Finding potential candidates that have the skills you need and the personal and professional attributes that are aligned with your company culture can be a challenge. In decades gone by, creating a job posting that would appear in local, regional, or national newspapers resulted in a mix of potential candidates, some good and others bad.

However, you were pretty much assured of finding qualified candidates to fill the job.

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This strategy is unlikely to deliver a successful outcome in today’s recruitment marketplace, with job advertising on social media and job board advertising becoming the primary approach to finding qualified job seekers.

With social networks driving recruitment, we take a look at job advertising on social media, how to do it, and where to list your job openings to ensure an efficient and successful hiring strategy.

Quick Links:

• What Is Social Recruiting?
• How To Advertise A Job On Social Media Platforms To Reach The Ideal Candidate
• Social Media Job Posting Tips
• Why Your Brand Is Crucial When Using A Social Media Platform
• What Are The Most Effective Social Media Networks For Posting Job Ads?
• Job Advertising On Social Media: The Pros And Cons
• Social Media Job Advertising FAQs

Highlights And Key Takeaways:

1. Social recruiting can be placing social job ads on social media platforms or conducting targeted recruitment through services such as InMail on LinkedIn.
2. LinkedIn is the most popular and effective platform for social media job postings, but target demographics and industry can raise the effectiveness of other social media sites.

What Is Social Recruiting?

Social recruiting is the process of posting a job and hiring new candidates through a social media platform. Posting a job on social media is also sometimes referred to as social media recruiting or social hiring.

How To Advertise A Job On Social Media Platforms To Reach The Ideal Candidate

Using social media is a great way to reach active qualified job seekers and passive candidates for free. However, you need to take the right approach, or your job post will not attract the potential employees you seek. If you are set on advertising your job for free, there are number of great places, including the likes of Indeed.

We begin our exploration of job posting on social media platforms by providing useful guidelines that will help you connect with the right people.

Social Media Job Posting Tips

Here we reveal five tips to get your ads noticed of social media, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

1. Keep Your Job Postings Specific and Straightforward

According to an eye-tracking study conducted by LinkedIn Recruiter, candidates typically only spend fourteen seconds reading a job ad before making a decision to apply for the position or move on.

The key to writing a successful Facebook or LinkedIn job posting:

The key to writing a job ad for social media is to keep it uncomplicated and straightforward. It may be tempting to share an in-depth and comprehensive job description in your social media post, but this may deter people who are looking for a new job opportunity.

Remember, you can include a link to your company’s career web page where the reader can explore a full job description.

It is best to avoid industry jargon and overly complicated or flamboyant language in your job ads. Complex language and corporate vocabulary may make it difficult for candidates to determine if they are qualified for the position or not.

2. Make Sure It Is Engaging And Memorable

Your job advertising on social media platforms should include the job title, concise job description, and content that demonstrates exciting opportunities for those who want to work for your company.

Examples from memorable social media job ads include opportunities for professional growth and unique perks such as free coffee, gym membership, hybrid remote/office working, and employee events and activities.

3. Include A Call To action

A clear call to action is vital, and your company needs to make it as easy as possible for talent to apply. A link to the online job application page is the best solution for many companies, but if you can’t include one, ensure your hiring manager’s contact email and phone number are clear and correct.

Proofread your job ad and contact details:

A typo in the contact details can be simple to make yet cost you dearly, with candidates unlikely to conduct further research to find the right information.

4. Know Your Ideal Candidate

You can better target the ideal worker by building a picture of what this person looks likes. Use resources such as a full job description and conversations with line managers and decision-makers to ascertain the skills, personality traits, and experience that the right person should have.

It would help if you also took the time to describe what would make a worker a perfect fit for your company and its values and culture.

5. Research Your Competitors

You do not need to be everywhere that your competitors are. Still, if they have a solid social network and engage in recruitment across multiple platforms, it pays to make sure you post ads and have visibility across those social sites. You can also learn what to and what not to do from reviewing their LinkedIn job adverts and Facebook posts.

