Technology has opened up our world with thousands of networking platforms flooding the vast digital landscape of the internet. You can have billions of search results in front of your eyes in 0.31 seconds, and photos from friends and strangers buzzing into your phone from the other side of the world.
We can find the information we need for free, and more quickly than ever before. So, shouldn’t this impact your hiring budget? Absolutely.
Here are three tech tools you can use to find and hire the best employees without breaking the bank:
1. Social Media
Social media has changed the way we do almost everything. Research shows 92 percent of companies use social media for recruiting. It’s clearly one of the most cost-effective ways to find new talent, since most channels are free and you can easily share job opportunities.
You can’t ignore LinkedIn at this point seeing as it was built for the professional. If nothing else, you should establish a presence on the platform for free. While a premium account is available for a fee, depending on your basic needs, you probably won’t need it. While candidates can utilize LinkedIn to connect with you, make sure you too are using it for the social proof to help you make more informed hiring decisions.
However, just because of the professional reputation of LinkedIn, don’t be ignorant to recent studies which provide new evidence that job seekers are on Facebook more than the recruiter-flooded LinkedIn.
Studies show 76 percent of job seekers found their current position through Facebook. Aside from the fact that Facebook has 1.3 billion active monthly users, you’re able to really showcase your company culture which will be a huge draw for your top job candidates. Additionally, you can take a closer look at the interests of your candidates to see if they would be a good fit in your company– a huge time-saver.
Google+
While Twitter is a great social media platform and most recruiters are tweeting open job positions, new research reveals Google+ is actually doing much better in recruiting qualified talent. Google+ has the best employment brand awareness. In fact, 19 percent of college graduates vet prospective employers’ company culture on Google+, and only 13 percent on Twitter.
2. Your Smartphone
A recent study found 86 percent of job seekers would use their phone to look for jobs. You can use all of the social media platforms mentioned above, along with many other job seeker focused apps on your smartphone. And if data is part of your phone plan, it’s another free way for you to broaden your search efforts.
Use your phone to join in on Twitter Chats when you’re away from your desk, check your LinkedIn while on your coffee break, or watch a video interview during your daily commute. Social communication happens fast, and what better way to find the right candidate than through updates accessible wherever you go?
3. Video Interviewing
This is one of the newer evolving hiring trends, and it’s not hard to see why. This tech tool saves time, energy, and stress from uncomfortable hiring situations.
Job candidates can record short introduction videos managers can review. Hiring managers can request one-way video interviews that candidates can record time-restricted answers to, and view them at their convenience. If the hiring manager notices a candidate isn’t a strong cultural fit in the first few minutes (or even seconds), no time will be lost as they can conveniently move on to the next candidate. Additionally, gain back the time lost to rearranging your daily schedule for in-person interviews that could last an hour or longer.
While most video interviewing options do come at a cost, you can find some basic video interviewing services for just under $50 a month. Or if you’re looking for all the bells and whistles and to fill multiple positions each month, options are available under $500 per month.
As is typically the case, year in and year out, costs go up for everything. It’s forecasted that hiring too is only going to get more expensive next year and beyond. Stay ahead of the curve by taking advantage of the tech tools available to you without having to break the bank.
What are some other tech tools you can use to hire without breaking the bank?
Josh Tolan is the CEO of Spark Hire, a video interview solution used by more than 2,000 companies across the globe. Learn more about combining video interviewing with social media and connect with Spark Hire on Facebook andTwitter.