Social Media for Recruitment: Best Practice for Less Than Favourable Comments

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Social media can be an effective and cost-efficient way to recruit potential candidates. Using Facebook alone can reach up to one billion people. When restaurant chain Hard Rock Café opened in Florence, Italy in 2011, they needed to hire 120 staff in four weeks, using Facebook alone. The result – a fully-staffed restaurant for only $2000, less than a tenth of what Hard Rock normally spends setting up a new restaurant. They also gained 25, 000 new fans on the Hard Rock Café – Florence Facebook page within eight weeks.

Social media is becoming a predominant and powerful tool for business.  It can help a business connect and engage with their customers, increase brand awareness and online presence, and promote potential career opportunities. Even with the numerous advantages companies can attain from utilising social media, they can put themselves at risk of disgruntled customers and unsuccessful candidates posting angry and sometimes vicious comments for millions of online users to see. These comments can result in gaining numerous Facebook likes and comments, which then go viral, tainting the company’s image. Examples like these can make companies wary of joining social media.

Though it is inevitable that some unsuccessful candidates will comment on your company’s social media page, there are some ways to combat these negatives comments, while still portraying a positive image.

Let’s first look at ways not to approach negative comments on social media.

  • Ignoring the comment can work in your favour, or become a public relations disaster. With hundreds of comments being posted a day, not all comments will gain thousands of likes and become the latest online humiliation. However, ignoring a comment from an unsuccessful candidate who is genuinely unsatisfied with the results of their application may cause other potential job candidates to avoid applying for a company that neglects potential staff members.
  • Deleting a comment can be seen as worse than ignoring one. Social media is a forum for free speech. By deleting a comment, you are removing a user’s right to express their opinion. Remember that as soon as something goes online, it’s permanent.

Ignoring and deleting comments on social media can damage a company’s image. The best way to approach these negative comments from unsuccessful candidates is to address the problem. In most cases, the best strategy is to acknowledge the candidate (successful or not) and provide them with positive and constructive feedback offline. For example, an unsuccessful candidate may post a comment complaining about not receiving the job they applied for. You can approach this comment with,

“Thank you for applying for the position. As you can imagine, there were a number of great quality applicants for the position. I’d be happy to give you some specific feedback in regards to your application, please contact me on xxxx”

When responding to this kind of comment, it’s always best to encourage the candidate to contact you offline. Often feedback about their application can be seen as a private matter, and although they contacted you through a social media forum, it’s always a good idea to encourage them to contact you directly, so you can diffuse the situation quickly. Of course if a user does continue to antagonise your company via social media, then you can delete their comments and choose to ban them from your page.

Social media is a great way to expand your brand and get in touch with your customers and potential job candidates. As a medium for free speech, negative comments will arise from time-to-time for every company, and by having a clear response plan in place, you’ll be able to quickly and professionally address any client or candidate issues and demonstrate to your current and prospective candidates that you provide a high standard of work ethic, online and offline.