U.S. car manufacturer to launch recruitment campaign using social media

Graeme Parton +

Ford revealed last week that it is to begin the process of recruiting more than 3,000 permanent employees – 800 more than it had previously suggested.

The company has opened the vacancies in a bid to boost its workforce’s technical capability as it looks to keep up with demand for its fuel-efficient vehicles. Interestingly, though, Ford is to use social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook to find the most suitable candidates.

The move is, perhaps, a sign that the company is looking for tech-savvy job hunters, most of whom will be hunting for job vacancies on networking sites, such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. It also fits in with an increase in the number of people applying to fill vacancies using smartphones and tablets.

Speaking about the campaign, which Ford is running with the tagline “The Distance Between You and an Amazing Career Has Never Been Shorter”, the company’s human resources president, Felicia Fields, said:

“The type of talent we want at Ford are often searching for and evaluating potential employers on social media sites, so expanding our recruiting efforts on these channels ensures we have a strong presence throughout their selection process.”

According to research recently carried out by recruitment firm Snagajob, the number of people looking for jobs on mobile devices in 2012 was up 95% on the previous year.

Experts are also claiming that using a range of platforms to attract jobseekers is becoming crucial. Snagajob said that 25% of the people it asked had learned of a vacancy after it was shared by an online “friend”.

Ford’s decision to use social media fits in well with the audience of technologically-adept jobseekers it is trying to reach. This is something businesses would do well to take note of. Creating quality content is only part of engaging the consumer – it won’t be of any use unless it reaches the right people, and to achieve this, the right platforms must be chosen.