Your newest instructor for your French class may have been hired via Twitter or Facebook. UA Human Resources has created Twitter feeds and Facebook pages to help campus departments and colleges advertise job openings.

In addition to adjunct instructors for French, administrative assistant positions, on-call event attendants for UA Athletics and chief for the cardiothoracic division in the department of surgery have all been advertised in this fashion.

Chris Wolf, human resources talent management coordinator, and Chris Foree, applications systems analyst and developer, worked together to create and manage the department’s Twitter and Facebook accounts this year. They also developed an online tool UA departments can attach to their websites to advertise job openings.

Human Resources has been working on two distinct plans with its social media tools, Foree said. The first is to provide a networking forum for the campus community, which is how universities and colleges nationwide have been using social media.  The second is to utilize social media sites to expand employment recruiting strategies.

“”We’re one of the first universities to do this, and it’s using Facebook and Twitter as actual recruitment tools where people can see up-to-the-minute jobs that are actually available within different departments on campus,”” Foree said.

Prospective employees can visit the UA Human Resources website to view Facebook and Twitter updates for eight different job categories.

“”We do have to deal with hiring from bakers to brain surgeons,”” Wolf said.

Other universities have been contacting the pair about their work, according to Wolf.

One UA department that has been using social media to send announcements and advertise job openings is Parking and Transportation Services. Marketing manager Bill Davidson handles the department’s Twitter and Facebook accounts. He began posting jobs this semester.

“”In the days not that long ago, advertising through the newspaper, and advertising through other means, was certainly always the most popular way,”” Davidson said. “”But Facebook and Twitter have such a long-reaching effect, and people of all backgrounds and ages look at that, and we want to make sure that we’re getting openings … out toeverybody.””

However, Davidson said the department has mainly used social media to send announcements about its services and events. One tweet he sent was during the recent Sun Tran strike that advertised free parking at certain lots and free CatTran rides for U-Pass holders.

While it is still too early to determine how effective the posts have been, Davidson hopes to provide additional information for Facebook and Twitter followers. Plans being considered include automated messages to direct drivers from full garages to ones with parking and an online map that shows where CatTran shuttles are in real time.