Employed via Twitter. Fact not fiction.

Today our first twitter recruited employee started at ireckon. Scott Hampson, aka @agent_x, has started with us in our important role as Site Producer /Project Manager.

Last year, when the person previously in that role left, to move further afield, we decided to run with our existing team and let the whole GFC thing run its course.

This role is very important, for obvious reasons, and so I had to make a tough call and let someone go from a position that had become redundant but who we were trying to get to do some of this work, and look for a likely candidate.

Interestingly enough I never advertised for the position.

I did not even list it on our recruiting site. That’s because someone had made their self an ideal candidate to be considered for the position.

Over the last 6 months or so, Scott and I have communicated over twitter, as well as he engaging with numerous staff here, and their accounts, as well as adding his own value to discussions that we have partaken in.

Obviously, @agent_x has continued to be himself on twitter, and I will admit while making my decision, further to our IRL meetings I reviewed him in relation to his online persona, and what differences might co-exist there. Let’s face it; we all interact in slightly different ways to how we interact offline.  Whether deliberate or not, there are differences.

What one does get the opportunity to do though, over a slower process of recruitment like this, is to get a real sense of who they are. If you are like me, you know how to run a good interview campaign, and get ‘the job’. So as an employer I try to read scenarios that are playing out in interviews, and as noted in ‘Recruiting with a little help from your friends‘ , research what I can about the person online.

This time it became easier for me, and, hopefully, from our interactions, gave Scott more of a sense of what working at my company would be like.

As an important side note, the person I mentioned above that we made redundant, has been able to get a position with a colleague’s company, which appears to be a better fit for them. I love win/win situations like this.

So will all our new employees come from twitter?

I doubt it. I will continue to interact with people in many places, and keep my eyes open for opportunity. It always has a way of showing up, really, you just need to be open to seeing what is presented.

Well that’s what ireckon!

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