Find Great Candidates with this Secret Weapon

Facebook is a place to post baby pictures, memes, and even the occasional rant. However, hidden inside its two billion active users is a wealth of opportunity for a company looking to tap into new and extremely qualified talent. When Facebook isn’t making headlines, it’s often forgotten as a place to find the next hire.

While many technology companies use the social media giant to actively recruit great people, less tech-savvy companies typically don’t pursue the opportunity. Whether it’s because of the lack of expertise to navigate the platform or because it just hasn’t been considered, Facebook is often overlooked. However, companies can learn to use this valuable secret weapon to recruit great candidates.

Keep Facebook Updated

Decades ago, job seekers learned about a position through newspaper ads or word of mouth from their close family and friends. Today’s job seekers use both their social media connections and personal connections to find their next employer. In many cases, the number of “Facebook friends” far exceeds the amount of people with which the individual regularly interacts. Though they may not be close friends in person, many Facebook users won’t hesitate to reach out to a distant friend who works at a company they’re thinking about applying with to get the inside scoop.

In addition to reaching out to “friends,” the social media platform gives job seekers an opportunity to research a company’s social presence. This includes viewing the company’s website and social media profiles.

When a company’s Facebook page isn’t complete or hasn’t been updated in years, they’re sending a message that connecting with future talent isn’t important.

On the other hand, a company that regularly posts updates, memes related to their field, or even photos from a company event sends the message that it’s participating in technology and engages with its employees. Let future candidates know the brand is important and you value public perception by maintaining an active social media presence.

Activate Jobs

Use Facebook Jobs as a way to promote open positions to those who follow your company. Even if they aren’t looking, it’s likely they know someone who is. Even better, there will now be a post to share with potential job seekers. Too often, we see companies not doing enough to promote open positions. Facebook makes it convenient for potential applicants to be aware of open jobs.

Promote Your Company’s Culture

Company culture is a promotional opportunity that many companies overlook. While applicants don’t expect everything to be perfect, they do expect a company to be open and honest about what it’s like to work there. From celebrations to company events, there are many opportunities to share what’s going on behind closed doors.

Ask a few of your best employees to record a quick video telling people why they like working at your company. You don’t need a fancy recording studio or equipment to make this happen.

Simply ask your employees to use the video function on their cell phones and record it in a natural setting. Showing an “insider view” of what the office looks like on a typical day can help a potential candidate feel connected to your company. A viewer will sense the authenticity of the DIY video and gain brand awareness and trust based on what the testimonial shares.

Promote with Facebook Ads

After you activate your jobs, you have an opportunity to promote them. Ask your marketing team to target people with interests similar to your best employees. Then, use Facebook ads to promote your company, its culture, and its people. Even the simple act of sharing an employee testimonial video can open doors to candidates that may not have taken notice of your company otherwise.

Keep in mind, as of January 2018 as many as 95.1% of Facebook users accessed the platform via smartphone. About one-third of users also logged in on a laptop or desktop computer. If a casual Facebook browser is noticing your company’s culture, it’s likely that they’re on a mobile device. That makes it especially important that your job posting is mobile-friendly and easy to navigate.

Have a Conversation

Invite candidates to connect with your team using Facebook Messenger. Engaging with them prior to an application will help answer their questions and may even speed up the screening process.

Too often, people aren’t prepared to apply for an open job on Facebook so you may receive incomplete applications. It doesn’t mean they are bad candidates. It just means that they aren’t actively looking and likely only considering companies that have engaged them.

Facebook’s Secret Weapon

Specific audience targeting with Facebook makes it one of the most effective advertising platforms to get in front of good candidates. While the rules will always be changing, it’s worth your time to learn more about it.

Combining accurate targeting with effective ads, Facebook will beat most other advertising platforms.

Your company’s web developer or marketing agency can set up some of this tracking on the company’s website. By better understanding who is visiting your website, audience targeting will become more effective. This won’t happen overnight, but eventually, Facebook could become the go-to for recruiting your next great employees.

Part of the Arsenal

While Facebook can be very effective for finding candidates, it shouldn’t be the only way of promoting openings. There are other job boards that will help get the word out. In fact, adding an applicant tracking system will provide more exposure for openings and help streamline the screening process. It can even save you time and energy since many of the processes are automated.

When looking for the right people to add to your team, Facebook is an overlooked platform for finding job seekers. It may not be as easy to post as Craigslist or Indeed, but it’s also less competitive which means there’s a better chance of finding great people.

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