Most healthcare recruiters will hear at some point how they need to get on twitter to recruit and engage prospective candidates. But when push comes to shove, most stick to posting job openings and little else. Unfortunately, this method of using twitter for healthcare recruitment is unlikely to yield any results. Instead, healthcare recruiters should concentrate on sharing a healthy mix of posts that include those that highlight company culture, share employee stories, broadcast a commitment to excellence, and engage with existing employees – all in addition to job openings.
But while it’s easy to say that this is what recruiters should do, many are still left wondering how to do it well. To help with that, we’ve compiled four healthcare organizations that are using twitter the right way for recruitment, and what specifically they’re doing right.
1. Kaiser Permanente – @KPCareers
Kaiser knows that when you’re recruiting health care professionals in a competitive marketplace, you need to show prospective candidates why working with your organization is better than the competition. One way Kaiser does this is by using their recruitment twitter account to highlight stories from their existing employees, organizational improvements, and company events, in addition to tweets about open positions. Additionally, Kaiser makes sure to utilize engaging images in the majority of their tweets, all of which are optimized for the platform.
What they’re doing right:
1. Providing engaging employee stories that would resonate with their ideal candidates.
2. Showcasing their company culture by highlighting events.
3. Highlighting their mission, values, and commitment to medical advancement – all things a prospective employee would want to know more about.
2. Texas Children’s Hospital – @TCHCareers
Texas Children’s Hospital has won plenty of awards – and they’re not afraid to show it on their company’s recruitment twitter account. In addition to touting the awards they’ve received, TCH also gives behind the scenes peeks at what working with their team is like, as well as celebrating and engaging with their existing employees. Whether it’s announcing work anniversaries or retweeting employees, Texas Children’s Hospital works to show their organizational culture and sense of community through their twitter page.
What they’re doing right:
1. Engaging with a retweeting employee content – especially those which give a behind the scenes look at what it’s like to work at Texas Children’s.
2. Highlighting employee achievements and awards.
3. Showing that they are leaders in their field and touting the awards they have won.
3. Nationwide Children’s Hospital – @NCHCareers
Nationwide Children’s knows that if you want candidates to follow you on social media, you need to provide them with content they find useful. In addition to job opportunities, the hospital tweets helpful information about a candidate’s job search. They also make sure to highlight their culture and values by sharing posts highlighting their team members, tweets about facility and program improvements, and company events.
What they’re doing right:
1. Showcasing facilities improvements, showing they provide a cutting edge environment in which to work.
2. Providing prospective candidates with useful, interesting information in unique formats.
3. Highlighting employees and company events to showcase the organization’s culture.
4. Mount Sinai – @MountSinaiJobs
Mount Sinai wants prospective candidates to know that they really appreciate everything their employees do, and they showcase it on their career twitter page. To do this, they’ve filled their twitter time line with posts honoring their employees and showcasing employee appreciation events. They also highlight awards, but mostly ones that are focused around their employees, like one celebrating having one of the most diverse health systems in the country.
What they’re doing right:
1. They show their appreciation for existing employees with events and programs.
2. Mount Sinai showcases their employees and shows how each one contributes to and makes a difference in the hospital.
3. They highlight awards – but mostly ones that show their commitment to inclusive employee policies.
Key Take Aways:
- Use social media to share useful, interesting information with prospective candidates that will make them want to keep coming back for more.
- Highlight your company culture by sharing events and behind the scenes looks.
- Show that your employees love working for your organization – and that you love them right back – by sharing employee stories and employee appreciation events.
