The Importance of Social Sign-in to Your Hiring and Recruitment Process

By Jessica Miller-Merrell

We’ve all dealt with a “YAN” at some point in our life. Whether it is the infamous “Sign Up With Facebook” advertisement or “Gain Access by Signing Up With Your Facebook Account” – we’ve all seen it. The original purpose of a YAN (Yet Another Network) login is to curate mass quantities of data and to collect data that users might forget or leave out when signing up for a service or product. It’s reported that the consumers desire for Social Sign-On has increased to 77% of US Online Buyers in 2011 up 12% from the previous year.

So what does this mean for recruiters and human resources professionals?

DATA. Recruiters and HR Professionals are looking towards the future and are trying to obtain as much data before making a sound hire. In doing so, their turnover rates, productivity, and retention numbers will all show signs of improvement. When using the social sign-in in order to apply for a job, recruiters are able to gain access to data that might not be shown on a general application. Scouring the web is no longer an issue because profiles are connected to applications and recruiters see all that information.

The application itself is where a large portion of candidates drop-off and quit applying either due to length or complications during the process. Allowing candidates to apply by social sign-in makes the application process relatively easy. This same scenario applies to companies who use complicated shopping cart screens. The easier you make it to apply or purchase a product, the lower your abandonment rate will be. When you’re hiring for a workforce of 100+ and looking for specific sets a data, a social sign-on feature is worth not having to look through hundreds of paper applications. This has worked through LinkedIn’s job board and works like a charm.  Applying made easy.

As mobile recruiting starts to get more popular, people are applying for jobs from tablets and even sometimes their smart phone. With the ease of applying through social sign-in more and more job seekers are applying for jobs from anywhere and everywhere. From a candidate experience perspective, it’s important to start thinking about this process for both web and mobile audiences.

Success stories from social sign-in recruiting come from companies like Pizza Hut & Sodexo who have been targeting hourly employees through Facebook. Facebook is the place where minimum wage, hourly employees are most likely to be online. So when companies like Sodexo and Pizza Hut needed employees, that’s where they went. Using third-party landing pages complete with a social sign-on to apply, these companies were able to obtain all the information they need from various profile information. As recruiters are looking to obtain copious amounts of data, the social sign-in is the perfect place to acquire such information.

Does your company allow candidates to apply via social sign-in? Do you find it effective?

Jessica Miller-Merrell, SPHR is a workplace and technology strategist specializing in social media.  She’s an author who writes at Blogging4Jobs. You can follow her on Twitter @blogging4jobs. 

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