Is Twitter right for social recruiting? The answer to this question depends on many factors, but we know that Twitter can work for social recruiting if appropriately used. 

Whether you’re a recruiter with a Twitter account, or your company has a Twitter presence, there are several benefits to be found for both recruiters and brands in this ever-changing social media platform:

Sourcing on Twitter

As of the third quarter of 2020, Twitter had an average of 187 million daily active users. Talent has to be lurking in there somewhere, and the good news is that you probably won’t have to look far for it. Thanks to a couple of Twitter tools, these millions of users and their tweets are searchable and easy to organize for recruiters.

Advanced Search

Twitter Advanced Search allows you to refine your search beyond just looking at hashtags. You can search exact phrases, exclude words, and even search by sentiment (positive, negative, asking a question). 

If you’re trying to build your talent pool, try searching industry-specific hashtags in addition to common job search hashtags. For instance, if you’re recruiting for health care, you might find talent in #mhealth (mobile health), #FOAMed (medical education resource), or #MedEd (doctors, physicians, education). 

On the flip side, actively posting can also make your talent search a lot easier. You can help active job seekers find you by adding #jobhunt or #jobs to any industry-specific hashtags you include in your posts. 

Lists

Once you’ve followed a few prospects, use Twitter lists to categorize and stay in touch with them! On your lists page, you can easily create customized lists based on your hiring needs by department, seniority level, or location. After you put a list together, you can access all those users’ tweets in one convenient place. 

The best part of the lists is their privacy settings. They can either be public or private and accessible only to you. 
Hint: if your list is private, Twitter won’t notify the users you add to it that you included them.

Building Relationships

Next, it’s essential to cultivate the prospect relationships that you start on Twitter, and the platform makes it quick and easy. 

Engagement

Interacting can be as simple as liking, retweeting, and replying. While the first two options are as easy as the click of a button, replying is a better way to introduce other users to your personality. 

When you come across a Tweet that sparks an idea, treat it as a conversation starter. Reply to the original poster, and you might even create an interesting discussion with a passive job seeker.

Chats

Another route you can take is Twitter chats. Twitter chats are conversations that take place on assigned dates and times and have one designated hashtag. People follow and contribute to the discussion by using the designated hashtag. 
As a recruiter, you can participate in industry-specific Twitter chats or those specifically focused on job search and recruitment (this is where you can find active job seekers!). For example, if you’re hiring marketers, you could get involved with #ContentChat or #InboundHour. Keep in mind, though, that these are conversations, and they should be treated as such – don’t push the recruiting pitch!

From Conversation to Relationship

Keeping the conversation going is more likely to build relationships than merely posting jobs to a feed or direct messaging someone with a job opening. Meaningful relationships develop communities and loyalty, and most importantly, can deliver quality hires that fit your company’s culture.

Employer Brand

A few companies come to mind when thinking of social recruiting and employment brand. We’re not talking about a stream of job postings. Rather, your employer brand is the face of your company, what goes on behind the scenes, and what will ultimately attract people to want to work for you. 

Twitter is an excellent platform for broadcasting your message as an employer. What are job seekers mostly doing on Twitter? 76 percent are looking at company profiles. If a user arrives at your company’s profile and sees a feed drowning in job postings, they may click, but they won’t have an idea of what it’s like to work with you. On the other hand, if they see real employee and workplace photos, they’re more likely to be engaged. 

Here are a few companies that are kicking butt using Twitter to showcase their employer brand. If you’re looking for inspiration, start with these companies. You’ll notice that they are successful not because they post a lot of job postings but because they provide value to job seekers:

@ZapposCulture

Of course, you can’t talk about employer brand without talking about Zappos! Specifically, their careers presence on Twitter is spot on. They have a healthy amount of genuine workplace/employee photos and consistently interact and engage with other users. It’s one thing to push out content – it’s another to respond and acknowledge followers using likes, replies, and retweets. Don’t post and run! 

For instance, Zappos created a campaign around #ZapposHolidayHacks to engage employees and customers alike. While the hashtag isn’t focused on recruitment, it is a fun way to reach beyond their current candidate pool and let their employee ambassadors take the stage.

@_SpectrumJobs

Spectrum does a great job of showcasing that they care about providing young job seekers with professional development opportunities. They participate in many career fairs, such as #100kOpportunities. 
But their Twitter does more than just announce the career fairs. They build a story around what it’s like to work at Spectrum through photos, videos, and more. Spectrum showcases what kind of people work there and emphasizes that they genuinely care.

@CareersAtDell
The first thing that stands out from Dell’s Twitter account is how visually engaging it is. Scrolling through their tweets, there is a harmonious balance between graphics, high-quality photos, and engaging videos. 
For instance, this tip for job seekers has useful advice, as well as a photo of people on their team. This puts a face to the recommendations, which can create credibility.

If you’re looking for inspiration, these companies are a good start! (You’ll notice that they are considered successful not because they post a lot of job postings but because they provide value to job seekers.)

Job Visibility

Twitter can also bring visibility to your jobs. Isn’t that what we’re all after? With as many people as there are on Twitter, you have a vast audience, and they are using Twitter to search for jobs and research companies, so you better show up! 

Distributing jobs on Twitter can be done in a couple of ways:

Content

You can work it into your content strategy. In addition to all of the employer brand and value-adding content, you can include a few tweets with career opportunities. These posts should be as engaging as the rest of the content, optimized with images, and enticing copy.

Automation

Implement a tool to post your open reqs to Twitter automatically. When only posting jobs, we recommend that you create a handle to host the feed that is separate from your employer brand content. After all, you don’t want your engaging content to disappear under a slew of jobs. 

What’s crucial with automation is to ensure your posts also include the proper hashtags and graphics. This is how you can be confident they will stand out when someone is scrolling through Twitter.

Note: Your ATS may offer this service, or you can work with a company like CareerArc. 
Having a strong content strategy will ultimately help your brand showcase what job seekers are actually interested in your current employees’ perspective. Job seekers want to know what it’s like to work at a company before applying, and social media is an avenue that can provide that insight. 
Recommended Reading: 

• Top 77 Recruitment Twitter Accounts to Follow
• How To Get Employees To Jump On Board With Social Media
• The Benefits of Using Social Media to Strengthen Your Employer Brand
• Social Media 101 for Recruitment Marketers and Recruiters

Know your audience and test content and strategies out on social media before being stuck in a routine. Provide value for job seekers on Twitter, and if you hire them, they might just become strong advocates on social for other job seekers. People trust people, so your Twitter strategy for social recruiting should reflect that through content. 

Audrey Agot Fox

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Audrey is a writer with experience in marketing, advertising, content marketing, social media, and recruitment marketing. Her work spans a variety of industries, including software and technology, but her deepest passion is using her writing to promote social justice and literacy for all. When she's not writing copy, she's likely hanging out with her dog or honing her cooking skills.