Should Recruiters Blog?

There's a common question in social training for recruiters. How much time should you spend on the computer instead of on the phone?  The answer is that if you have phone calls to make, you make them first, and then you use the internet to find more people to call, but the bigger question is why do you need social media at all?

It's not just that social media helps you find candidates. It's that it helps you find yourself 

 

YourHRGuys tells you why he does it.  Reasons #1 and #2:

1. It has made me more thoughtful - Many people think blogging means you have to go out on a limb and say something sexy every post. My experience has been the complete opposite. People appreciate advice that is interesting, unique and thoughtful. Some people who give career advice seem almost glib at times and others give perpetually boring advice. If someone says you should wear a top hat to your next interview to stand out, that’s just entertaining but not useful. If someone says you should work on your handshake, that’s not entertaining but it is useful. I’ve tried to say things that are both entertaining and useful. So when you wear that top hat, make sure you give a really great handshake.

2. It allows me to learn - There are some really smart people in the blogosphere that I have been fortunate enough to interact with in-person or through telephone, e-mails and comments. This is why I couldn’t possibly do all of my 2009 predictions without including feedback from the great people online as well. Since I started getting involved with blogs (a lurker for four years and contributor for more than two and a half), I’ve learned about subjects I never would have even known about. It is truly amazing.

The key reason to blog is knowledge - both about your industry and about your business.  You'd be surprised how many people never take the time to look critically at the way they do business. In today's business climate, that's going to be a problem.

How can you improve, if you don't know what you do right and wrong?  Blogging demands content, and the best content is looking at your situation and discussing what you do wrong, and how you plan to fix it.

Forget the rest.  Blog for yourself. It makes you a better employee, more aware of what's going around, and there's that personal branding boost you need for the future.  Most recruiting is about closing candidates and closing deals.  You have to have that down.  But what comes next?  How do you reach another level?  Some people pay for training, others take long vacations, and some do what comes naturally - they network with friends and colleagues online to get better at what they do.

That's the reason to blog. It makes you a better person.  It forces you to think through what you do and why, and if you find yourself unable to write, you might find it's not because you ran out of time. It's because you've stopped learning.  Writing for me came naturally after five years of recruiting, but I was also at a crisis point.  I wasn't burnt out, but I was close.  Writing blogs about the industry ultimately taught me that recruiting is in my blood, which is why nine years later, I'm still excited to get new requirements, and still identify myself first and foremost as a recruiter.