How Recruiters Can Actually USE Twitter

How Recruiters Can Actually USE Twitter I meet lots of recruiters who have got zero ROI from Twitter and yes this is normally due to a total lack of the “I” in the ROI. To be fair, the recruitment market is saturated with cool tools which people like me evangelise about but, in the short term, can really distract what in essence is a pretty simple process â€" match making. But Twitter can really help with this process â€" even if initially it doesnt get your jobs applied to: What does  every recruiter want? If you’re a recruiter, you’re likely to want the following: Profile A profile which acts as Obi-Wan Kenobi â€" whilst being viewed by passives (clients and talent), it conducts Jedi-mind tricks and persuades the viewer that connecting with you is a really good thing! Jobs Jobs which are not only great potential fees, but ultimately look gorgeous and even the (right) passives will read them and apply. Boss A boss who gets off of your back and lets you get on with the job(!!!) … and you ideally also want an approach to social media which is super quick and attracts only the right people (and not lots of “randoms” who can’t read but are really ambitious). The problem is that Twitter doesn’t seem to offer immediate value. Twitter is not a Silver Bullet (but then what is?) I’ve been in recruitment since 2000 and I’m not aware of any activity (even being on the phone) which offers immediate results. We all have to put a little effort in and rinse and repeat. I ask my clients to give Twitter a specific role in their business â€" get it to feed you. But you need to order the right take out or you’ll get fat, bored and depressed: 1) Follow the right people: Stop following people who offer no value â€" follow people who have great content! Try and get your “Following” number below your “Followers” number â€" I guarantee you’ll attract more attention if you look like you have someone interesting to say. Follow people who are influential in your sector (Followerwonk  nails this!). 2)  Tune in to  specific types of content: Create lists of people on Twitter    note, you don’t need to follow someone to have them in a list! Tune in to specific types of content (Fun, Jobs, Clients, Competitors, HR, Careers, legislation, and believe it or not Twitter Tips)! 3) Start reading (and retweeting!): Recruitment directors need to target their staff with reading content. In my day it was totally acceptable to be seen flicking through newspapers and journals catching up on the industry whilst at work. Recruiters now seem to be criticised for doing this online! If you follow steps 1 and 2 above, the content you receive in your Twitter feed should all be gorgeous. It’ll be full of juicy and nourishing ideas / tips / facts which you and your followers will adore. There are loads of stats out there to suggest that the more you tweet, the more followers you get, so get on with it! And no excuses: Twitter is only noise if you are tuned in to the wrong channels! So make sure you have point 1 above nailed. 4) Interview tips and what to wear is junk food: I’m getting pretty bored of “what to wear to an interview” and “10 things to say in your CV” rubbish (ours isnt rubbish! Editor). The average recruitment blog / feed is full of it. When are recruiters going to talk to passives about how to stay in jobs, how to get a promotion, how to cope with exams if I need to requalify? 80% of the market is passive and recruiters insist on boring the 20% who should already know what to wear by now! Interview tips are the junk food of the recruitment feed. (Another blog for another day.) Setup Twitter to have a specific role in your business. Get it to deliver â€" stop expecting miracles and start feeding off of the content that those lovely tweeters share. Raise your profile, look attractive to passives, and when you do advertise a job, you’ll get more traction â€" and if the people you are following bore you, fire them! Any other tips? Share them in the comments below!