Top 10 Social Recruiting Trends For 2017!

Due to its popularity among the masses, a business cannot afford to ignore social media. Thanks to the evolution of social media previous issues have also been ironed out. 2016 was a transformative year as more and more businesses jumped on the social recruiting bandwagon. We might see this trend continue in 2017 and beyond.

In this article, we look at some of the 10 social recruiting trends that will dominate in 2017

1. Social Apps Will Take Over

With billions of mobile devices and mobile broadband, the technology landscape has changed tremendously. Today, smart-phones are commonplace. This gave rise to new social platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat. They are currently the leading contenders that will make an impact in social recruitment scene in 2017.

According to the statistics, almost two-thirds of businesses are using Instagram. That’s a big number, right? Recruiters started using the aforementioned apps for recruitment purposes last year and this trend will continue to grow in years to come. With these two apps, the recruiters can get access to behind the scenes pictures, videos and stories that help them in evaluating the candidates better.

2. Video Content Will Grow

You might have heard the adage that a picture is worth a thousand words but did you know that a single minute of video is worth more than a million words. Yes, that’s the impact of a video. The engagement rate of a video content is head and shoulders above the other type of content. Most marketers also agree to the notion and prefer video content over any other type of content.

With increasing number of social platform offering video capabilities, we might see more recruiters use video content to hunt for the right candidates. The good news is that we don’t have to wait long for that to happen because 2017 is the year that this dream will come true.

3. Improved Candidate Experience

According to recent study conducted by buffer, 21% companies use social media for customer support. Unfortunately, the number is even lower when you throw in social recruiting in the mix. In 2017, this trend will not only continue but we will see more businesses using social media for customer support.

In addition, the candidates will be able to connect with recruiters and companies directly on social media in 2017. More and more talent acquisition teams will use social media. All this will result in much improved candidate experience for job seekers in 2017.

In 2017, the companies who fail to capitalize on this trend will end up destroying the candidate experience and will struggle to find right candidates.

4. Brand Building

Another trend that will gain momentum in 2017 will be the use of social media to highlight the positive side of the company in order to attract job seekers towards your company. In fact, it is one of the key objectives of social recruiting. You want candidates to check out the available jobs. However, you can make the right impact only when you have to show them why your company is different from thousands of others.

You want candidates to come to your website through social media and check out your website before making the decision. You can easily see how many candidates landed on your website and how many went away without applying for any job through Google Analytics.

5. Focus On Career Page

Even if your social recruiting strategy works and you manage to woo lots of candidates to click on the link that will take them to your website’s career page, it will be a futile activity if your career page does not lives up to the expectation.

2017 will be the year when recruiters will put more focus on attracting potential candidates from social media before getting them to their website. So there will be more emphasis on making your career page engaging for job seekers.

6. Rise Of Contractual Jobs

Bronwen Hann, President and Senior Partner at Argentus Supply Chain Recruiting think, “More and more companies will look to rent instead of hiring talent even for director level.” We are already seeing this happen in most businesses.

Social media will be an ideal platform to rent talent and quick response time is a big bonus in that regard. She further adds, “Skill requirements are becoming broader and more stringent” All this points to the rise of social recruitment to induct new talent on the contractual basis.

7. Emphasis On Data Will Increase

With the big data revolution already making waves in HR business, social recruiters will continue to harness the power of big data and hire the right candidate for the job. The Data will give the recruiters an in-depth understanding of whether a particular candidate fits for a specific position or not.

With implementation of big data, the chances of errors will be minimized. This will also lead the recruiters to leverage the HR tools and sites as well as focus more on human-centric approach to recruiting which would benefit both the parties.

8. Mobile First Approach

With the proliferation of mobile devices, it is almost imperative for recruiters to have a mobile strategy in order to attract the prospective candidates for a job. Mobile ads will also provide recruiters an opportunity to proliferate deeper in a labor market.

With more than 75% people using mobile devices to connect to the internet, it is obvious why your website should be able to launch seamlessly on wide range of mobile devices and screens.

9. Design Thinking

Social recruiters will have to think differently to solve the complex problems and there is no better approach to solve such issues than using design thinking. Chad MacRae, founder of Recruiting Social said, “It really helps you empathize with your client, your hiring manager, your candidate.

It helps you come up with unexpected, imaginative solutions that really benefit the stakeholders you’re working with. I really believe that we’re going to see design thinking practices and tools, like candidate journey mapping, used in recruitment.” 2017 will be the year when recruiters will have to think differently in order to stand out and hire the best talent available otherwise; it would be tough journey for them because candidates are much more aware these days.

10. Employee Referrals

With prediction reflecting a positive trend towards hiring volumes, we will see more emphasis being laid on employee referrals. Social media makes it a breeze and social recruiters understand that very well. It will help recruiters reduce the costs by doing away the need of running the whole recruiting process from start to finish.

For instance, social recruiters will not have to advertise jobs or sift through thousands of resumes just to find few right ones. With employee referrals, they can easily contact the candidate using social media and call him for test or interview directly.

About Writer:
Malina Craig is an HR Consultant, Business Analyst, and a Blogger at https://www.dissertationworks.co.uk. In her blogs, she shares insights into the different facets of HRM, business management, and marketing. She has also written ebooks on business management, HR Management, and digital marketing.