What are the advantages and disadvantages of using social media platform for recruitment and selection?

Social media formats have changed the way we do everything, from interacting with friends and family to searching for employment opportunities. While this forum has successfully opened the door to a number of new job search techniques, there are both advantages and disadvantages of social networking when it comes to the overlapping worlds of online media presence and professional work.

The main pro of social media for job hunting is in the medium's ability to reach a wide and targeted range of people. This approach allows you to significantly expand your search and open yourself to a wealth of possibilities. Other advantages include:

• Social media is fast, efficient and easy to use.
  
• Social networking is inexpensive when compared to other more traditional job search mediums.
  
• Social media has a compounding effect. Your posts can be shared repeatedly, expanding your reach beyond your own personal and professional networks.
  

Another pro of social networking as part of a job search is that employers are using the medium to find qualified candidates as well. Many professional sites are designed specifically for networking and building business connections, which makes social media a multifaceted tool.

The same circumstances that create disadvantages in the world of personal social media use can apply to the business world as well.

• There's a lack of control over what others say about your postings, which could create an unprofessional online image.
  
• There's a chance that business and personal worlds can unintentionally or mistakenly overlap if you're not careful about who can see your professional queries versus personal news.
  
• Some traditional professions might not embrace the informality of using social media to find a job. 
  

Fortunately, planning and careful execution can help you embrace the pros of social networking while mitigating the disadvantages.

Before you use social media forums for a job search, make sure your online presence is squeaky clean. Remove postings – both yours and others – that contain foul language, are politically charged or demonstrate poor judgment, taste, and racism or sexism of any sort. Potential employers often search your online presence as a screening tool.

• Eliminate photos that show you in a less than flattering light, such as making rude hand gestures, partying, drinking or behaving in a questionable way.
  
• Unfriend people who have polarizing views they are comfortable posting or tagging you in.
  
• Remove memes, cartoons and video links that may come across as unprofessional.
  

Even if you feel your social media presence is a form of free speech that should not be censored, the things you post online are a reflection of your judgment and could potentially have a negative impact on your job search.

Looking for work via social media networks can be as simple and straightforward as writing a post to your social media contacts that informs them you’re job hunting and would appreciate leads and referrals. It can also be highly professional when you join industry-specific social media groups and lists. The language and tone should match the line of work you’re pursuing. Examples include:

Casual employment: Hey everyone – Looking to pick up a few hours of babysitting on weekends to pay off college loans. I bring my own arts and crafts projects! Let me know if you or anyone you know is interested.

Entry-level work: Hi there – Does anyone know if the new restaurant on Third is hiring? If so, do you know the manager or how much experience they’re looking for?

Professional caliber search: Dear Friends – I have decided to launch a new job search and am looking for opportunities in the marketing field. As you know, I have 15 years experience developing comprehensive, strategic campaigns for small businesses. If you know of any openings or have industry contacts you’re willing to share with me, I would greatly appreciate your assistance.

If you have an online resume, profile or portfolio, include a link to it in your post.

Some social media forums are more formal and professional than others. If you’re in a high-level profession and want to make something other than a casual outreach to your friend groups, consider joining a networking or employment-related group within your social media venue of choice. You may also find an advantage in joining social media groups related to your profession or area of interest. Not only can you find job leads, but you also gain the opportunity to meet new people in your field and develop relationships that can result in professional opportunities.

Don’t spam groups looking for work. Establish yourself as a professional and develop relationships from there.

Social media is a tricky vehicle, particularly if you mingle friends, family and colleagues. There’s nothing to stop a snarky cousin or high school pal from leaving a comment on a professionally worded post that jokingly reads, Are you telling people you still drink at work every day and steal office supplies? Such an occurrence can make you look bad by association and hinder or halt your efforts to harness the advantages of media and networking.

After you establish contact with potential employers or contacts, move the conversation offline to telephone, private messaging, email or in-person meetings. Avoid public postings and back-and-forth conversations that others can see. One of the pros of social networking in a job search is your ability to cast a wide net; one of the downsides is that everyone else has access to that same net, and publicly sharing information about potential job openings could decrease your chances of securing a great opportunity.

