As recruiters are becoming increasingly aware of their need to embrace social media to stay competitive, the industry is seeing an influx of social recruitment campaigns. In fact, the latest research indicates that a massive majority (94%) of recruiters are either already using or planning to use social media for generating leads and attracting candidates. Whilst this is certainly a welcome progression, the fact remains that recruiters focus their attentions almost solely on the big four platforms: LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+ and Twitter. In a huge world of social opportunities, is it time for the recruitment industry to step outside of the norm and try something new?

Able to boast 100 million monthly active users, Snapchat has quickly become the emergent social platform of choice, particularly when it comes to the much sought-after Generation Y demographic. Famously difficult to entice in the job market, Gen Y candidates are heading to Snapchat in droves. Over 71% of Snapchat’s users are under the age of 25, making it a prime place to target younger talent. Admittedly, recruiters couldn’t strategically use Snapchat for its typical purpose of sending selfies and food shots, but there are ways to think outside the box and use the platform to fit recruitment needs.

With its ever-growing popularity, its reputation as a fun, fresh and ultimately ‘cool’ platform and its average of 400 million snaps sent every single day, Snapchat now needs to be seriously considered as a recruitment tool. So, how could recruiters use Snapchat to get results?

• Use the Snapchat Stories feature to advertise roles

 Needless to say, an image that disappears within 5 seconds never to be seen again isn’t the most effective way to advertise. However, by using the Snapchat Stories feature, recruiters can create content that remains viewable for 24 hours. At its most simplistic level, you could use Snapchat to take a shot of a job summary and post it as a ‘Story’, visible to your connections for one day only. Even doing something as basic as that is unusual within recruitment and would differentiate you and your personal brand.

If, however, you were to get creative, you could use the Stories feature to create higher-level content. You could, perhaps, create a sequential snap story in which you engage candidates with a series of linking shots.  For example, if you’re currently recruiting for freelance developer jobs, you could take a picture of a sharp suit and tie captioned with the quick quip: “Uncomfy?” You could then take a snap of a dressing gown and caption it with something like: “Why not work from home?” and add that to you story. From there, you could snap the title of the role in question on your computer screen and caption it with a link to view the job online. It’s all about originality and tailoring the platform to meet your specific needs.

Doing so is new, different, unexpected and above all else: it’s fun. Without spending a great deal of time, you could invigorate your job adverts and engage your audience.

• Create quirky competitions

Let’s say you’re currently recruiting for difficult digital marketing jobs. You could use Snapchat to encourage candidates to pitch for the role with a creative video. As well as testing the candidate’s digital marketing skills by making them showcase their talent within a real digital example, the disappearing 10 second element of the video makes it a fun and unusual recruitment challenge.

You could adapt this approach to a variety of roles and create a series of Snapchat campaigns in which candidates vie for consideration with their Snap submissions. It’s great PR for your recruitment company and it’s also a great way to gauge the creativity of your candidates. If you’re unconvinced, look at the fantastic results and widespread media coverage DDB Oslo won from their “Snapchat Pitch” campaign. Since Snapchat is free, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by levering its popularity for your roles.

• Get videoing

The beauty of the Snapchat video is its versatility. With it, you could conduct fantastic internal recruitment campaigns by revealing the ‘behind the scenes’ reel in your office, showing candidates your company culture and vibrant environment. You could post short clips of yourself or team members offering bite-size recruiter tips. You could even deliver a quick summary of the day’s best hot job.

Again, it’s a mere 10 seconds out of your life but it could win you fantastic results, as well as keeping you one step ahead of your competitors.

Evidently, there are ways that recruiters can turn Snapchat to their needs. The benefits of doing so are multifarious, including:

• You’ll be doing the unexpected. Recruiters aren’t currently using Snapchat, and so those that do have the advantage of surprising candidates and engaging with them in a new, unanticipated (and therein more interesting) way.
• You will stay relevant. Everywhere you look in recruitment industry press, you’ll find articles expounding the need for recruiters to evolve with the times and develop their tactics to continue adding value. With Snapchat being the hottest new social platform out there, what better way to remain current?
• You can establish your difference. Recruiters that use Snapchat at this early stage will stand out from all the other recruiters on the market for all the right reasons.
• You can attract Gen Y candidates. Gen Y wants  access to information at the touch of  a button. With Snapchat, you can give them this, as well as reaching out to that demographic through an established platform that they already know, love and regularly use.
• You can show your personality. Snapchat is a highly informal social platform, facilitating the opportunity to engage with your candidates in a more relaxed, casual manner. Too many recruiters are afraid of using social media for its core purpose of being social, instead posting stilted, formal updates. With Snapchat, you have no choice but to be social and show a little personality: use it!
• You can grow your audience. Snapchat’s users are increasing with every tick of the clock, meaning that joining will take you to where the people currently are. If you’re a seasoned recruiter, you’ll already have established social connections on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Google+. Why not take the opportunity to expand into a new platform and engage more people in more ways?

Naturally, there are some drawbacks to using Snapchat as a recruitment tool. The first and most obvious is the brevity of the posts you’re uploading. Secondly, although the platform is a hotbed for Gen Y talent, it offers an otherwise limited demographic with few users over the age of 30. Then in terms of logistics, growing your audience initially can be hard work, requiring candidates who may be somewhat sceptical to accept your invitations.

So, that being said, are we ready for recruitment via Snapchat? We’d argue that yes, the time is now ripe for recruiters to roll with the times and get their campaigns on-board with the hottest social platform available. What are your views?