Why you should use Twitter to recruit

Twitter....that mysterious and intimidating social media platform that many people find totally confusing. If you haven’t seen it, this video is amazing will give you a good laugh about Twitter.

All joking aside, I use Twitter all the time and find it to be a great recruiting tool. Unfortunately, most recruiters I meet either tweet for fun (see above video) or don’t touch Twitter. I wanted to share a few tips/tricks on why I’m a recruiter who tweets.

1) Learning - That’s right, I’ve learned more from other recruiters sharing on Twitter than I even care to admit. There are literally hundreds of recruiters who are sharing info, blogging and networking on Twitter. If you are a recruiter who’s looking to learn/grow I can’t recommend Twitter enough. Go to a list like this one on “The Recruiters Lounge” and follow these folks...trust me you’ll learn a ton.

2) Networking - Twitter networking is one of the coolest things for those of us who enjoy networking (even if you don’t enjoy networking, Twitter is still a tool for you). By following people on Twitter you get to see what they talk about and how they interact with their social community. Basically, you get to know them a little bit. Once you know them....it’s really easy to find a connection and start networking (disclaimer, don’t talk people that’s just weird)

3) Random connections and opportunities- I think this is my favorite thing about Twitter. It makes the world smaller. One day a while back, I was cc’d on a tweet by someone asking “Does anyone know a recruiter at Google?”.....come to find out, someone who follows me connected me with this person and sent me their resume (for a job outside of my area of expertise). Now, they didn’t get hired but what was great is I sent their resume directly to the hiring team so they got reviewed ASAP by the proper team. Without Twitter....this person applies online and has one fewer connection in their network. (I actually told her to apply online too as you have to cover all your bases...see last weeks blog but whatever I digress). Being active and tweeting in your field introduces you to a huge cross-section of people and opportunities that you won’t find unless you join the party.

That’s it this week.....get out there, tweet...trust me, your career will thank me!!

Google Students Blog - #googleoncampus

Hi Everyone,

Wanted to just do a quick update this week that for the next several weeks I'll be guest writing for the Official Google Students Blog helping New Grads prepare and navigate the college recruiting season.

You can find the first post here:

http://googleforstudents.blogspot.com/2011/09/recruiter-tips-tricks-preparing-your.html


I'll still be doing updates here...they just might not be as frequent until we get through the fall!

Thanks!

Give me the job!

A tip you hear from a lot of recruiters is that at the end of the interview you should “Ask for the job!” You know, when the person interviewing you says “Any questions for me?” you say stuff like: “ Do you think I’m a good fit for this job?”, “Are there any concerns with my background relative to this role?”, “What would keep you from hiring me?” there are a million of them but you get the idea...ask for the job.

The real question I have...is this a good idea? Should you “ask for the job”?

Honestly, it depends. Sometimes I like it and think it’s great. Other times, it’s obnoxious and totally out of line. I think “asking for the job” is a great tool to have in your interview toolbox but not something you want to do with every interview. If things are clearly going well, it’s great. You’ve killed it with the hiring manager and you ask for it....boom! you’ve got the job. Interviewing for a sales or recruiting role....again, feeling it.....rocking it....boom! you’ve got the job.

BUT! Wait a minute!! Interviewing for an engineering job and you ask the recruiter...um, I don’t know and won’t know until I talk the folks who did the technical evaluation. Interview going terrible (hopefully you realize it) and you ask.....um, you’re obnoxious. True story - I interviewed a person one who had a lie on their resume. Obviously didn’t like the answer and ended the interview in about 15 minutes (it was supposed to last an hour). This person then “asked for the job”....I was shocked. Horrified even. And responded “um, no, I don’t think you’re a fit, not at all.” Not the answer this person was looking for to say the least. So, you’ve got to be careful if you’re going to be aggressive and ask for the job...you might not get the answer you’re expecting.

So, like all things interviewing you have to use your judgement and if things are going well (and you are talking to the final decision maker) I don’t see any harm in asking for the job. But if you aren’t sure or you’re not talking to the final hiring manager....let it slide and follow up a few days later for feedback.

Enjoy the week and happy hunting!