Are You Missing Out?

I recently conducted a search for a Professional Recruiter that needed to be experienced using social media. I wrote about my good fortune here with the person who has joined our team, but thought it might be interesting to offer some examples of applications I received and what that showed me about the state of social media adoption with experienced HR pros.


I Said Social Media, Right?
Call me crazy, but since I basically used social media exclusively to advertise the position, and mentioned it in the blog post, I thought it would be safe to assume that those interested in joining my team would have some level of comfort with social media tools. (Or at least would have read the requirements.) Right?


Wrong.

Good Try, Better Luck Next Time
As might be expected during a difficult economy, we had a number of people apply who didn’t meet our requirements. What was surprising to me though were the responses from many experienced recruiters when reacting to my “social media experience” expectation. A few examples follow:

“No, not really – we had a dept that posted job ads on various sites – have never done it myself.”

“I have a LinkedIn account, but it’s ‘personal’ – I believe social media should be ‘from the company’ because the information is ‘out there forever’.”

“No – but it sounds awesome!”
“Not yet, but it seems okay.”
“I have a Twitter handle but don’t use it much – my company’s ‘not there yet’.”

“My company is 100% against the use of social media in recruiting, so I’ve done some ‘on the side’ myself.”
“Twitter?  I’ve never had a need to use it, but it’s fine – I’m all about it!”

…and here is my favorite…

“I have become a subject matter expert on sourcing talent via social media, including LinkedIn, Taleo and Twitter, but have no personal twitter handle (I had a bad experience with inappropriate comments and getting a computer virus from tweets).”

How About You

Are you one of the HR pros that are still anxious about social media? If so, you’re missing out. Social media is a tool for business. Every business. Now is the time to get started. The HR social community is incredibly supportive, so do not be afraid. We all had to take that first step…I did.

I’d love to hear from you .

No Excuses.

pic courtesy of bizznesscard