Archive for March 23, 2010
Top 10 signs you spend to much time on Twitter
An Unconference you say…..
In May this year Bill Boorman is bringing is hugely successful and popular TRU Events to Australia (#truaus) & New Zealand (trunz), something I am looking forward to immensely. As the only person in either country to have attended one of these events I thought I would impart my experience and divulge to you why this event is so special (and no Bill is not paying me to write this, although if he wants to….).
Firstly the The Recruitment Unconference, TRU, is like no other all day conference. There are no presentations, there is no scripted commentary, all rules are thrown out the window, and anything that resembles a traditional conference is quickly dealt with and kicked out the door. You will not find yourself sitting in rows, you will probably stand most of the time if your lucky, and if anyone starts to take over the show, just cut them off, seriously. That’s right, everyone at this event is on equal footing and you are encouraged, if not expected to speak your mind.
The day has one format and one format only, Tracks. These tracks are essentially topics that for a 45min session approx. those who wish to join in and discuss that topic are welcomed to. There will be Track Leaders, who will facilitate the track and encourage participation from all, these track leaders we could call them somewhat experts (bad word to use in Social Media I know) of that particular topic/track. You will find the Tracks cover a wide range of Social Recruiting and general recruitment topics and issues.
The best thing of all though, if you do not like the conversation that is going on, simply get up, don’t worry about excusing yourself, and move to the next track. You will find at least 5 tracks on at any one time, so something is bound to be of interest.
With multiple tracks on at once, multiple varieties of tracks through-out the day, and the ability to attend what you want when you want, a TRU event is like no other event the recruitment industry has seen. It’s a breathe of fresh air and encourages you to get involved and stay involved. The networking and sheer enthusiasm I experienced in London is something i know that we proud and competitive Aussies can double at least.
Now with any recruitment event there is the usual After-conference-drinks. Well of course this will happen as well. We can call it a Tweet-up, a Undrinks event but rest assured it will happen. So with that who would like to help organise this? Melbourne has some of the best pubs/bars/venues in Australia so who is keen to join me in sorting this out, umm did I just volunteer myself?
So with all that, hopefully now you have a better understand of what #truaus & indeed #trunz is all about. In short, you can look forward to a unscripted, unformatted, unreal event talking Social Recruiting and Recruitment topics in May, and unlike any other conference, you will walk away with more information, ideas and energy to get back to work then from any other conference.
And stay tuned through-out the day for a Secret Track, A pub track or something wacky that I am sure will occur, that’s the great spirit of this event, anything goes, well almost anything.
If you want to know more check out the TRU website, drop me a line or even the man himself Bill Boorman
Social Media candidate background checks
Ok, so there is a fierce debate going on here Down Under at the moment as to the ethical and moral reasons for conducting Social Media background checks on candidates. With Social Media opening up the door now to far more scrutiny of people though Facebook Profiles, comments on blogs and pictures on Flickr to name a few, there are those among us who are more then comfortable turning the usual candidate reference check in to a Hollywood paparazzi witch hunt.
Ok, so that may be a bit harsh, the information and content is after all, right there for everyone to see. But where do we draw the line? Is it ok for companies to conduct Social Media Profile audits of future potential employees to ascertain their cultural fit or if they could damage the image of the company at all? Has this new medium lead to a wave of hypocrisy in companies saying they allow for a work life balance, however “we will watch your every move”.
The door that can be opened through discrimination of selecting or not selecting candidates is LARGE. How do you tell a hiring manager to hire on best talent, when after reviewing some social media sites, they think that another candidate will be a better match as they follow the same footy club, extreme that may be, but should we allow any of this in the first place?
What amazes me most about this, is that if this is to be allowed then why is their an argument of Candidate video profiles within the recruitment process? Another topic yes, but the same argument to a degree can be made.
I fear that if candidates, knowingly, are being background checked on their personal lives, or worse still, not being told that this is part of the hiring process, the pandora’s box of “He said, She said” discrimination will flow. This argument should be as simple as this….
Would you like someone prying in to your personal life to see if you are right for a job? Do you want, as a candidate to feel like you are a Hollywood celebrity and have to watch your every move?
Where has the trust gone, and where do we draw the line in the sand?
The debate has also been carried on over at Peerlo, see Riges thoughts here
What’s your thought, Social Media background checks or not……
Facebook passes Google in visits…again
Quite an amazing stat has just been released. Recently Hitwise announced that Facebook reached an important milestone for the week ending March 13, 2010 and surpassed Google in the US to become the most visited website for the week. What an achievement for a Social Network.
