It’s pretty tough to be in the recruitment game these days. The focus seems to have shifted a little, and now it’s not enough to be good at sourcing vacancies and trawling the job boards for CVs.
Nowadays, everywhere you look there are articles and blogs detailing the importance of social media, online content and the role of the internet in recruiting.
And this is all very well if you already know how to do this, or what you should be posting. The problem is, this is recruitment! A lot of you guys DON’T know how to shape your presence so that it draws in candidates. And we get it, it’s hard.
We want to help, so we’ve put together the top 5 faux pas recruiters commonly make with their social media.
1) Sharing Only Jobs
We get it, you’ve got vacancies! Change the record already!
If you’ve got job openings, a better way to attract candidates is to post advice designed to help them. Post links to your site’s blogs and posts, write strong content about the sectors you recruit in, and SHOW your candidates you know what you’re talking about. They’ll be more likely to engage with your vacancies this way.
That doesn’t mean stop posting about your vacancies altogether, just limit it to maybe one featured job per day, and share it a maximum of 5 times. People don’t like feeds crammed with job posts, as only a small number will apply to them. Make your feeds interesting and you’ll catch their attention.
2) Not Engaging With Those Who Engage With You
If you’re going to ignore those who try to start discussions, you might as well be broadcasting your disinterest in their opinions, and by extension, your topics.
Ignore people who try to interact, and eventually, they stop engaging with you altogether.
If someone comments on a blog post, favourites a tweet, likes a Facebook post, shares a LinkedIn update, or does anything remotely interactive, why not send a quick tweet/message thanking them for the interest and inviting them to look at more of your content?
People respond well to personal engagement, and they’re more likely to think of you next time around.
3) Only Sharing Your Own Stuff
We all have that one friend that goes on and on about themselves. It’s exhausting and, quite frankly, annoying.
The same is true for those companies who use social media to brag about their successes, share their content, and… well, nothing else. It’s important to keep an eye on your industry, share relevant news, interesting blogs from other people, and any comments that were effective. You’re looking to create a real presence online, not just to become another one-dimensional corporate account.
4) No Friendly Face 🙁
People react much more positively if they feel like there’s an actual person behind the accounts on social media.
We’ve mentioned in previous posts how personal branding can be a big asset to professional business, and it’s exactly the case with social media. Set up a personal account alongside your main corporate one, and watch your engagement soar.
5) No Unified Brand Message
Ideally, you should be tailoring your posts to match the medium you’re using.
For instance, twitter is a lot less formal than LinkedIn, and you’re likely to be focusing on shorter, more immediate content.
However, your branding should be consistent over all social media channels. Keep a consistent logo/wallpaper, maintain one profile picture (for personal accounts) and try to mimic your company colours. One of your personal accounts might be for a guy who loves cars, but that doesn’t mean his account should feature car wallpaper etc.! Keep everything in line with your company ethos and goals, and you can be sure people will begin to recognise your brand.
Hopefully, these will have helped you get started or to troubleshoot your accounts, and you’ll feel a little more confident with what to avoid when it comes to social media.