It’s a competitive world out there!

If you are responsible for recruiting new teachers, paraprofessionals, custodial workers, bus drivers, principals, and more – you know what I’m talking about.

It is tough to find qualified candidates in our schools today. So how can social media help?

Attract people who aren’t actively looking

The best candidates for your open positions are likely happily employed at another school or company. Since they are happy, they are not actively looking at your state-based posting website. They are also not looking at the local newspaper (come on, it is almost 2018).

With a simple social media post, you may catch the eye of someone who isn’t looking but may consider applying if they know about it! The best spot to share is Facebook, but Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn are great sites to use as well.

Most job placements happen through referrals

Referrals are the number one source of hire. Nothing is easier to share than a Facebook post or a Tweet. Everyone knows someone who might be looking for a job opportunity, and social media is just so simple.

Asking current staff members to share Facebook posts is also easy. It also makes your staff feel like they are part of the process!

Reach More People for Lower cost

Facebook has over 2 billion users. With your local paper is not seeing many eyes nowadays, social media provides an amazing opportunity to reach people.

And posting jobs on social media is completely FREE! You have the option of boosting posts as well. You can do it at a very effective rate (as little as $5 on Facebook). Facebook demographics allow you to pinpoint the target you are looking for, including age, education, interests, and more. LinkedIn can do the same.

Facebook also has a special “Publish a Job Post” option that you can use. It is easy, free, and will be favored by Facebook’s algorithm!

Give prospects a glimpse at your school

Before anyone applies to work in your school, they are going to visit your website. Websites are an important hub of information for your district, but the place that the potential candidate is really going to get a feel for your “school culture” is on social media!

Build trust and transparency by consistently using social media to tell your school’s story. This is a critical piece to attracting top talent. Frequent classroom photos, videos, and celebrations from the school will showcase the amazing culture you have. By frequent, I mean several times each day. Posting just once a week to social media sites is not enough.

Some schools even use social media as part of the hiring process. Fall Creek has taped some job offers that were actually made by students to the new teachers, and then shared them on social media.

And once they are hired, you can give them a huge social media welcome to your community. New staff posts like this one from New Auburn give everyone a chance to see and send a message to the new person. This Facebook post reached over 6,100 people, had 187 reactions and 28 comments.

What Now?

Get creative with your hiring strategies! Great graphics, mixing in live video, building stories of current staff – all can be used to help recruit new talent.

Share with me!

How have you used social media to recruit new hires? I’d love to hear how it worked.