Healthcare, skilled trades and IT have been among the industries particularly affected by the shortage of skilled workers for years. At the same time, many companies face the challenge of not receiving enough suitable applications through traditional job advertisements. However, the problem does not always lie with the position itself, but often also with the fact that a large proportion of the potential target audience is not actively looking for a new job.
Qualified professionals in particular are often already employed and do not regularly browse job portals or career pages in their everyday lives. However, this does not mean that they are fundamentally uninterested in changing jobs.
Companies that want to reach these talents must therefore also become visible outside traditional job searches. Social media is particularly suitable for this: Companies can attract the attention of potential applicants through platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok or LinkedIn before they actively start looking for a new position.
However, not every industry can be reached with the same content and measures. What matters is understanding the respective target audience and making the entire journey from initial awareness to application as simple as possible.
Authentic content beats polished advertising
A job advertisement primarily communicates the tasks and requirements associated with a position. What it often fails to show sufficiently is what everyday work actually looks like.
Especially in industries where qualified professionals can choose between different employers, such insights are particularly valuable. How does the team work together? What working conditions can new employees expect? What does a typical working day look like?
Authentic images and videos can often answer these questions more directly than lengthy descriptions. A short glimpse into everyday work in healthcare, an employee video from a construction site or an introduction to the IT team makes the company more tangible and helps interested candidates gain a realistic impression. This does not necessarily require elaborate advertising campaigns. What matters more is that the content reflects the company culture and shows what applicants can actually expect.
Companies wishing to create such insights professionally can use the Content Service from two.jobs. This service produces authentic images and videos that can be used for both employer communication and social recruiting campaigns.
Every industry needs different content
Not every target audience responds to the same content. Successful social recruiting therefore always takes the interests of the respective industry into account.
Healthcare: Highlight people and working conditions
In healthcare, the working environment, team culture and specific working conditions play an important role alongside professional responsibilities. Insights into everyday working life, personal employee stories or short team videos can show how collaboration actually works. Information about working hours, shift planning, further training opportunities or how team members interact can also be relevant to interested candidates. Instead of simply talking about a “motivated team”, employers should show as concretely as possible what makes their workplace stand out.
It is also essential to reach the target audience through the right channels. Find out more about how healthcare professionals search for new positions in our article Where Do Swiss Healthcare Professionals Look for a New Job?.
Skilled trades: Showcase projects and practical insights
In the skilled trades, companies can stand out particularly by providing concrete insights into their work. Completed projects, modern equipment, special construction sites or short workshop videos immediately show what kind of activities new employees can expect. Employees themselves can also make a valuable contribution: When they present their work or provide insights into ongoing projects, they create a more authentic picture of the company than a general job description. What matters is making the actual benefits of the workplace visible. These may include the machinery used, varied projects, further training opportunities or collaboration within the team.
IT: Combine technical challenges and work culture
For IT professionals, other aspects may take priority. In addition to specific responsibilities, relevant information includes the technologies used, project responsibility, development opportunities and the way teams collaborate. Instead of simply advertising with phrases such as “innovative company” or “exciting projects”, it is worth supporting these statements with concrete insights. What is the team working on? Which technologies are used? How are projects organized? What working models does the company offer? Particularly for specialized positions, such information can help attract the interest of professionals who are not currently actively looking for a job.
The same applies to all three industries: What matters is not producing as much content as possible, but creating content that gives the respective target audience genuine insights into the workplace.
Actively reaching passive candidates
Even a well-designed job advertisement has little impact if it is not seen by the right people. Especially in industries facing a shortage of skilled workers, simply publishing a vacancy on the company’s own career page or a job portal and waiting for applications is often not enough.
Social media recruiting expands this approach. Targeted campaigns can also reach people who are not currently actively looking for a new job but are generally open to a career change. It is important to tailor the platforms and content to the respective target audience. For example, a short video showing everyday work can be used differently on Instagram or TikTok than a professionally oriented post on LinkedIn. Regional targeting also plays an important role, particularly for location-dependent professions. With the social media campaigns from two.jobs, companies can make their vacancies visible across different social networks and specifically reach potential applicants outside traditional job platforms.
However, social media recruiting should not be understood as a replacement for all existing recruiting measures. Job portals, employee referrals, regional networks and a strong employer brand can complement each other. Depending on the industry and the profile being sought, different combinations may be appropriate.
The application must not become the next obstacle
However, the work is not finished once a campaign has been successful. People who discover an interesting position through social media are often not actively preparing an application at that moment. A healthcare professional might see the advertisement during a break, a tradesperson on the way home or an IT specialist while scrolling through their feed. In such situations, they may not have an up-to-date CV or cover letter available. It is therefore all the more important that the application process is suited to mobile use and contains as few unnecessary obstacles as possible.
Long forms, complicated registration processes or the requirement to upload several documents can discourage interested candidates from completing an application they have started. Especially when recruiting hard-to-reach professionals, companies should therefore consider which information is actually necessary for initial contact. One option is to offer simplified application methods, for example via WhatsApp, a short form or an existing LinkedIn profile. Find out why mobile use is more than just a technical consideration in our article Mobile Recruiting: Why the Application Process Must Work on Smartphones.
Social recruiting only works as an overall concept
One frequently underestimated aspect is how the individual measures work together. For example, companies invest in a social media campaign but then link to an uninformative job advertisement or a complicated application process. This creates a disconnect: The campaign generates interest, but the subsequent process fails to build on that interest sufficiently.
Successful social recruiting should therefore be considered along the entire candidate journey. From initial awareness and the job advertisement through to the actual application, the individual steps must be coordinated.
It is particularly worth asking the following questions:
Are we reaching our target audience through the right channels?
Does our content convey an authentic impression of the workplace?
Can interested candidates find the information relevant to their decision in the job advertisement?
Is the application process simple and accessible on mobile devices?
Can we identify where interested candidates may be dropping out?
Not every industry and not every vacancy requires the same solution. While personal insights into everyday work may be particularly relevant for a healthcare position, specific project information may take priority for a specialized IT role. What matters is that the individual measures are not considered in isolation. Greater reach alone does not automatically lead to more suitable applications. Only when the subsequent steps also work effectively can initial interest turn into an actual application.
Conclusion
Healthcare, skilled trades and IT present companies with different recruiting challenges. What they have in common is the need to reach professionals who are not actively looking for a job. Social media recruiting offers additional opportunities to achieve this. However, the content must match the respective target audience, provide authentic insights and be followed by an application process that is as simple as possible. Companies that want to recruit successfully in challenging industries should therefore not only increase the visibility of individual job advertisements, but also consider the entire candidate journey.
Would you like to find out how social recruiting can be used successfully in your industry? Schedule a non-binding consultation with us and discover how we can support you in reaching hard-to-reach professionals.
