Using Social Media for Recruiting Employees

I will begin on a personal note and say that after I decided going back to work after the birth of my second son, Omer, I even didn't think to look for a job on social media. At first, I immediately thought about the standard and common ways – looking at wanted ads, and signing up to several jobs search sites and social networking to activate connections.It was clear to me that I had to make some phone calls, talk to family and friends to keep being active. While I was looking for a job, my dear partner (that wasn't looking for a job) told me as a joke that he was contacted as a potential worker on the social network, LinkedIn.

Hi סססMy name is ooo, I am in charge of recruitment for Operation openings within ooo.I found your profile in LinkedIn and I would be happy to see you among my professional network connections.You can feel free to use my LinkedIn invitation page, you should only add my email ooo and... we are connected :)Waiting for you invitation!

Ooo

I must admit that this is the first time I was seriously thinking of joining the network, as someone who is still not on Facebook, and often debates whether to open an account or not, and leans towards no to, but this is an entirely different discussion…

So the question is "Whether today's talented and potentially competent workers can be a passive job seeker, waits for employers to reach out them with opportunities?Do employers have realized the potential for recruiting employees through WEB2.0?What are the benefits of using social media for recruiting employees?To understand the potential of the social media networks, here is some data:Close to 55% of internet users in Israel have a profile on social mediaThere are over 3,000,000 Israelis on FacebookThere are over 400,000 Israelis on LinkedIn

Social networking's success lies in creating a continuous interaction between users, through comments, updates, recommendations, video and image uploading, etc.The number of friends does not indicate the success of a specific profile page. Perhaps there has been a massive subscription, but lack of interest or updating content will fade out the followers who are searching for relevant content.Today, any company looking to recruit millennial generation talent (those born in 1975 or later) must be presented in WEB2.0.According to the Accenture 2008 survey, "about 50% of the Y generation claims that WEB2.0 tools at work are an important factor in preferring one workplace over another."Some organizations are proud of innovation to recruit employees through social media, when in fact they are publishing just a jobs list.This type of recruitment doesn’t use the potential of social media and its users. The same organization could have only published through internal sites. Recruiting through social network requires thinking, creativity and constant commitment of the employer to update the network to create interaction between users.The employer can use social media as a leverage method ‘bring a friend,’ by interacting with his employees. The employees’ connection to the employer’s network doesn’t indicate that the activity was successful, only the employees’ regular presence on the employer’s page, interaction – Talkbacks, employees’ blogs, videos on YouTube, pictures and additional media will contribute to the recruitment process.Through social media recruitment, employers can take advantage of the network to do research and actively contact potential employees/staff members.

When examining recruiting on social media in Israel, it is clear that the subject is in very early stages. Every company that acts wisely and gets into it quickly will contribute to the company’s status as advanced and innovative to potential employees.

What is the connection between knowledge management and success in recruiting on social media?A knowledge manager in an organization exposed to all knowledge solutions available in the organization and outside of it.Knowledge management is a process of managing knowledge flow, not only bottom-up but also in-out, from the organization and vice versa.

With increasing exposure to the media and WEB2.0, knowledge management within the organization should also provide a solution for knowledge management needs with suppliers, customers, potential customers, and potential workers as well. Recruiting is one example to knowledge management from inside- out and vice versa.There are additional examples, such as publishing articles in the media, reacting to talkbacks and more, but this is a subject for a different paper.So, back to my question, can a talented and full of potential worker be passive in job-hunting?Today, not yet, but definitely yes in the future.