As the talent shortage continues to get shorter, modern-day recruiters need to try new and innovative strategies, like recruiting on dating apps like Bumble and Tinder. 😱

Before you dismiss the idea, remember that not that long ago, social media recruiting was entertained by the few. Now in 2018, you won’t meet a recruiter who doesn’t use social in some capacity. Whether you see it this way or not, dating apps fall into the social umbrella. You can connect with others, network, and you can advertise on them just like all the other social platforms. Think you can’t recruit on dating apps? Think again!

Check out the following apps, their functionalities, and learn how and why this unconventional social media recruiting strategy could be your best yet.

1. bumble bizz on bumble

Some background: bumble is a location-based social and dating application founded in 2014. While it initially launched as a dating app, the tight-knit team maintains that it always had bigger plans. In 2016, bumble introduced a new feature, bumble bff that helps users meet new friends nearby. Fast forward to early 2018 and yet another offshoot was born: bumble bizz.

The goal of bizz mode is to give users a familiar and empowering tool to make a career move, meet team members, or become a mentor. Unlike LinkedIn, bizz focuses on what individual users look for when networking, whereas it’s sometimes impossible to determine what folks want out of LinkedIn. Along with verified photos, users can upload a digital resume, work samples, and list their professional skills which begs for recruiting on this dating app.

However, bumble made it clear that bizz is not a job search or recruiting tool—just a networking tool.

Regardless, I still maintain that it’s a solid source to build candidate pipelines and expand your network. Seems the same as when you connect with someone on LinkedIn, send an intro InMail, and develop a rapport for opportunities down the line. I’m hard-pressed to think that someone is against meeting like-minded folks, whether for networking purposes, career, or otherwise. Just don’t come off too aggressively and I think you’ll be peachy.

Keep in mind that bumble bizz isn’t even a year-old yet. Give it a whirl, see what happens. If you don’t have a ton of luck, keep it in the back of your mind to revisit.

2. Tinder profiles and programmatic ads

Tinder, bumble’s predecessor, is one of the most popular dating apps on the market. There are users in 196 countries, and 26 million matches made daily. It has the same geo-location mechanism as bumble but doesn’t have any offshoots like bizz of BFF. What it does have, though, is programmatic advertising capabilities. In other words, you can run ads on Tinder just like you can Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn.

Okay, elephant in the room: Tinder doesn’t have the best reputation. I know. But maybe you’re happy to learn that more than 50% of Tinder users swipe out of boredom, not to find dates or hookups. The likelihood that users toggle between Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Tinder all in the same 15-minute span is high. During that sitting, users are also likely to see ads on each platform. And surprise, research shows that folks will interact and engage with advertisements if they aren’t ugly (seriously, people said that), unpolished, or misleading.

If you want to take a stab at an organic approach to recruiting on dating apps, let me show you what not to do. See below.

That’s a screenshot of a Tinder profile for Amazononian, 30, that Amazon Web Services (AWS) created back in 2015 to help fill open engineer roles. I, personally, love the idea. Super different. But the execution is disappointing.

For starters, the photo reads “This is not a Scam, we are actually from AWS Recruiting trying out this method to find top Engineering Talent.” 🤔 Anytime I see “this is not a scam,” I think, “this is definitely a scam.” Second, the photo quality is terrible. Third, the language and grammar are inconsistent. The profile in its entirety looks shoddy and thrown together. If I’m someone looking for a new career, I want to work for a company that invests in candidate experience.

If you were to give recruiting on dating apps a chance, I recommend you use Amazononian as a model of what to stay away from regarding messaging and design. And be more thoughtful, too.

There isn’t a whole lot of data out there about recruiting and sourcing on dating apps, but there is a ton about social media recruiting. We know it works. So while I can’t guarantee results, I can promise that it’s a unique, under-utilized recruitment strategy that’s worth exploring. If you’re a progressive recruiter or recruitment firm that already uses social media to recruit, look at past data. Scope our your top-performing advertisements, revisit your target demographic, and begin to develop a similar strategy for dating apps—both aesthetically and on-brand. Wouldn’t hurt, right?

You need out-of-the-box thinkers on your side, and we’ve got your back. Check out our blog for professional recruiting insight and a plethora of interesting ideas.