8 Ways Social Media Can Improve Your Caregiver Hiring in 2022

Equally, candidates turn to online sources when searching for jobs relevant to their skills. According to Social Arc’s study, 86% of job seekers use social media to search and apply for jobs.

In the same study, Social Arc reports that 9 out of 10 companies use some kind of social media to source, attract and engage their new recruits.

However, hiring and retaining talent is still one of the biggest challenges for employers. The home care industry is no different. Since it’s a highly competitive industry, attracting, recruiting, and retaining the best caregivers can be difficult. 

A social recruiting strategy can make reaching out to the right candidates easier, reduce job advertising costs, and simplify the application process for the candidates. 

Here are the top 8 ways social media can improve caregiver hiring in 2022.

1. Reach and connect with the right candidates

Publishing your job posting on social media platforms can expand your reach and notify your existing community and network. In fact, companies report that most high-quality candidates they hire are already familiar with their brand. 

Research shows that even when only 3% of applications come from the home care agency’s career page, 23% of them result in high-quality hires. So make sure to link your home care agency’s website to your social media profiles for candidates to find the open roles in your agency.

You should also consider which social media platforms your potential candidates would be using. Each platform has its advantages:

Facebook: You can target people in specific locations that fit certain demographics (including age, job title and interests) to run recruitment campaigns for your job posting. You can also try reaching out to the admins of Facebook groups created for caregivers or home care patients to post about an open position in your agency. 

LinkedIn: You can post the exact title and description of a job and its location. When you use the ‘Easy Apply’ function on LinkedIn, you make the application process easier for candidates, resulting in more applications.

Instagram: Instagram uses the same advertising targeting functions like Facebook and allows you to reach out to a tailored audience. You have to be a bit more creative and visual on Instagram. For example, you can show your company culture by making an inviting post or video that appeals to your potential candidates.

Twitter:  You can reach out to Twitter accounts that only advertise industry-specific job postings that re-direct your potential candidates to your website.

2. Reduce job posting and advertising costs 

Reaching out to the right audience through traditional recruiting methods is costly because job sites often charge on a cost-per-click basis. However, you can’t target the type of candidates who will click on your ads, so you will end up paying for clicks that don’t convert into quality applications.

Whereas a simple Facebook ad can reach a greater yet more specific audience. The key to getting the most relevant applications is to write a great caregiver job posting.

3. Demonstrate your company culture and highlight your employees

Ever since turnover rates started increasing and retaining talent across all industries became a challenge, companies are trying to build an inclusive culture that addresses all of their employees’ demands.

Having a strong social media presence can increase brand awareness and attract talent in the long run. If people are interested in your company’s work, they are likely to share it with others. You may find that candidates will start showing an interest in working for you even without advertising.

Companies use social media to showcase their company culture and attract customers as well as talented candidates. If your agency champions the people behind the work – your caregivers – and builds an online presence that aligns with your ideal candidate’s values, great talent will find its way to your agency. It’s important to note that employee social media content is shared 25 times more frequently, and you can reach a wider audience by highlighting and engaging your employees on social media.

4. Make the application process easier for the applicant

Most job seekers get tired of entering their resumes into application forms. This process is especially common with job posting websites. If you make the application submission process as straightforward as possible, you are likely to receive more applications. Social media platforms such as LinkedIn simplify applying for jobs by offering an “Easy Apply” option. 

You can offer the same process on your website so that candidates can register with their information and fill in their applications gradually. Smartcare’s home care software provides a built-in background checking feature to ensure you hire the best people in less time.

5. Screen candidates’ social media profiles

People use social media to showcase what they are passionate about and to connect with like-minded people. If your candidates consent to you viewing their social media profiles as part of their application, you can hire candidates who align with your company’s values.

Social Arc has also found that 92% of employers use social and professional networks for recruiting. It’s no surprise that after completing background checks and looking at a candidate’s resume and references, it’s the second stage of a recruiters’ investigation. 

Social media can help provide an in-depth understanding of your candidates, which is especially important considering they will be working with vulnerable people such as home care patients.

6. Stay on top of the competition with other home care agencies

At this point, it’s unavoidable as a business to upkeep engaging social media profiles. It’s where many people look first to learn about your business, your online reputation, and your services. 

So curating an active and positive social media presence can help you stand out among your competitors. If you can develop a strong brand identity on social media by showcasing employee stories, your company culture and values, then your candidates will get a glimpse of what it’s like to work for you. Building this trust on social media is an effective high-quality candidate magnet.

7. Encourage your staff to spread the word and reach their network

Some of the best candidates come through employee referrals. Directly asking your employees to refer candidates is already a good start. However, most people have a lot more connections online than offline. So it’s even better if you ask your employees to follow you on social media and share your content. 

When your employees are happy to work for you, they will be true advocates who spread the word about your company. 

8. Build a talent pool by increasing your followers

As mentioned above, a strong social media presence is not only important for when you’re hiring but also to create a community and network of people interested in your company.

Your online community will organically build a talent pool to reach out to when you decide to hire new caregivers, shortening the hiring time and drastically reducing your hiring costs and efforts. 

We’ve listed only some of the ways social media can improve your caregiver hiring. In the long term, implementing a social recruiting strategy will improve the quality of your candidates and help you hire faster. 

Contact us today to learn more about how Smartcare software can help you streamline your online hiring process.