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Social Media, Creative Questions Key to Recruiting Top Talent

Empower candidates and offer them the best recruitment experience possible by identifying them through social media networks and then employing creative interview questions to unearth their top wants and needs.

That was the message Atlanta-based Brian Fink, senior technical sourcing recruiter for Apple, offered to top recruiters who attended the ninth annual invitation-only Best Recruiter Celebration breakfast, hosted by ClearedJobs.Net and CyberSecJobs.com.

“I spoke to about 20 or so people here about company values,” Fink told the crowd. “One thing I noticed is that people are passionate to speak about the growth of their companies, the clients they work with and most of all company values….and values we have in recruiting.”

Those at the breakfast — deemed “Best Recruiters” as voted by job seekers at past Cleared Job Fairs and Cyber Job Fairs – were quick to voice their agreement with Fink and their like-minded colleagues.

“This is a tremendous opportunity to network with our peers,” said Recruiting Lead Leslie Ann Taylor, ICF, Columbia, Maryland “ClearedJobs.Net and CyberSecJobs recognize the importance of this. It’s important to embrace technology and continually add value to the process so recruiters continue to be seen as strategic partners. One of the best ways to do that is to learn from each other.”

Fink illustrated that point by encouraging the attendees to share their social network recruiting strategies. He also illustrated some nationally known positive and negative examples of how social media impacts recruiting.

A Facebook post by The Walt Disney Co. that won the company about 43,000 “likes,” 2,867 comments, and other positive feedback gave the company a wellspring of possible job candidates. As Fink discussed the post, he explained how recruiters could quickly ascertain responders’ interest in joining Disney and easily contact them with opportunities.

Fink also discussed how he used the positive feedback on the same type of post by Relus Technologies – a Linked In post mentioned that top recruiters are given Teslas – to find potential candidates from the 482 “likes” and 41 commenters.
“Eighteen of those people came to work for our organization,” he said. “They wouldn’t have been on our radar without that post.”

Discussion of such positive and negative recruitment efforts is vital for top recruiters who are in fast-paced races to secure top cleared candidates. Networking events such as the Best Recruiter celebration are almost akin to water stops along a marathon path. They refuel and reinvigorate participants.

“Recruiting can feel a lot like running a road race. You have to continue pushing and motivating yourself and eventually you will cross the victory line. Much like being an entrepreneur as well, Recruiters want to make sure their clients are thriving and the business is growing by getting the talent support that they need.” said Linda Avers, principal, talent acquisition, Leidos, Washington, D.C. “It’s important to be a continuous learner and stay optimistic so we can tweak our approach, continue to thrive, perform and produce.”

Fink noted the optimism of employees is another source from which to find top job candidates to fill positions. Welcoming employees with modest hoopla and revisiting their experiences at 30 days, 60 days, and 180 days is just one way to keep optimism flowing. That can lead to employees become active recruiters – through referrals – or even passive recruiters through social media posts.

“Those employees are always your best spokespeople,” said Fink. “They can showcase why they love working with your company. They can showcase why they love working with you.”

Fink continually returned to the need to stress company values and continually check with employees to ensure they continually align. Such values are key motivating factors for job candidates, especially Millennials, and can greatly boost a company’s reputation.

Of course that starts in the interview process, he said. Allow candidates the opportunity to explain who they are rather than just working from resumes. And close interviews by allowing the candidate the chance to talk more about themselves in an unstructured way, simply by asking them open ended questions that compel them to expound on expertise and interests that were not covered in the interview.

By doing so, you may begin uncover new talent. Enterprise Rent-A-Car has done that by tapping into NCAA athletes. The company recruits more NCAA athletes than any other company in the U.S., said Fink.

“The reason? Their values align with those of the company,” he said.

Below is the video of Brian Fink’s inspiring talk.