Can we Really use Snapchat for Recruitment?

As mobile technology is rapidly changing, so is how people communicate and how they search and apply for jobs. Recruiters constantly need to adapt and work harder than ever to capture the ever decreasing attention span of job seekers.
Social media has proved to be one of the popular ways of doing so, particularly with job advertising and employer branding. The use of images and video is appealing to applicants more and more.
Most recruiters are already using or planning to use social media for generating leads and attracting candidates.
Snapchat has quickly become the emergent social platform of choice, particularly when it comes to the much sought after ‘Generation Y’ demographic. Famously difficult to entice in the job market, Gen Y candidates are heading to Snapchat in droves.

What is Snapchat?

Snapchat is a visual messaging app which is now used by over 100 million people per month. It allows users to create videos and take photos, add text to their creation and then send to the desired recipients. At the start of 2016, Snapchat reported a record high of 7 billion daily video views.
What differentiates Snapchat from other social mediums is that the images and videos only have a set time limit for how long they can be viewed. The user can decide how long their message can be viewed once opened by the recipient before it is deleted.

Why use it for recruitment?

Snapchat is a great example of a non-traditional platform that is not only fun and easy for candidates to use.
There are not many recruiters currently using Snapchat and so those that do have the advantage of surprising candidates and engaging with them in a new, unanticipated and more interesting way. Recruiters that use Snapchat will stand out from all the other recruiters on the market for all the right reasons. Gen Y candidates want access to information at the touch of a button and are spending less time searching. With Snapchat, you can give them this, as well as reaching out to that demographic through an established platform that they already know and regularly use.
Snapchat is a highly informal social platform, facilitating the opportunity to engage with candidates in a more relaxed, casual manner. Too many recruiters are afraid of using social media for its core purpose of being social, instead posting wooden, formal updates. With Snapchat, you have no choice but to be social and show a little personality!
You can grow your audience too. Snapchat’s users are increasing with every passing day, meaning that joining will take you to where the people currently are. If you’re a social media savvy recruiter, you’ll already have established social connections on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Google+. Why not take the opportunity to expand into a new platform and engage more people in more ways?

How can it be successful?

That ultimately depends on your audience. If you don’t know your audience well enough then how can you attract the right type of people?
When it comes to using Snapchat for recruitment purposes, you need to know that your ideal candidate will actually be using Snapchat. Over 70% of Snapchat users are under 25 years old. So the majority of Snapchat users will be entry-level graduates or people searching for apprenticeships. If you are recruiting for senior level positions, Snapchat probably isn’t right for you!
The recruitment platform you decide to use must align with the position advertised. So if you want to attract junior level employees, Snapchat could well be perfect.
Naturally, there are some drawbacks to using Snapchat as a recruitment tool. The first and most obvious is the brevity of the posts you’re uploading. Secondly, although the platform is a hotbed for Gen Y talent, it offers an otherwise limited demographic with few users over the age of 30. Then in terms of logistics, growing your audience initially can be hard work, requiring candidates who may be somewhat sceptical to accept your invitations.
[bctt tweet=”Snapchat can be a great recruitment marketing tool if you understand who is your target audience.”]
Employee branding is still possibly the most powerful tool in a company’s recruitment armoury but perhaps the most underused. Snapchat is a great tool to showcase how great a company is to work for and therefore a great way to attract passive candidates or build brand awareness and engage your target audience.
Snapchat can be used to create behind the scenes snaps and videos of your team and your office to give people a feel for what it would be like to work for your business. Do not underestimate the power of your company culture and the power of social media. It only needs one key influencer to share your content to create a mini viral effect that pushes your recruitment to a new level.
By using creative images, insights, videos and texts creating job ads has never been more fun. It could be time you considered Snapchat as part of your recruitment strategy.

This article first appeared on LinkedIn Pulse on March 3rd, 2016.