College Grads find success in using social media to find jobs. Nearly 38% of college students plan to seek employment using LinkedIn, up from 5% last year. Slightly more than 15% plan to use Facebook, up from 7%. No longer do students just wait for visiting campus recruiters to learn about job possibilities. Companies need to know their online image, then update anything that is outdated, inaccurate or not interactive. Companies are also understanding the importance of making their websites mobile friendly. Companies are now learning they have to make themselves available on the web if they are to attract the best talent available.
Students get the lowdown on employers by viewing their websites, reading Facebook and Twitter updates and perusing LinkedIn profiles. Another information source: comments by past and current employees on job-oriented websites. A strong digital presence is one way for employers to stand out as the quest for the best and brightest gets competitive. Slightly more than four in 10 employers say they will use “different” recruiting tactics to reach Millenials, according to a survey by job-search site Monster.com. Of those respondents, almost 60% say social-networking sites are popular tools to reach Millenials.
UPS revamped its recruitment strategies to better embrace Web 2.0, says Matt Lavery, managing director of corporate talent acquisition. “Our reason for using social media is because that’s where we think the candidates are,” he says. The company posts updates and videos on topics such as job opportunities and the benefits of being an employee. It also created a mobile-friendly site for those who want to apply via smartphone.
“Younger people want to attach to you in a different way than the past,” Lavery says. “They want to interact with you. They want to learn about you.” The updated recruitment techniques take effort, but they work, he says.
In 2010, UPS used those tactics to recruit 955 employees. The year before, it hired 29 employees through those means. “It’s a time investment that you have to be willing to do,” he says. “You can’t just have a page up there and not have content. In social media, you have to have a give and a take, or people won’t be a part of your community.”