According to research by Recruitics, 79% of job seekers use social media in their job search. This figure goes up to 86% for younger job seekers in the first 10 years of their career.
Before we look into why social media is so popular, it’s worth considering which social media channels job seekers use the most and where companies should focus their efforts!
67% of job seekers use Facebook
Of all the social media channels, 67% use Facebook to look for their next job, 45% use Twitter, 40% use LinkedIn and 31% use Instagram.
Research also shows that 1 in 4 job seekers use social media as their primary tool for job searching.
Only 55% of recruiters use Facebook
While 67% of job seekers use Facebook to find their next role, only 55% of recruiters use Facebook by comparison.
However, while 40% of job seekers use LinkedIn, 87% of recruiters use it.
While LinkedIn is and always will be a useful way to recruit new talent, it appears according to the research that employers are underusing or even undervaluing Facebook as a tool for recruiting new employees.
Why is Facebook so useful for recruiters?
Not only are job seekers using Facebook the most of any social media channel to find their next role, but Facebook boasts the most active users of any social network in the world.
As of 2019, Facebook draws in 2.41 billion active monthly users worldwide, compared to 660 million on LinkedIn.
Furthermore, Facebook’s job advertising options are free to use, and you can simply advertise a new role through your page for free for as long as you like. However, posting a job through LinkedIn is a paid service.
Of course, you can post a page update for free on your page and advertise a job this way, but the more advanced job advertising features are free on Facebook and paid on LinkedIn.
Best practices for recruiting through Facebook
Why not consider creating a specific new careers page?
The benefit of this is that you can dedicate that page specifically to communicating that your company is a great place to work! You can tailor the message and target a more specific audience and leave your corporate page to its own focus.
Try to avoid just calling it “Company Name Careers” and use the title to get across your culture. Utilise the header image and profile photo to not only capitalise on the strength of your brand but to express your company culture!
Videos and photos that tell an employee’s story make great content for these types of pages. Keep it authentic though!
If creating a new page is out of reach for your business, maybe you don’t have the time and resources, simply make the best use of Facebook’s job advertising capabilities on your corporate page.
Also, make sure you share with employees that you’re advertising for a new role through Facebook, particularly if you run an employee referral program. Share the post with employees and ask them to share it through their personal Facebook pages!
Make use of Facebook groups! There are Facebook groups for just about everything, and there’ll definitely be a Facebook group that relates to your search for new candidates. For example, say if you’re recruiting for a Developer and your business is based in London, search Facebook for ‘Developer Jobs in London’, sort by groups and request to join. Make sure you participate in the group too rather than just posting job ads and then leaving.
Facebook has tons of features and with over 2 billion active users it’s a no brainer for recruiters to invest their time in it to find their next new recruits!
While Facebook is a great tool for recruitment, all social media must be utilised. If someone sees a job advert from you on Facebook, then sees the same advert from you on LinkedIn after, they’re more likely to take a look and potentially apply. With 79% of job seekers using social media to find their next role, it’s an absolute no-brainer for recruiters to make the most of it!
