The advent of social media and its growing popularity has brought about changes in almost everything that we do. Social media has not only impacted the lives of individuals but also organisations and their processes.
One organisational process that has undergone a revolution with the popularity of social media is recruitment.
Gone are the days when recruiting employees required organisations to advertise using different advertising media and using references from already hired employees. Today, social media does it all. Social media has in fact led to role reversal. Earlier, it was the candidates who wanted to attract the attention of recruiter; today, on social media, it is the recruiters or employers who are more interested in engaging employees and building communities to enable the potential candidates find the best jobs.
With most people accessing social media, an increasing number of candidates as well as recruiters are found hanging on different platforms and communities.
What are the changes in recruitment because of social media?
The changes in the recruitment process because the increased use of social media are significant. First and foremost, the process has become more candidate-focused rather than being job-oriented. Today, for each position, the number of skilled and perfect candidates is limited and so candidates have become very particular related to the work they want to do and for whom they want to work.
Secondly, the job market is flooded with all types of jobs, making it possible for anyone with any type of skillset to apply to a job with a simple click. This is thanks to the availability of different job portals ion mobile devices.
Lastly, with social media, the recruitment process has become even more interactive, right from the first stage. Today, even screening of candidates is interactive; which otherwise used to be a hush-hush affair.
Some social media trends related to recruitment
Here are some amazing numbers that highlight the popularity and use of social media when it comes to recruitment.
• LinkedIn is the most used channel when it comes to recruitment efforts- 77% users taking advantage of this platform, followed by 63% who make use of Facebook.
• Instagram’s popularity as a recruitment platform is increasing with almost 25% recruiters investing into recruitment efforts on this platform.
• Companies invest almost 47% in social media recruitment efforts.
• 64% of the potential candidates research a company online.
Social media has paved way for what is known as social recruitment that has opened up myriad options for recruiters as well as job seekers.
