Josh TolanIn the 21st episode of The Recruiting Reel, Ted Rubin, Co-Founder at Prevailing Path and the CMO at Brand Innovators, discusses how to build personal connections with candidates through social media platforms. Here’s the transcript:
Josh Tolan: My name is Josh Tolan and I’m the CEO of Spark Hire, the leading video interviewing platform used by thousands of organizations around the world.
And this is The Recruiting Reel, a video series in which we discuss real recruiting challenges with prominent recruiting experts to provide you with actionable tips you can apply to your own recruiting.
We have a great guest on today’s episode. His name is Ted Rubin and he is the Co-Founder at Prevailing Path and the Chief Marketing Officer at Brand Innovators.
Ted brings a unique perspective to The Recruiting Reel as his background is in marketing and sales. More specifically, he has become a true social media expert and influencer.
With this background, we’re excited to have him offer tips on how to build a personal connection with candidates through social media.
Ted Rubin: Hey everybody! My name is Ted Rubin. I’m the Co-Founder, along with John Andrews of the shopper-content marketing company, Prevailing Path, based out of Raleigh, North Carolina and I am the emcee and host of the majority of Brand Innovator events done across the country and some internationally.
Social media recruiting mistakes
I’d like to talk to you today about mistakes being made by recruiters online. And, you know, the most common mistake made by recruiters especially on LinkedIn and other social media platforms is the same mistake made by most people trying to sell something. And yes, most recruiters are trying to sell something. They’re trying to get either you, as a candidate, or they’re trying to get a company to help them find a candidate. The problem they’re doing is they are reaching out in the way they’ve always reached out, which is a numbers game. They send out pre-formed letters, they have no real interest in building a relationship, and all they want to do is get you on their list.
A qualified lead is all they’re looking for and I’m telling you, folks, you’re making a mistake.
You might get the numbers, you might make a certain amount of calls, it might work for you every once in awhile or you’re going to sell some people but you will do much better, especially if you reach out to people like me or anybody else as high-level executives, and you know something about their business, you know something about them. It’s all out there for you people.
Do your research when recruiting via social media
The research just needs to be done. Everything is online, even my daughter, 22 years old and an artist, who blocks me from her social channels, all I have to do is go to Google and I can find it. So people, start paying attention that way. And what is the biggest obstacle? Again, because you’re measuring yourself and being measured by the numbers. How many calls you make, how many connections you make, how many qualified leads did you make, that’s not the way to do business today because brand is what a business or a person does, a reputation is what people remember and share. And they are sharing about you.
Even if you’re not seeing it, they are talking about you and the best way to get business is through referrals, through people that think you care about them. How do you care about them? You pay attention, listen and you research. That, to me, is the most important thing.
“Return on relationship”
So what are the best practices? What we’re talking about here! Connect with people, show an interest in what they do, create valuable content they want to hear about, give them advice that’s important! Do things that are relevant to them, their lives, and their careers. And that’s what I have to tell you.
Remember, it’s about “Return on Relationship”. If you show people you care about them, they’ll work with you. This is a relationship economy, everything you do is a commodity, there’s not anybody else out there who can’t do it just like you do it, so stand out and make a difference.
Josh Tolan: Spot on, Ted. We’ve all been guilty of it. Copy, paste. Copy, paste. It’s a mistake that everyone makes because the tools and technologies that are out there have made it so easy take this approach.
You’ll have some success, probably enough to make you think that your approach works, but eventually, that dries up.
If you want to get sustainable results on social media, go the extra mile to stand out. You’ll build a brand, you’ll improve conversions, and you’ll attract better people for your job openings.
As a recruiting leader, think about what Ted is saying when you evaluate your internal KPIs. It’s not just about the touch points, it’s about the quality of touch points. Activity without thought is meaningless activity.
Let’s give another shout out to Ted for this awesome advice. Head over to prevailingpath.com to learn more about his company and follow him on Twitter @TedRubin.
Thank you for watching The Recruiting Reel and stay tuned for more episodes. For additional HR and recruiting content, head over to hr.sparkhire.com and subscribe. Also, follow us on Twitter, @sparkhire. And subscribe to our YouTube channel to be the first to know about the newest episodes of The Recruiting Reel.
Thanks again for watching and happy recruiting!
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