Six tips for using Twitter as a recruitment tool

Job boards that charge for job postings might be becoming a thing of the past if Twitter has anything to say about it. Read how one company is using Twitter as a way to recruit people for jobs.

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According to Nielsen NetView, in February 2009, Twitter had nearly 7.1 million users, with a growth rate of 1,382 percent from the year before. Some companies are finding this growth rate a great opportunity to recruit people for jobs.

In a recent issue of Workforce Management, two representatives from digital advertising agency Organic said they have made Twitter the anchor of their job posting strategy. Here are some of the benefits, according to Organic:

“Once we have an opening that might be a fit for a Twitter friend, rather than making a cold call to a stranger, we can make a “warm tweet.” We can talk to someone with whom we’ve already interacted, who already understands a bit about Organic based on tweets that cover Organic’s culture, work and news items. It’s less like a blind date and more like a first date with someone you’ve already met.

Another benefit: There are no time or space constraints to tweeting with a candidate. We don’t have to interrupt potential candidates during their busy workdays; they can engage with us when it’s convenient for them. And candidates who aren’t ready to make a move can easily retweet, or forward, our opening to peers who may also be a fit.”

Also, it’s free, unlike many traditional job boards.

If you decide to take the plunge and make Twitter part of your staff recruitment plan, here are six tips the Workforce article offers for using it to top advantage:

1. Create a branded company Twitter profile. Assign a key person — or automate tweets — to post jobs as they become available. This person should also be responsible for following professionals that could be potential candidates.
2. Don’t be a Twitter wallflower. Engage in conversation with the people you are following — and your followers — whether you have job openings for them or not. Then, when you need to speak with someone about an opportunity, you’ve already established rapport.
3. Create a protocol for your job tweets. Consider searchability by using hash marks (#) around key words. Include a trackable URL to your job posting so you can monitor the number of click-throughs a job posting receives.
4. Help your search by using a third-party tool such as TweetBeep, which alerts you to tweets relevant to your search.
5. Encourage your staff to retweet job openings by providing an incentive such as a referral bonus for candidates sourced through tweeting.
6. Don’t be a one-track tweeter. Be varied and creative in your approach. To keep it real and not boring or spamlike, tweet on a variety of topics including industry-related items of interest, some personal tweets and, of course, your job postings.