The social media has hit the world by the storm. This media is comprised of sites such as Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter and Myspace. Everyone wants to be on the social media because it enables people to keep in touch with their old and new friends. In fact, this new trend has increased the demand for computer literacy because it is one of the prerequisites (Tiffany, 2010). The employers too have embraced this new trend because they see it as a marketing tool. They can let the world know about their new products and services at the click of a button. Almost every business has a link to social media.
The social media is an appropriate tool for sourcing employees. Professionals from all lifestyles use the media, and thus any employer who employs this approach is bound to succeed in getting the desired professionals. Similarly, the social networking sites have an instant messaging utility that enables the employer and the candidates to communicate in real time. This enables the employer to focus on important attributes of the candidates.
The candidates are also able to respond with confidence because there is no any form of intimidation that is present in other forms of recruitment owing to the fact that the two parties cannot see each other. Businesses save money and time when they use social media because they do not have to use extra time to schedule the interviews. Being listed in the social media boosts the reputation of the business because the candidates see it as a legitimate business.
In addition, social media enables business owners to trace the personality of their candidates. This is because the websites are interlinked. The employer can understand the character of the candidates by monitoring the comments they make in the social networking sites. The employer manages to check the background of the candidate without involving the candidate. This achieved by analyzing the profile of the candidates as displayed on the social site. By doing so, the employer can probe into the history of the candidates by knowing the companies they may have worked for previously. This dual diligence helps the employer to generate the questions that will be asked to every individual candidate. Besides that, the employer can contact the previous employers of the candidates for the sake of verifying their competence.
There have been cases where candidates lie about their qualifications by forging academic documents. This problem can be easily remedied by using social media to verify the validity of the documents. The employer can inquire additional information from the learning institutions that trained the candidate. Social networking sites make it easy for employers to get the desired candidates. This is made possible by inbuilt directories that contain the details of the site users, pages and groups. The employer can then post the jobs to the areas that he/she feels are likely to attract many job seekers (Tiffany, 2010).
Sites such as Facebook enable employees to place their job postings in the site without paying a single cent. They have a free market place that can be used to provide lengthy details of job openings. This attribute makes Facebook to be preferred by most employers and job seekers. This is because it enables the job seekers to read between the lines before they submit their applications.
Furthermore, there are sites that are customized to accommodate professionals for all categories. They include Linkedin, which allows users to inform other users to include brief details of a job opening. This is not charged anything. However, the employer has to consider the volume of traffic for each site and weigh the options. For instance, Facebook has a higher traffic than other social networking sites, and thus is regarded as the mother of all social sites.
References
Adri, B. (n.d.). Advantages and disadvantages of using the internet for employee recruitment. Web.
Bullard, S. (2003). Recruiting strategies for the new millennium: A guide to building and improving your company’s recruiting process. Lincoln, NE: Writers Club Press
Tiffany, B. (2010). How to use social media as a recruiting tool. Web.