How to Use Social Media for Employee Referrals

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Kes Thygesen is the Co-Founder and Head of Product at RolePoint, a tool that allows recruitment managers to socially power their hiring to increase the volume and quality of employee referrals. Connect with him and RolePoint on LinkedIn and Twitter.

The war for talent is more competitive than ever. Every company wants the best and the brightest on its team, but traditional candidate sourcing methods may not cut it anymore. As companies, we have to be bold, we have to put ourselves on the line and, most importantly, we have to sell our culture harder than in the past.

That’s where you, the already-employed professional, come in. More than ever, recruiters and hiring managers are looking to their internal network to help them find the right fit. After all, the real cost of a hire can be around $100,000, when you factor in the non-direct costs, such as training and the productivity lost in finding a new employee and bringing him up to speed.

Many workers are passive candidates, meaning that they are silently looking or waiting for an attractive offer. And, there’s a large chance your friends are lumped into this group.

Pair that with the explosion of social networking and we have a recipe for talent acquisition success. Apart from a status update here and there, you can use social media to help your friends find jobs and earn anywhere between $1,000 to $15,000 as a referral bonus from your company. Check out these tips to get the most out of your friend circle.

1. Look Beyond Your First Degree of Connections

No matter what industry you’re in, you probably have tons of connections through your social networks. However, it may be in your company’s best interest to go past the base-level when you’re trying to help your friends find jobs. The right fit may lie beyond your direct connections, but you’d never know this if you just skim the surface.

Many social networks allow you to see beyond your primary network. For example, Facebook “suggests” friends while LinkedIn not only shows second and third degrees, but it also may bring you to the right candidate based on their employment history. This tactic allows you to reach thousands of potential candidates, which is probably a lot more efficient than scouring your friends or contacts list.

2. Find a Perfectly Catered Match

Do you think that all you need to do is tweet out a job listing to your friends? There’s actually more to it. Social media also comes with access to deeper technology and analytical insights, so take advantage of it.

You can easily search for the right connections on your social networks by looking for specific keywords. For instance, say your company is looking for a candidate with an extensive design background who knows Photoshop and is located in San Francisco. You can search for these job-specific keywords on your social networks to find a more catered match. Once you’ve found these matches, you can then, of course, check out their profiles and job history to ensure they are the perfect candidate to be your new co-worker.

Show Off Your Company Culture

You know your workplace better than anyone else. So, use social media to show why your organization and company culture is inviting and forward-thinking and how it helped progress the careers of its employees.

For instance many companies are using video testimonials to give a better insight into the journey a candidate takes within the company. This video could then, in turn, be posted on your social networks and blog. The aim here is to bring the organization down to a “human” level, free of typical corporate jargon. It makes it easier for your contacts to realize what your company is all about, and why they should consider the particular position. In a similar vein, recruitment videos, such as the one Twitter recently made, have been extremely successful in reaching potential candidates and giving them a better idea of what it’s like to work at a company.

Share the Bonuses

Most companies have a significant referral bonus if the contacts you suggest get hired, and the best way to reach beyond your direct contacts could be to pay it forward. If there’s a $5,000 referral bonus at your company, pick some of your well connected contacts and offer them half the bonus if they know anyone that might be a good fit — you’ll be surprised how many people are connected to talented people looking for new opportunities.

In addition, you can make the process easier and help your friends out by using job matching platforms. Many of these actually allow you to analyze what kind of worker someone may be based on their social network value and work experience. By using these platforms, you gain something that keyword searching can’t give you: thorough insight and background information based on the networks your friends are using on an everyday basis. After all, you can learn a lot about a person by what they’re saying on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. If it matches what your company is saying, you may be on your way to finding the perfect colleague.

Conclusion

The combination of all of these gives your organization access to the highly sought-after professionals who’ll likely stick around for the long haul. Plus, you have the opportunity to help a friend who may be able to bring real value to your company, which is the ultimate goal for anyone looking to fill a coveted spot. It’s a win-win.

What do you think? What are some other ways you can use social media to help your friends get jobs?

Social Media Job Listings

Every week we post a list of social media and web job opportunities. While we publish a huge range of job listings, we’ve selected some of the top social media job opportunities from the past two weeks to get you started. Happy hunting!