Get Amongst The Conversation With Sourcing Talent Using Social Media

Having recently ‘moved to the other side’ by joining the REC after working as a recruiter, I know how hard it can be to find the perfect candidate. You have the client on the phone demanding CVs straight away and you’re frantically going through your database, thinking of people you’ve spoken to recently, and asking your colleagues if they know of the perfect candidate.

A lot of the time, this works. But we’re not making the most of the resources that are available. One of most frustrating things I found when recruiting was knowing the perfect candidate for your role was out there – it’s just having the tools and knowledge to actually find and reach out to them that’s hard.

That’s where social media comes in. Social media is continuing to boom, but recruiters are now beginning to realise it’s a huge untapped resource in terms of finding talent, especially the longed after passive talent. As a recruiter, I was focused on the entry to mid-level market and it was very rare for me to talk to someone who wasn’t on LinkedIn or Twitter (or various other channels), and all their friends were as well. These platforms have essentially created our database for us.

LinkedIn is a great resource, but it's not way the only one out there. I think recruiters can get stuck on LinkedIn without exploring anything else. The hard truth is that a passive candidate just isn’t checking their LinkedIn profile as much as someone actively looking for a job. Yes, they may get an email notification if you send an InMail. But I don’t think they really engage with that. So how can we get better at connecting with talent using social media?

When I heard about the REC’s Sourcing Talent Using Social Media workshops as part of the Scale Up campaign it immediately appealed, and I know that if I was still a recruiter I’d be urging my manager to take this up. I’m very intrigued to hear what Johnny Campbell and ‘Google’ Dave Hazelhurst will be sharing – if it’s anything like the content they’re sharing on LinkedIn, I know these are going to be fun and practical sessions.

I think the thing to keep in mind about social media is that it is literally just waiting there for us to use. It’s a free database and all we need are the tools to make the most of it and become part of the conversation.

Have a look at www.rec.uk.com/scaleuptalent to find out more and to book your place now – I know places are going to go fast.