Social Media Sourcing

Social recruiting = excellent ROI

2011-01-25T09:34:00.000-08:00

There is no doubt that companies are embracing the idea of leveraging social platforms in their talent acquisition strategies (EMC is a great example of a company that is utilizing social media to go above and beyond the status quo, by not simply posting on their careers page).

However, there seems to be one common drawback in most companies’ strategies, which may be directly affecting their sourcing success.

In order to obtain effective and long term sourcing results with platforms such as Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn, companies must be ACTIVE and ENGAGE their audience. Having a career-oriented Facebook page or Twitter account isn’t enough to draw in the right people. After all… we have all seen how effective the post and pray method is to recruiting top talent.

Take AT&T (Twitter handle: @attJOBS) for example. Their Twitter feed is an extension of their job board. With nearly 5,000 followers, they are potentially losing out on an opportunity to be interactive, and engaging with the very people who have demonstrated an interest in working for them. Furthermore, by not engaging this talent in an effective way, they could also be missing an opportunity for social referrals.

In a recent interview with The New York Times, entrepreneur Eric Lefkofsky (best known as the co-founder of Groupon) says a company’s hiring process should be a “social experience”.

“Think about the way most companies currently hire.” says Lefkofsky. “You post a job and then get a blind resume in response. There’s no reason to hire people that we can’t learn something about through some connection of our personal network.”

Granted, monitoring several social media platforms or actively engaging everyone that connects with you is no easy task. Most companies have limited recruitment resources and simply cannot spend the necessary amount of time weeding through the numerous respondents in order to identify the top 10%. However with the average cost to hire at roughly $10,000.00, wouldn’t it be prudent on our part to explore creative ways in tapping into the free social sites? The question we must ask is whether to incur higher costs on the front end with a high ROI on the back end?

In an advice column on ERE.net, Jason Warner says the “root of this gap is the fact that candidate expectations and behaviors have changed … but the toolsets in corporate recruiting generally have not. He says the “front doors” to companies are still the same, meaning they give the appearance of being open by providing interactive job boards on their corporate websites and even posting those open jobs on their careers Twitter feed, but in reality those methods are still the same methods used by companies 10-15 years ago.

The fact of the matter is that there are very few companies who are actively engaging their talent pool in a way that will generate further leads or filter out the right people, for the right positions. My suggestion to companies that are interested in improving their talent acquisition strategies is to explore creative ways to engage those that have shown an interest in your company. Support, and challenge your recruitment team to achieve results by being “social”.

Micro-blogging 101

2010-10-01T13:31:00.000-07:00

Social media sourcing – in the form of micro-blogging -- has slowly become more popular within the recruitment community. But how exactly do social networking platforms, such as Twitter, help companies find and attract talent?

1. Directing traffic to your careers page

Tweeting about a job will assist in directing traffic/visibility to a career page, or job posting.

2. Hashtags
Hashtags link your tweets about a specific topic or association to a category, which allows recruiters to tighten their searches, or target a specific niche.

3. Finding candidates

As explained in my previous post, a simple Boolean or Xray search can help find passive talent that may not have been found via traditional methods, along with several other uses (and it’s free!).

It is also important for professionals who engage in social networking platforms to pair their Twitter account to a personal or professional tool such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and/or your blog site. This keeps your colleagues and network up to date on all new opportunities.

4. Engaging your candidate pool
By allowing candidates to connect with you via twitter, you appear approachable and accessible. You can use these platforms to answer any questions that recruiters may have in a less formal way than forcing them to send an email or phone you directly.

5. Building a candidate pipeline
Use your micro-blogging account to create a specific “list” which will house candidates that fit a particular discipline, or job search.

Twitter isn’t the only game in town...

Twitter is not your only option when developing an outreach strategy. Canadian platform Identi.ca also offers some unique tools for recruiters.

What is Identi.ca and how can I use it to recruit?

