Social recruiting
In order to reach the best recruits, it's important that companies understand a variety of media channels and be up to date on what's happening online and off, says Eva Zils, founder of Online-Recruiting.net, where she writes about job boards and HR marketing on social media.
"They should really do the research and find out where their talent is," Eva says. "Maybe it ISN'T on social media."
And when they do connect with those candidates, it's critical to give feedback.
"Actually, a tiny thing to do, but with massive (positive!) impact," Eva adds.
We recently checked in with Eva to learn some best practices and tools for social recruiting today. Here's what she had to say:
Tell us about Online-Recruiting.net. When and why did you start your site?
I started Online-Recruiting.net in July 2007 when I was an employee at an international HR communication agency in Lyon, France. From 2004 to 2006, I had been in charge of online marketing and sales for the German-speaking markets, which we developed at the time.
In 2007, I took a 100-percent sales role in the same company. Very soon, I missed the online marketing and writing tasks, so I created Online-Recruiting.net as a blog in order to comment on what was happening in the online recruitment industry, while generating sales leads thanks to the blog at the same time.
What trends are you following in online recruiting today?
I follow several different trends on Online-Recruiting.net.
My initial focus on international job board markets has broadened over time. The emergence of social media, new HR Tech players, the startup communities with their fresh re-thinking of the recruitment industry... all this I have taken a closer look at in order to tell my faithful readership the big story of the international HR Tech markets and their developments. This is very exciting, and I can be sure that my content idea streams never run dry.
Apart from that, I am planning and organizing the first HR Hackathon in Berlinbefore the summer.
What are the most common questions recruiters are coming to you with?
They usually have to do with social media and content strategy, as well as questions on which media channels to use in which country.
Why is employer branding so important in recruiting today?
I think employer branding, at least in the German-speaking world, is still in its infancy. But companies and recruiters like to discuss this topic a lot. They know that it will gain more and more importance given that, in particular in Germany and Switzerland, the demographic evolution will cause a critical shortage of talent in key industries and new technologies.
How have you observed businesses using social today to recruit?
There are a few businesses doing social media recruiting today. However, the "big frenzy" from the past four or five years is mostly gone. In my social media recruiting surveys, I see that with every year (I have been doing the survey since 2011), companies see social media more and more as "just another media channel" to use to recruit. But it's hardly done properly.
What are some best practices for social recruiting?
There are different campaigns that stand out because everybody is talking or writing about them. In the end, they generate a bit of awareness for the particular brand (and maybe their agency will win an award). The best practice according to me is to deliver relevant content to your audience and to generate a long-term interest.
What social tools should business owners be using? How should they be using them?
I personally like Hootsuite a lot. I use it to manage my different accounts from there. Other than that, dlvr.it is a very powerful tool to share content wisely.IFTTT is great for automating certain actions that make life on social media (not only on social media, but I only use it for that) a lot easier. Buffer is great, too. All these tools are useful and accessible for smaller companies, and all of them have good statistics that help measure successes and KPIs.
What should brands be aware of when using social to recruit internationally? What are the challenges or cultural concerns?
Every country has their own culture, codes and communication rules. Before communicating on social media towards a different culture, it is recommended that you get to know as much as possible about the different habits and codes.
Connect with Eva on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn and Pinterest.
