We know that candidates who are active in the job market are perusing sites like Indeed or LinkedIn to seek out jobs they are interested in. For hard to fill roles the chances of finding niche skills is not super successful with these boards. Typically these candidates are considered passive and are not likely to be reviewing job boards on a consistent basis.
Why not get them to see your job by putting an ad in one of the places they are all the time? Facebook has billions of people who actively use the site. The chances are high that your ideal candidate is checking their newsfeed a lot more often than your job board post. Facebook ads are a great way to get more passive candidates to see and consider your job opening.
Here’s how to create Facebook Ads to get applicants for your Job Opening:
Why Use Facebook Ads to Promote your Job:
Using Facebook as a platform to advertise your jobs gives it a huge audience. People scrolling their feed will be greeted with your job, which may be just perfect for them. Even if they weren’t thinking about applying, seeing the opportunity may cause them to consider making a move.
Facebook also gives you the ability to target the demographic you want. This means you can choose the audience that sees your ad, so you are able to choose the users you think would be most interested in your role. Think about all the things your ideal candidate would be interested in to get an idea of what to target.
The amount of people who are on Facebook and use it once or more per day is massive. Facebook has taken notice and has even launched their own job posting dashboard! If your company has a company page, you can add jobs there and promote them in the news feed. Soon people will become used to seeing the job ads, so you should be one of the early adopters to get a head start. Everyone is on LinkedIn, but not everyone is on Facebook for recruiting.
The Logistics:
Facebook does charge for ads, but the awesome part is that you can set a budget per day. Once your ad reaches the target amount you set, it will stop showing it. This way you never spend more than what you planned. You can start out with a relatively low budget if you want to give it a try and then increase as you become more comfortable. The ads can be significantly cheaper than posting on traditional job boards, allowing you to post more jobs and find more candidates!
One of the best aspects of Facebook ads is the ability to set your demographic! To get candidates who would be interested in your role it would be a good idea to target employees of competitors of the company you are recruiting for. Age, Location, Education Level, Industry, Job Titles, Languages, and Interests are other options you can target.
Results:
So how do you know if your Facebook ads are working? Facebook offers reporting tools for you to analyze how the ads are working. Facebook will show you how your ad is converting, which will help you see if people are reacting to your ad. The more people who click on the ad, the more applicants you are likely to have.
You can use this information to determine your return on investment (ROI). If your applicant tracking system includes a source field, you can also see who is crediting Facebook. This is a great way to see if Facebook is leading to actual hires.
It’s a great idea to be where your candidates are hanging out. Job boards are great, but not everyone visits them on a regular basis. They are also very expensive and may not always lead to qualified applicants. Facebook makes it easy to target candidates who are interested in the things your ideal candidate is interested, which is something job boards don’t do.
Bonus: Applicants can now directly apply for job openings through Facebook (Globally). They just launched this new update in March and you can learn more about it here.
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