Consider why a particular post has a high Facebook like count or why their LinkedIn post has an impressive share count. It will help you if you also spot gaps in their recruitment strategy and recognise where you can appear unique and capitalise on a missed opportunity.

Resources For Employers And Recruiters

To get your recruiting underway, you can view and use these helpful resources:

• Job description library
• Job advert template
• Job advertising
• Branded advertising
• How to advertise a job
• A Guide On How To Hire Employees.

Why Your Employer Brand Is Crucial When Using A Social Media Platform

Poor company culture is slated by nearly half of all employees as the number one reason why they want to leave their employer and find a different opportunity. This figure should get you thinking about how you can use your culture, brand, values, and beliefs to inspire potential employees to apply and join your team.

How To Promote Your Employer Brand And Company Culture On Social Media

Three strategies to use social media to promote your company as a place where people like to work include:

1. Share and like your employee-generated content
2. Encourage your employees to post and interact with your audience and like-minded professionals
3. Share with your audience your company initiatives and benefits

Encourage your workforce to become employee advocates:

It can help to encourage employees to share and re-post your content and job openings by introducing an employee advocacy platform. Here you can centralise content such as company updates, event information, and job openings, making it easy for your workforce to find, share, and post your updates on their personal social media profiles.

What Are The Most Effective Social Media Networks For Posting Job Ads?

Flat fee recruiting and advertising across multiple job boards through a single recruiting solution is the number one way to reach potential applicants. Your content appears in front of passive and active candidates on general and niche job boards and social media platforms, including LinkedIn.

This recruiting solution will help you leverage the most effective resources for hiring candidates (job boards) and social media platforms, which come in as a close second place when it comes to finding talent to join your team.

Next, we highlight the social media sites that will help you get your job post in front of the highest number of people.

LinkedIn Job Advertising

LinkedIn job advertising is a practical approach to using social media to find qualified candidates. According to hiring statistics from LinkedIn Talent Solutions, more than 75% of people who moved jobs recently used LinkedIn to inform their decision.

Improve your employee retention:

Furthermore, candidates sourced from LinkedIn are 40% less likely to resign from the company in the first six months. This is excellent news for your company in a jobs market where there are more jobs than candidates, making it imperative to hold on to the talent you acquire.

In-depth LinkedIn Targeting Strategies

Understanding the platform’s in-depth targeting strategies is essential to maximise the impact of a LinkedIn job ad. Using LinkedIn’s sophisticated algorithm, hiring managers can ensure their social media job posts reach the most suitable job seekers. Unlike other major social media sites, LinkedIn allows for more precise targeting, ensuring your job advertisement is seen by professionals with the relevant skills and experience. By leveraging these targeting capabilities, companies can post jobs on LinkedIn with the confidence that their content will catch the attention of the right candidates, improving the chances of a successful hire.

LinkedIn Ad Formats and Best Practices

When you advertise job openings on LinkedIn, choosing the right ad format is vital to attract candidates. LinkedIn offers a range of formats for paid job ads, each suitable for different types of job requisition. Sponsored content is ideal for boosting visibility amongst a broader audience, while InMail allows for direct engagement with interested candidates. For hiring managers, understanding these formats and applying best practices is key to creating effective job posts that resonate with potential applicants. Using the right format, your LinkedIn job posts can increase engagement and attract more candidates to your open positions.

Integrating LinkedIn with Recruitment Strategies

Integrating LinkedIn with your broader recruitment strategies can significantly enhance your ability to attract candidates. By synchronising LinkedIn with different social media accounts and recruiting software, employers can create a unified approach to post jobs. This integration allows for a more efficient application process, reaching job seekers on LinkedIn and across popular social media platforms. Employers should consider how LinkedIn complements traditional methods, such as inviting candidates to visit job boards or leveraging personal brands through employee networks, to maximise the reach and effectiveness of their job vacancy announcements.

