Recruiting on Twitter [Comprehensive Guide]

You already know the power of social media as it relates to building your company brand and marketing to your customers, but did you realize that it may also help you find your next all-star employee? When used appropriately, social media can play an important role in the recruitment and screen of your overall hiring process.

With that in mind, today we’ll discuss three reasons why you should start recruiting on Twitter, and how to get started.

Top Reasons Why Recruiting on Twitter is a Good Idea

1. Twitter extends your reach

While it’s important to post position openings on online job boards, you are limiting yourself to only one group of people if you only post there (albeit a very large group of people who are definitely looking for a job). When you post a job opportunity on Twitter, you increase your reach to people who are already familiar with your company, which may bring more variety into your candidate pool.

If a potential candidate is following you on Twitter (or any social media platform for that matter), then they likely consider themselves a fan and will be more enthusiastic about coming to work for your company. You’re likely to reach people who may or may not be actively looking for a new job, but the idea of working for a company they love may be quite appealing.

2. Twitter allows you to really leverage your network

If you’ve done a good job of developing your social brand (we’ll talk about that more in a bit), then you can really leverage your brand’s network on Twitter by asking for a re-tweet. For example, you might post the following, “Looking for an office manager in our Denver location. Great opportunity. Please RT!”

Most people like to consider themselves “helpers.” If there is a call for “help,” most times, people will respond in some way, especially if they know someone that might be a good fit for the job. Consider Twitter a modern version of “it’s not what you know, but who you know…” even if that who you know happens to be through a network of millions of people.

By using hashtags and following relevant industry accounts, you can ensure that your job postings are seen by the right people.

3. Recruiting through Twitter gives you a sneak peek into a candidate’s life

If you’re already using social media on a personal note, you know that Facebook is typically used for personal relationships, while LinkedIn is used for professional networking. Instagram and Twitter are often a combination of both but can offer great insight into a candidate’s life, personality, sense of humor, and general attitude. Hence why many recruiters include it in the social media background screening process.

There are no rules against looking at a candidate’s Twitter feed as part of the recruitment process, so go ahead and take a sneak at their profile. What does that person tweet about? Who do they follow? If they’re active, you’ll quickly be able to get a lot of information about their personality and be able to tell if that person is a good fit for your firm.

4. It’s a great way to showcase your company culture and attract top talent who align with your brand values.

Sharing updates about company events, employee achievements, and team culture can give job seekers a better sense of what it’s like to work at your company and attract those who align with your values.

5. It helps build a professional employer brand presence online.

Regularly updating your Twitter with relevant content and job postings can showcase your company as a desirable employer to potential candidates.

How to Recruit on Twitter

So, how do you get started with recruiting on Twitter?

1. Employer brand

If you want to recruit using Twitter (or any social media platform), you must start by building your own employer brand.

And this means first separating your employment needs from your general Twitter feed. It’s okay to have a general Twitter account and a staffing account. Companies such as Taco Bell and Target do just that, but WHY?

  • If your brand is well-known and loved, people will follow the careers page organically. They will look for it and pay attention just in case an opportunity is a good fit.
  • Twitter can get incredibly bogged down if you already have an active feed. You don’t want to miss a good candidate because they missed your post.
  • Ideal customers and ideal candidates aren’t necessarily the same person. Even if they are, it’s best to keep one of your Twitter accounts dedicated to career opportunities and simply retweet every so often to your main page.

Now, if your company is not well known, it may complicate matters to create a separate account, so use a little common sense and do what makes sense for your business.

On that note, if you’re lacking a presence on Twitter, you may want to develop your brand a bit before posting job openings.

For example, here are a few ways to build your brand:

  • Add a photo to your bio that is both relevant to your business and appealing.
  • Also, add a header that is a reflection of your company.
  • Post photos and videos of the office, your team, events, employees looking like they enjoy their job, etc.
  • Retweet photos or commentary that others have posted while at your business.
  • Introduce current employees with a photo. You might even do a Twitter interview.
  • Optimize your bio and tweets with relevant hashtags, links, and keywords about your company.
  • Interact with others by favoriting, retweeting, or replying to tweets.

2. TWEET!

It’s obviously not enough to just set up an account if using Twitter for recruiting. Part of developing your employer brand is presenting yourself to the world in a consistent tone with content that resonates with your followers. But if you really want to get noticed, there are several tactics that will boost your brand.

  • Use hashtags – some that work well and you may want to consider include: #hiring, #job, #(yourcity), #(yourfield), #(yourcompany)jobs, and #(targetcandidatedescription). Pay attention to what seems to be working for your company and adjust accordingly.
  • Use relevant images. Twitter actually pulled together a fantastic list of Do’s and Don’ts with regard to using images.
  • Create GOOD content. Whether you’re using your main twitter handle to recruit or you have a dedicated recruitment handle, it’s important to curate content that potential candidates would like to see. Your goal is to increase traffic which will show job seekers (as well as your customers) that you know what you’re talking about and give them more of a reason to work with you.

3. Use Ads to Increase Reach when using Twitter for Recruiting

We actually recommend establishing an advertising budget for any social media platform you intend to use for company purposes, and that includes Twitter. You can run Twitter ads on any job opening-specific tweets to get in front of more people. Of course, you’ll still want to include images and hashtags! You can also promote your company’s own jobs hashtag or account, as long as you’re including those analytics.

How to Effectively Use Twitter to Find Applicants

9. If your Twitter account doesn’t have a lot of followers, it’s time to get a few. Expand your network by building relationships, right online. Search Twitter for keywords that pertain to your business’s services or products. Search by location, industry and interest. Follow people based on those searches and then tweet vital, interesting information that they’ll be happy to follow, in return.

More from our guides on social recruiting:

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