Find Top Talent: 6 Twitter Recruiting Tips

If you’re unfamiliar with Twitter, you’re in the right place. Use these easy Twitter recruiting tips to help you find more candidates.

I recently shared a post about using Instagram as your go-to recruiting tool. Today I’m switching gears to talk about Twitter. Now, recruiting on Twitter is more like a marathon, not a sprint. It’s a platform that demands time and care. You have to build a following, engage with users, and be present.

Seventy-four percent of job seekers use Twitter to look at company profiles, and 58% make an active effort to follow companies and recruiters. Your candidates are out there looking for you; if you’re not there for them to find, someone else will. Not good.

Be warned that Twitter might not be the best tool for your talent pool. Make sure that your target candidates are on Twitter before you dedicate time to it. However, if you need to find recent grads, millennials, or candidates in generation z, Twitter is the place to be. Here are 6 Twitter recruiting tips to help you start using Twitter to source and recruit candidates.

1. Use Hashtags

Maybe one of the more obvious Twitter recruiting tips: If you want to reach your target audience, you 👏🏼 need 👏🏼 to 👏🏼 use 👏🏼 hashtags. Hashtags categorize and group tweets about similar topics. They give users an easy opportunity to sort and search for topics that actually matter to them; the option to expand conversations outside of limiting RSS feeds on Facebook or LinkedIn. If you need more motivation to use hashtags, thirty-one percent of Twitter users look up job openings via hashtag and 95% of fortune 500 companies that successfully recruit and hire on Twitter use hashtags.

2. Use the search bar

The search bar on Twitter functions the same way it does on LinkedIn or your ATS. Looking for a marketing manager in Boston? Boom. Type it into the search bar. Java developer in Michigan? You got it. If those keywords exist on a profile, the search bar will show you. More than likely, you’ll need to leave Twitter and hop on LinkedIn or any other sourcing tool you use to find more specific contact information. In addition to the search bar, you can give followerwonk a whirl to source candidates on Twitter.

3. Ramp up your bio

Say who you are, what you do, and name-drop your company especially if it’s well-known. Use keywords and emoji. Just think of it like, you know, a bio on social media, not a bio on a company website or LinkedIn (although bios are becoming laxer on LinkedIn, too). Don’t be so stuffy and formal. Sure, this strategy is to help you recruit, and therefore work, better, but it’s not like you have to advertise it. Mix a little bit of professionalism (e.g., job title) with who you are as a person.

4. Scope out candidates’ followers and their followers

Just like you peruse through candidates’ connections, do the equivalent on Twitter. They’re likely following or engaging with like-minded/similar folks, and that can help expand your sourcing efforts. Time-consuming, yes. But worth it. 

5. Engage with others

One of the more overlooked Twitter recruiting tips: Don’t go on a “follow” binge and then be silent. Weird. Talk to people! Retweet and reply to tweets. Introduce yourself. Be an active member of the Twitter community and surely, you’ll be noticed.

6. Show off your personality

Obviously, you want to tweet job openings. But you should also tweet articles—both relevant to work and ones that interest you as a general human. Be you. Tweet memes or funny tidbits about your day, your thoughts, whatever. Be aware of the social platform and become familiar with the types of content folks tweet, as every social platform has its nuances.

It’s up to you to gauge how you want others to perceive you online. A huge chunk of your job as a recruiter is to convince folks to actually talk to you. So, be yourself and those productive strategies to find top talent on Twitter. If you found these 6 Twitter recruiting tips helpful check out our Blog Page for more insightful articles.