I know other people use Monster and CareerBuilder etc with varying degrees of success. I can’t. Twitter joins the club. I don’t wish for Twitter to end up being a total waste of time that is forgotten after people finally realize it’s nothing but a branded text message system…but I think that’s what will happen and I don’t worry too much about having to read this later… Now I need to start a FacePlant…er Book thread…

While I do agree with you that it’s just another tool in the toolbelt. It hasn’t turned out to be a very efficient tool. It could help to differentiate a recruiter and build a brand but not necessarily. Recruiter Marketing resources are best spent marketing to clients and most of them probably aren’t going to be waiting for your every hyper-insightful tweet. As for helping to make more placements – that just hasn’t been the experience of most of the big dog recruiters that I know and I know quite a few. When I clicked through to what I assumed would be your bio, I noticed that your website isn’t even really up (under construction). You might want to git-R-done before giving stump speeches about branding or twittering away the rest of the day.

Tom Keoughan
http://www.toyjobs.com

Another way to help build your brand. If any professional recruiter that wants to be an industry expert, doesn’t realize what your “brand” is in your marketplace – stop reading.

If you do realize you have a “brand”, you may realize that we create our brand every day by the things we say, things we do, and by communicating with the marketplace.

TWITTER is a revolutionary & inexpensive way to communicate with our market. It’s simply another tool in the tool belt. It’s free and helps you quickly communicate with a very large audience. Maybe twitter isn’t a CB Radio. Maybe it’s like the Microwave; invented several years ago and still used to this day. The light bulb….I can go on and on. Technology is evolving and communications is emerging with the telephone/hand held device.

Technology rarely is meant to replace the person. But, technology is meant to help increase efficiency. At a desk level, I’ve received new search assignments and placeable/interested candidates from quick tweets. Will it replace, good old fashioned human interaction (picking up the phone)? NO. Will it help me make more placements and help me differentiate myself, or build my brand – YES!

Do I use it? No. I just billed a record month last month, and I just use a phone, email, and an old-school crm.

To support the article and opinion here by Dave, what have we all been learning about marketing and differentiation? Whatever everyone else is doing, do something different. What about whene everyone is twittering? Who will pay attention? Who has time to pay attention? What is more differentiating than your own unique personality? Nothing. If it wasn’t for you, personally, and your own way of talking, thinking, helping, and selling, you would just have ten fingers, two feet, and be just like all the other humans out there. The phone, your voice, and in person, and in writing– that’s it. People have already been turned off to sound bytes on the news 10 years ago. We need more sound bytes from twitter?

Sure, use it. It’s like a thank you letter after a 1st level interview- it’s not what you say, it’s if you forget to send one that’s visible. Use it, be in there, but then, law of diminishing returns says you’ll be back on the phone sooner than you think…

P. TIYPASI

I have to agree with you – I just cannot see the value in Twitter. Maybe I lack vision, intellect – you name it but I just don’t see it to be candid. No where near the value that “Linkedin” has created. If there is someone out there that can lucidly articulate the Value of twitter – please respond and enlighten us..