Is ‘Insta-Hiring’ the new fad?

Social recruiting has become the norm these days – with the use of LinkedIn, Facebook, Snapchat recruiters are not leaving any stone unturned in their war of finding the best candidate.

While LinkedIn continues to dominate the social recruiting scene as a professional network, Instagram is the new kid on the block as far as recruiting is concerned. With a user base of more than 400 million mostly millennials, the ease of using the interface of Insta hiring is becoming a fad. Organizations are utilizing Instagram not only for recruiting but also for creating a buzz around their employer brand. 

According to the LinkedIn survey, half of all professionals are following companies on social media with the intent to stay aware of their jobs. In addition, Aberdeen Group’s research has found that 73% of millennials found their last position through a social media site.

Instagram is cool, its hip and it is keeping millennials hooked to their phones constantly. Organizations such as Accenture, TCS and IBM have also taken to Instagram to showcase their company culture from volunteering initiatives to marathons to seminars one can find all latest pictures and videos on their Instagram pages .

Salesforce is leading the bandwagon with their Instagram page @Salesforcejobs. The page shares information on open job opportunities with the American software company along with pictures and videos of their employees participating in engagement and CSR activities. The page also displays what it would be like to be working at Salesforce through its office tours and video messages by employees talking about life at Salesforce. 

Another organization using Instagram to the T to project its image as a fun brand to be associated with is Marriott Hotels. The Instagram page of Marriott @Marriotcareers is a bright and vibrant page which gives its visitors an insight into the awards the hotel chain has won over the years along with images of its employees having a blast while working. It also honors its employees around the world by featuring their real-life stories and learnings.  

Startups such as Zomato and Chai point are going an extra mile by posting videos of their employees telling the world why they love working in these firms. Firms such as OYO utilize the platform to recognize its employees by conferring them awards in fun categories like – on the mark, needle mover awards etc. A PR firm in the USA has gone a step ahead with rolling out an offer to an Intern to join them full time on Instagram!

Needless to say, the role of HR has also evolved with the ardent use of Social Media. HR plays a crucial role in creating and encouraging employees to become brand ambassadors and tell the world what’s unique about their workplace. HR gets a seat at the table as far as formulating the social media branding strategy of the organization is concerned because HRBP’s are constantly in touch with employees. They can also help the organization decide the guidelines around use of social media posts sharing by employees. Does the organization want to give out a list of Hashtags to be used while posting on social media? Can pictures from within the office premises be shared? Decision on these points depends on the maturity of the employees along with client restrictions on data security.

Trying to build an Insta strategy? Consider these factors first 

Who is your target audience? Do they log in to Instagram frequently? Instagram may be the right choice for your organization if you are trying to hire for niche skills or in field such as media / public relations since the target candidates are more likely to be very active on social media. It also depends on the level at which you are looking to hire obviously posting an opening for a senior position such as Director / Head level is less likely to get you hits since the prospective candidates may not be super active on sov

What’s your employer brand image on the platform? A prospective candidate may see your job posting but before applying the candidate will visit your Instagram profile. Before you start posting jobs ensure that there are enough images/ videos / testimonials on your page that put you in the right light as a brand .Another thing to remember here is that pictures taken in the natural habitat of your organization are more likely to invite traffic to your page as compared to staged images  with photogenic employees / models. 

Takeaway

The pros of hiring on Instagram such as free access, building a unique brand image and displaying company culture outnumber the cons which are targeting only the millennial job seekers and not having the option of sharing too many links other than that in the bio section. However, whether an organization wants to invest its time and resources in Insta hiring totally depends on the type of jobseekers the organization is targeting and the type of image it wants to display to the world as an employer. It also depends on whether or not the organization has manpower to keep the page up and running, without a planned content strategy in place the page is bound to die down after a while! Social media is evolving as we speak and so are recruiting, and employer branding strategies organizations can either choose to move with the times or stay behind in the war of talent!