Usage of Social Media in Recruitment Strategy: Advantages and Disadvantages

This essay discusses the advantages and disadvantages of using social media platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook in recruitment strategies, compared to traditional methods. It also explores the impact of privacy issues.

Running head: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
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Author Note

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Introduction
In this essay, the discussion will be on the usage of social media platform in the
recruitment strategy by the employers. The analysis will be on the advantages and
disadvantages of LinkedIn and Facebook, in comparison to the traditional methods of
recruitment. Social media has become a popular recruitment strategy used by employers.
Along with theses, the impact of privacy issues will also be discussed.
Social media has become a part and parcel of the daily life of the people in modern
world, whether it is personal life or professional. Usage of social media platforms like
LinkedIn and Face Book while recruiting the candidates. If the platform of LinkedIn is taken,
it is a very popular and authentic social media place in terms of recruitment. Due to the
presence of many active members, who are the decision-makers as well, it is easy to get the
direct connection with them and can know about the vacancies of the companies. The right
job is available based on the experience and qualification of the job-seekers. Same thing
happens with the Facebook also, as it has many users. Also giving advertisements here is
comparatively cheaper and stays for a longer period of time (Hunter et al, 2017). Newsfeeds
plays an important part here to provide information about the vacancies from the activities of
friends. But, in the same time, the job postings may get lost in the traffic of pictures, videos
and updates. Competition is also very tight here, and negative comments about the job can
reduce the chance of recruiting candidates by a particular organization. Huge promotion is
needed to attract the eyeballs of the customers, as it is time taking to post advertisements in
Facebook. The same is the con of the LinkedIn platform too. Time management is important
to create a perfect profile to get attention from the employers. Patience is required in both the
online platforms to get a call from the employers (Korn & Freidlin, 2017).

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Privacy issues are a major concern while using the social media platforms like
Facebook and LinkedIn. To protect the accounts from the hackers, it is important to change
the password regularly. The contact information should also be limited to the actual users
only. The security settings should be properly maintained and followed by the employers.
Proper usage of anti-virus should also be used by the companies, to avoid the malware or
harmful cookies. Other informations regarding the job should be short and crisp and the
employer must not disclose all the information in the social media platforms. Decision should
be made prior to posting the advertisement in the social media that who will watch the
activity feeds. Decision should also be made about the people who will be able to view the
connections and what they will watch on the profile of the employers (Gaffney, Rast & Hogg,
2018).
Overall, there are both advantages and disadvantages of using social media platform
while recruiting the candidates, but the employers should use the advantages and avoid the
disadvantages so that they can recruit the candidates and on the other hand no or less damage
is done on their professional accounts.

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References
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