Candidates are more than ever using social media as a place to receive information about jobs (such as posts of job offers on Facebook), and say that having just a corporate Facebook or Instagram page is not enough. Posting the right content on the right channel is what candidates expect nowadays and gives you the competitive advantage.
That’s what we learned from our annual study of global and U.S. candidates. We identified how employers and candidates use social networks. Candidates’ presence on multiple social media platforms evolves as platforms fade away, revive, innovate, or change strategy. Companies need to adapt fast and be there where their audience is. U.S. candidates have steadily used many different social media, with Instagram and Snapchat increasing.
Snapchat is leading, with 70 percent of candidates using it multiple times a day, followed closely by Facebook and Instagram. Even though LinkedIn is a popular channel, only 20 percent of candidates use it multiple times a day. The message: be there where both active and passive job seekers are.
The majority of candidates are seeing career-related content on Facebook and Linkedin. Both social media are used by more than 80 percent of employers in the U.S. and by a larger part of the studied candidates. High-usage frequency means big opportunities for companies communicating about their jobs and their employer brand.
While LinkedIn is the channel where almost all employers are present, candidates interestingly see more career content appearing on Facebook. Instagram, which is used multiple times a day by 67 percent of candidates, only comes in third with only 23 percent of candidates seeing career content on it. Instagram is gaining popularity and is a great tool for career purposes that allows companies to develop their brand image and communicate content that candidates are looking for.. On Snapchat, however, which is the most daily used social media, only 9 percent of candidates see content on it.
When it comes to what people click on, candidates click mostly on content on LinkedIn, but Twitter comes in second (78 percent) — even though only 16 percent of candidates see career-related content on it.
The following graphic shows what U.S. and global employers are in the U.S. are using. While U.S. employers are ahead of their European counterparts, they still can improve.
The opportunities for employers are real in terms of reach, visibility, awareness, and attractiveness. U.S. companies still have work to do developing their presence in the right channels as employers compete for the same talent for similar jobs.
