Social media has completely disrupted the way businesses communicate and has redefined the way businesses interact with consumers. 

Today in France most companies have difficulty defining a clear social media strategy. By doing so, they risk missing out on an ever-growing audience.

Recent studies show that 77% of French people are registered with one or more social networks. Yet, companies still struggle to identify the potential and impact of these channels.

There is, however, one area where the use of social networks is already showing its effectiveness: recruiting. 

The number of users present on networks like Facebook  (1.6 billion active users in 2016) allows recruiters and headhunters who know how to use them, to reach a wide audience. 

How can talent acquisition benefit from social networks  

Social networks are a great way to communicate with candidates.

1 - Through personalization

Recruitment is first and foremost a matter of meeting (between a company and a candidate). Social networks put forward the personalization and the uniqueness of the exchange. 

Candidates can engage directly with recruiters (for example, using Linkedin) and employers can connect to profiles or groups of candidates through keyword searches. 

2 - Through transparency

A company exposes itself by being present on social networks. It can receive criticism, as well as praise, from employees, consumers, customers, etc.

The company must be ready at all times to respond when a public message is directed at it (and as soon as possible).

This raw transparency, appropriate for the use of social networks, actually makes the company look good.

As long as it knows how to handle criticism, it will give off a impression of authenticity and sincerity. 

3 - By cost

The cost of acquiring new talent can be high, especially for a start-up that doesn't yet have a human resources department in its organization.

Thanks to social networks, the search for candidates can be done directly, by targeting very precisely a field of activity. 

This new way of doing things does not dispense with a careful study of the applications in the process that will lead to hiring.

First and foremost, it allows the company to be exposed to profiles that match its DNA and to approach them more simply. 

4 - Through the Marketing Approach

For effective social recruiting, you need a strategy, a specific target and data to back it up.

The tools available on Facebook and Twitter pages, for example, allow you to track daily engagement data and the number of visits to your pages.

This information is as accurate (and valuable)as the information you collect about your product or service.

This is data about your company, as a "place to work " that you can analyze in order to optimize your recruitment. 

5 - By the shareability

Put your employees at the heart of your strategy to develop a strong employer brand!

Employees on Twitter, Linkedin or Facebook contribute to recruitment efforts through their own shares and retweets.

Thus, they become employer brand ambassadors.

Job postings are relayed like any content of interest. Through employee activity, the referral system can become very effective.

This social word-of-mouth usually generates very good quality applications. 

Conclusion

The way we approach candidates and with which we interact with them has changed completely with social networks.

This collaborative approach won't replace jobboards anytime soon, but it is essential to building one's employer brand and facilitating the recruitment process.