Social media is the new way to filter, target and attract qualified people to apply for open positions at your landscape company. But, it’s all in how you use the tool – and what you show people about the job opportunities. Here’s how three landscape firms are using Facebook and other social platforms to engage the type of people they want to hire.
The job posting was for an administrative position, and the wording went something like this: “You have to like people and animals. Everything else is negotiable.” Plants Creative Landscapes in Decatur, Georgia, “boosted” the Facebook post for $250 and ran it for three days. In that time, 150 applications poured in. “It’s crazy,” says owner Pam Dooley, who relates that the company’s 20- to 25-percent annual growth rate – taking the business from $1.6 million in 2013 to an expected $5.5 million this year – is also a bit crazy. But it’s good crazy, and so is Facebook as a targeted recruiting tool.
From those 150 applications, Plants set up 12 interviews. Four cancelled, eight participated in a screening phone call, and now the company has two great candidates. “We have a meet and greet scheduled with the team next week to get their input,” Dooley says.
One will get a job offer.
Facebook “is not a magic hiring solution,” she says. But, it’s an effective way to target an audience based on age, demographic, location, hobbies and “likes.”
