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‘We’re focused on the big 3–LinkedIn, FB, and twitter’

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DQI Bureau
New Update

Social media is increasingly being used in enterprises, especially in the recruitment process. Networking sites serve as a pool of data and with the internet, corporates realize there's plenty of fish to choose from. In an interview with Dataquest, Savneet Shergill, head, talent acquisition, Dell India, tells us about the role social media plays in their organization, and while at it, she shares some tips. Excerpts

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How important is social media as a tool for recruitment to your organization?

Ever since the emergence of Web 2.0 and social media platforms, Dell has used social media in internal collaboration, product development, social commerce as well as talent acquisition and management. Dell very effectively uses social media for new talent attraction through platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

At Dell we have got different ways of approaching talent on social media. We post jobs on LinkedIn on a regular basis. We also use their corporate recruiter licenses to source profiles. Thirdly, our team of recruiters often update their profiles with statuses in terms of the positions that Dell is hiring for.

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With buddy-references and paid services for endorsements, how reliable are recommendations and skill endorsements on LinkedIn?

While recommendations and skill endorsements on a profile are good to have, and may also indicate how well known or recognized a prospective candidate is, an organization should not take this information for granted. Before making an offer, a background verification, as per the company policy, must be carried out to make sure the candidate is indeed the right fit for the organization and the job.

What are the primary advantages of hiring via social networks and how is that different from the conventional methods?

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Social media has created a paradigm shift in the way brands interact with their consumers-it's taken them a step closer and has personalized/humanized conversations. Gen Y has accepted social media as a means of day-to-day communication. And organizations and brands want to be a part of this conversation by measuring several touch points on different social channels. Having the right set of people that fit the mindset and culture of an organization is the need of the hour today. Social media can help organizations build, engage, and foster communities that they can tap into for not just for employment branding but also for sourcing, engaging, and social outreach. Conversations are going to happen about your brand in social media with or without you. For us, we decided we wanted to be part of those conversations and use them to get closer to the needs of all our stakeholders.

 

What social platforms have worked for the company in the past? How is this being channelized in to future recruitment plans, if at all?

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We've got different ways of approaching talent on social media. Broadly, we're focused on the big 3-LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

We post jobs on LinkedIn on a regular basis. We also use their corporate recruiter licenses to source profiles. Thirdly, our team of recruiters often update their profiles with statuses in terms of the positions that we're hiring for. Our team is also active on LinkedIn groups participating in conversations and keeping a tab on what's brewing socially.

We've got a ‘careers at Dell' APJ Facebook page that we use to engage our target audience. The Facebook page is a great way to disseminate career related information to our candidates and interact with them. We've got a job search widget on Facebook that helps prospective candidates find and look for the positions that we're offering right on Facebook itself. We also have a ‘Find Your Career Fit Widget' which helps job seekers explore different career functions at Dell. We've got over 27,000 followers on our Facebook page as of now.

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On Twitter, we've got @CareersAtDell twitter handle which we use to interact with our followers. We post jobs, career related information and answer questions that are pointed to us through this id. We've got over 1,500 followers on our twitter handle. Our team also has person ids that they use to drive our employment brand.

What are your top 5 tips to organizations using social media as a recruitment tool?

Leveraging Social media for talent management is a great way of building the employer brand with your target audience-both existing and prospective employees. The various social media channels provide for multiple forums to offer a perspective on career development and also the various available opportunities. At Dell, online engagement is yet another effective way of interacting with the prospective employees.

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