When NPR’s standard methods of searching for interns fell short and the organization wasn’t getting enough candidates, they decided to spread the word through a Twitter campaign. The one week effort landed a flood of applications and led to hiring 15 new interns.
NPR’s move made sense because the organization was looking for employees who were social media savvy. What can you learn from NPR’s approach
Here are 3 ideas:
Think Outside the Box
While we might think of LinkedIn first when we think of hiring, since that social media site is set up for business networking, and even allows you to post job openings, it’s not the only way to go when using social media to find job candidates.
Match the social media network to your needs: For instance, if you’re looking for a Facebook marketing expert, or someone whose job involves lots of socializing and outreach (such as a PR person), try reaching out on Facebook.
If you’re looking for a graphic designer or photographer, try spreading the word on a visually oriented social site like Tumblr or Instagram.
Get Niche
Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn aren’t the only ways to go in terms of social media. Are there niche social media sites dedicated to your industry
If so, they could be great places to post if you’re looking for someone with wide expertise in your industry. Even on Facebook and LinkedIn, you can get better results by drilling down to industry oriented or skill oriented groups (such as groups for the manufacturing industry or for B2B marketers) to spread the word about your open positions.
On Twitter, create new hashtags relevant to your open positions or use existing hashtags so your tweets catch the attention of people following those topics. NPR, for instance, used a hashtag “#pubjobs†to attract people interested in public media.
Always be Recruiting
You say you have no open positions and no immediate plans to hire
No matter. With competition for talent heating up this year, if you do find yourself short of staff, you could end up suffering in comparison with bigger companies. That’s why it’s important to present ongoing information about what your company does, what it’s like to work for you and what kinds of people and skills you’re looking for.
In addition to outright recruiting, NPR also did “soft†recruiting by using the hastag #nprlife to tweet about daily life at the office. The outreach gave potential candidates a look at what it would be like to work at the company.
You can put this kind of information on your business’s website, under a heading “Working at X Corp.†or similar, where you can also list open positions and contact information when you have openings.  All year long, share informal insights into what it’s like to work at your business on your Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter accounts.  Those insights could be photos from your latest staff potluck or tweets about what you’re working on now.
Showing off your small business as a fun, creative and rewarding place to work will go a long way toward building interest and goodwill that leads qualified candidates to you when the time comes.
Employee Photo via Shutterstock
