Guest post: How social media has changed the recruiting process

The days of circling job postings in a newspaper are gone. The recruiting process has been turned on its head thanks to social media, which allows more access (and sometimes more problems) to recruiting candidates.

Employers have a larger candidate pool.

Years ago, employers turned to search companies and newspaper ads to find candidates. Now, companies are integrating their job postings into social media, blogs, and communities, allowing more potential candidates to find the position. The social sharing mentality encourages individuals to share with their network and use hashtags so that others find positions that are a perfect fit.

Employers and potential candidates can network.

In years past, recruiting was a one-way street. Employers and recruiters reached out to candidates, but it was much more difficult for candidates to reach out to employers. With the advent of social media, the divide between the two has been significantly shortened. LinkedIn, for instance, can let individuals directly contact employees of a company for which they are interviewing or interested in learning more about. Twitter can function the same way. Employers can actually talk to candidates (or see how candidates talk to others) before the interview begins.

More robust online resumes.

Savvy internet users know that the Web can be an amazing place to showcase who you are and what you can do. Much more effective than a paper resume and cover letter (no matter how well your resume is designed,) an online portfolio, blog or website is a great way for candidates to add to their paper resume. LinkedIn also provides recruiters a way to check references (through recommendations), and discover their candidates’ skillsets and experience in a dynamic way.

Blogs can be a great way for candidates to expand and share their thoughts on industry topics in a more planned and controlled fashion, beyond the stress of an interview setting. For visual jobs (like graphic design or photography), social media can be a way to share a design portfolio without sending disks or USB drives.

Employers can see the real you.

Although social media can help recruiters choose the right people and network more efficiently, it can also help them see through the “interview facade” that many interviewees bring to the table. Everything a candidate shares online is fair game, from a blog to interactions on Twitter. This can be helpful as well as harmful to candidates, and can help recruiters narrow the field.

Employers’ online reputation.

Not only can recruiters discover the “real” candidate through social media, potential employees can see the veil lifted on what it’s like to work for companies. Candidates can do research through social media accounts, check engagement and interaction on social media of the companies for which they are interviewing, and find out what employees are saying about the company on social media. Social media can be somewhat uncontrolled (despite the best efforts of social media managers), and potential candidates can easily find out more about a company’s reputation.

Steve Burrell has been writing about technology and business solutions for nearly a decade. Click here to find out more about employee evaluation.

Photo credit: nan palermo on Flickr