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As the archetypal middle men (and of course women) in a transaction, by the very nature of what we recruiters do for a living, you could wonder how much candidates and clients care about what recruiters have to say for themselves.
Clients care about the candidates and vice-versa - but as long as recruiters have facilitated the right match, how many second thoughts are they spared, after the initial matches of CVs have been made. Does anyone want to see pictures of their office dog, latest big-biller trip or whatever else they see fit to share? As a long-term recruiter (we won’t say how many years…!) I have many loyal clients and candidates thankfully, so birthdays, anniversaries etc. are often noted – but is that the norm? Or is the view more likely to be, you are a recruiter, you have a job to do, get on with it….
The thing is that recruitment is rarely as easy as just sending a CV over and waiting for the commission to roll in. As technology takes over the more mundane aspects of the profession, recruiters are fast becoming proficient relationship managers - ambassadors for their clients and advisors for their candidates and a real fount of all knowledge.
We generally accept that most people understand that getting to know the recruiter properly ensures that clients hire and retain only the most suitable people. Confiding in a recruiter guarantees that a candidate’s best interests are being properly represented, but, in both cases, social media can play a crucial role.
While Facebook, like wedding/celebration pictures might rack up the likes from well-wishers, the truly valuable content can lie at a level deeper. When someone is interested in developing a meaningful relationship with a recruiter, they may chose to spend ten minutes reading a couple of blogs. They are putting their trust in this individual or this company, so why would they not want to dig a little deeper. Granted, as illustrated above, such an attitude is not so common, but for the people who do want to get to know their recruiters well, a meaningful social media presence can help.
Recruiters don’t have so much time to dedicate on a one-to-one basis to such interested parties, but it is very easy to give a flavour of what they are all about with a targeted update or blog every now and again. Putting that content out there shows that a recruiter is making an effort to add value for those people who want to read further and appreciate time spent. I know that this is certainly my aim.
The common complaint is that it is so hard to measure. All I would say is this:
How can you measure the impact of an extra five minutes spent with a candidate on the phone going over their smallest concerns? They would probably get the job anyway, but you want to do all that you can to help their cause.
I do believe that assuming recruiters believe in doing everything in their power to getting closer to their candidates and clients, then a meaningful social media presence is essential and adds real value. Of course it’s not a daily bulletin (and definitely not a rant when someone or something is annoying!) otherwise I would see it as a living and breathing extension of a website – if I want to talk about something, it is so easy to do. There will be people out there who want to listen – it doesn’t have to be a huge amount (this isn’t about quantity necessarily!) but, they will be out there and for those it’s a service they like. I read and enjoy other peoples’ blogs after all!
If I remain silent on social media, I am letting down those valuable people who do want to read blogs and may care about some of the topics I cover.