Every good recruiter knows that social media is becoming more and more important when it comes to finding a great candidate. Just days ago Mashable reported that a social media monitoring service Reppler found that 90% of recruiters and hiring managers have visited a potential candidate’s profile as part of the screening process, and 69% rejected a candidate because of something found on social profile. Not only do social profiles work well when it comes to analyzing a candidate, but they also work well when it comes time to try and find a candidate through job postings. Each of the major social networks are a bit different:

• Twitter: Utilize keywords and make sure you are subsequently using hashtags. Also make sure that you tweet out your job openings at optimal times by using tools such as SocialBro to help show you when your target audience is using Twitter.
• Facebook: Create a career tab on your Facebook brand page so that visitors can easily find your listings. Occasionally post new jobs so that it will show up in the feed of all of the people you “liked” your page because you always post great content.
• LinkedIn: This is the biggest way you can take advantage of social media for recruitment. The network is all about professional matters. Make sure you have a follow company button and list job postings on your page.
• Google+: This network isn’t nearly as popular in terms of recruitment as the others, but you can still take advantage of forming connections. Because you can put anyone in your circles, you have a better chance that those really targeted to your industry will see your job postings.

These are usually seen as some of the biggest social networks, but there is one that’s missing: Pinterest. Pinterest is one of the fastest growing networks with daily unique visitors increasing more than 145% since the beginning of 2012. In addition, Pinterest is retaining and engaging users as much as two to three times as efficiently as Twitter was at a similar time in history. This then begs that inevitable question: Can Pinterest also be used as a recruitment tool?

How Recruiters Can Take Advantage of Pinterest

It is no secret that Pinterest is a very visual social network. In fact, this is likely the number one reason that companies look the other way when it comes to using the site as a way to help the recruitment process. It can be easy to assume that Pinterest will only work if you’re looking for a candidate in design or in the fashion industry, but this is far for the truth. Pinterest is a networked used by people from all different backgrounds, and although not everyone goes to Pinterest to specifically look for a job, it isn’t a good idea to assume that they wouldn’t be interested in finding one should a company give them the option.

On that same note, a Pinterest user could come across your job listings because so much time is spent on the network. According to PR Daily, American users of the social network spend an average of one hour and 17 minutes on the site, well ahead of Twitter (36 minutes), LinkedIn (17 minutes), and Google+ (six minutes).

This is where your company comes into play. Below are a few ways that you can make sure you’re ready for any Pinterest user that needs a job:

1. Visuals – You want to use visuals to catch the attention of users. Use infographics and videos about your company or your industry in order to lure people to your page.
2. Boards – Create creative boards. You do not need your boards to always be about a specific job posting, but rather have them center around things in your company. Have a board about the decorations in your company, what you look for in an ideal candidate, and pictures of company events that illustrate why your business is the place to work.
3. Links – Everything you pin on your boards should link back to your actual company website. This makes it easy for candidates to apply and read more about the visual that they saw on Pinterest.

Have you ever considered using Pinterest as a recruiting tool? Do you have any success stories about utilizing Pinterest? Let us know in the comments below!

Photo Credit: mashable.com

Amanda DiSilvestro gives small business and entrepreneurs SEO advice ranging from keyword density to recovering from Panda and Penguin updates. She writes for Highervisibility, a nationally recognized SEO firm that offers online marketing services to a wide range of companies across the country.