Trends and statistics can tell us a lot about what’s successful. When it comes to social media, these facts inform our strategic direction and help us reach our goals. In part three of this series, TMP’s content wizard, Kate Hamilton, shares recruitment marketing trends that matter in 2018 and insights on how to tailor these concepts to your own strategies.
– – –
Picture this: You have a really exciting new role open on your team. You craft an appealing job description. You get it posted across the web. And then you sit and wait for the perfect candidate to walk through the door. And you wait. And wait.
What went wrong? What should you do differently next time?
Well, truth is, you may not have done anything initially wrong, but you may have overlooked some critical points of impact. Consider this: The average time to fill is 42 days, and the average cost per hire is $4,129. And according to 48% of global employers, their biggest challenges this year are talent shortages. It’s no wonder your candidate unicorn is a diamond in the rough.
So how do you attract your next top talent and break through the noise, knowing that you’ve got quite the fight ahead of you? Consider five recruitment marketing trends and how you can leverage these insights in your strategic approach.
- The Passive Job Seeker
According to TalentLyft, 73% of candidates are passive job seekers. Not only are they not spending time on job boards or actively Googling job opportunities, but they’re not even considering a new job. Where they are spending their time is on social media—with a total of 3.03 billion active users globally, in fact, representing 40% of the world. That kind of reach shouldn’t be overlooked by any company seeking today’s top talent. The challenge becomes how to engage these users where they’re spending their time and provide them with interesting content that piques their interest.
That content will likely fall outside traditional recruitment content (why work for us?) and lean more toward thought-provoking and interesting industry-related articles. The kind of content that incites, inspires and ignites passion. The kind of content that makes you wonder what opportunity lies around the corner. The kind of content that links back to a career site full of rich, culture-filled information and job details.
- The Social Browser
Of those actively looking, 79% leverage social media to research companies and find their next job. And the best candidates will be off the market within 10 days. The majority (96%) cite LinkedIn as a great source for finding that next opportunity, with 66% claiming Facebook played a pivotal role and 53% using Twitter.
Keep in mind that, while job seekers list these social channels as sources for new opportunities, the time they actually spend on these channels is different. In fact, people spend more time on Facebook (often daily) but only spend 17 minutes a month on LinkedIn. That makes sense given that users typically log into LinkedIn with a specific intention, usually professional networking or job-seeking in nature, versus how they interact and experience Facebook—usually a blend of personal and professional in nature.
- The Informed Candidate
In addition to social media, the average candidate uses 18 different sources to research a company. This includes, according to Gallup State of the American Workplace Report 2017, company websites (77%), referrals (71%), friends and family (68%), job sites (58%), industry sources (57%), organic search (55%), professional networks (47%), organizations (41%) and news media (39%). That’s a lot of research across a number of resources! It’s important that, no matter what resource a prospect engages with, your employer brand should remain consistent and seamless no matter the touchpoint.
When researching, 83% of job seekers scan company reviews and ratings online when deciding where to apply for a job, according to Glassdoor (Harris Poll, April 2017). Those reviews and ratings are critical, as candidates trust employees’ opinions three times more than employer-provided information. This greatly impacts decision making, because 69% of job seekers say they would pass on a job if the company has a bad reputation, even if they were currently unemployed. It goes without saying that reviews and ratings are important. This is even more true when managing negative reviews with a proactive strategy, knowing that this feedback, while hard to see, is an opportunity to demonstrate to prospects the kind of organization you are and provide proof points of internal change management when feedback warrants it.
We know that some companies are reluctant to open themselves up to constructive criticism, however, so it’s important to remember that these conversations happen regardless of whether you create a space to receive that kind of feedback. In fact, 72% candidates who have had a bad experience end up sharing their poor experiences either online or with someone directly. So it’s important to ensure that every audience member’s experience remains consistent and true to the brand.
- The Mobile User
In an ever-moving world, the go-to device for most people is the mobile phone. In recruitment, accommodating mobile behavior is critical, as more and more job seekers are looking at opportunities across multiple devices. More than 45% of job seekers say they use their phone to job hunt at least once a day. And 64% of Millennials are eager to use their phone even more and have the desire to apply for jobs via smartphone apps, according to ManpowerGroup Solutions.
We see this desire across clients and across industries at an increasing rate. Modifying the candidate journey to be mobile-friendly, or better yet mobile-first if your audience prefers it, is key not only when planning out the application process, but even when thinking about attraction experiences (think Facebook Canvas, for example). Being present where and accommodating how candidates navigate their content worlds can go a long way to attracting top talent.
- The Referred
Given that 71% of job seekers leverage referrals from connections, even tapping the suggestions of friends and family 68% of the time, referrals are an important audience segment that is often overlooked. Consider further that, because so many employees are happy where they are, referrals are an inroad to reaching your next all-star.