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LinkedIn Analytics and Reporting

Effective use of LinkedIn Analytics and Reporting can transform how hiring managers evaluate the performance of their job posts. This tool provides invaluable insights into how job seekers interact with your job advertisement, including metrics like views, applications, and overall engagement. By analysing this data, employers can refine their approach to social media posts, ensuring that their future job ads on LinkedIn and other social media platforms are more targeted and effective. Understanding these analytics is crucial for employers to assess their paid ads’ ROI and make data-driven decisions for their recruitment strategies.

Tips for Enhancing Employer Brand on LinkedIn

Enhancing your employer brand on LinkedIn is a powerful way to attract people to your open jobs. This involves more than just posting a job vacancy; it’s about actively engaging with the platform through regular social media posts and updates. Employers should encourage their employees to share their experiences and successes, turning their personal brands into ambassadors for the company. A strong employer brand on LinkedIn leads to more engagement. It helps to catch the attention of job seekers who are not actively looking but may be interested in new opportunities. By maintaining an active and appealing presence, companies can ensure their open positions stand out to potential candidates.

Legal Considerations for UK Employers

For UK employers, knowing the legal considerations when using LinkedIn to advertise job openings is crucial. Compliance with UK employment law is essential to avoid potential legal issues. This includes ensuring that job ads do not discriminate against candidates based on protected characteristics and that all information is accurate and truthful. Additionally, when using paid ads, employers should be mindful of the cost implications, including flat fees and the time-consuming nature of managing a campaign. Understanding these legal and financial aspects is vital for any employer looking to leverage LinkedIn effectively and responsibly for recruitment.

Facebook Job Ads

Facebook job advertising on social media is a great way to reach people if the HR budget for your company is limited. When you create and share your jobs, it is essential to follow Facebook best practices.

Facebook hiring best practices:

• Use a clear and direct call for action.
• Use one initial sentence that does not exceed twenty words.
• Leverage bullet points or emojis if you need to convey more information.
• Reveal notable company awards.
• Create immediacy by using words such as ‘now,’ ‘today,’ and ‘this week.’
• Accompany a written post with an image. If possible, refrain from using a stock photo. A picture of your office space and coworkers can be a great way to show why candidates may want to work for your company.

Articles To Help You Get Started With Social Media Recruiting

You can get further insights into recruiting on social media and Facebook by reading these articles:

• Guide to recruiting with social media
• LinkedIn job advertising guide
• How to reduce job advertising costs

Job Advertising On Social Media: The Pros And Cons

Extend Your Employer Brand Reach

The most significant reason to use social media is to reach potential candidates by extending your reach beyond the direct followers of your company. Your followers will share exciting and new job opportunities with their friends and networks, creating a snowball effect with exponential growth in visibility that will help you connect with more people and save you time when you need to hire.

Get Your Post Seen By Passive Candidates

Almost 70% of the candidate pool is made up of people not actively looking to find a new position, but are open to new opportunities. Whereas job boards are frequented by candidates actively trying to find jobs, some of the best talent isn’t visiting them. Still, they are active on popular social media sites, including Facebook and LinkedIn.

Save Money And Time

Recruitment does not have to cost your business an arm and a leg. When you leverage job boards and popular social media networks, your ads appear on the most frequented sites on the internet, with affordable pricing. Jobs that appear on Facebook and LinkedIn get shared further and encourage word of mouth referrals, which cost you no extra time or money.

Twitter Job Announcements

Twitter offers the most limited social media networking platform when recruiting. It is only possible to make a short statement. Still, it can be a valuable asset that highlights an opportunity and prompts your audience to discover more on your other platforms or the careers page of your website.

Next, read Should I advertise My Job On More Than One Site?

Social Media Job Advertising FAQs

If you still have questions regarding recruiting on Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media networks, we answer those questions here.