Using Social Media to Engage and Attract Active and Passive Candidates for NELFT

The Challenge

The event was to take place in under 3 months of launching the project and was open to multiple talents and occupations; including AHPs, Psychological Services, Nursing, and entry level roles such as Admin, HCSWs and Apprenticeships. This brought the unique challenge of converting a wide variety of people and roles to the same event. After the success of creating an eye-catching careers website, it was important to include this new platform in our process of driving people to an online recruitment event, while engaging people through values based attraction.

The importance of  a values-based recruitment process

When recruiting for a wide variety of vacancies, it is important to have a factor that unites people and that would pique their interest in attending the event. Along with a strong brand identity, NELFT have their own clear values which were vital in their mission of attracting values-aligned candidates to the Trust.

Along with the success of the careers website, we also ran an engaging social media campaign across Facebook and Twitter to attract both active and passive candidates to the event, including unique graphics made by our wonderful design and photography team. Once candidates agreed to attend the event, they were then invited to an event specific Facebook page, to keep them engaged in the upcoming event whilst creating  excitement and interest around the Trust. This campaign was extremely successful, reaching 349,266 people and generating 361 enquiries! The campaign created a great buzz around the Trust and helped establish their brand.

Why recruitment events work

When attracting passive candidates, we think events are the way to go! They are a great way to communicate your Employer Value Proposition – informing possible candidates about the different roles and training opportunities available, staff benefits, and why they should choose your organisation with little to no commitment or obligation. As NELFT were recruiting across a wide range of roles, it was a necessity to make sure the event was still relevant and engaging for everyone involved. With this in mind, the virtual event was structured with breakout rooms, allowing each candidate to hear from the relevant teams. The event also covered tips and advice in applying for roles within healthcare, encouraging stronger applications from candidates to enable a smoother recruitment process. A grand total of 41 people attended the event, interested in the wide range of opportunities available at North East London Foundation Trust.