Social Media is Changing the Recruiting Game

If you had asked me four to five years ago how I felt about social media, I probably would not have had a clue what you were talking about.

If you had asked me the same question just two years ago, I would probably tell you I didn’t like it due to having two daughters who are obsessed with it.  That is how I perceived social media: an avenue for our youth to communicate without ever talking to someone on the phone or in person.  It seemed the idea of learning respectable social skills was disappearing with the advancement of technology, including texting.  I once witnessed two girls sitting ten feet apart and texting each other instead of conversing.  I felt nauseous.

However, if you asked me that same question as of 2012, I’d tell you that social media is extremely useful and an extraordinary means of reaching people looking for assistance and searching for employment.  That is what I have learned in just one year.  I’m pretty old school (that means only 15 years ago) in regard to recruiting.  I came from the days where you hit user group meetings every week to meet new people and drop a business card.  I came from the days of cold calling into companies to find who may be looking and who is passively seeking a new opportunity.  Not to say those days are over, but social media has certainly changed the art form that is recruiting. EDI Specialists has grown in leaps and bounds in this area, which makes the company a much more modern, exciting, and powerful machine in sourcing candidates.

Through Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin, to name a few, the amount of passive candidates we now reach has grown exponentially, as our database continues to grow full of qualified resources.  Social media also makes it much easier for these candidates to find us.  Picking up the phone to reach a recruiter to inquire about new opportunities is not only daunting but nerve-racking too.  Having that initial phone call with a recruiter, possibly in the same cubicle you currently work, is grounds for an anxiety attack.  However, simply reaching out via some form of social media is just a few clicks, or by filling out a quick inquiry online, that stress is relieved.  I find social media benefits both the passive candidate and recruiter, and creates this initial line of communication much more easily, while increasing the chance of getting new employment. However, even with this new means of reaching out to folks, recruiters DO still need to have superior communication skills after the initial contact is made.  But, social media makes finding those candidates much more effective and because of this, it offers a huge amount of untapped talent for our clients that we didn’t have access to ten years ago.

So yes, I’m still old school.  I still wonder where the Rolodex went on my desk.  I still believe there is an art form to recruiting.  I am still nervous about the social skills of our children that grew up in this current generation.  But for recruiting?  Social media might be the best thing that has happened to this field.  However, if you want to hear more about my opinions on the pros and cons, don’t call me—send me a text or a message on Facebook.

Do you think social media has impacted the recruiting game? Let us know in the comment section below.