Not only will job seekers check you and your company out on social channels, they'll do this long before they even consider making an application. You won't even know you've missed a great candidate. 

Is your company giving social job seekers what they want?

The number of visitors to UK job boards fell by 26% in the last year, and though this could be down to a drop in unemployment, it’s more likely due to the rise of the savvy social job seeker. The job seeker who knows they can find and connect to you online. 

Operating under the radar, social job seekers are quietly checking you out.

Yes, you.

And not where you expect either.

Jobvite’s recent Job Seeker Nation Study revealed that:

▪  Social job seekers are younger, wealthier, better educated, and more likely to be employed full-time.

▪  76% of social job seekers found their current position through Facebook.

▪  27% of job seekers expect to be able to apply via mobile and mobile job seekers are more likely to turn to Facebook over LinkedIn.

Besides Facebook, they are also likely to check you out on Glassdoor where they can read reviews from their industry peers. Checked yours out recently?

What do they want to see?

Social job seekers want to hear from your employees, in preference to PR’d management, and they want it to be genuine. 

▪  Share videos. Try things like 'a day in the life', 'my first month at…' 'I love working at [company] because…' some companies even do 'how to apply' or 'the recruitment process' videos. Keep them real!

▪  Be sure to capture photos of your team, birthdays, awards, charity events, anything that shows true insight into your company.

So what can you do?

1. Update your Company pages & profiles on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and (not to be ignored) Google+ with fresh content, information, and links to your careers pages. [This may be useful: 10 things to do before you pay for a LinkedIn Careers tab]

2. Update your Personal profiles. I am a firm believer that people 'buy' from people! On LinkedIn use the summary to sell the benefits of your company and add any presentations or videos that show someone what it's like to work at your company. Come out from behind your logo on Twitter and fill out your 160 character bio. Lockdown your Facebook profile [here's a video to show you how] as job seekers will look you up! Create your own Google+ profile, linking to your careers site, your blog, and be sure to add your details and bragging rights. 

3. Share lots of fresh content. Industry news, blogs, videos, photos, achievements, awards and so on. Show social job seekers that you have your finger on the pulse and are a great place to work. 

4. Make it easy for them to apply and ensure your career and website is mobile optimised. 

5. Monitor your engagement! Too many times I see companies ignoring job seekers comments on social channels. Keep your eyes peeled and respond as fast as you can. 

6. Though I said it above, keep it real! The cost of failed recruitment is high enough but where do you think they'll go to share their tales of woe?

Do you have a favourite way to feed the needs of the social job seeker?