Using SocialHire & Social Media

While we may not always think of the healthcare industry at the forefront of technology, it may be more advanced than you’re seeing in the day-to-day – especially when it comes to hiring.

The average person has at least 5 social media accounts, so if you want to reach someone, this is a great way.

And it’s not just that we spend a lot of time on social media. We also share our lives. On professional networks like Linkedin, you can search for profiles of professionals in every area of healthcare. And SocialHire can help you find and manage those potential applicants.

It all starts with finding the right applicants.

Tips for recruiting healthcare applicants on social media

If you don’t have a social hiring strategy, you could be spending a lot of unnecessary time scrolling through profiles that are irrelevant. You may even spend time interviewing applicants who aren’t right for your job.

Participate in appropriate conversations

If you’re looking for a nurse, you may want to follow hashtags like #rnchat or #nursecollab. Find the conversations that are relevant to the people you are looking to hire.

Once you’ve opened the lines of communication, post your job on social channels. With SocialHire, you can post jobs onto your social channels with a click of a button. Then, when the applications come rolling in, you can easily track the applicant pipeline.

Promote your company

Your company should maintain a presence on social media at all times, not just when it’s time to hire. As part of your social media strategy, share posts that prove your company is a great one to work for. It may be information about your above average pay rates or 401k matching program. Or maybe it’s the company culture that sets yours apart from the rest. This is a long-term strategy to position yourself to attract the best applicants. A healthcare CEO may read about your company’s employee-centric policies today and remember them in a year when they’re looking to switch organizations. “Oh, yeah… I’ve heard that’s a great company to work for.”

Pay attention to niche networks

You can automatically post your job on social channels through SocialHire, and this app can even help you search profiles on LinkedIn.

LinkedIn is a major focus because it’s the largest professional network around, but remember that it’s not the only one. If you’re looking for someone with specialized healthcare knowledge, for example, you may find the perfect candidate answering industry-relevant questions on Quora. Just don’t limit your scope and you’ll find that you may attract a higher quality pool of applicants.

Use an employee referral program

SocialHire can help you plan and implement an effective employee referral program that encourages your current employees to share jobs on their own social channels. When an employee recommends your company, it’s a great indication to potential applicants that your company is a great place to work.

Reasons to take your healthcare recruitment to social media

If you’ve never done it before, you may be wondering whether social media recruiting is worth the effort, especially in the healthcare industry.

But there are many benefits to recruiting on social channels, and it all starts with the sheer numbers. There are 4.4 million healthcare professionals on LinkedIn alone, and you can reach them with the right strategy.

Here are 5 reasons why you should take your healthcare recruitment to social media:

1. Reach the passive candidate

Some of the best hires are “poached” from others in the industry. It may sound harsh, but if you can offer a more enticing deal, you may be able to convince a competitor’s employee to sign with you. Oftentimes, the best candidates aren’t actively looking for employment.

2. Weed out the bad eggs

We’ve all seen those applicants who complain about their jobs on social channels. These aren’t the people you want in your healthcare organization. If they’re in this habit, it won’t be long before they’re trashing your company too. So no matter how great their resume may seem, in some cases, you can spot a bad egg in an instant through their social media channel.

3. Peruse resumes before applications

On social media, especially on LinkedIn, you can browse profiles to find keywords (i.e., experience) that you seek in your hospital and other healthcare recruitment efforts. This way, you can find the right applicants and invite them to apply to your job, instead of posting a job everywhere and weeding through hundreds of unqualified candidates. Social media allows you to narrow your search and focus your recruitment efforts.

4. Find passionate applicants

As you browse through profiles, you’ll get to see who has a passion for their job and who doesn’t. How? Well, it’s simple. We all post about things that have our interest. So if you’re looking for a nurse and deciding between two applicants, you may choose the one who posts lifesaving tips for her friends instead of the one who only seems concerned with her cat and ex-bashing efforts. Through social media, you can easily find the people who have chosen this career path for all the right reasons.

5. Save money

Here’s the best part about social media recruiting – it’s cheap. If you decide to DIY your social recruiting efforts, your time is all you’ll spend. But we all know that your time is valuable.

So I suggest giving the SocialHire free trial a test run. You can use it completely free for 30 days, and in that time, you’re likely to get more qualified applicants and spend less of your own time recruiting them. After the free trial, you’ll probably find that the most cost effective option is to adopt a monthly plan.

Social media is quickly becoming the easiest and most effective way to recruit healthcare employees. But you need to know how to leverage these platforms to make the most of your time.

SocialHire can help. If you’re ready to get started, begin your free trial to see what it’s all about.