Are you a good fit for this job?

Who – me? You’re asking me if I’m a good fit for your job?

Well gimme a minute. You know what I do, right? I’m a recruiter! Nearly every person who follows you is a recruiter, resume coach, PR firm, ATS guy or HR lady. This is one giant fishbowl of people who DO NOT do what your client needs. So why do you keep up the exercise?

Remember waaaaaaaayyyy back a few years ago before social media? Remember how you actually had to put together a presentation? You know – a list of features and benefits? A general summary of reasons your prospect MIGHT want to consider your opportunity? Remember when the goal was to connect with people who know the skills your client is looking for? Remember the phrase “Say what you need to say to people you need to say it to?”

Did that just go out the window? Is “sales” no longer in style? Has anybody (ANYBODY) replied to your job tweets? Ever? Really? (Don’t fib now – it’s just you and me talking here…..)

My guess is no. This is not your “Talent Community.” It’s a Social Media Mutual Admiration Society. We do not know anyone who does what you are looking for.

And by they way – before you go on and on about how careful you’ve been about your follow list…..I looked. There’s not a single (fill in the blank) on your list. Or at least in the last hundred of so people that are following you. They’re all guys and gals like me…..and you. It’s us here – not them!

If someone on your list just happens to be a…….C++ Embedded SW Eng in NYC….here’s an idea. Call them. Get to know them! Why just throw out a random tweet or FB update hoping it happens to cross their newsfeed at exactly the same moment in time their eyes are looking at the screen? I mean – you don’t think they’ve got you set up with your own Tweetdeck column, do you? Just hoping, PRAYING that some point in the near future you’ll randomly tweet “Are you a good fit for this job” in front of a list of buzzwords tailored just for them….do you?

So why are you still doing it? Does it make you feel better? Like – you’re really working here? Like – this is business?

Here’s a tip for you – it’s not. You’re wasting your time. “Are you a fit for this job?” is not business – it’s a joke.

Get it? You’ve been had.

Comment by Jeff on October 3, 2011 at 10:32am: Now we're talking.

Comment by lisa rokusek on October 3, 2011 at 10:44am: You know I am with you, Jerry. But why do people incessantly tweet jobs if it doesn't work? What if it does? Every time i see a jobs tweet I want to ask if people get results. But I know they will probably lie.

I'll say it. I have never gotten a useful response to the handful of times I tweeted jobs. I have founde awesome connections on twitter, though, but only when I used lit in the old school way of being a place I found people to reach out to. As in me doing the reaching.

Comment by Stuart Musson on October 3, 2011 at 10:44am: Awesome post Jerry! Although I do use Tweetdeck it is just one option after the best tool in our business, the PHONE. Pick it up first and then e-mail, tweet, LI update, FB update and everything else we have at our disposal!

Comment by Kevin Cure on October 3, 2011 at 11:46am: That's what I am talking about!!! I got a lot of ATS sales pitches talking about including twitter, facebook, and linkedin in my job updates as a real selling point to their system.... yawnnnnn. I have never gotten one candidate from a tweet, facebook, google+, or other social media site other than linkedin (because we were connected and had a relationship).

I am not saying it is all hogwash, but those that have given up the actual human interaction will loose many many opportunities to folks that say.... pick up a phone????

I know, I am crazy. Thanks Jerry!!

Comment by Jerry Albright on October 3, 2011 at 11:49am: I am digging how Google + lets me search through profiles and just send emails. No LInkedinvitations required........no "hoping the follow me back and then happen to love my tweets so much they feel like I'm a party of their 'community' so then I have credibility and can talk to them just like their friends do...." type of hooey.

Just search, find and email. Check it out.

Comment by Tim Spagnola on October 3, 2011 at 11:53am: One of many G+ features I find very appealing that actually might have potential to make an impact on my desk.

Comment by Eric R. Derby on October 3, 2011 at 11:55am: Well, I only use twitter because it is connected to my linkedin updates. When I get a new job order, I quickly post it (NOT using the your blog title!). Yes I have received responses, and made placements from this. Do I still use the phone? Yes. A lot. But sometimes I get quick response from an update, so it is worth my time. Sometimes these get forwarded to people I do not know. So it works for me (given that half my linkedin connections are software engineers or related, though with my twitter followers I have no idea...). Now, did those results actually come from linkedin or twitter? That I do not know, but I would guess mostly from linkedin.

Comment by Sandra McCartt on October 3, 2011 at 12:08pm: Obviously we have not spent enough money going to conferences to put on stupid t-shirts, or gotten drunk enough to realize that we are just old school, transactional recruiters who don't know how to build talent communities, crowd source ,game the multitudes and gather up the twitterati while we are building our personal and employment brand as well as buying the latest techie gadget. All the while spending our waking hours expounding on the candidate experience.

About that emperor and his clothes. Maybe he should get dressed and go place somebody. Tweet that, bird legs.

Comment by Bill Schultz on October 3, 2011 at 2:28pm: I agree with Mr. Albright (and enjoy his homespun delivery), We are not neanderthals, we adopt technology and social media into our daily routine. I think the reason Linkedin os so successful is because it fits into our workflow so nicely.

I place product managers and the good ones are able to observe the workflow of a function and adopt their product to automate that workflow.

Products that claim "disrupt" or "revolutionize" often find themselves gathering dust.

I think the same can be said for the folks who try to hawk the "magic elixirs" to job search.

It's seagull marketing. Make a lot of noise, crap over everything and fly away.

Comment by Frank Zupan on October 3, 2011 at 3:27pm: Jerry-I heard at a conference on Friday that "email is dead" so your G+ strategy just went out the window. Sorry.