Alternative Social Media as a Recruiting Tool for Generation Y and Generation Z

Abstract

Organizations facing the challenge of a looming talent shortage often use internet job advertisements as a method of increasing their capacity to reach job seekers and appeal to potential employees. Many times job seekers make inferences from the content of these advertisements to form initial and sometimes lasting impressions about the company which could ultimately have an impact on their decisions about whether to continue further with the application process. This is especially true for younger candidates with fewer personal experiences to draw upon in evaluating information contained in persuasive messages. With the advent of social media as a significant candidate source, firms must develop new and innovative ways to engage their target audiences, thus developing a message strategy relating design and functionality to attracting qualified job applicants. Using the social identity theory as a theoretical framework, this paper outlines a research agenda focused on determining the most effective advertising strategy for social media recruiting by assessing the effect perceptions of message content and message style have on job-seekers’ attitudes toward the advertisement and the organization.