If you are interested in being a Recruiter and a budding recruiter at that; then you surely are wondering, “How Effective is Social Media for Sourcing?” especially if the traditional methods work.

To brief you of the effectiveness of Social media; well it is a cost effective way of sourcing candidates and it is where most of your suitable candidates are active and present. Therefore, the approach to recruiting has evolved, to be up to date with current trends. Hence, Social media platforms are considered the most effective way to capture the hard to get candidates. So, “Are you convinced of its effectiveness, yet? If not then here are some more reasons to clarify your doubts.

Recruiter’s Leverage

One of the newest tools that give recruiters a leverage is Social Media. Irrespective of the age gap, almost everyone has a social networking account. So don’t be mistaken to think that your main users are people within the age range of 18 to 24. Your most active age groups are budding professionals and experienced ones within the age range of 25 – 34 and 45 – 54 year Old’s; shocker isn’t it? If you thought this was enough, think again? Because apart from this the most obvious reason is the easy access to a vast database of potential yet qualified candidates.

Organizing Tools

Apart from sourcing candidates; Social Media clubbed with cool browser extensions, plugins and add-ons, make the task of sourcing candidates efficient and simple. Aside from this Social Media like Twitter allows its users the flexibility to schedule job postings and tweets according to ones needs. Several tools like Buffer, Hootsuite and Evernote etc. make the process all the more easier to narrow down on candidates.

Monitoring Tools

Even the aspect of monitoring candidate’s activity and the responses to job postings are taken care of by these cool, yet easy to use tools. If you thought monitoring candidates was easy well even the company’s online presence and webpage can be monitored efficiently. Some examples of such tools are Twitalyzer, Twazzup and TweetDeck etc. These tools give you real time information in the form of stats about you, your Company, even the activity on Social Media sites and also the responses to job postings.  

Profile Search

Platforms like LinkedIn, being one of the many professional sites allows its users to post information about their qualifications and experience. Such a platform comprises all the necessary information Recruiters or Sourcers look for before selecting candidates. LinkedIn’s layout gives a clear view about a potential candidate’s credentials and achievements if mentioned by the user.

Grow and Build Connections

Unlike the usual way of connecting to people, a Social Media platform like LinkedIn, Google+ and Facebook gives one the flexibility to customize the groups they create. Apart from creating groups one can also build new connections and access third party connections. The groups feature even allows users to participate in forum discussions which help recruiters to source candidates of caliber that are active.

Company Branding

Aside from developing connections, monitoring potential employee’s activity and sourcing, they also help in the company’s branding. Here to the progress of the company’s product and online presence can be monitored with the help of tools or webpages like Crowdbooster, Spredfast, MarketMeSuite and Antavo are some examples to boost the company’s branding.

Creative Outlet

Social Media is a relatively new outlet where Job seekers, Sourcers or Recruiters alike can show their creativity. Job seekers or LinkedIn users have the freedom to decide how their profile is displayed on Social Networking sites for Sourcers to view. Nevertheless Sourcers or Recruiters too can be creative while creating job ads that are crisp and contain all the necessary information to attract the right talent. Here their creativity and knowledge of the language comes in handy.

These are but some of the many reasons as to, “How Effective Social Media is for Sourcing?” So go ahead and add to your knowledge in order to boost your employment chances as a budding Sourcer or Recruiter. So, “Don't be afraid to give your best to what seemingly are small jobs. Every time you conquer one it makes you that much stronger. If you do the little jobs well, the big ones will tend to take care of themselves.” - Dale Carnegie