The Technology That Will Put An End To Job Boards

Have you posted on one job board, waited for the applications to roll in, then were surprised to see that they, simply, didn’t? Job boards are useful for increasing the visibility of job vacancies. However, this visibility is limited to active job seekers that happen to put in the right search terms. For this reason, there is a new competitor on the scene: social media. Especially for passive talent, social media gets exponentially more screen time than job posting sites. There are perks to using both job board posts and social media content for the promotion of job vacancies.

It’s Dynamic And Creative

The nature of social media platforms allows for creative professionals to submit portfolios in an entirely different, easily accessible way. This also means you can cater to that type of talent by posting on relevant sites with shareable content. For instance, Instagram is centered on images, so posting an enticing image there advertising a photography position would likely work well.

It’s Where People Are

If you aren’t looking for a job, do you peruse job boards during your spare time? Probably not. It’s much more likely that you are on social media, checking to see what everyone else is doing. This benefits employers, because they can reach passive talent. Have a cool hiring story? Share the link to a blog post about it on Facebook. Tweet about your job openings, and encourage retweets. This will expand your network to your followers’ followers and beyond.

Facebook has caught on to this need for visibility, because it has rolled out a jobs posting feature. If any, this is the platform to capitalize on this, because Facebook is an old pro at targeted posts. The company garners much of their revenue from advertisements, and job vacancy promotion is just another form of that. Their ads do well, because you can choose the demographics of your target audience (or candidates, in this case).

It Provides An Easy Way To Build Rapport

Along the same lines, social media is known for, well, increasing social interaction. “Likes” are infectious. People get excited when they receive notifications. However, this can have the adverse effect if these notifications are too intrusive. There is a fine line to walk as a recruiter between reaching out to build rapport and looking spammy.

The comment section on many social media posts allows for potential candidate interaction, as well. Enhance your employer brand by responding to commenters quickly and professionally. Post team photos and testimonials, allowing for easy, one-way communication to potential candidates. This way, you are communicating how great your work environment is before even exchanging two words.

It Allows For A Great Candidate Experience

Now you have nabbed some additional applicants that probably wouldn’t have applied to your open positions otherwise. Thanks, social media! But it doesn’t stop there. Social media platforms allow room for improvement in the candidate experience. In addition to providing a clear picture of the work environment in which the candidate can envision themselves, some platforms allow applicants to auto-fill information with a couple clicks. LinkedIn does this, for instance, and, if adequately filled out, this can save the applicant tons of time. Facebook Jobs automatically links candidates’ profiles to their applications, saving you, the employer, from spending unnecessary time trying to find them on Facebook in the first place. Ease of navigation and application is a big plus in converting visitors to your page into candidates.

The Gist Of Social Media Promotion Of Job Openings Is This

Regardless of whether or not you condone social media use, it is prevalent among the majority of the pool of talent you are drawing from. Generational differences aside, social media is simply another place to post content that enhances visibility and your employer brand. It is free or affordable to post on, and you can build rapport easily. Why not take advantage of that? Just be careful not to “try too hard” with the trendiest hashtags. If used wisely, social media helps employers step up their social presence!