Best practices for using social media as a recruitment strategy

Purpose – The aim of this article is to explore how HR professionals can best use social media in their search for talent. Design/methodology/approach – This article discusses the current state of social media for recruitment and its relation to job boards, and examines best practices, including consideration of a social media recruitment strategy plan, appropriate resources and the importance of a content strategy and social media policy. The best practices are based on a comprehensive review of literature coupled with experiential accounts from practitioners and the author's firsthand experiences in crafting successful social media strategies. Findings – While levels of awareness and adoption continue to develop both for recruiters and job applicants, organizations must consider adding social media to their overall recruitment strategy to meet the goals of being cost‐effective, targeted, and strategic; remaining competitive; and sourcing top talent. Originality/value – The article points to the need for starting small, gauging response, and utilizing an iterative approach to the inclusion of evolving social networks for optimized recruitment.