Social Media Tools for Recruitment

By Mzukona Mantshontsho

We have come a long way in the search for talent.

Gone are the days where companies would place an advertisement in the classified advertising section of their local newspaper and wait for the perfect candidate to call and request an interview, although some organizations today feel this is still a very effective recruiting method and often use it in conjunction with other channels.

Today, it’s more about what we call ‘cyber recruiting’ using social media tools for attracting and finding the right person to fill a job. Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and Twitter are some of the main social media tools used by today’s forward-thinking organizations and allow recruiters to target the exact skill sets required for often difficult to fill positions.

Candidates that were once far beyond the recruiter’s reach are now right there at their fingertips. Originally designed as social networking sites, MySpace and Facebook provide a place where individuals could meet, exchange photos, videos, and stories, as well as chat. The amount of traffic that these social media sites brings has enabled recruiters and human resources practitioners alike to use these tools to search for potential candidates. This they do while promoting their company and leveraging relationships that may turn into placements down the road.

TransformSA spoke to Thuli Nkosi, a partner at Corporate Career Doctors (CCDoctors), a recruitment agency about the effectiveness of these social media networks. One of the challenges that Nkosi has encountered is that individuals want to potray themselves as successful in their current positions even though they may be looking for a career change.

“These social media networks from what I have experienced and seen are mainly used by companies that are looking for candidates to employ, individuals are still scared to market themselves and brag about their abilities and achievements,” said Nkosi. Whilst we have employment forums held at various universities, technikons and colleges for job seekers, the major opportunities are there senior executives, who have the experience – those young people starting a new career fear the fact that they do not have the experience and just have a qualification,” added Nkosi.

“My opinion as a recruiter is that an excellent candidate is an important as my client (the one I am sourcing a suitable candidate for) because I cannot satisfy the need of one without the other. Recruiters should not portray themselves as monsters; they should be there as individuals as well – the recruiters should be in constant communication with the candidates on social media networks. Recruiters must not just place an advertisement, regular and proper feedback on the job should be given, and if the job has been taken, say who got the job and why they were chosen”.

“We have shifted our focus at CCDoctors to specialized positions and we head hunt through these social media networks like LinkedIn, I do foresee more growth in South Africa with these networks because more and more people have access to the internet and spend so much time communicating there,” concluded Nkosi.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.