Leveraging Social Media for IT Recruiting

Updated March 15, 2024

It’s no secret that recruiting in Information Technology (IT) has its obstacles. From too many vacancies to leaning heavily on sourcing technology, finding top talent—and retaining them—is a constant challenge.

Social media as a low-cost (possibly free!) recruiting resource is often an untapped secret. Often, companies don’t know where to begin, let alone understand why it’s worth the effort. However, leveraging the powerful reach and impact that social media offers is becoming a top move for IT recruiters to remain innovative and proactive as they engage top talent.

So, let’s talk about which platforms to use, the benefits of leveraging social media, and where to start.

Which Platforms to Use—And How to Use Them

First things first: let’s chat about which social media platforms to use and how to use them! There are so many social media platforms—LinkedIn, TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, Twitter, and more—but where should you start for IT Recruiting? It all depends on how you want to leverage social media!

Social Networking

A key opportunity that takes minimal planning or resources is social networking. Social platforms that are conversation based—like LinkedIn or Twitter—are an opportunity to connect and network with business professionals all over the world. Leverage these dialogue and networking opportunities to grow your professional circle. Connect with other IT professionals about IT trends, career advancement, and the next great opportunity for job seekers. From sharing thought-provoking posts and creating polls, to commenting on other people’s content, there are a lot of ways to engage prospective candidates.

Content Creation

Content-heavy platforms like YouTube and TikTok are great opportunities to start conversations! For example, you could create videos that offer value and insight into the IT Industry and how to take your career to the next level. Whether it’s a “Top 3 Things You Didn’t Know” or an “Interview Guide to Get an IT Specialist Job” piece of content, aim for people who are looking for your expertise! From there, you can connect and chat about the IT opportunities that you have available.

The Benefits of IT Recruiting Through Social Media

Let’s jump into the reasons why you’ll want to start recruiting for IT on social media.

Low (or NO) Cost

Need we say more? Social media recruiting efforts can be low cost—or possibly no additional cost at all. There are plenty of costs that accrue with sourcing, recruiting, and hiring the right people, but social media recruitment doesn’t have to break the bank! If you already have a LinkedIn page, you’re all set—no additional costs may be accrued!

One big misconception is that you need a social media manager to capitalize on social media recruiting—but that isn’t the case! A dedicated social media manager would be a role to manage your company’s social media marketing efforts. Social media recruiting, however, involves a recruiter using their own LinkedIn as a personal way to reach out to prospective and desirable candidates. Empower your recruiters to use their own LinkedIn for networking.

Organic

Social media is an opportunity to be direct and authentic. Most people don’t want to be sold to or solicited in 2023, so having a job opportunity feel like a cold outreach is often ineffective. Start a conversation with an ideal candidate in a group you’re both a part of related to an industry trend to make an authentic connection.

Warm Leads

Organic connections lead to warm leads—prospective candidates who are more likely to engage and continue conversations. This allows you a chance to qualify candidates before you even get a resume. With better screened candidates, you are able to dedicate your time and energy to applicants who are more likely to accept an offer.

Reach Passive Leads with Less Competition

The IT recruiting world is exceptionally competitive. By the time candidates are reaching out and actively looking for a role, you will most likely have to compete with other offers. Being proactive with social media recruiting efforts allows you to reach candidates who are passively open to roles before they’ve begun to receive offers or even submit their application anywhere. This proactive approach gives a significant edge, because ideally, you’ve engaged them before there are any other offers on the table!

Allows More Proactive DEIB Recruiting

If we rely on referrals and/or the applications that come to us, we may not see the diversity we’d like in candidates. One way to increase the diversity of your talent pool is to search social media for graduates from a variety of colleges, especially ones with different student body demographics.

For example, in Atlanta, you might commonly see the mentions of University of Georgia and Georgia Institute of Technology, but the Atlanta metro area is also home to a number of other schools including Emory University, Georgia State University, and Kennesaw State University as well as respected historically black colleges and universities like Spelman College and Morehouse College, and many more. The student body at each of those schools varies, and an employer looking to increase the quality and diversity of its candidates could be recruiting from all of them.

There are many ways to promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in your workplace and recruiting efforts. Learn more about steps your company can take in 2024 towards actionable allyship.

Empowers Internal Employees

Encourage your employees to share open roles on their LinkedIn, too! It is in everyone’s best interest to hire new team members that are a great fit with the existing work culture and employees. Empowering your team to be a part of that process with social media connections can increase retention rates. Plus, if your company offers a referral program, leverage this incentive. By giving your employees the resources to be partners in recruiting, your company can bring in even more promising candidates.

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Data for Recruiting on Social Media

These graphics break down some helpful stats and insights related to recruiting candidates for key roles with your company from social media. Social media is a valuable tool for both hiring managers and recruiters, with 56% of recruiters reporting that they find their best candidates on social media. Let’s dig into some more data.

If 79% of job applicants are using social media as part of their job search efforts, it’s an essential part of locating qualified candidates and showcasing what your company has to offer. As we’ve said, it’s crucial to determine where your ideal employees are looking. For instance, educators and healthcare workers may not be job searching on LinkedIn, but Software Developers may be. And if you need very specific skill sets like cybersecurity in healthcare, getting access beyond social media may be required to find top talent with the capabilities you require. That may mean working with a staffing agency that specializes in hiring for IT. Did you know that LinkedIn sees 40 million job searches per week on the platform? How are you standing out from that crowd?

As we mentioned, 82% of future employees are aware of and consider your brand and reputation when when applying for a job. That means that your work in finding great candidates isn’t limited to writing a compelling job description snd crafting a competitive IT job offer. By showcasing your company culture and competitive benefits, you can also attract strong candidates to your compelling job descriptions. Speaking of benefits, what are the real benefits of using social media for recruiting? Making connections is a great place to start. Join industry groups to make connections on social media as well as at events. Get to know folks who might be looking now, but might be interested in learning more about your company or culture for a future move. 70% of managers report successful hiring through social media recruiting efforts—and that’s an important number to keep in mind.

So, you’ve decided that using social media for your recruiting is the next step to pursue as you source top talent. So, how do you begin? Here are 5 steps to started using social media for IT (or any other kind of) recruiting.

1. Understand your ideal candidate
2. Identify the platforms to prioritize
3. Start posting
4. Engage
5. Be consistent

Let’s break those each down a bit more:

Where to Start Recruiting for IT on Social Media

Let’s get into where you should start when you’re recruiting for IT on social media.

Understand Your Ideal Candidate

A key to successful social media recruitment is understanding who you are trying reach. Start by writing a strong IT job description to help you define your ideal candidate. For example, if you’re looking for a junior position, filter by recent graduates from colleges with strong IT programs. Be aware of what intrigues your ideal candidate and how that connects to what you have to offer with the open roles at your company.

Engage!

The secret to social media is being social. Once you find prospective candidates, start engaging them. You can start with commenting on their posts. This will make your name familiar to them as it appears in their notifications. Follow up with a direct message, and say something that demonstrates you took the time to look at their profile.

Be careful not to beat around the bush too much. Instead, be direct that you have an opportunity you think they’d be a great fit for!

Be Consistent

The results won’t happen overnight. Keep in mind that this social media approach is meant to be authentic, and authentic connections take time. Set aside time each day in your recruiting efforts to keep up on LinkedIn, and be persistent with engaging your ideal candidates.

Feeling overwhelmed? Get connected with the highest-quality candidates in your area (even those who aren’t currently looking) by partnering with a recruiter connected to leaders in the IT industry. Submit your information here to connect with us and see how we can support your IT hiring efforts.