While LinkedIn clearly counts as social media, more businesses are looking beyond the corporate web for new candidates.
Martin Nally, managing director of HR Anywhere says more businesses are being able to use social media “much more effectively”.
“They’re using these platforms as a source of making contact with people, and therefore cutting out the middle man.
“It’s the most direct method of sourcing, and there’s a lot happening there.”
There’s another key benefit for hiring on social media – you’re more likely to have your advertisement jump in front of someone who’s already a fan of your brand.
Certainly the most obvious way to get a response is by tweeting your fans on Twitter, or updating your Facebook followers. As Sathiamoorthy points out, the people who see it immediately are more likely to want a job.
“Fans make good employees, because they already have a vested interest – and they’re massive advocates,” she says.
“That’s a great hiring tool, and the best companies will update their fan base throughout recruitment campaigns. It’s a clever and quite new trend that’s been gaining popularity in the last few years.”
It’ll continue, too, with platforms like Pinterest and Instagram becoming more popular.
But of course, there are some caveats to this. While hiring through social media is a potential gold mine, it’s also problematic. There are legal ramifications for discriminating against certain people on social media.
While discriminating on the basis of criminal activity isn’t going to get you into trouble, discriminating based on something like pregnancy will. And while there’s only a small chance a prospective employee would ever find out, it’s a risk not worth taking.
“The law is problematic in this case in that it doesn’t offer any real direction,” industrial relations law expert Peter Vitale told SmartCompany last year. “Clearly material such as this is not open to Privacy Act considerations and any employer would be silly not to use these resources.
“But there are some areas for concern… it would be foolhardy to say there is no issue at hand.”
Psychometric testing isn’t anything new, but Margaret Harrison says it can tend to ride a popularity wave – and this year, it’s in.
The concept is simple. Job applicants take specialised tests to determine how suited they are for that particular job. These aren’t IQ tests – they’re not necessarily measuring aptitude, but rather lateral thinking skills.
That having been said, there are all sorts of tests for different jobs. You just pick the test you think is most suitable, although there are companies dedicated to this sort of testing and can work with your company to create custom tests.
As Harrison says, it really depends on what type of test you want.
“A friend of mine had to do one of these tests – and it went on for something like five hours,” she says. “They said they got extremely bored because the test was so repetitive.
“I had to remark that the repetitiveness was probably deliberate – to make sure that you’re still answering everything correctly.”
In 2011, the head of software group Yarris, Ian Goddard, told SmartCompany he uses cognitive testing on most of his candidates – and comes up with some surprising results.
But testing isn’t just for cognitive ability, he says. Testing can ensure you find someone who is a good fit within your company’s culture.
“With personality, you’re looking for a range of different factors. Do they get on well with people? Do they have a great need for self-promotion? With a sales person, for instance, do you see any type of reluctance in their personality?” he says.
“You would generally need a psychologist to help you interpret all of those results as well.”
As Harrison says, the nature of the test depends on its purpose – think carefully about what type of testing you’ll want to use. And be sure to only source them from a reputable provider.
If there’s a benefit to sourcing new job applicants through social media, there’s an even better way – sourcing new hires through existing employees.
Martin Nally says he’s seen a number of businesses this year create incentives for existing employees to bring in new hires. The logic is simple: if you can already trust the employees you already have, then trusting their judgment for new hires should be a natural extension of that.
It makes sense. Existing employees will already be familiar with the company’s culture and needs, so they’re more likely to know who will and won’t be a good fit.
“I’ve seen a lot of companies pay handsomely for referrals, upwards of $3000 to an individual who refers them an individual they can employ.
“Often if that person remains at the business, they’ll even receive more.”
Textiles company Pinz told SmartCompany back in 2010 how it solved its skills shortage with a “bring a friend to work day” campaign. So this isn’t a new solution, but Nally says he’s been seeing it grow particularly this year.
“People are going to look back over the last couple of years and think, ‘who treated me well during the GFC?’ And if the economy starts to pick up, they’re going to think about that when looking for new jobs.
“So now is the time for organisations to do some different things like hiring employees’ friends. If they bring them in, the employees are helping create a culture they really like.”
The hiring procedure obviously remains the same when hiring employee referrals. You’re just provided a greater chance of success and have access to character witnesses.
And, as Nally says, you can judge the health of your business by whether or not you’re receiving referrals.
“If it’s a toxic environment, you’ll find you’re not getting a lot of referrals.”
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
