Using Twitter for Executive Recruitement
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of speaking with a group of Executive Recruiters about using social media in their industry. Despite how well the conversation went, there were two things I noticed:
1) Everyone wanted to know about Social Media
2) No one seemed to know how to use Social Media
In an effort to help with this matter, I have done some research to start answering some of those questions.
My first piece of research comes from Thomas Shaw, Craig Schuetrumpf and Jo Knox, specialists in Social Media and Executive Recruitment. They have put together a presentation on using Twitter for Recruiters, which I believe explains the process well:
Another great piece of information comes from Toni Bower of Techrepublic.com. In her May 25th post, she gives a list of six tips for using Twitter as a Recruitment Tool. As far as short lists are concerned, this is the best condensed information you’re going to find. Here’s her list:
- Create a branded company Twitter profile. Assign a key person — or automate tweets — to post jobs as they become available. This person should also be responsible for following professionals that could be potential candidates.
- Don’t be a Twitter wallflower. Engage in conversation with the people you are following — and your followers — whether you have job openings for them or not. Then, when you need to speak with someone about an opportunity, you’ve already established rapport.
- Create a protocol for your job tweets. Consider searchability by using hash marks (#) around key words. Include a trackable URL to your job posting so you can monitor the number of click-throughs a job posting receives.
- Help your search by using a third-party tool such as TweetBeep, which alerts you to tweets relevant to your search.
- Encourage your staff to retweet job openings by providing an incentive such as a referral bonus for candidates sourced through tweeting.
- Don’t be a one-track tweeter. Be varied and creative in your approach. To keep it real and not boring or spamlike, tweet on a variety of topics including industry-related items of interest, some personal tweets and, of course, your job postings.
As always, I’m Listening
Brian
