Social media is a powerful way to interact with large audiences like potential candidates or client prospects. But it can also be a great way to communicate directly with individuals, and that can help you follow up with highly desirable job candidates.
Once you’ve received a completed application and a resume from a candidate, it’s easy to get caught up in job orders, interviewing new associates and all the other hundreds of things staffing professionals do every day. However, if you really want to stay in touch with one candidate (or even a group of them), social media can make it a little easier.
Just as you regularly contact prospective clients, send occasional messages to your favorite candidates using social media. An email signals professional interaction and a potentially long reply. Instead, you can send candidates a quick message over Facebook or LinkedIn that asks about their job search and lets them know if you’ve got any positions that they’d be a good match for.
Also, if the candidate made a real effort to apply for a particular job but wasn’t chosen, you can send them a quick social-media message saying that they didn’t get that job but that you’ll contact them if something similar comes up. This simple message will be appreciated by applicants who have become cynically used to hearing nothing after applying for jobs.
We’re in the personnel business, true, but we need to remember to keep it a personal business too. Touching base and following up with candidates is good business, and social media makes it easy.
How have you used social media to follow up with candidates? Let us know in the comments!