The Key To Recruiting on Twitter

// September 22nd, 2009 // Recruitment Marketing

As mass-media outlets everywhere start to talk about (or ridicule) Twitter, it’s interesting to watch the marketing applications begin. Whether it’s auto DMs (which can be annoying) or just the sell-sell-sell of repeated postings, the desire for people to use Twitter to generate an income, a sale or a purchase is becoming really keen. And given the space I work in, it’s hardly surprising that I can see recruiters moving in for the kill.
So here’s a tip. Just a little one. Stay human.

Twitter at its best is about interpersonal connection. I chuckle whenever I read that Twitter, Facebook et al are about narcissism. It’s not narcissism to believe that you have an opinion worth sharing. Five minutes interacting on Twitter shows you that Twitter’s real value isn’t about broadcasting. It’s about connecting, about finding a balance between listening and talking. To broadcast on Twitter is to tacitly assume that your audience has nothing to say of interest to you. Don’t we already have enough websites that can do that?

If you’re going to recruit from Twitter, then you need to think about how you can connect with, add value to and engage the candidates you want to find. You also need to know that your online reputation, particularly in this world, depends on your capacity to do all those things. If you’re friends with someone in the Twitterverse right until they’ve started the role you put them in, your online reputation is going to take a nose-dive. Social media connections aren’t like the one-way traffic of a sent resume. They need to be maintained, grown and nurtured.
Like LinkedIn, Facebook and Myspace (to name a few) the recruitment angle is there to be expolited. If you’re going to succeed at building a reputation as someone worth talking to as a recruiter ina field, this isn’t just another channel. It’s a whole different way of interacting with your people. It’s conversation multiplied by SMS multiplied by the atom bomb. And if you try and use it for a one night stand, instead of a relationship, you’re going to find it very tough to do long term.
Sure it’s full of people who might be the right person for your vacancy. They’re there to connect with other people. If you can’t recruit in a way that respects and takes advantage of that, you’re in for a world of online hurt.