Are you using LinkedIn as the one and only social media channel for recruiting?
Let’s be honest – we all were Team LinkedIn at some point. And, most likely, we still are when it comes to hiring. But if we want to appeal to Gen Z and innovate the recruitment process, it’s high time to opt for other technologies and tools.
How about joining Team TikTok to hire younger generations?
Known as digital natives or zoomers, Generation Z candidates are tech-driven. Social networks are like air for these post-millennials. And TikTok is its freshest type.
Discover why and how to embrace TikTok for hiring young people.
TikTok for Recruitment – Is It the Best Tool to Hunt for Gen Zers?
Consider the three primary reasons for using TikTok in recruiting and targeting Generation Z.
1. TikTok is a home for Gen Z.
Generation Z literally inhabits the TikTok planet.
Out of all monthly active users (over one billion!), Gen Zers dominate the platform, accounting for 60% of the TikTok audience. Besides, if you look at the top social media channels used by iGeneration, there you see it – #1 is TikTok, with YouTube, Instagram, and others lagging behind.
For this reason, TikTok is definitely a go-to destination for your HR team if you want to recruit young talent.
2. TikTok is a job search platform for Gen Z.
TikTok is slowly turning into the new LinkedIn for young job seekers. Stephanie Lovell, the Head of Marketing at Hirect, says that Gen Z users leverage TikTok as a potential job-seeking platform (listen to this podcast episode).
Why? Because they enroll in quicker and more engaging hiring on TikTok.
Consider these statistics. 74% of Gen Z use TikTok for searching information, and 51% prefer TikTok for search over Google.
3. TikTok is an ideal arena for Gen Z engagement.
TikTok is a video-sharing app with endless possibilities to interact with Generation Z, prioritizing visual communication. Some of the most engaging ones are:
- Duets
- Stitches
- Points of view (POVs)
- Skits
- Memes, etc.
With TikTok videos, you can craft eye-catching hiring campaigns and creative job ads that appeal to the younger generation.
Read on to learn how to do that.
TikTok Hiring Strategies to Engage Generation Z
So, you’ve got TikTok as the most innovative and powerful tool to engage and hire the young generation. What should you do with it?
Below, we’ve gathered the proven recruitment hacks utilized by companies on the platform.
1. Make your employer brand look authentic and trustworthy
Authenticity is a must if you want to hire Gen Z employees via TikTok. It’s crucial to showcase your true self as an employer: your organizational culture, mission, values, employee benefits, workplace behind-the-scenes, company events, etc.
For example:
Adobe shares the POV of joining the Adobe team, which prioritizes employee well-being, diversity, and equality.
Post-millennials are concerned with diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Suppose you want to position your employer brand as DEI-oriented via TikTok. Of course, you highlight this company value on your website or Careers page. But do you actually maintain it in reality?
Remember: Honesty is the key to communicating with Generation Z on TikTok and building trust with potential employees.
Take the case of McDonald’s.
The corporation releases DEI reports annually, showcasing DEI as one of its core values. But then, the TikTok audience learns that McDonald’s CEO is questioned on sexual harassment in the workplace.
Consequently, the employer’s reputation gets damaged, and trust issues arise.
2. Edutain with career-driven content
TikTok has already transformed into a space for edutainment: education + entertainment. 42% of Gen Zers come to TikTok for fun and entertaining content, and 33% prefer learning new things on the platform. Then, your task is to edutain (educate and entertain) Generation Z on TikTok.
But how do you develop a TikTok recruitment strategy for Gen Z with edutainment in mind?
Take it from Stephen R. Hasner, Managing Partner, Hasner Law PC. He says,
“Generation Z is the youngest cohort to join the workforce. Some are still studying; others are fresh graduates looking for a job. Being on the threshold of their careers, they seek information and need advice badly. That is why we give career insights for prospective attorneys, like differences between a lawyer and an attorney or tips for becoming an attorney via our TikTok profile.”
You can also share hacks and techniques for developing hard and soft skills, writing a resume/CV, preparing for an interview, negotiating salary, etc.
However, this is not the only engaging content for Gen Z you can produce. The Hasner Law team also uses and recommends the following entertaining video pieces related to jobs and careers:
- Career humor
- Job meme
- POV from the workplace
- Day in the life of [job title]
- Professional challenge
For example:
Hasner Law launched the Gen Z vs law firm lingo challenge. The legal team guesses what Gen Z slang means while challenging the audience with legal terms.
