red flags”.
Growing your network (LinkedIn) and adding followers (Twitter) and fans (Facebook) will give your company a large pool of qualified candidates when you need them.