If you’re a Recruiter then I’m sure you are well aware of the current scenario with the Talent Acquisition Industry. If not then a write up on how effective are Social Media Recruiting Surveys will definitely enlighten you about the same. I can think of several reasons as to the effectiveness of Social Media Recruiting Surveys. These surveys help you identify what the latest trends are and how effective are your efforts to gather talent as against you’re competitors.

The survey dealt with the various tools and practices that recruiters use to assist them in targeting quality talent. The findings suggest that Recruiters are much like marketers as they showcase their Employer branding and engage candidates across many platforms. So if you want to find out how you faired then take a look at the Social Recruiting Survey (2014) conducted by jobvite.com.

Relationship Building

According to this survey building relationships is of the essence. With the current development in the Recruitment field 69% of Recruiters are of the opinion that competition will increase in 2015.

Recruiting Strategies

In order to succeed 73% of Recruiters have planned to invest more in Social Recruiting, 63% via referrals, 51% through mobile and 93% use or plan to use Social Recruiting to support their recruiting efforts. 73% of companies are showcasing the company culture to attract talent. 55% of Recruiters are using or plan to use a mobile career site to meet their recruiting needs.

Recruiting via Social Media channels

Recruiters are now utilising Social Media channels to review profiles of candidates, to uncover mutual connections and evaluate written or designing work of potential candidates. 55% of Recruiters have actually reconsidered a candidate based on their social profile.

Other Recruiting Methods

60% rely on referrals, 54% use internal transfers, 51% utilise direct sources and 40% use intern to hire in order to find best candidates.

Recruiting Tactics with Social Media

95% search for candidates and contact them, 93% keep tabs on potential candidates and vet candidates pre interview while 92% post jobs on LinkedIn.

With Facebook 59% showcase employer brand, 51% generate employee referrals, 48% post jobs , 32% vet candidates pre-interview and 35% vet candidates post interview.

Through Twitter 44% showcase their employer brand, 39% post jobs, 32% generate employee referrals, 17% search for candidates and 18% vet candidates post – interview.

Improvements in Candidate Selection with Social Media

With the help of Social Media there has been an improvement of 44% in quality and quantity of hires, 34% in time to hire and 30% in employee referrals.

Mobile Recruiting

Recruiters have started using mobile to recruit candidates anytime and anywhere. 22% have started posting jobs, 36% search for candidates, 41% contact candidates, 30% post job on Social Channels and 40% forward candidate details to colleagues.

Improvements in Candidate Selection with Mobile

There has been a 14% improvement in the time to hire, 13% improvement in quality of candidates, 19% improvement in quantity of candidates and 10% improvement in quantity and quality of referrals.

Well aren’t you convinced now that these types of surveys are definitely beneficial as they help you reconsider your efforts and find out loop holes in your strategies that your haven’t seen or known of. So if you aren’t using these methods then I’m sure your missing out on exceptional talent that you thought didn’t exist. So its high time you start implementing them if you haven’t already.

Well we’ve gone over this several times yet we still continue to follow these myths that we think are realities when they aren’t. As Recruiters this holds true for most of us as every field has its own myths and realities that most professionals aren’t aware of. But if you think that you’re aware of all of them think again as I’m sure that you’ve missed some. So let’s uncover some career fair myths and realities.

Myth 1

Job offers are made at career and job fairs

Reality

The representatives of the company usually almost never make offers at a fair. At best they’ll take your details and tell you that they’ll schedule an interview for you at a later time. So be sure to have your calendar ready to give them the dates of your availability and you’re resume handy.

Myth 2

It’s alright if you “just show up” at the career fair.

Reality

While that might be the case it never hurts to be prepared just in case you get an opportunity to showcase your talents and a chance to get your resume in the door for a possible job opening.

Myth 3

Recruiters are all aware of all the job openings in their company or organisation.

Reality

Organisations usually send different representatives to fairs. Sometimes they are HRs at times they are the hiring Managers. These individuals might have information about openings in other departments but may not have the details you’re looking for.

Myth 4

Company Representatives always have job opportunities available.

Reality

Company Representatives come to career fairs for various reasons of these the 4 main ones are 1) Advertising Current Openings, 2) seeking and screening potential candidates for future openings, 3) promoting a general visibility of the company and 4) To find out who their competitors are.

