It is estimated that 4.48 billion people use social media. Over half of the world’s population are tapped into the social network. Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok are hives data. This data is used to promote products, services, holidays, competitions and even jobs. Job advertising on social media has grown exponentially. But does it work?
Facebook and LinkedIn have both constructed their own in house job boards. Enabling you to post and manage job vacancies with promotional tools that surpass that of traditional online job boards.
Reasons for job advertising on social media
With years of experience in the field from long before the days of Facebook’s own job board. Here is a list of Serve Talent’s favourite parts to advertising vacancies on social media:
- Billions of people use social media on a daily basis
- It doesn’t cost a penny to list a vacancy on Facebook or LinkedIn
- Access to regional and industry specific groups with high levels of engagement
- Target specific demographics per platform
- Engage on a personal level with potential candidates
- Advertise in any country from anywhere in the world at any time
- Free management system to filter applications and candidates
Billions of people use social media on a daily basis
The chart below shows the sheer scale of social media based on how many million registered users there are on each platform. It is highly unlikely that your ideal candidate is not a registered user on any of these.
Every social media platform serves a different demographic and this should be taken into consideration when advertising online. For roles requiring a higher volume of staff you may find Facebook, Instagram and Twitter your go to platform for recruitment advertising.
For more experienced and qualified staff within a particular niche, LinkedIn is the place to advertise.
Free job advertising on social media
You can advertise unlimited job vacancies across all social media platforms. Depending on which, you may need to get a little creative. Instagram is a photo and graphic based platform and requires strategic use of hashtags in order to promote content. Facebook and LinkedIn however have their own job board with built in applicant tracking system.
It is always worth researching what platforms work best for advertising specific jobs. A job post that gets tonnes of traction on TikTok may not get the same level of engagement if shared to Facebook.
Regional and industry specific social media groups
Facebook and LinkedIn are famous for their groups. Between the two social media giants there are groups for every subject. If you live in the far reaches of Wales at Llanfairpwll-gwyngyllgogerychwyrndrob-wllllantysiliogogogoch, there are communities online to help you promote job vacancies and more.
Targeting specific demographics
There are varying levels difficulty when it comes to filling a vacancy. This has resulted in different types of recruitment services offered. If it was possible to fill every job through advertising online, the days of recruitment consultants would be over.
The same levels of difficulty in finding candidates applies according to the social media platform you use to search for them. As Facebook retains very little information about a person’s employment history, entry levels jobs would be better advertised here as opposed to LinkedIn.
Engage on a personal level with candidates
Advertising on job boards will always be the dominating force in recruitment and resourcing. However it does have a very systematic approach to it. Job goes out, CV comes in, box gets tickets, call gets made.
When advertising your job vacancy on social media you engage directly with the applicant. Your post goes out, they comment or message and you reply. Typically you build a rapport prior to getting them in for an interview.
Advertise job vacancies on social media in any country
There are no limits to the countries you can advertise in. Unless of course social media platforms are banned in those countries. Then you may have to resort to other methods.
China, Iran, North Korea, and Turkmenistan have banned popular social media platforms. But the rest of the world is your oyster.
Free application management system to filter candidates
Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) can cost a fortune in setup costs and monthly management. Both Facebook and LinkedIn have a built in and easy to use ATS.
Making it really easy for you and your team to filter our the great applications from the not so legitimate candidates that seem to slip through the net.
At Serve Talent we include our advanced ATS with all of our job advertising services.
Reasons to avoid advertising your job vacancies on social media
- Specialist, niche and qualified staff will not be job hunting on Facebook
- Lots of click happy applicants that do not always read the full job description
- Reach can sometimes be limited unless you use a paid advertising option
Job advertising on social media conclusion
If just starting out it might be worth running an A-B test on social media job advertising versus traditional methods such as job boards. You may find that certain roles get more of a positive response than others on social media compared with job boards.
Using social media to advertise your job vacancies will also help build up your online presence regardless of whether you make any hires. By sharing engaging content, talking about your roles and sharing your vacancies on Facebook and LinkedIn you create brand awareness.
Should you require any assistance with job advertising, whether on social media or not, we are here to help. Serve Talent has a wide range of job advertising and recruitment options.
Serve Talent Solutions
- Executive Search Recruitment Services
- PreScreened Candidate Directory
- Online Job Board Advertising
- Pay On Performance Job Advertising
- Career Portal Design and Development
