By Emily Long elong@govexec.com
Federal agencies are catching on to the social media craze and leveraging that technology to attract job seekers, especially young recruits. For example, the Labor Department advertises open positions on Twitter and plans to upload its recruitment videos to YouTube. The State Department regularly updates its Facebook page and maintains the @DOSCareers Twitter account. But conventional wisdom, which holds that recent college graduates and tech-savvy young professionals respond favorably to anything on the Internet, doesn’t always apply when it comes to federal recruiting.
Recruiting “can’t simply be about information dissemination rather than a real engagement, dialogue, discussion with potential applicants,” says Tim McManus, vice president for education and outreach at the Partnership for Public Service. “One of the best mechanisms is to use those who have walked in the shoes. People want to see where people like them fit in.”