Myth 5

The Representatives of the Company will remain at their Recruiting table throughout the fair.

Reality

This is not true they may arrive late or leave early depending on their schedule and or turn out or rotate shifts with other representatives. So if you plan to meet them later they probably might not be there.

Myth 6

All you need to do is drop you resume off.

Reality

While that is true you will certainly miss out on interesting opportunities without interacting with the representatives. When you visit such fairs it provides you with an opportunity to get your resume in the door. This is because you’ve taken out the time to meet with them and in doing so you leave a lasting impression on them. It also helps them decide why you are a perfect fit?

Myth 7

There’s no reason for you to follow up after the fair.

Reality

While this is a general idea that is followed you need to remember that if you send them a thank you and follow up email or if need be a call. These aspects together will reinforce the impression they have of you which will no doubt set you apart from the rest.

A Recruiter’s tasks have been simplified to a great extent with the arrival of the Internet. Gone are the days where recruiting was done using traditional methods like “I’ll wait for the right candidate to walk in” or “eventually the right candidate will come find me”.

Technology has not only simplified the tasks but also speeded up the recruiting process entirely. The current method used in recruiting is Online & Mobile Recruiting which facilitates the “you don’t search for me I’ll come find you instead” technique. If you’re a start-up or a small business owner then there are certain ways by which you are sure to get the talent you’re looking for.

Rely on your employees

You’d be surprised to learn that even big companies have started giving preference to employee referrals so why shouldn’t you? Besides your current star employees will most likely know someone similar to them and might be the best fit for your organisation in the long run. You most definitely don’t want to miss out of such a pool of talent.

Company Culture

This may seem futile to most but the work environment plays a crucial role in attracting the right talent. If the talent that you have is right but the culture isn’t one that retains employees then you need to change that. Because the talent you’re searching for isn’t going to stick around and are likely to refrain from getting their friends to this kind of environment.

Sell the growth potential of your company

When writing JDs, be sure to market the company’s growth potential as people are attracted to companies that have more to offer them experience wise. Such JD’s are sure to attract candidates displaying the right attitude. Besides when you know the company’s growth potential why not market it and improve you’re branding as well.

Ensure that you provide learning opportunities

Individuals with the right attitude get attracted to opportunities that teach them something more than what they are already knowledgeable about. Such individuals usually end up as great hires and assist the company’s growth. This we know because if you have the right staff your company’s growth is most definite.

Let your candidate outshine you

Nothing beats a great hire than one that outshines you. If given an opportunity to outshine you, you can be positive that the candidate is the right fit for an organisation like yours. Besides these are the candidates you want to hire as they can point loop holes in your suggestions when it comes to the organisations marketing strategies.

Well there you have it all the information you need to map out your hiring strategies and make that perfect hire that is sure to make all the difference in the company’s growth. All of these aspects are bound to assist the company’s growth in one way or another. You are therefore better off implementing them in to your hiring strategy. Do you have any pointers to add? Do tell and we’ll be glad to add them in our next post.

Well it’s time for another recap of what went on in this week’s WhatsApp Group Chat. Sourcing Adda (@SourcingAdda) being a group for Talent Acquisition Professionals to interact with each other is a great platform to gather together and discuss more about the subject of Sourcing and Recruiting that we are all passionate about.

Having said that it’s time to find out what the discussion on the common questions was all about like is it possible to survive without job portals? If yes, what would we do differently? If no, then why are we so dependent?

Well this brings another informative and interesting chat to a close with lots of take a ways that are sure to assist you in your hunt for Talent and also help you build a Talent pipeline that you can rely on. Stay tuned to @SourcingAdda for more updates and recaps to come that will certainly boost your knowledge.

Well it’s time to revisit the WhatsApp Group Chat that was held to test our memory. So tell me how many of you can remember all the important aspects that were discussed. Well we’ll soon find out as the discussion was on the “Best practices that ensure maximum footfalls for recruitment drives” Tell me did you remember that? If yes, then that’s great. But let’s find out what was discussed.Well this brings our interesting chat to an end with lots of learning. So now you know everything that was discussed including the important aspects that I’m sure you’ve missed during the chat. Be sure to be present at our next WhatsApp Group Chat and follow @Sourcing Adda.