Social Recruiting

Here at Talent Direct, we’ve been thinking a lot recently about the concept of social recruiting. Though we don’t believe the phenomenon is a new one – we do believe that the growth of social media has made it a great deal more powerful.

The idea of social recruiting is one that is much contested. The wikipedia page for the term refers to this, and lists the most popular definition as the process of sourcing or recruiting candidates through the use of social platforms as promotional and/or advertising channels by employers and recruiters.

However, we believe that the concept of social recruiting covers more than simply using social networking sites to advertise opportunities. We believe that it entails getting people involved with their own and their friends’ careers. In the days before social media as we know it now – this process mainly took place through friendship and family networks.

Nowadays, social recruiting has undergone a significant makeover. The advent of sites like Facebook and Twitter are making it easier than ever for opportunities to be shared with contact groups. What many people now believe to be the real challenge for recruiters and companies is to build up communities around these social networks.

We’ve been keeping an eye on a number of really interesting projects in this sphere from companies and organisations in the UK. Later this month we’re going to be blogging about a few case studies; including the social recruiting work of Unilever and the Royal Marines. In the meantime, if you come across any great examples – we’d love to see them in the comments.