If your company is focused on hiring entry-level employees, being active on Facebook is an essential element of your overall recruiting strategy. Looking at Facebook demographic data from Quantcast.com, one sees that 18-34 year olds are well-represented on this social networking site. One way to leverage Facebook is to connect with this demographic through the use of a fan page. However, the ultimate goal is not to simply gather the largest numbers of fans. If your company is not careful you can have thousands of fans who never convert to qualified applicants or productive employees. The number of fans your company page has is simply one way of measuring the reach of your employment brand among target candidates. It is also important to compare your fan demographics to your target candidate demographics. Your company can also analyze how fans are engaging with posted content. Do your fans enjoy “Day in the Life” videos or industry specific articles? Which type of content generates the most “Comments” or “Likes”? Are there some administrators that are more popular? This analysis can help provide additional depth into the success of your recruiting efforts on this channel.

In addition to directly connecting with prospective candidates and analyzing those interactions, your company can also indirectly target prospective candidates. Facebook statistics show that there are 400 million users, and each user has an average of 130 friends. This means that not only should your company focus your efforts on your target candidate, but you can also spend some time influencing people within their network. The members of their network can inform target candidates about your company based on insight they have from their personal connection if your content is shareable. In addition, whereas a candidate may not have been willing to click on a targeted ad; they might be willing to check out a shared link from one of their friends.

Once your company has engaged with prospective candidates either indirectly or directly, your job is to convince them that your company is so awesome that they would be foolish not to apply. If used properly, Facebook fan pages are good for converting fans to applicants, and ultimately new hires if they meet your selection criteria.

-Omowale Casselle

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About the Author: Omowale Casselle is the co-founder and CEO of mySenSay, a social recruiting community that connects college students and corporations.