3. Use employee influencers
Another hiring strategy for TikTok Gen Z engagement is to turn your employees into brand advocates who can communicate your employer brand to prospective hires. Through their eyes, Gen Zers will see you as a great employer. Alongside, your team members can demonstrate the peculiarities of the job you offer.
Let’s say you run an architecture firm and plan to hire young candidates. Your workers could explain the specifics of an architect’s work: how architects track time, manage projects, communicate with clients, and what exactly they are paid for. Your employee may share a day in the life of an architect, as in the below example.
You can also utilize employee testimonials in TikTok recruitment marketing. For example, here’s a video from one of the Apple Store workers. She enumerates the reasons why Apple is probably one of the best companies you can ever work for.
4. Reinvent your “We’re Hiring!” call
Can you recall any of your LinkedIn posts for recruitment?
How did they start?
They all probably began with “Hey, we’re hiring” and ended with “Apply now,” didn’t they?
If that’s what it was, you need to revamp your hiring call with creative strategies to recruit Gen Z on TikTok for you.
“A bitter reality for HR managers is,” says Max Wesman, Founder & COO of GoodHire, “that old-school recruitment posts from LinkedIn don’t work for the younger audience on TikTok. To engage and hire Generation Z better on the platform, your TikTok posts should be more extraordinary and fun. It’s better to take all the dryness out of your hiring posts and use stickers, filters, and effects instead to make them cheerful and lively.”
For example, the Chipotle team amplified their recruiting video for TikTok with humor and creativity. They showcased the four unusual perks of working for the company in an amusing way with vibrant effects and animations.
The results?
Over 1,500 shares, 2,500 bookmarks, 70,000 likes, and a seven-percent boost in job applicants. Besides, Gen Zers called it the best hiring ad they had ever seen on TikTok.
5. Add hashtags to boost your reach
Hashtagging is a secret sauce of social media hiring overall and TikTok recruiting in particular. Thanks to hashtags, you can make your TikToks more searchable and discoverable and place them in front of the right Gen Z candidates.
Of course, you won’t see a huge difference with a random hashtag inserted into your TikTok post. But if picked wisely, hashtags can do the trick.
Here’s a list of hashtags for reaching and hiring Generation Z on TikTok:
- #wearehiring
- #jobsearch
- #awesomejob
- #jobvacancy
- #work
- #nowhiring
- #applynow
- #graduatejob
- #youthemployment
Check out this hiring post by MPC Managed Services.
Don’t forget to blend a couple of popular hashtags into your posts: #foryou, fyp, #foryoupage, etc. They will increase your chances of being featured on the “For You” page and maximize Gen Z engagement on TikTok.
See how Lufthansa InTouch does that.
6. Beware of bad hires
Did you know?
Google searches for how to lie on resumes increased 19% during the previous year. The study also proves that younger people are more prone to lying on a resume than older candidates: 80.4% of Gen Zers compared to only 46.9% of applicants aged 65+.
To prevent a bad hire on TikTok from landing into your team, follow the advice from Robert Kaskel, Chief People Officer at Checkr. He says,
“It’s crucial to implement background checks and candidate screenings to recruit qualified candidates. This way, you minimize business risks imposed on your clients and employees by bad hires.”
Indeed, when verifying the digital identity of young applicants, you can ensure the information they provide in their resumes or CVs is not fake or stolen by approaching the following components:
- Education verifications
- Criminal and driving records
- Drug screening
- Credit history
- Reference checks
- Employment history
These checks can also help you identify fake job applicants and protect your company from scams and cyberattacks.
And here’s one more thing.
As Robert Kaskel mentions,
“The best hire is not someone with a spotless background or resume. It is the one whose values perfectly align with your company’s. That is why it would help to scroll through Gen Zers’ profiles and analyze the content they share on TikTok. By doing so, you can also understand whether it goes in line with the moral code at your organization.”
Your Gen Z Way to Hire on TikTok
TikTok is virtually your gateway to reaching a young and tech-savvy talent pool. By relying on the platform’s interactivity, you will be able to attract a new generation of workers and recruit smarter in the era of social media.
As this article ends, it’s high time to leverage TikTok as a recruitment tool. Remember to stay authentic and creative throughout the process to deliver a positive candidate experience and build a stronger employer brand on TikTok.
Happy Gen Z hunting and hiring on TikTok!
The post Innovative Recruiting: Utilizing TikTok to Engage with Generation Z appeared first on RecruitingDaily.