I didn’t like Twitter when I first joined.
It’s hard to sum up anything I want to say in 140 characters or less, and it didn’t feel personal like Facebook (where I actually knew all of my Friends).
But, I stuck with it, and I tweeted things, and somehow, I created a little following. The next thing I knew, I loved Twitter. I loved it more than any other social network.
I like the fact that it’s less personal. I like the fact that my Twitter stream is full of people I find strange, funny, useful, and talented. I like it that other Recruiters and HR Pros like it, and I like it that my peers have very honest things to say about our profession.
From a sourcing standpoint, I find it to be a place of the higher level nerds who are drawn to the techy things in life (read: IT people, App & Software Designers, Web Designers, Community Managers, and Engineers).
Note: I love happen to love higher level nerds. I married one.
Tips for HR/Recruiting Twitter Newbies:
- Tweet a few times per day and interact with others. Oh, and be entertaining. Don’t be lame.
- Don’t sound like spam for your company (people like real people, and you don’t want to sound like a sourcing robot, only tweeting links to jobs)
- Tweet your jobs and use hashtags when you do to categorize them for locals and people in that particular field (example: #Jobs, #TechJobs, #ToledoJobs).
- Create a little pocket of people you follow that can become possible candidates in the future (add them to lists and/or follow them).
- Put the Twitter app on your phone so you can tweet photos of the fun things you do. You’ll also be ready to respond to people anytime, anyplace.
- Follow people who do what you do to share knowledge and best practices.
- Use your picture as your profile picture (be yourself, not a brand or a picture of your baby)
- Pick a name you won’t hate in a couple of years. I happen to hate my Twitter handle.
- Kris Dunn (FOT’s Bossman): @kris_dunn
- Jessica Lee (voted “Most Fashionable” three years in a row): @jessica_lee
- Tim Sackett (the ginger): @timsackett
- Steve Boese (dude loves a good barbecue): @steveboese
- Paul Hebert (HR’s Most Interesting Man in the World): @incentintel
- Kelly Dingee (our social media geek): @sourcerkelly
- Kathy Rapp (our Texan & shoe guru): @katrapp
- Dawn Burke (extreme HR Generalist with a desire for more cowbell): @dawnHRrocks
- William Tincup (if HR had a gangster rapper – it would be him): @williamtincup
- Andy Porter (Resident Cheese Expert): @andyt_porter
- Holland Dombeck (Gen Y’er): @holland_dombeck
- Marisa Keegan (Hoakie): @marisakeegan
- Me! Meredith Soleau (Swimsuit Model): @lifescrazyjoke
How I’m Sourcing:
First of all, you don’t need a single follower to source on Twitter. You just need to know how to use it as a tool.
Let’s source an IT Support Specialist today, since we all need some IT in our lives (that shoe sort of fits everyone).
There’s really two ways I’m doing this.
First, I am looking at who is interacting with someone known as a pro in whatever arena I need to fill. So for an IT person, I would start with who interacts with Wired Magazine, because I’ve noticed all the IT people follow, also follow their Twitter account.
Start clicking on the people that interact with their tweets.
I prefer looking at those who interact over those who simply follow an account. This eliminates spam that comes with running a large Twitter account.
Okay, so that’s the first way. But I actually prefer the second way. It’s a little more work, however you’ll produce better results.
I love using Twitter’s “Advanced Search” tool.
Type “IT Specialist” in the search bar. And then click the gear thingy on the right. Click on “Advanced Search”.
Narrow your search to the city you need the job filled. Today, we’ll pretend like it’s open in Chicago, IL.
Hit “Search”.
You’ll see other Recruiters tweeting jobs (again, why you should also be doing this, your competition is already doing this), but in that mess of tweets, you’ll find candidates. People list their job titles in their profile description, and you’ll find people who are looking for a job or talking about the one they currently have.
And occasionally, you’ll find your competition giving a shout out to one of their own… by first and last name.
“AT welcomes new hires, Darrell Ansay, IT Support Specialist…”
You can also search by key words that a candidate would use while tweeting with peers. Follow people in various fields and learn their trendy lingo. They don’t speak to each other in Job Description. They all have a language, just like we have a language.
So, there you have it! That’s how I source on Twitter. It’s free, it’s not very time consuming, and besides finding a few candidates, you can meet more people in our field.
Are you on Twitter? If so, what’s your handle? We want to follow you! And what tips do you have for HR Pros & Recruiters on sourcing Twitter?
Very helpful tips, thanks!
I had no idea that you could use twitter to find potential employees. Nice tip
Great post about using Twitter for recruiting! It looks like we’re writing about similar topics too. We did a post about the best niche Twitter hashtags for recruiting: http://www.smartrecruiters.com/static/blog/7-niche-twitter-hashtags-for-recruiting/ and it’s gotten some decent buzz. We should do some blogging together!
This was great! Sharing with my recruiting peers that have still not jumped on the Twitter Train! I’m at @RecruitMoore by the way!
Hi Meredith,
Fantastic article! I’ve also fallen a bit in love with Twitter over the years. At first I didn’t see the point but once you’ve spent some time on it and built up followers it’s a brilliant tool. For recruitment companies it can be invaluable, as far as engaging with potential clients and candidates in a friendly and even casual way. Like you said in your first point about Tips for Recruiting Twitter Newbies – it’s okay to interact with people throughout the day and to be entertaining! No one’s going to think less of you for it, just the opposite in fact.