By Deborah Thoben
If you feel that Twitter has the right target talent pool for your recruiting search, here are several top tips for making the most of your Tweets.1,2,3
1. Build a Follower Base. Twitter is a social platform where “followers” are the primary way to get your message out. Without followers, you’ll be tweeting into a vacuum that is unlikely to return results.
2. Give your profile personality. Keep it short, but let people know that you are a recruiter and what industry you specialize in. The right turn of phrase can take you from a “healthcare hiring professional” to a “Talent Ninja with a passion for people, single speed biking, and boolean search.” See your profile from the eyes of the job seekers you are trying to connect with. You don’t want to be seen as just another head hunter.
3. Include a profile picture. Once again it’s important to consider the talent base you would like to attract. Younger candidates will probably respond better to a more casual pic than a formal suit and tie shot.
4. Search for followers. Using keywords, hashtags, or just browsing, you can search for future candidates and follow them. More often than not, those you follow will follow you. This is where the right photo and profile are important because they will take a look to see who you are and what your feed looks like before they reciprocate.
5. Ask to connect. When you’re speaking with potential candidates you can simply ask them if they are on Twitter and if they would mind reciprocal following. Sometimes that’s all it takes.
6. Don’t only post job openings. If you want to build a relationship with your followers, it’s important that you not bombard them with job postings alone. Tweet about other things as well. Articles on finding a job, hiring trends, resume writing, relocating, interviewing, and even the weather might be topics of interest! Please note though, the Twitter account you use for recruitment should not be a forum for your opinions or pet peeves.
7. When you do post jobs, use hashtags. The right hashtags will allow active job seekers to find you on Twitter and see your recruitment posts. There are three types of hashtags you should include in your job posts: job terminology (#career, #job), job type (#sales, #customerservice, #java), and location (#CHI, #Chicago).
8. Don’t forget the brand and company culture. While the bare bones facts are a necessity in any job posting, it’s also important to stand out in the crowd. Use a photo and text that emphasize your company brand, your company culture and benefits, or add a touch of creativity and humor where appropriate.
9. Link to the apply page. So you’ve grabbed their attention, don’t lose them now! Be sure to include a link directly to the apply page (not the general career homepage) and make sure that it’s a trackable link so that you know how well Twitter is working for you.
10. Be consistent and persistent. At first, the going might be slow, but if you stay at it and consistently post interesting, relevant content, you should be able to build a follower base that will attract even more like-minded followers.
1 http://blog.smashfly.com/2016/03/24/how-to-use-twitter-for-recruiting/
2 http://booleanblackbelt.com/2014/01/14-tips-on-how-to-use-twitter-for-social-recruiting/
3 https://socialmediaweek.org/blog/2015/06/7-ways-best-promote-job-opportunities-twitter/