You may have read our recent post about why recruiters should use social media and thought to yourself ‘I’ve never made a placement using social media’. If that’s what ran through your mind and you only use your recruitment ATS, then this is the post for you.
Even though social media can do wonders for your brand, it’s not always the case. Sometimes a lot of time can be wasted on channels when people just aren’t interested in your company or content. Here are some of the main reasons why social media doesn’t always work for recruiters.
Hard to stand out
This doesn’t just go for recruiters, it’s extremely difficult for anyone to stand out on social media. When there are hundreds of recruiters posting about a job, how are they going to stand out? Recently, I’ve seen a mass of people starting their job adverts with a joke or image to grab prospects’ attention and it seems to be working!
You can also make sure you stand out from others on prospects’ posts. For example, a way to stand out on a typical ‘I’m looking for a role’ post would be to actually pick up the phone and call them rather than leaving the generic ‘Message me and I’ll see what I can do’ comment. That way, you have a bit of a head start.
Potential candidates aren’t there
This is perhaps the biggest downfall of using social media. Not everyone’s clients are present! If you’re recruiting in construction the odds are that you will struggle to find your potential leads on LinkedIn. That’s not to say that they’re not on Facebook but LinkedIn is currently the most popular social network amongst recruiters so for most, it’s their number one place to go to. The lesson to learn from this is that different industries will be present on certain networks more than others. You’re probably more likely to find a white-collar office job on LinkedIn rather than Twitter or Facebook yet if you were on the hunt for a labourer then Facebook might be a better place to go. It just depends on the line of work!
Another factor to consider is that your potential candidates might not even be online if they’re at work! If this is the case then you may have to experiment with different posting times so try scheduling your content for earlier in the morning, around noon and in the evenings.
It’s entirely down to personal preference how you want to source your candidates whether that’s through social media or other methods like good old-fashioned picking up the phone. Everyone has the same amount of opportunity, it’s just how you use it so if social media isn’t working for you then it’s not the end of the world. However, it is still something hugely encouraged as technology moves forward. If you’re interested in how to use Twitter as a recruiter then take a look at our previous post for more information.
