Not every hiring manager or HR leader can work for a high profile company but some high potential candidates are looking for that element of name recognition when job seeking. How can you make sure your potential employees know your company – and want to work for you?

Social media can be a great leveler, and used effectively it is a recruitment tool that companies of any size and profile can use. However, few employers are using it to its fullest potential.

Nearly 100 per cent of Canadian professionals are on at least one social media network and more than half use them as tools to hunt for employment. As the hiring market gets tougher, employers need to stand out from the crowd, but less than a quarter are using social media to find talent.

Who are you connected with?

According to the Hays Canada Where People Are report, employers tend to favour generic online job boards, post-secondary career sites and traditional online ads, while candidates gravitate to social media such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. And when businesses do use social media to recruit, they’re often talking to the wrong people.

That’s because they’re missing a crucial step in building those networks. Most are talking to their clients and consumers, not potential candidates, and of the candidates that are in their network few are high quality with sought-after skills and experience. According to our research, only about 10 per cent of the average company network is made up of good quality candidates.

This is partly due to the fact that most companies are selling their products and services on social media, rather than positioning themselves as a top employer. That means that when you then try to post jobs on the channel that message is lost in the noise because most of your network are consumers not candidates.

How can you raise your profile?

Create a content plan that engages with your top candidates with information that is interesting and relevant to them. This can include sharing external content such as news stories, or internally-produced content like blogs or reports. Sharing non-job-related content now, and building interest and engagement with potential employees means that when you do have a job to post, they already know who you are, and know that it will be relevant to you.

Sell your company culture and build awareness of your employer value proposition as well with posts about internal incentives or programs, team events or celebrations, and other activities that contribute to making your company a great place to work.

The goal of this is to build and nurture a group of engaged professionals who will come to know and trust your brand so when you share job postings they are more likely to apply and accept an offer. Putting the groundwork in early is key to getting the results you’re looking for.

Hays Canada division manager Rachel Finan has more than 14 years of experience working in HR recruitment, She excels in making the right match and brings expert insight into market trends, employer needs, and candidate requirements.