Series 1: Post 2: Do’s & Don’ts of Facebook for Millennial Recruiting

Here are some statistics to blow your mind: Facebook has over 500 million users, 50% of users log on EACH day, and the average user has 130 friends. According to Facebook, “people spend over 800 billion minutes per month on Facebook.” There are over 900 million objects people on Facebook people interact with (pages, groups, etc) and there are more than 200 million active users connecting to Facebook via a mobile smart phone or device. Have I scared you yet?

If your target market is millennials – you NEED to be on Facebook. So many companies are afraid of this social platform as you can’t control the full message as Facebook encourages a dialogue. Companies that engage a PUSH strategy (aka only pushing PR messaging out to group members) will not be successful on this medium. You need to be comfortable with using Facebook and having some of those difficult conversations in that people may not always love your brand or your opportunities. Negative messages (like why didn’t I get the job? Or why didn’t I hear back after my interview) are OK – don’t delete them! It’s about how you respond to them. Most people are so happy to have a response that the anger totally dissipates and you actually have a real conversation & might even sway someone over or intrigue someone else with your honesty!

Some key things to DO on Facebook:

-      Have a centralized company fan page:   You can actually have different material coded into your page based on geo-analytics so based on where the candidate logs in from they will see geographically relevant information = now that is relevant

-     Link to your ATS – ensure a candidate can apply within 3 clicks as you typically lose 60% of applicants with EACH additional click over 3!

-      Use it not just for recruitment but also for employee engagement: Have different employees participate talking about their jobs so people see the REAL story of working at your company!

-      Use all of the features like showcasing videos (do you have a recruiting video, YouTube videos employees have made about working at your company?) or photos (holiday parties, company events, work places… anything that shows what working at your company is like)

-      Create recruiting events, company events & update your status with information about open positions

-      Have a moderator but don’t be overly happy with the DELETE button. This is something that Sr. Managers may be uncomfortable with. You need the “real” story to be seen as this is what millennials are demanding

-      Ensure you have user generated information – can employees participate in discussions or contests?

-      Share company events that new hires/employees can attend be mindful that the page is very open: new hires, alumni, new candidates, clients etc

-      Put a status update on the Facebook page about new employees and welcome them

-      Host Training Sessions for Recruiters on using Facebook – Dos and Don’ts

-      Build WOM on campus through campus reps, interns or campus recruiters about your Facebook group to link Facebook back to your on-campus and employment branding efforts

My Do/Don’t post wouldn’t be complete without…A few DON’Ts on Facebook:

-      Send mass/spam messages

-      Delete all negative comments. Respond

-      Speak only corporate talk

-      Limit yourself to only 1 page. Does a regional approach make sense for key alumni groups!?

-      Don’t make it a requirement for employees or new hires to participate on your Facebook page as some people like separation between their social and work circles.   Encourage your recruiters to potentially have 2 Facebook pages so they have one to use for recruiting/campus connections

Hopefully these quick & easy tips help you get started on Facebook or help you better use the platform. How are you best using Facebook? What are you afraid of? How can I help?

Facebook statistics found here: http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics