Recruiting on Twitter: Getting Started
Part 2 of our Social Media Recruiting Series. (Part 1 is Recruiting on LinkedIn) If you’re not familiar with Twitter, it can be a confusing platform that seems irrelevant to the staffing and recruiting industry. But in reality, Twitter is an excellent tool for keeping you and your company top of mind and presenting you as a tech-savvy expert in your field. The temptation for many when first joining twitter is to follow as many people as possible in hopes that they’ll follow back. The problem is that, first, many won’t follow back and your ratio of following to followers will look negative, and second, while growing your network is important, the quality of that network is more important. In other words, how is a few hundred irrelevant followers going to help you grow your business and make more money? Here’s a quick guide to recruiting effectively on Twitter.
- Write a friendly, descriptive bio in as few characters as possible. Upload a photo; either your friendly looking face or your company logo. Get rid of that default Twitter Egg as soon as possible.
- Post a small handful of tweets each day. Avoid talking too much about yourself or your company. Instead, post links to interesting articles or blogs, industry updates, questions, words of advice and tips.
- You can post the occasional job you’re recruiting for, but don’t make it all about you. Remember, you’re trying to provide value and stay top of mind. Social media in general is about building relationships, not selling.
- Slowly but surely search and follow people in the industry you’re recruiting for. Occasionally re-tweet or mention them if they post something interesting or ask a question. The more personal and proactive approach on you take on Twitter, the bigger (and better) your network will be.
- Follow companies, their career accounts, hiring managers and decision makers for job leads. Many companies choose not to advertise on the job boards at all, turning first to social media to advertise jobs for free.
Although – due to the nature of the network – it is more difficult to directly recruit people from Twitter (especially compared to LinkedIn), it is a valuable tool in building a company image. It helps you stay top of mind in followers who may down the line become candidates or know people who are job-seeking or hiring. It also will lead more visitors to your website, as well as help existing clients and candidates stay updated on your company.
