Ask Not What Social Networking Can Do For You…

…but rather what you can do with Social Networking.

Very simple and straight forward isn’t it?

A lot of time as a sourcer OR a recruiter, you wonder how best any specific tool or website can help you. I think it is about your approach and mindset as a sourcer that decides the outcome. Many times we wonder about what the particular tool can provide us and usually it is one-sided approach. You register for and then download a particular tool and expect a genie coming out of bottle to help you. Well, what is so wrong in that? We register and pay for a specific tool or portal to get best out of it.

I say that it’s a difference of our attitude and mindset. More so for your social recruiting efforts.

I do get lot of responses and comments on social networking that say, “I have not got a single response from social networking,” “No one replied to me on Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn,” and so forth. I also hear the timeless “Social Recruiting is a fad and it does not work.”

I believe all these above people are trying to see what social networking delivers to their inboxes. They should be asking themselves whether they are doing something to make it work. Can you just post a Twitter / Facebook / LinkedIn status and pray for someone to fall in your inbox? This is what I call a typical “Inbox Recruiter.” The issue is that these Inbox Recruiters are now claiming to use social networks but with the same mindset.

I think the single most important question you should be asking while using Social Networking is – what are you doing to make social networking work?

Is your social networking presence professionally furnished enough to attract future candidates?
Are you making targeted efforts to reach to your audience and keep them engaged?
Are you proactively digging through your social networks and reaching prospective candidates? Or are you simply waiting for CVs to fall into your lap?
Are you following or speaking with industry experts and exchanging views and news?
Does your social networking presence provide a “reason” (carrot) for external candidates to follow, spread the word on, and continually interact with your accounts?
Are your social media accounts robots or humans? Remember – robots sends automatic messages and humans respond and engage. Recruitment is still and will continue to be a people-centric business.
Are you taking enough efforts to include your social media presence in your normal communication?

In short – what is it that you are giving to social media to make it work for yourself?

Social media is not a job board and will never become one. Yes – like job boards, social media do have a lot of people participating; however the intent and mechanism are different. “Social media,” as the phrase suggests, is and will continue to be about society and people. It is more important to become part of and engage in this community and have gaining a recruitment advantage be a secondary result.

So – next time you are complaining about Social Media not working, ask some questions to yourself to find out exactly why. It takes some time, effort, and engagement for this medium to work. It will not work on its own — it is YOU who will make it work most effectively.

image source: webtreats