Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/207525
TekTober #HireMe Technology is leading the way for hiring managers to easily leverage social media to source and hire talent. By Debbie Bolla Searching social media sites for great candidates is no longer just a check mark on a recruiter's to-do list. Social recruiting is now a pivotal tool that all organizations should be leveraging in their overall talent acquisition strategy. Today's recruiting technologies allow organizations to seek best candidates through social networks while creating diverse talent pools and rich data for analytics. "Just three years ago, there was really no social recruiting industry," explains Jessica Miller-Merrell president and CEO of Xceptional HR. "These tools are new and exciting, and often underestimated in the time to develop and the expertise needed to develop a social recruiting strategy for an organization. Companies can no longer afford to blindly experiment with social media for recruiting. They need a senior-level leader who can help plan, develop, and lead a comprehensive corporate recruiting strategy to be effective." The use of social networks for sourcing hires has been on a consistent uptick according to Jobvite's annual 2013 [8] HRO TODAY MAGAZINE | OCTOBER 2013 Social Recruiting Survey. In 2008, 78 percent of respondents reported using a social network or social media in their recruiting efforts; in 2009 the number rose to 89 percent; and in 2013, it hit 94 percent. Plus ADP's Recruiting Trends 2013 report found 47 percent of respondents feel that social media networks help create a successful recruiting strategy. What's driving this incremental interest? First there is reach—there is unlimited potential with more than one billion Facebook users and more than 200 million profiles on LinkedIn. Plus recruiters can hit up the highly coveted passive candidates—the hidden talent that is not currently looking to change jobs but would certainly make a move if the opportunity presented itself. Reports Tony Marzulli, vice president of product management and talent at ADP, "This shift in how people search and how recruiters find passive candidates is putting pressure on recruiters to develop more intelligent social sourcing techniques." Jobseekers are equally taking advantage of social media to