Don't fool yourself with Social Media.

Anyone who has heard me speak, or read my blog, knows I believe social media has an important role to play in business development, attracting talent, and building brand.

I have coached my recruiters how to do that, and now many companies pay me to teach them how to do it.

But let’s get real here.

Social media is a tool. Not an end in itself. Social media for recruiters is a way to build brand and connections. But they are only of value if they result in something tangible. Something valuable that leads to an outcome that we get paid for.

Such as; client visits, job orders, new candidates and, ultimately, more people placed in jobs.

But it’s a fact now that some recruiters have latched on to ‘social recruiting’, not because they believe it works, but because it gives them a reason not to work!

Counting ‘Likes’, and ‘RT’s’, and deluding yourself, and your boss, that three hours on social media is time well spent, is foolish to the extreme.

If ever there was a mechanism to waste corporate and personal time, it’s fiddling on social media. Yes, recruiters need to use social media. But in a disciplined way. In designated time slots. And always with a clear goal in mind.

That’s the beauty of recruitment. And the downside. It’s totally measurable. You fill a job, or you don’t.

No one is going to pay you because your witty tweet got 7 RTs, or your Facebook update got 14 ‘Likes’. You are not going to build a meaningful brand in your niche, just because you tweet a lot.

Social media is not a silver bullet, suddenly going to replace all the difficult things we have to do to be successful. Social media is simply another communications channel. Great for initiating and leveraging relationships, but in the end you are still going to need to do the grunt work. Sourcing, interviewing, visiting, matching, selling, and closing.

Never forget. Followers are vanity – sales are sanity!

So, please, quit your social media shilly-shallying. Stop hiding behind your ‘social media time’.

I know, and you know, you are just avoiding the real job.

Nothing has changed.

We still celebrate placements baby, not followers!

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Comment by Noel Cocca on September 2, 2013 at 11:21pm: I prefer the recruiters that work in my field to stay on social media as much as possible...Keeps the candidates free to speak with me on the phone

Comment by Jerry Albright on September 3, 2013 at 2:30pm: Right on!

Comment by Amber on September 3, 2013 at 3:02pm: Great post, Greg!

That's right, Noel - they really need to keep their focus over on SM! :)

Comment by Noel Cocca on September 3, 2013 at 8:23pm: I never understand recruiters who have call reluctance. Who hired you?

Comment by Will Thomson on September 6, 2013 at 2:21pm: Great post Greg!

Comment by Paul Alfred on September 13, 2013 at 10:12pm: Hmmm looks like all the folks who utilize Social Media that have been successful are still living in a dream world according to this blog ... What year is this ..? oh yes 2013 ... Greg there are folks that are using Social Media to max with a strategy that are actually successful ...

Comment by Greg Savage on September 13, 2013 at 10:29pm: Hmmm I think you need to read my blog again Paul...a bit more carefully. I did not say don't use social media. In fact I said you must use social media. What I emphasised was don't waste your time on superficial use of social media, and don't wimp out on the other important recruiting tasks, by hiding behind social media. As a recruiter with 25,000 twitter followers, 30,000 blog readers a month, 6,000 Linkedin Connections and 5,000 Likes on my Facebook page, and a guy who founded and built a global recruitment brand Firebrand Talent Search (just sold), entirely via social media... I think I am qualified to offer a view on this topic don't you?