Identi.ca is a relatively new micro-blogging service that is very similar to Twitter. Identi.ca’s ‘dents’ (as opposed to Twitter’s ‘tweets’) follow the same 140-character format and are shared with not only your friends and followers, but are also shared on an open public timeline. However, there is one major difference between the two micro-blogging sites, and that is the concept of openness. Identi.ca was built with OpenMicroblogging in mind, meaning that it is built on an open platform that can be shared with anyone else who wants to host their own federated version of the software. So unlike Twitter, which hopes to monetize the service in order to turn a profit, with Identi.ca you can host your own preferred server, sharing ‘dents’ with your identi.ca account as well as with anyone else running the same software.

Why is this important to recruiters? Well, for companies that are specifically looking for technologically-savvy candidates, they will definitely find people of interest on identi.ca. This micro-blogging service requires a fairly extensive knowledge in computer-programming and software engineering in order to use it effectively. These skills are also often key things a recruiter is looking for in their ideal candidate for technology companies.

Groups

Another interesting feature on Identi.ca is the groups tab. This tool allows you to target or connect with people of similar interests.

Twitter vs. Identi

While Identi.ca offers an open-concept platform and an interesting groups tab, it is clear that it doesn’t pose as much of a competition to Twitter. From a recruiter’s perspective, this is extremely important. When looking for potential candidates, you are going to want to go somewhere that has many features to help you connect with and engage your followers. Being the first of its kind has allowed Twitter to establish a mass-user database with widespread interests and as a recruiter, this is exactly what you are looking for.

However, don’t just brush-off Identi.ca altogether. Identi.ca is the in the process of implementing the following features to better improve its platform:

More AJAX-y interface
Maps
Cross-post to Pownce, Jaiku, etc.
Pull messages from Twitter, Pownce, Jaiku, etc.
Facebook integration
Image, video, audio notices

Therefore, micro-blogging can be an excellent tool for recruiters. Take a minute, and get familiar with them. It won't take long to understand and apply them to your next search strategy.

Utilizing Boolean Search Strings - A Recruiters secret weapon

2010-09-16T12:39:00.000-07:00

As a seasoned Recruitment Manager, it amazes me to see how many of my new reports, NOT currently utilizing Boolean searches as a means to generate solid leads. Could it be that most recruiters do not truly understand how to harness the power of Boolean searches? Maybe most take a "post and pray" (posting a job and waiting for results) approach to staffing....Or should we assume that employers are not investing enough towards training their recruitment teams? What ever the reason, one thing most "guerrilla recruiters" DO understand, is that Boolean searches are 100% free! Yes....Free!! We don't get much of that anymore....do we?

A few benefits to Boolean searches:

Finding passive talent that may not have been found via traditional methods
Name generation to leads that can point you to a "star" candidate
Learning what other companies use as titles for a similar discipline/job
Penetrating firewalls to social media sites, and looking inside without building a profile

With the baby boomers set to begin retiring in the next 5-10 years, and a global war on talent already heating up, it would be prudent for recruiters to begin building a "tool box" of creative sourcing techniques. In doing so, one can have an advantage over those that choose not to embrace these techniques. There is lots of great literature out there that will assist you in learning the fundamentals of Boolean logic. I highly recommend that you invest a few bucks to purchase a book, and learn how it can bring value to your clients, or employers recruitment function.

Anyone seeking more information on Boolean searches, are welcome to email me (see email link at the top of my blog).

Happy Hunting!!

Onstar to support social media

2010-09-15T08:25:00.000-07:00

In a push to complete against Ford's new digital system SYNC, Onstar has announced plans to bring social networking to its GM drivers. Onstar is currently testing the possibilities and safety of this voice command option, and are have not yet announced a release date.

Its not rocket science on how this will change the playing field for recruiters that leverage social media as a tool in sourcing top talent. Onstar & SYNC will now allow recruiters to connect with people during their commutes home, or while stuck in traffic. How awesome would it be to interview or discuss a new gig, while waiting in bumper to bumper traffic?