Social media increases a company’s reach, gives the company a more personal feel, shares their brand and generates leads.

These days, I’m seeing an increase in HR departments using social for these same things – here’s why:

Reach More Candidates

You need to be where your candidates are, and not all of your candidates are on job boards. By creating social media profiles and sharing information about your company, you will reach some of the audience that either isn’t actively applying to jobs or is selectively applying – your profile may make them reconsider that opportunity they saw at your company.

Social is also great for increasing referrals – just make sure your employees have access to social media at work to maximize this. Send out company wide emails and put up posters to let your employees know what positions you’re looking to fill – you increase your reach so much further when you utilize your employee’s networks.

Show Candidates your Best Assets – Your People

Your people can be a competitive advantage when recruiting. Bad management is a top reason employees quit their jobs, so they want to see whom they would be working for if they made a move. With social media, you can create a YouTube video of the hiring manager giving and introduction to themselves, their team and what they’re looking for in a candidate. You can then link to that video in a tweet, share it on Facebook, and add it to your Google Plus page so interested candidates can get a feel for the position and the manager.

Candidates are also interested in an overall culture fit, so share some additional information about the team and other departments. You can do this through a Pinterest board where you share a picture, bio and social media links for each employee, or perhaps a Slideshare presentation where you introduce key members of each department. You may also want to utilize a corporate or employer blog to recognize employees or allow them to introduce themselves and what they do for the company.

By sharing information about your people, you’re giving your company a more personal feel.

Showcase your Employer Brand

Top candidates have a choice in where they work, and they won’t waste time applying for a position if it doesn't sound absolutely amazing. According to CareerBuilder’s Candidate Behavior Report, candidates look at nearly 15 resources before they even decide to a..., and that includes your social media profiles. So use them to your advantage!

Share pictures of company events, write a blog post about the philanthropy event you just participated in,  or create a video tour of your office. Whatever it is that makes your company, employees and culture unique should be front and center. Stand out from your competition through your employer brand and I promise you, you’ll start seeing better candidates walk through your door.

Make Great Hires

Social media gives you an opportunity to get to know your candidates on a more personal level because you can more easily engage with them. I particularly like Twitter Chats for sourcing and engaging with talent, because you can easily see who is the most passionate about what they do – because they’re talking about it all the time. Linkedin Groups and Google Plus are also great for sourcing candidates based on the conversations they’re having online and the articles they’re posting. So here’s my last tip: use social media to actually engage with people, not just broadcast, and you’ll have the opportunity to meet candidates that are passionate and knowledgeable about what they do.