Social Media Specialists Needed For HR Positions

Do you know how to use Facebook effectively, send tweets, and search for specific information using Google? Well then, you may have a job. According to WANTED Analytics, a firm that collects hiring-demand information, more than 1000 job offerings required applicants to have social media skills between May and August 2011, and increase of 160% from offerings in 2010.

There are many skills required to be a candidate for social media HR. as such is to be able to “develop new recruiting strategies and source talent by using the Internet and social networking sites,” according to Aliah Wright from SHRM.
Candidates need to be aware of sourcing techniques and know how to use search engines, apps, job boards and social media sites for community creation and leads generation. There is more to these HR jobs than tweeting job openings or looking through LinkedIn and Facebook accounts for possible candidates. According to WANTED, companies are offering HR positions for those who can:

• Direct traffic to corporate sites via social media channels.

• Proactively identify and attract passive talent through inexpensive sources such as social media.

• Build and maintain a pipeline of prospects through networking and social media research, while maintaining a “robust LinkedIn profile.”

• Learn and create Boolean search strings and perform advanced search techniques.

• Assist in placing employment ads to appropriate sources, to include websites, social media and other sources

Although companies are looking for HR candidates with social media skills, a recent poll from Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) shows that very few businesses use web-based resources in recruiting possible candidates. The top reason for companies not using web-based resources to screen applicants is because there are legal risks and ramifications. Another top reason is the lack of verifiable information found through these mediums, as well as lack of job-related information.

“One of the traditional concerns about allowing HR or any decision-maker in the company to look at social media sites is that they will have exposure to information and knowledge about an applicant’s or employee’s membership in a protected class or their participation in protected conduct,” said David H. Black, an employment attorney at Jackson Lewis LLP in Seattle, who is also the legislative director for the SHRM Washington State Council and the Seattle chapter of SHRM. He also mentioned that HR professionals should be cautious when they look at applicants’ or employees’ social.

The CEO of WANTED, Bruce Murray, said, “we’ve heard the ‘buzz’ about social recruiting, but the facts are showing that forward-looking companies are now expecting their recruiters to have mastered this core competency. Social recruiting has moved beyond ‘buzz’ and is definitely mainstream.”

The top five metropolitan areas with the highest demand for HR professionals who have social media skills are New York, Washington, D.C., Boston, Chicago and Philadelphia, with New York on top of the list. However, Philadelphia is the area that faced the greatest increase, a 400% from that of the year before.