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FROM THE BLOG
Facebook Sourcing: How to Use Facebook as a Part of Your Recruiting Strategy
According to its own statistics, Facebook has 1.71 billion monthly active users as of October 31st, 2016. That means that nearly a quarter of the people on this planet use Facebook at least once a month.
Somewhere out there, in the mass of information and cat videos that is Facebook, are your perfect candidates. The real question is: How do you find them?
There are two basic ways to go about this. The first is to get them to come to you. The second is to go to them. Here are some ideas you can use to do both.
Getting the Candidates to Come to You
1. Have Your Own Careers Page
It's surprising how many companies (of all sizes) don't do this. And you should, especially if you're part of a larger company. Facebook posts about new positions can get lost in the shuffle of all the other posts that your company puts out.
If your company has multiple campuses (especially if they're in different states or countries) you may want to have a page for each campus.
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This gives interested candidates another direct way to find out about your current job openings. And, in this age of social media, it meets potential candidates where they are, instead of expecting them to find the careers link on your company website.
Having a separate careers Facebook page gives you another place to post hiring announcements, which can get you more exposure. Someone who has liked your Facebook page may not be the perfect fit for your open positions, but they may share your post with someone who is.
Since so many people turn to social media for information and research, it's a great opportunity to introduce your company to your potential candidates. You can showcase your company culture with posts highlighting company outings, activities or new developments. Or post profiles from employees talking about what it's like to work in a particular position or department (especially if you're hiring for that position or department).
2. Update the Header Section on Your Page (Frequently)
The header section is the entire top third of a Facebook page. It consists of a profile picture, a cover photo, the business name and the category for the page.
Many companies ignore this section, but it can draw in potential candidates by getting them to recognize and be interested in working for your company.
You can use each section to highlight your company and open positions.
- Profile Picture: Use your company logo for instant recognition.
- Cover Photo: Get a designer to put together an image that shows off your company, your industry and your culture. It should be a mix of words and images.
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Create a Call-To-Action: As the page administrator, you have the option to add an additional button besides the "Like" button. This gives potential candidates an additional option to show their interest. To add this button:
- Click on the "Add a Button" button located in the bottom right half of the cover image on your business page
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A window will pop up, giving you several options to choose from. We recommend:
- "Contact Us," "Learn More," or "Sign Up," all of which link to your website
- "Send Message" which will send a Facebook message (You can turn on an Instant Reply Message to add an autoresponder message.)
- "Send Email" which will open an email message for the interested person
IBM has several careers pages for their different campuses, locations
3. Update Your "About" Section
Sometimes you will go to a page where the "About" section is full of bright blue links that say "Ask for (business name's) (information requested).
This is a lost opportunity.
Instead, update this section with your company information and a link to your careers page. There are several options available, including physical address (with or without a map) and email address.
4. Add a Careers or Job Search Tab
You can add what is essentially your careers page to your Facebook page.
You will probably need to work with your developer on this, but it can be a great way to get people on social media directly to the information they want. For more information on how to do this, go to the Facebook Developers page. You can also get specific instructions from this Hubspot blog post.
Going to Your Candidates
When you promote open positions on Facebook, you need to think more like a marketer and less like a recruiter. Marketers look for information on their target audience and use that information to promote their products or services. You can do the same with your open positions.
1. Friend and Follow
Expanding your network is the best way to get a job posting to "go viral." Friend employees at your company who work in the department with your open positions. Friend people in the same industry. Friend thought leaders who influence the industry.
When you post a job listing on Facebook, these people will see it and will be more likely to share it if it comes from a "known source." Each of these people has their own network where they will spread your job posting. Your next perfect candidate may be somewhere in one of those networks.
2. Join Groups and Communities
There are hundreds of thousands of groups and communities on Facebook. Many of them are associated with a specific industry or a specific job. There are also groups that are specifically established for people looking for jobs. Many of them are regional. Some of them are by industry.
Type the words "job search" into the Facebook search box and hit enter. Then click on the "Groups" tab at the top of the page. It's the 8th tab from the left. You should now see hundreds of different groups you can join.
Some of these groups are "public" which means you can join with a click of a button. Others are closed, which means you'll have to get approval from the group administrator. Find the groups that are in your area, or focus on your industry and join.
Don't just post job listings. Take the time to give back to the community as well. Post useful articles for job seekers or perspectives from the recruiter-side of things. People will be more willing to trust you if you interact with the community.
4. Run an Instragram Ad Campaign
Facebook now owns Instagram and is developing its advertising platform. You can use the same audience building techniques on Instagram and get in on the ground-level of a new source for potential candidates.
Does all this seem overwhelming? Download our Facebook Recruiter Checklist to help you get the most from your Facebook recruiting strategy.
Would you click on this ad to learn more?
3. Run a Facebook Ad Campaign
Facebook is one of the best places to advertise on the Internet right now. They have collected billions of data points on their users that you can use to hone in on the right candidates for your open positions.
You can create an audience in their Ads Manager that targets specific demographics like:
- Location
- Age
- Gender
- Language
- Education level
- Field of study
- School
- Employer
- Industry
- Job title
And so much more. Work with your marketing department to optimize your audience.
Once you've done this. you can also create look-alike audiences, with will expose your ads to groups similar to the ones you've chosen. This can increase your reach exponentially, depending on the options you choose.
Once you've created your audience, work with your designer to create the perfect Facebook ad that will attract the candidates you're looking for.
Job search groups have large memberships to share your posts
Geoff Peterson
Chief Sourcer at Sourcing Supply. Author of The Sourcer's Playbook. Recruiting & HR Industry Speaker.
