A Recruitment Tool: Social Media

A recruiter must identify the largest pool of professional and qualified candidates to achieve successful recruitment. The human resources will benefit from using social media for future recruitment in terms of different recruitment methods. Social media are most frequently referred to as social recruitment in order to search for the recruiter. It concerns more the role of social media users using the media as a source tool, identifies and hires talented and professional candidates. The social media can be considered as a collective of communication channels, which are focused on community-based inputs, interactions, sharing of content as well as collaboration (Melanthiou, Pavlou, & Constantinou, 2015). Hence , therefore, some of the websites together with applications which are focused on micro blogging, forums, social networking, curation, bookmarking, and wikis make up various kinds of social media. Some of the examples of social media are, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Google+ among much more. Statistics has it that the combination of Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn has more than 535 million users. The vast number of users is an equivalent of many potential recruits who have talent best suited for many organizations. However, the problem is not the numbers but finding the perfect candidate for the job using social media is the primary challenge (Root, & McKay, 2014). The paper discusses and expounds more on the use of social media specifically LinkedIn, Facebook and twitter as a perfect recruitment tool.
Discussion
How to Use Social Media as a Recruitment Tool
LinkedIn
LinkedIn is one of the most used social media recruitment tools. However, the eminent methods of using LinkedIn are posting the available jobs as well as searching for the matching candidates. To post a job for a month, it costs approximately 195 dollars. To pay less one can opt to buy more credits. The LinkedIn Talent Advantage is a platform, which is an exclusive suite tool for recruiters. However those without the budget to pay they might capitalize on the free resources LinkedIn offers. The best way of searching talent on this platform is by creating a connection with individuals you know well. The group of people includes former co-workers, local entrepreneurs, recent clients, friends as well as family. The relationship is significant since it helps tap into their connections as well. Joining groups is also a significant step to take since it helps connect with candidates who are right for the job. For instance, while looking for an IT consultant, it is advisable to find an affiliated group opened on LinkedIn. After joining, the groups find the most appropriate way of starting a conversation with the individuals in the group. People who are active in the group will ask questions as well as answering to others. The active members might be the people you sharpen for the job (Zide, Elman, & Shahani-Denning, 2014).
Nevertheless, there are even free ways of advertising on LinkedIn without directly posting a job. The free method is by use of the network activity box, which is most commonly known as the status box. The network activity box broadcasts the advertisement. The advertisement done using the status box must have your contact with a brief explanation of the job. However, after finding the best candidate, it is recommended that the applicant is thoroughly evaluated using their LinkedIn profile before inviting them for an interview (Gelinas et al., 2017).
Facebook
The other type of social media that provides easy ways of increasing the applicant’s pool is Facebook. The first step of using Facebook as a recruitment tool is using the Facebook Directory to search for possible users, groups, and pages. There are some platforms used on Facebook for advertisement (Kapp, Peters, & Oliver, 2013).
Facebook Marketplace
On the marketplace, one can post a job ad free. The advert will require basic information, which includes the category of the post, sub category, title, location, the reason for filling the position, and the description of the job. However, while using the free job posting one cannot target a particular group of people (Kapp, Peters, & Oliver, 2013).
Facebook Pages
Just like the market place, one can also post-free. It is a public profile, which enables one to share their business as well as products with the users. More so one can also search other Facebook pages to search people who are active and interested in the field of the job or rather the available position. A company Facebook page will be the best recruitment tool. However, one should ensure that their profile is relevant as well as up-to-date. In addition, one can post a job opening for their fans to see (Kapp, Peters, & Oliver, 2013).
Facebook Ad
However, if the best result is not originating from the free platforms, it is always better to consider using the Facebook Ad. The Ad platform has the laser targeting ability such that one can target a specific audience for the job. The Facebook system will ask questions about certain traits of the candidate who is to see the Ad. One has to provide the particular age, sex, and keywords about the position. However, the Facebook Ad platform is not free, therefore; one has the option of paying per click and impression, which determines the cost of the Ad. More so, the recruiter can decide whether to run the advert continuously or for a given time (Kapp, Peters, & Oliver, 2013).
Twitter
Twitter is a powerful recruitment tool for upcoming companies or for that recruiter who is keen to avoid competition. The easier way of recruiting is tweeting the job that is available. In case the twitter account of the company has fewer followers, one can expand their network by the creation of relationships with clients as well as job applicants on twitter. The recruiter can run a quick search on Twitter utilizing the key words, hash tag, popularity, industry or interest. To make the job posting one may use the Hash tag. They are used as a means of filtering as well as finding information on twitter. One has to use the hash tag together with a key word, and it provides an instant search. More than one hash tag can be used, but there is a limitation of the characters to be used. Unlike the Facebook and LinkedIn, one has to engage with the applicants while viewing the topics they are twitting. After potential location candidates on twitter, it is recommended to evaluate their activity. Check the quality of their tweet and how extensive is their network (Brandão et al., 2017).
Conclusion
To conclude the use of social media as a recruiting tool helps employers get to understand a potential candidate. Evaluation and assessment help one get the most skilled, well-rounded people who fit perfectly with the team. Similar to any job opening the use of social media to recruit requires time as well as effort, but it can be considered as a great investment, which will benefit any company in the end. The use of social media as a recruiting tool takes it back to the grassroots of networking.

Reference
Brandão, C., Morais, C., Dias, S., Silva, A. R., & Mário, R. (2017, April). Using Online Recruitment: Implicit Theories and Candidates’ Profile. In World Conference on Information Systems and Technologies (pp. 293-301). Springer, Cham.
Gelinas, L., Pierce, R., Winkler, S., Cohen, I. G., Lynch, H. F., & Bierer, B. E. (2017). Using social media as a research recruitment tool: Ethical issues and recommendations. The American Journal of Bioethics, 17(3), 3-14.
Kapp, J. M., Peters, C., & Oliver, D. P. (2013). Research recruitment using Facebook advertising: big potential, big challenges. Journal of Cancer Education, 28(1), 134-137.
Melanthiou, Y., Pavlou, F., & Constantinou, E. (2015). The use of social network sites as an e-recruitment tool. Journal of Transnational Management, 20(1), 31-49.
Root, T., & McKay, S. (2014). Student awareness of the use of social media screening by prospective employers. Journal of Education for Business, 89(4), 202-206.
Zide, J., Elman, B., & Shahani-Denning, C. (2014). LinkedIn and recruitment: How profiles differ across occupations. Employee Relations, 36(5), 583-604.