Well, besides the catchy title, I’m fairly bitter about most “social media.” I’m hoping I can get a few people to yell “AMEN!” here because I know this post will have its critics.
So… Why am I bitter?
- It is not God’s gift to Talent Acquisition. With all of the posts on this site and others, you would think that Social Networking is a gift given from above as if we have been in drought for the past 100 years. For those of us with jobs to fill, the gift is the enormous amounts of candidates at our fingertips coming from every media known to man right now. The best people are always hard to find. However, with a little work using a variety of different means, we can find them! I don’t need to Tweet to get results. Maybe I’m just not cool enough to be a Tweeter-Tatter.
- It is not the most difficult thing to grasp or learn. Every day as you read through the blog, you see about 80% of the posts dominated about ‘how to use social media.’ Really? Here’s a tip: Hop on the tweeter box and start typing about how much you know … or how great the hamburger you just had was. It doesn’t matter: make it interesting (or not, for that matter) and you’ll probably get some increased web traffic, a few candidates that you have no interest in speaking with, and become ERE-famous for being a great social-networker!! Congrats! OK, OK … I’m being harsh now. Seriously though, if you can navigate the Internet and are a member of one social media outlet, it’s not that difficult to learn a second. Or you can search “10 tips on being a great social networker” … I think you’ll get about 100 different blogs/articles.
- It doesn’t work for everyone. Allow me to give you a scenario from my world: Let’s say I’m looking for a Project Director with an Engineering Degree who can and has managed a multi-billion dollar healthcare facility. Further, he/she needs to have a P.E. License (Professional Engineer), be LEED AP Certified (environmental), and international project experience, among many other things. Am I going to find this person by tweeter-tattering? No. In fact, if I tell someone like this to follow me on the Tweeter, the response I may get would go something like this: “Oh yes, I love those speakers too.”
- Stop Already! Enough is enough. I’ve always had a general thought about recruitment (aka Talent Acquisition — the fancy name we give ourselves … I like it). It’s not difficult to be in our world… Our job isn’t that tough. But … it is time-consuming, and it does take a bit of salesmanship. Not everyone has that natural salesmanship in themselves. Last, you should know your market, whether that be construction, engineering, IT, finance, etc. This is all-too-difficult for some to overcome. With that said, do we need 20 more articles on how to use Twitter? If you don’t get it by now, it may be time for a career change. I hear AIG is a great place to work!
Disclaimer: I’m young, I’m hip, and gosh-darnit people like me! As opposed to a dinosaur who doesn’t understand social-media … I get it. Some of you tweeters out there do get results. If you’re doing mass-hiring for customer-service positions, looking for a great business developer, or even looking for a software guy/gal, it may work for you! I also understand that there are many 3rd-party folks, business owners, website developers, etc., who are trying to get their brand out there … I get it! It probably works great for you. But for the every day recruiter, depending on your business, it seems like anything more than 10% of your day spent on a few of these outlets would be a waste of time. Yes, it is OK to use these means; but let’s just all calm down a little, take a deep breath, and get some work done. Happy hunting!
P.S. Does anyone know how I can get updates about what Cameron Diaz did today? I can’t seem to find a good source. Oh … wait … never mind …
(Editor’s note: Sometimes we see great blog posts on ERE.net, and when we do, we publish them here with the permission of their authors. This post was originally on Scott’s blog.)