I definitely echo the sentiments of people who say that recruitment is like sales; however not with the side-effects that it brings to the table. After all, recruitment is all about people, relationships and building network, isn’t it?
I have been using LinkedIn quite effectively to broadcast (advertise) job requirements as well as headhunt candidates. I am also very much active and open networker and sincerely believe the power of networking within and outside industry. This means that a big part of my network consists recruiters and HR professionals. While I understand the value of creating a powerful network within my industry, I am professional enough to respect the network and communication within the network.
Lately I have been observing an emergence of new breed of recruiters who think “quantity” and “visibility” of their messages through LinkedIn (or any other network for that matter) is the best way to broadcast their requirements. In short, these so-called professionals are spamming status messages and job posts put in LinkedIn with their own requirements. While it is expected for recruiters to network with one another to advertise their requirements to collect referrals, putting unsolicited messages (a.k.a. irrelevant job postings) is definitely not professional networking.
Here are some examples
I posted my rant as a status against this spam and even this did not stop the spammers from commenting on that rant itself. I wonder if they read the message at all before spamming?
Here’s my take:
- Recruiters need a serious training on the very basic concepts of social media and networking. As they say: power comes with responsibility.
- Social recruitment seems to be mistakenly considered as substitute to use a heavy advertising medium without considering anything to do with networking and people.
- Recruiters are one of the best brand ambassadors for their own companies – either agency OR in-house recruitment teams. These spam messages do not reflect positively for these brands.
- Yes – social media is indeed a best tool for broadcasting your information to masses. However, one needs to understand why, how and where’s without losing a professional touch.
- A recruiter commenting on another recruiter’s status message really does not work anyway. It is like recruiters exchanging their own requirements with each other rather than targeting right audience; hence no outcome.
- Finally, it might be a better idea to ask your network to help you with your own requirements separately. They may choose to put your message in their network to expand the reach. Nevertheless, it’s a more original idea to build your own network with relevant people rather than using someone else’s. Value in social media does not give results in day or two – you need to make it work.
My sincere intention here is not to pinpoint anyone and I apologize if I sound like it. I would like to emphasize on the fact that though social media opens up a huge platform to reach out to literally everyone on internet, one should not neglect professionalism and core networking protocols while doing so. As recruitment professionals, we should take pride in what we do but with greater responsibility.
At least now, I can hope no recruiter will put his or her requirement as reply to my status message for this post.