Twitter Rank of 35,000 or less AND a Twitter Grade of 100 when you use TwitterGrader. TwitterGrader uses several factors in its algorithm, including the following: Number of Followers, Power of Followers (they have high TwitterGrades), Number of Updates (within reason), Update Recency (time between tweets), Follower/Following Ratio, and Engagement (number of retweets and citations – and power of retweeter). Considering social media is all about engagement and interaction (2-way communication), I think this is a pretty good metric. I chose 35,000 for rank and 100 for grade, because 5 of the 25 companies I looked at had at least this…and several others are close. This is by no means an impossible goal.

Twitalyzer Impact Score of at least 1.0%. This score is determined by a combination of factors as well, including the following: Number of Followers, Number of Unique References and Citations, Frequency in being Uniquely Retweeted by followers, Frequency in being Uniquely Retweeted by others, and Relative Frequency of Updates. Again, considering that social media is about engagement and interaction, I think that this is a pretty good measure of a good twitter account for recruiting. I chose 1.0% because 8 companies of the 25 met this…so it is not an impossible goal.

Total Interaction of at least 33%…this being the percentage of tweets that are replies plus the percentage of tweets that are retweets. These figures can be found through TweetStats. If potential candidates and applicants are using a company’s twitter account (jobs or careers accounts) to interact with the company and recruiters…that is a far superior account than a company that has low or no interaction. Social media is not one-way broadcasting…so I want to see replies (a conversation). Furthermore, if we monitor what is being said about our companies…we will find things to retweet. If we can’t find anything because nothing is being said about the company – then your standing as an employer is lower as well. I chose 33% because 6 of the 25 companies I was looking at had at least this amount of interaction.

Take all three metrics and out of the list of 25 companies, I still have three companies who meet all three criteria: GoogleJobs, HyattCareers, and SodexoCareers. I read the articles on ERE often and watch for who wins the annual awards, so I was not surprised to see Google and Sodexo as companies really using twitter well…but I see that Hyatt Hotels and Resorts also is doing very well with twitter. I would love to hear from these three companies to hear from them how twitter is working out for them in recruiting.

In conclusion, I would like to mention two other items I noticed about the top 3:
Average tweets per day is between 3 – 8
Percentage of tweets being about jobs is 10% or less.

People interested in a position at your company would love to know more about the job. You could create a short video giving examples of what the job pertains to, what an average day is like, and basically seeing what they will actually be doing in the position. If the position deals heavily with equipment, show the equipment and facilities. Who will be the job applicant’s boss if they are hired? What the employee value proposition?

People interested in a position at your company would love to know more about the company. You could create a short company overview and what it does, show the various branches & locations, the various products and services, and basically an overall synopsis of the company with some of the goals for the company and inner workings. Many would like see the heritage or history of your company and the future vision (including a vision and mission video from top executives).

People interested in a position at your company would love to know more about the culture and environment. You could create short videos of employee testimonials – basically why they came and why they stay, employee profiles (who they are) and what they think, and what makes the company a special place to work.

There can be many videos made just covering these areas. The whole idea is to give people interested in positions at your companies a look inside the company…before they even apply. It doesn’t all have to be good…just what is. Honestly and transparently. This will attract the people who are prepared and ready for the environment (if it has challenges).

Your candidates already have questions and wonder about these things, why not create videos to show them?

Basically, why would someone who is happy in their current job leave it to be hired by your company?  Why would someone looking for a new job want to be hired by your company instead of your competitor across the street?

Now a strong value proposition (EVP or USP) must be tangible, specific, and unique (or at least rare).  Saying you are an innovative company or you are a leader in innovation is really meaningless (not to mention many companies say this).

When I was recruiting for some Java IT positions several years ago, I had the good fortune to say that the new employees would get to play with the newest toys and technologies…and I specifically listed them.  I don’t recall the specific technologies anymore (and they are definitely not new now), but think about it.  For a Java programmer who isn’t looking for a new job (but is interested in what is new in his field), the prospect of getting to immediately use the new stuff in this new opportunity is appealing…especially if his company is not implementing it for another year or so.  Not many other companies had this new technology yet…so it was unique (at least rare).

Some words of caution:

• Don’t get long winded. 
• Keep it simple and short. 
• Say only what you can easily prove…not bold (unproven) claims
• Focus on what your target individuals or groups really want.

I mean really…how can we “sell” our open position to any passive job seeker without knowing this vital piece of information?

This is a video skewed for new graduates in therapy…and high school graduates. This talks about the shortage of therapists in rehab and what tuition help there is. But first, it takes about people making a difference in other’s lives…helping them learn to dance, speak, walk, etc. again…making an impact. The video talks about their needs and locations – and that they are a “one stop shop for your career”.

The video is a little over 4 minutes long…and the message feels a little split (talking about new graduates in therapy and then talking about people preparing for a career in therapy). The message of this video could be a little more focused…one for therapist graduates and one more focused for high school graduates or those preparing for a career in therapy.

But all in all, a great video covering a “story”.

This is just some types of content I have found on other career pages on Facebook…and a few that I thought up as well as things that should be on the pages:

• Promotions / Contests of interest candidates – (Taco Bell offered a free Limeade Sparkler Coupon)
• Involvement in charities and community (when, where, who, etc.)
• Notices of awards won (best places to work, top 50 diversity, etc.)
• Notices of job fairs being attended
• Employee events recap (showing that your company is a fun place to work)
• Notices of some jobs (not all) – highlight certain ones – high profile or otherwise special
• Career related podcasts (day in life, hear from hiring manager, etc.)
• Notices of new videos (career related)
• Stories of core values being lived (employee recognition)
• Why not have more Employee Recognition (show that there is some in your company by doing it publically)
• Internship info
• Testimonials by employees (why it is a great place to work)
• Who we hired (from what school if grad, read her story)
• Articles, podcasts, experts about job market and perhaps job searching in general (that is the audience)
• Surveys – candidate experience and opinions about things like what is most important to you in a job
• Questions to the recruiters (interaction and engagement is the soul of social media)
• Posts from the hiring manager or department champion
• Comments about candidate experience (this content comes from the applicants)
• Some applicants are customers, and so some content will be fans commenting on how great your products and services are

That’s all I could find and come up with at the moment…hope this perhaps gets your creative juices flowing for what to include. If you see something clever or know of something else, please leave a comment.

~ Eric