The challenge
In the past, job vacancies were predominantly advertised via newspapers, job centers and recently also online job portals. Today, social media have become the key communication tools for the recruitment of new staff. Since each has their own form of communication, selecting the right channels and finding the best way to attract potential employees is presenting companies with ever bigger challenges. In the following, we will give you a detailed overview of the most useful tools.
The solution
Xing is the number one job network for the German-speaking world. The Internet portal currently has about 13 million registered members, with 6.3 million in Germany, Austria and Switzerland alone. Having a profile on Xing is therefore generally advisable for every company. For no additional cost, job adverts can be linked to in company news and shared in groups. However, this only reaches users that are already connected to the company. To target the broader public, it is worth investing in selected advertising models as this offers a wide range of options from job ads to advertising banners and addressing members directly via the Xing newsletter. Thanks to the profile-matching feature, your job advert will only be visible to members that match your preferences. By using the right keywords, you can actively search for potential employees, contact them directly and call their attention to any vacancies you may have.
LinkedIn is the international equivalent of Xing. It now has some 200 million members and has become the largest job network in the world. In German-speaking countries, LinkedIn has around 3 million members. This number in itself should be reason enough for any company to set up and maintain a free, multilingual profile on LinkedIn. As on Xing, companies can use a professional feature allowing them to create job adverts. These job ads can then be published for free as a status update and in the company’s groups. It also makes sense for companies to place advertisements using the matching feature, an additional service that is available for a fee. LinkedIn's Talent Match feature also allows companies to personally contact any ideal candidates.
Company profiles on Facebook and Twitter are particularly useful for the long-term acquisition of staff. While the primary focus of LinkedIn and Xing profiles is business-oriented, Facebook profiles are especially valuable as a means of building rapport. How is the corporate philosophy implemented internally? Who are the faces behind the machinery? How is the working atmosphere? All these questions should have an answer – the more personal it is, the better! With a little know-how, you can build a wide-reaching network that already shares a positive view of the company when a job advert is published. On Facebook, job adverts can be posted for free as status updates on the company page. However, they are likely to appear wedged between a YouTube video and a recommended article. How many recipients really are interested in receiving job advertisements from the company remains unclear.
To err on the side of caution, companies can maintain a Facebook Careers page. These pages are specifically centered on a single topic: training or employment with that company. (Nearly) every post, link and photo is related to this one topic, which is exactly what users want to see.
Job ads can still be published in relevant Facebook groups. With a little time and skill, you can find the right group for nearly every industry, such as "IT Jobs”, “Stellenausschreibungen Medienberufe” or “Arbeit & Jobs rund um den LKW, Stellenangebote & -gesuche Berufskraftfahrer”. The advantage is clear: reaching an extremely relevant target group.
On Twitter, job ads can also be published for free in the form of status updates. To be useful, they should absolutely include relevant hashtags (e.g. #jobs, #it, #zurich). To generate more attention, tweets can also be highlighted as Promoted Tweets or Promoted Trends by using the Twitter Advertising app which will place them more prominently in users’ search results.
Career pages and blogs
A career page listing all current job vacancies has become a standard feature of any good company website. To increase the chances of success when recruiting new employees, it is advisable to set up a landing page that can be linked to in job adverts. This way, applicants get a brief and clear overview of all the most important information on the advertised position, and enables an immediate and uncomplicated way of contacting and/or applying for a job.
To generate long-term attention for jobs in your company, a blog or blog category on the issue is a good option. Aside from current vacancies, this can contain testimonials, event information or a presentation of individual departments, making it easier for potential applicants to gain an insight into the company's daily operations.
Our offer: W4 – HR Marketing
We develop a human resources marketing concept tailored to your target group. This takes into account both short-term and long-term communications objectives, thus laying the groundwork for successful recruitment in your company.
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