While the advantages of media and networking include utilization of an effective and modern job search tool, not everyone uses the medium. This is particularly true in low-tech industries. Some companies still use newspaper ads, website postings and job posting services to seek out new staffers. Don’t overlook these mediums and find creative ways to combine efforts. For example, subscribe to a chamber of commerce or business group social media site, where you’ll likely see posts related to upcoming in-person networking programs and events.

Another way to utilize social media in a job search is to use search functions to seek out former colleagues, supervisors, and friends and family members who might be able to assist in your job hunt. Rather than post to their pages, send private messages. Reintroduce yourself or reconnect if it’s been a long time and then move into job-seeking mode. For example:

Hi Bob – It’s been a long time since we worked together at the ABC Car Dealership. I came across your profile and wanted to drop a note and say hello. Are you still in the business? I’m back in Boston now and looking for similar opportunities. If you know anyone looking for a seasoned salesperson, I’d appreciate the recommendation. Would love to connect in person over coffee sometime when your schedule permits.

Keep in mind, social media can provide a great deal of information about people, so use this feature to your advantage when job seeking. For example, read through an individual’s profile to learn about their personal and professional life and search for commonalities you can use in your pitch. For example:

I see you’re now general manager at ABC Radio in Denver. Congratulations on the move into upper management! I’m sure you’re an incredible asset to the company. Would love to talk to you about potential opportunities in sales.

I read in your post that you completed your master's degree in chemical engineering last year. I finished mine this year as well, and I'm hoping it pays off in my new job search. Any chance we can chat over lunch next week?

Of course, social email posts can turn into irritating pleas if you’re not careful. Since you’re working to maintain a professional image, avoid complaining about previous employers, lamenting your current employment status, or sharing your personal or financial woes with online communities. Even if your last employer was a creep, you were terribly underpaid, and you now have enormous credit card debt, these are not things you need to share online or in an interview context.

From business managers to the HR professionals tasked with finding and recruiting new talent, the internet can prove a valuable tool for a broad spectrum of tasks. One of these tasks is that of recruiting employees. People will typically shop for jobs, as they would for real estate or apparel. You can use this medium as a business to recruit talent. However, you should make sure that you understand the advantages and disadvantages of this medium, and use it in the most effective way as an HR manager.

Using the internet for recruiting can lead to huge budget savings for the human resources department. There is no need to hire extra personnel to accept resumes, meet and greet the applicants, proctor employment pre-tests, and answer questions. There will also be fewer expenditures on printing and copying as well, since submissions will be online.

If the HR department isn’t competent with the internet, it might lose out on the most valuable and well-trained candidates for the job. This loss of human capital can present massive costs down the line, which will outweigh the initial savings in recruitment costs.

An important part of the recruitment process is figuring out if the candidate will fit into the overall company culture and policy. The major advantage of using the internet in the recruitment process is that the HR manager can find out the online personality of the candidate and use that to determine if they would be a good fit for the company. Looking at the candidate’s social profiles on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, as well as on other such sites, helps the recruiters gain some insight into the values and personality of the candidate. There won’t be a need for psychological tests and questionnaires to determine this.

The recruiting team might get the wrong picture from someone's social media presence. The internet allows an individual to carve an online persona that is nothing like her real self. There are also generational differences in pop culture that can be misinterpreted by the HR team in terms of what can and cannot be allowed.

The internet makes it possible to scan through large collections of resumes and applications to find unique candidates based on certain keywords. The candidates that match these keywords have an increased chance of being called for an interview. This method saves time and money as a simple search can sift through thousands of applications and resumes to narrow down the list of potential recruits.

Skills and industry standards change over time. Older generations might use a different word for a specific skill, thereby being filtered out. This could lead to a loss of a valuable talent pool.

The internet makes it possible to access a larger talent pool, as candidates can apply for a job from anywhere in the world. This opens up the company’s options when it comes to finding the right talent for a specific position.

Due to different standards of education around the world, not all talent is the same, and the company is exposed to lower quality recruits if they do not conduct the vetting process thoroughly. Additionally, cultural differences might inhibit the recruitment process and office culture once the recruits begin their employment.