Twitter is becoming increasingly popular for companies to distribute relevant job search advice and job opportunities. As a company, if you’re out there with a twitter handle dedicated to pushing out employment opportunities and job search advice, don’t lose sleep if you can’t figure out the right mix. We’ve come up with a few suggestions on how to handle your own account and examples of how Fortune 500 companies use theirs.
Engage & Promote Your Jobs. Using hashtags on Twitter is a great way to make your tweets stand out. Hash tags are used as a tool to find and filter information on Twitter, allowing your tweets to be instantly searchable. A few of the top hash tags are #jobpost, #employment, #hiring, #hirefriday, #staffing, #career, #recruiting, and #job. Other great places to find potential candidates can be Tweet Chats such as #jobhuntchat, #HFChat, or #careerchat.
It may be hard to put a dollar amount on what social sentiment is worth to your company, but it is one of the most valuable tools your company can harness. Whether your organization is already aware of its social sentiment, or it hasn’t yet begun to monitor it, companies should take heed to the power of social sentiment. A customer’s perception and attitude towards a company has a tremendous impact on the success of the business in the realm of social capital.
Monitor Sentiment & the Conversation of the Collective. Companies use social sentiment on Twitter to determine where the conversation about their company is having is an important aspect of recruiting. HR and recruiting teams use monitoring tools to monitor the conversation and help filter through the noise especially if you are a well-known brand. It’s all about knowing what people are saying about your company.
Talk to Your Job Seekers. Companies who actively recruit on Twitter tend to have a better online presence if they are constantly focused on quick response times and an engaged presence. Being on Twitter from 8-5pm is not enough, as those you are trying to recruit are generally at work. You must have an active presence throughout the evening hours when passive job seekers vare online. Large companies succeed at recruiting on Twitter when they are engaged, know how to search, and know when to listen about what’s being said about the company.
Finding Careers on Twitter
The most notable Fortune 500 companies on Twitter are listed below. Check out the marketing language they use in their Twitter bio:
@googlejobs: Have you heard we’re hiring? Join the conversation on our job opportunities, offices, culture and life at Google.
@WalmartCareers: Learn about jobs at Walmart and how we are making better possible for millions of people. Join the conversation and see how your spark can make a difference.
Each of these companies uses a mix of job search advice, job opportunities, and insights into their company. For example, @MicrosoftJobs is one of Microsoft Corps 5 Twitter accounts which distribute content from their blog in between job opportunities with the company.
Sitting at the top of the Fortune 500 list is @WalmartCareers. By far not the biggest career twitter account, it’s still used pretty well. Responding to job seekers with different bits of advice is the good sign of a community manager doing their job.
One of the best career twitter accounts is @googlejobs. Their Twitter bio doesn’t just post job opportunities, but creates the entire Google Experience through their Career Twitter page.
The recruiting team at @ATTjobs uses multiple Twitter accounts to divide up their tweets and conversations. Because the company is so large and has thousands of new job openings, their job feed on Twitter is separate from their recruiter manned Twitter account. On @ATTjobs you find featured job openings, helpful tips, and employees able to follow up on your application very quickly.
Large companies experience the same type of social recruiting management challenges as smaller organizations but on a larger scale. These large companies using Twitter to recruit focus their efforts keeping in mind the most important in the hiring equation, the job seeker.
Follow @SmartRecruiters on Twitter for hiring made easy advice.
