This won’t be the world’s longest list – I could sit here for the next 3 hours and list every reason I can think of, but I won’t. I just want to make some clear observations and highlight my thinking around a Social Recruiting strategy, which combines with your current sourcing techniques to add value to your business.

So here we go.

1. Seek has just put their prices up again.
I’m leading with this as it is always a sore point with many. It isn’t totally surprising (it is a yearly occurrence), but it does make other alternatives more attractive. I am a big Seek fan (I worked there for many years, so I have a slight bias) but the more the price goes up, the more other options need to be explored.

2. Market your employer brand with minimal cost
There are 1 million people on LinkedIn in Australia, approx. 2.5 million on Twitter and over 7 million people on Facebook. If you are not promoting your company via these channels what are you waiting for?

3. Engage with candidates more effectively
You want to talk to candidates out there that are interested in working for you. You don’t know where to find them. Look at the numbers above in point 2, that should be a good starting point.

4. Expand your knowledge of the HR/recruiting market
There is an enourmous number of people out there (both colleagues and candidates) that love sharing their ideas (I am one of them or you wouldn’t be reading this) regarding best practice, new concepts or whacky ideas for HR & recruitment. Tap in to this huge pool of knowledge and start reading. You might find something you like and can implement to get started in the area. Learn from other people’s mistakes.

5. Strategic, Proactive, Cost Effective, Multi-dimensional and NOW
Social media has downsides, just like everything else. The benefits far outweigh the risks, if it’s approached as a strategy and not just a cheap trick. The five words I used as the point title tell you why. If you don’t see the potential in something that’s strategic, proactive, cost effective, multi-dimensional and current, maybe it’s time we talked.

6. Be seen as innovative
There are only a few companies doing anything serious in the social recruiting space in Australia. There are many different ways to utilise social media to stand out from the crowd. One of the finest examples is Deloitte in New Zealand run by Paul Jacobs

7. Social media is not a fad!
I may have to say this 500,000 times. Look at the statistics, the media saturation of stories, the proliferation of blogs and ideas out there in this space – this is not something which will come and go, but something which is radically redefining the way we communicate and share information. Facebook is trying to out think Google everyday now (badly at times yes) but the trend of people using these tools to stay connected is undeniable.

8. Are your current methods fool proof?
The ultimate question. Is your current sourcing strategy 100% effective? Social media may not be the silver bullet, but it can certainly go a long way to providing a different perspective and a wide range of enhancements and improvements to your current approach. It is not meant to replace everything you currently do, but should be seen as an integral component and channel to a candidate market place that has moved on from newspapers, radio and to some degree job boards.