Need more evidence? Referrals prove to be a great investment. According to Jobvite, referrals are 5 times more effective than any other source of hiring. And referrals are hired 55% faster than those hired through a career site, making referrals one way to cut down time to fill. Referrals also are likely to be a better cultural fit, as like-minded candidates attract like. Investing in a referral program should not be overlooked.
Create a Recruitment Strategy that Adapts to Trends
When creating your recruitment strategy, keep today’s job seeker in mind, as well as their behavior in today’s competitive recruitment market. The above trends are in line with industry-wide social media trends and are indicative of a complex candidate journey. To battle this, think about creating branded candidate journeys, developing authentic content, and leveraging various distribution tactics to get that content in front of the right audience.
Sources:
73% of candidates are passive job seekers – TalentLyft (https://www.talentlyft.com/en/blog/article/77/list-of-hr-statistics-that-have-changed-the-way-we-recruit)
The average candidate uses 18 different resources to research a company before applying for a job. (Source: http://www.careerbuildercommunications.com/candidatebehavior/)
Where do job seekers go to look for jobs? Company Websites – 77%; Referrals – 71%; Suggestions from Friends or Family – 68%; Online Job Sites (Monster, Careerbuilder) – 58%; Publications or Online Sources in a Field – 57%; General Web Search (Google, Bing, Yahoo) – 55%; Professional Network Site (LinkedIn) – 47%; Professional or Alumni Organization – 41%; News Media – 39%. Source: Gallup State of the American Workplace Report 2017
79% of job seekers use social media in their job search – SHRM (https://www.shrm.org/ResourcesAndTools/hr-topics/talent-acquisition/Pages/Using-Social-Media-Find-Passive-Candidates.aspx)
LinkedIn is the most used (cited by 96% of respondents) and considered the most effective (73%) social media site for recruiting; Facebook (66%) and Twitter (53%) are gaining in popularity, however – SHRM (https://www.shrm.org/ResourcesAndTools/hr-topics/talent-acquisition/Pages/Using-Social-Media-Find-Passive-Candidates.aspx)
45% of job seekers say they use their mobile device specifically to search for jobs at least once a day – Glassdoor (https://www.glassdoor.com/employers/popular-topics/hr-stats.htm)
64% of Millennials are interested in applying to jobs via smartphone apps – ManpowerGroup Solutions, Swipe Right: Candidate Technology Preferences During the Job Search
83% of job seekers are likely to research company reviews and ratings online when deciding on where to apply for a job – Glassdoor, Harris Poll, April 2017
69% of job seekers would not take a job in a company with a bad reputation, even if they were unemployed – TalentLyft (https://www.talentlyft.com/en/blog/article/114/10-recruiting-trends-in-2018-infographic)
Nearly 60% of candidates have had a poor candidate experience, and 72% of them shared that experience either online or with someone directly – CareerArc (http://www.careerarc.com/blog/2017/04/future-of-recruiting-study-infographic/)
Average cost per hire for companies is $4,129; average time to fill 42 days – SHRM Human Capital Benchmarking Report 2016 (https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/trends-and-forecasting/research-and-surveys/Documents/2016-Human-Capital-Report.pdf)
Referrals are 5x more effective than all other sources of hiring – Jobvite 2017 Recruiting Funnel Benchmark Report
Referrals are hired 55% faster than those hired through a career site – Jobvite Index
The best candidates are off the market within 10 days – OfficeVibe (https://www.officevibe.com/blog/12-recruiting-stats)
Candidates trust employees 3x more than the employer to provide information on working at the company – LinkedIn (https://business.linkedin.com/talent-solutions/c/16/3/employer-branding-statistics)
48% of global employers report talent shortages as their biggest hiring challenge – TalentLyft (https://www.talentlyft.com/en/blog/article/114/10-recruiting-trends-in-2018-infographic)
- Five Ways to Brand Yourself as a Candidate’s Employer of Choice - August 6, 2019
- Experts Weigh in on What’s to Come in 2019 - February 25, 2019
- The Importance of Employer Brand: AT&T’s Story - October 24, 2018
- Top Takeaways From #HRTechConf - September 21, 2018
- 4 Tips to Maximize Your Content Creation - July 10, 2018
- 5 Recruitment Marketing Trends You Should Know in 2018 and What to Do About Them - June 14, 2018
- 2018 Social Media Channel Statistics You Should Know - June 5, 2018
- 2018 Social Media Trends That Matter - May 14, 2018
- Pretty on Paper vs. Bottom-Line Profit: Vanity Metrics and Actionable Metrics Aren’t Equal, So What Numbers Go on the Report? - March 6, 2018
- All Aboard for Onboarding - February 21, 2018
You must be logged in to post a comment.