Nobody can deny that Facebook has come a long way from its humble beginnings as a site solely for high school and college kids to post pictures, share comments, and connect online, having now expanded into the largest social networking site on the internet, allowing users of all ages and backgrounds from all over the world to connect and share information and media. Given this growth over the past decade it is easy to see how Facebook has pioneered social media networking, and essentially changing the way we communicate today. However, given the expansive reach of Facebook and all its limitless networking potential, organizations are only just now slowly beginning to realize this potential as it applies to their executive search and hiring efforts, and are struggling to discover a means in which to use this system to their benefit.
To help companies better understand how they can begin tapping into the wide range of recruiting benefits represented by Facebook, here is a list of four key points that have been outlined by executive search firms to guide company’s efforts in this area.
1. Posting Job Openings and Descriptions to the Company Page
Perhaps the most obvious means for a company to use Facebook in their candidate search is by posting the job opening and a pre-developed, detailed description of the available position to their own Facebook page where anyone who views the page will be able to see it. Of course, for this method to be effective will require the company to develop and maintain their Facebook network in order for there to be anyone to even see the posting.
2. Reaching Out to Candidates Through the Company Page
As a more targeted approach to the aforementioned technique, companies should keep track of those professional, external individuals in the company’s network who have friended or liked the company page, in order to source candidates from this list, picking out those that appear to be qualified for the open position and then forwarding them information about the job opportunity.
3. Extending the Reach Through Employee’s Personal Networks
One of the most effective ways for a company to effortlessly extend their candidate search with Facebook is to encourage their employees to reach out through their own Facebook accounts to contact and inform their professional contacts about an open position, even getting them to post the available job position and its description to their pages to further broaden the scope of the employee pool.
4. Making Use of New Recruiting Apps
Companies should also look to using preexisting apps to help expedite this process. One such app created by a job search engine, when used, will automatically keep track of job openings on the company’s website and then post the open position to the Facebook app, automatically updating this information as it changes and therefore negating the need for any effort on an employee’s part to maintain it. Another useful app allows applicants to submit their resumes through the app on the company’s Facebook page. A variety of such applications already exist and only require that employers make use of them to help speed up the effectiveness of the company’s candidate search process.
While Facebook certainly represents a limitless potential for companies to develop their networks and reach out to candidates in their executive search and hiring procedures, this should not become the company’s only means of recruiting, but should simply be seen as one more valuable tool in this process.
Published by Conselium Executive Search, the global leader in compliance search.
