Robocop recruiters - Socially Inept Recruiters
Think of 3 words to describe a Recruiter....now think of 3 more that don’t involve swearing and you’ll probably come up with something along the lines of “outgoing, tenacious *see also annoying*, social”. We are one of the classic work hard, play hard industries and I hate that phrase but it’s true.
So why, if we are such social animals and we like to interact with people, are we so poor at Social Media? There is an element of tradition in there, in that recruiters are often told if we are not speaking to people then we aren’t being productive. Managers frown upon recruiters “messing about on LinkedIn” rather than speaking to their clients. In my view it needs to be part of your overall recruitment game and it gives you some weight and credibility in your market place that a simple phone call can’t do.
There is also a fear holding a lot of recruiters back, a fear of appearing personable, which seems bizarre really. We are quite happy to share information or crack a few jokes on the phone but the fear of realising a controversial statement or an opinion in to the ether is a terrifying one for a lot of Recruiters. I’m not suggesting we all suddenly start posting our joke of the day on our profiles but a little bit of personality wouldn’t go amiss, let’s prove we are real people with feelings and personalities and everything!! I would imagine that most Recruitment Consultancies who have guidelines for LinkedIn and Twitter are along the lines of:
- 1 Must be professional at all times
- 2.Must be accurate and backed up with hard facts
- 3 Must not be open to interpretation
- 4. Must not be controversial
- 5 Must not show personality
Similar to Robocop’s directives, if you remember the films, (showing my age here.... 1. Uphold the law, 2. Serve the public trust, 3. Protect the innocent....from memory) these are non-negotiable and must be upheld at all times.
So this is my message, just chill out, relax and try and engage people rather than just telling them that you are recruiting a particular skill set. I’m not saying don’t inform people what you are looking for but you need to intersperse it with something a little bit more....well, interesting!!
