In today's fast-paced world of recruitment, recruiters are looking for quick and easy ways to connect diverse talent to their inclusive work opportunities. In order to achieve this, many are turning to social media to engage with job seekers, and bring awareness to their inclusive employer brand.
According to iCIMS, 86 percent of HR professionals believe that recruitment and marketing are becoming more alike, as marketing and building an employer brand directly contribute to a strong pipeline.
What are the benefits of social engagement?
Millions of potential candidates use social media every day, and knowing that 1 in 5 Americans has a disability, employers can tap into their current network of followers to gain credibility with potential job seekers with disabilities.
According to the 2016 survey, 'Using Social Media for Talent Acquisition - Recruitment and Screening', from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), 84 percent of organizations are already actively leveraging social media channels to attract new talent, and engage passive candidates, as social media is used by 79 percent of candidates during their job search.
Top tips for social media recruitment in attracting job seekers with disabilities
Here are some of our top tips for successful social media engagement:
- Use multiple networks – Recruiters spend over 60 percent of their day searching for talent. Focus on both larger sites, like LinkedIn, smaller industry-specific social networks, and consider tools like TalentFeed, which can increase recruiter efficiency by 90 percent.
- Commit time to engage – Ensure you have time committed to engage with individuals who provide comments or ask questions on your social media posts. This is a great way to convert a passive candidate to an active one.
- Stay current – Knowing what is currently trending, and what job seekers are looking at on social media, are easy ways to increase the visibility of your message. This can be achieved through the use of relevant hashtags. For example, using #NDEAM for National Disability Employment Awareness Month in posts during October.
- Grow your network – The larger your personal network, or that of your organization, the larger reach and potential candidate pool you will have. You can grow faster by asking family members, friends, non-profit partners and colleagues to follow all of your channels.
- Remember accessibility – All major social media platforms, including LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, provide tools to improve accessibility for their users. These range from image descriptions and screen readers via voiceover, through to enlarged fonts, site-specific shortcuts and a large selection of formatting options. Accessible content further supports your employer brand and message of being disability inclusive.
"It's inevitable ... social media plays an integral role in digital recruiting in this day and age. Our company is taking the lead in branding and digital recruiting efforts by partnering with organizations like Getting Hired, who help individuals and veterans with disabilities seek inclusive employers.
"Through this coalition and social media outreach, our company has found immense value in fostering an inclusive workforce for professionals with disabilities to Fuel their Future." Fram S. Haveliwala, HR Business Partner at Phillips 66.
To learn more about the latest tools to help businesses better engage with candidates with disabilities follow Getting Hired on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
