Leadership and Executive Development for women of all races, cultures and backgrounds
Issue link: https://diversitywoman.epubxp.com/i/260173
32 D I V E R S I T Y W O M A N S p r i n g 2 0 1 4 d i v e r s i t y w o m a n . c o m THINKSTOCKPHOTOS. We Mean Business > with 60 percent of Caucasian Internet users, according to the Pew Research Center's Hispanic Trends Project. Companies should make sure the careers and recruitment pages on their website are easily viewed via smartphones. If not, "you'll have to rely on a job seeker to go back to a desktop and then reconnect with your company," Miller-Merrell says. Not a good proposition. Before launching any social media re- cruitment strategy, ask your recent hires how they last searched for a job, Miller- Merrell suggests. Did they use their mobile device? Did they use Twitter or Facebook? Te answers you get will provide a good place to start. Diferent social media platforms ofer diferent advantages: Twitter is a great place to dis- tribute jobs and engage job seekers in real time. LinkedIn is good for post- ing jobs and searching for recruits via skill set. Facebook is a great tool for branding and letting po- tential employees get a glimpse of the company culture. You can post a video that shows current employees and the diversity that already exists. Facebook is also a source for collecting more infor- mation about potential recruits, which can aid in hiring decisions. For example, a survey of more than 7,000 recruitment companies, human resources managers, and recruiters in the United States by oil and gas jobs board Oilandgaspeople. com found that 64 percent have rejected a job candidate after viewing his or her social media profle. In certain competitive felds, recruit- ers must take care not to overuse social media platforms to connect with poten- tial employees, Miller-Merrell cautions. For example, "in Silicon Valley, I'm seeing great engineers deleting their profles be- cause they are tired of being bombarded by recruiters." It's also important to develop a long-term social media strategy. "You're not just going to set up a Facebook page and instantly have 5,000 people like it," Miller-Merrell adds. Rather than spamming po- tential recruits with informa- tion they don't want, recruiters should create content that adds value for their target audience and can be shared. Tat could be any- thing from an employment video about the company to blog posts about career development to a free download- able e-book with salary negotiation tips, Miller-Merrell says. In doing so you be- gin a conversation with talented profes- sionals who can later help fll your com- pany's ranks. One of the best things about using so- cial media to recruit is the ability to con- nect with people who aren't necessarily searching for a job. Back in 2011, Samantha Lambert was poking around LinkedIn when a job de- scription for the director of human re- sources for Blue Fountain Media, a digital branding company in New York, caught her eye. "Little did I know that would be my next career move," the 30-year-old says. "I wasn't unhappy where I was, so I wasn't looking for a new place to work." Lambert turns to social media in her recruitment strategies at Blue Fountain Media. She uses LinkedIn to post jobs and job descriptions, as well as to reach out to potential job candidates. She also responds to all posts and tweets about the company, because "I'm able to build relationships with future prospective em- ployees and keep in touch." While some might assume that recruit- ment by social media gives younger employees an advantage, "I have a lot of older candidates who are able to navigate social media just as well if not better," Lambert says. Social media also allows companies to showcase their diverse culture. Blue Fountain Media uses Instagram as a forum for company employees to post pictures taken during the work- day or after work. Tose pictures are posted on a recruitment website called Krow.com along with Blue Fountain Me- dia's job listings, so interested applicants can "get a glimpse of what life at Blue Fountain is like," Lambert says. Looking to the Next Frontier While it's good to know where other re- cruiters are going to fnd diverse talent, you can't be afraid to chart new waters. With social media–savvy recruiters turning to LinkedIn 93 percent of the time, according to social web recruiting site Jobvite.com, get a jump on your com- petition by sourcing talent elsewhere. For example, Miller-Merrell at one time used dating websites to recruit "because it was a database of candidates that typically put their employment in- formation and location in their profles," she says. She would gather potential candidates and contact them to see if they were interested in learning about suitable opportunities. "It was a place that the competition wasn't spending any time on," she says. It's also important to plant seeds for tomorrow. Prudential hosts Prudential Peak Lead- ership Conference, a program designed to expose frst- and second-year college students to opportunities in the fnancial services industry. Te efort fulflls one of every company's most important recruit- ment goals. As McDaniel says, "We want to fll the open jobs of today while also focusing on the future." DW Tamara E. Holmes has written on business and health for Essence, Black Enterprise, Real Simple, and Working Mother. One of the best things about using social media is the ability to connect with people who aren't searching for a job. DWM_23-43.indd 32 1/14/14 3:10 PM