Social Media vs. Social Recruiting

An interesting topic I have been wrangling recently is the convergence of Corporate Social Media and Corporate Social Recruiting. While the two seem to align perfectly with each other, they are proving more and more difficult to sync up. One would think, at least this one person, that social recruiting and social media have the same end goal in mind, but the problem is aligning the social strategy to new talent and aligning the social strategy to new clients is very different. This can lead to a seemingly split personality online that can and will impact the brand effectiveness for both objectives. I will highlight my point by looking at several social channels and the different use/goal between social media and social recruiting.

1. Facebook: Social Media's focus for new clients is one of expertise; a person as subject matter experts, our Facebook interaction shows how we use it to better our business positioning. The focus would allow potential clients to view our expertise in real time on Facebook. Compare that with the Social Recruiting focus of who are we, why would someone want to work here, see how cool we are, and check out our bbq pics. Oh yeah, and we post our jobs here. Personally I am not sure I agree with either approach, but this seems to be the norm.

2. Twitter: Social Media focuses on industry trends, being relevant, getting a presence, interacting with brands of interest, displaying original content and pushing traffic to other channels. Social recruiting focuses on finding candidates, interacting with them, being relevant as an employer and being cool and hip. Social Media wants to focus on sharing professional content while Social Recruiting wants to include viral, funny and trending content.

3. YouTube: Social Media is focused on impressing the client, Social Recruiting is focused on impressing the potential candidates. Social Media wants to PRODUCE high quality videos as part of our body of work, Social Recruiting wants to INCLUDE cool videos made by the average employee that show we value everyone and we have kick a@# people who work here.

4. LinkedIn: Social Media wants to focus on white papers, the employer brand, products and services and providing a professional face. Social Recruiting wants to connect with people who may be candidates and exhibit expertise. Social Media wants to limit interaction on this channel while Social Recruiting wants to channel interaction on this channel.

5. Corporate Site: This may be the place online that has the deepest rift in terms of goals and usage. Is the corporate site a place to introduce the company, its executive team, and its expertise? Or is it a place to highlight the greatness of the company, highlight the employee value proposition, and make people want to work at the company?

So, what to do? Charge ahead as a Social Recruiter in a bubble and do your own thing? Trust that Social Media will create enough side effects to make Social Recruiting somewhat effective? Have both groups meet day in and day out to build one message? We haven't figured it out yet, but we’re working towards it. If you have suggestions, I would love to hear them!