I have no doubt now that Paul Jacobs will be claiming more space and exposure for Farmville as a recruitment tool across Facebook. There is little doubting though that engaging with the such a large audience that Facebook delivers (remember if it was a country its the 5th biggest in the world) can be beneficial to your business from a recruitment or general brand perspective.
Whilst it’s probably turning in to the site we love to hate, it is certainly here to stay and is only going to become stronger. What is your Facebook strategy for 2010?
Be Sociable – That's the point after all
The last few days I have been speaking and meeting with quite a few people that I talk to on a daily basis via Twitter, blog posts, Facebook and LinkedIn about various aspects and uses of Social Media. Everyone of these conversations was passionate and created even more for me to think about once we were done. It certainly wasn’t time wasted.
One thing stood out though, whilst were were having a conversation online, between sometimes 2-4 people, we were the ones getting the most out of the conversation. It is often said that “listening” is an important component of Social Media, and I totally agree, but being involved, interacting and adding to the conversation is more beneficial and rewarding then sitting on the fence, lurking, watching and trying to learn or pick up on something.
Needless to say these conversation also came offline with a meetup at the pub (where else?) with Jared Woods, Paul Jacobs and Thomas Shaw, Dan Nuroo was notable invited absentee. And what a conversation we had!!!
Think of Social Media as one big party and we are all invited, perhaps you know some people there already but you are being forced to mingle, yes this term has been used many times, but really there is no better analogy that I have heard yet, I’d like to think it was a football game but I can’t seem to work that one just yet….
Social Media has made networking and contributing so much easier for everyone. You don’t need to have an extroverted personality or be the life of the party, but please do get involved. Everyone has something to share so don’t be shy get involved and be sociable, that is the point after all……
Australian Social Media Stats – Nielsen Report
Amazing stats this morning from Nielsen showing the growth of Social Media usage in Australia. If this doesn’t make the HR/recruitment industry realise there is a HUGE LOST OPPORTUNITY in not being in the Social Media game then I don’t know what will.
Here is a brief overview:
9 million Australians now interact via social networks
Content sharing is the most popular activity
4 in 5 Australian Internet users have shared a photo
Twitter usage grew by 400% in 2009
Nearly 3/4 of Australians read a wiki
2 in 5 Australians interact with companies via social networks
Add to this that LinkedIn reported last week to now have 1 million users in Australia and the arguments just keep stacking up for everyone to jump on board. You can download the 3 page report here
Social Recruiting, its more than you think.
So you think you are utilising Social Media for your recruitment efforts. Well to a degree you probably are. You have a Twitter account, you search LinkedIn when you can, and you are about to jump in to Facebook to see if you have any new fans, and maybe just maybe you have plans for a video of some sort promoting your wonderful work environment.
This is great, you have started. but is that really everything? The term that we use is Social Recruiting, for most people it covers the facets of engaging and interacting with talent communities and hopefully they will find us interesting enough to apply for a job and accept an offer, cheap recruitment right? The employee starts and you move on to the next line of engagement and try to do it all over again. Your Social Recruiting efforts for that position is now complete.
WRONG
That poor employee that you as a business worked so hard to befriend, listen and talk to, share information with and get them interested enough in your business is now left to the masses of employees and corporate structure that you as a business encompass. Ok, so you don’t have to be a huge company, but the communication methods and styles that you implemented to get them here, where are they now? Does this new employee feel as loved as they did when they didn’t work for you?
Probably not. You have put more value on someone that is not in your business then someone who is already there. A little bit of chicken before the egg argument but I’m sure you get my drift.
Social Recruiting, should and does extend in to your business. It may be just the use of Social Media tools and not called Social Recruiting, but it is vital that the engagement and consistency of communication continues.
If you are going to head in to the Social Recruiting world, be sure that your internal communication methods are consistent with what you portray externally, the last thing you want is to find that same employee you just hired all over again.
Use "The Force" Luke
Social Recruiting Use-The-Force
Ah Star Wars, how I love thee. Three amazing films, well ahead of their time with ideas and special effects, and then 3 movies that left a little bit to be desired, but I’m not going to go into that today. The Star Wars story, the original 3, centered around Luke Skywalker and his father Darth Vader, Jedi Knights with abilities that mere mortals can only dream of.
They can convince people to do what they wish, move items at will, fight with a light sabre like its a chopstick and essentially are the keepers of peace, and the instigator of evil. One wants to rule the Universe, while the other is there to keep things in harmony. “The Force” which gives these Jedi Knights their powers is EVERYTHING. It is the living organisms, the buildings, people, anything you can imagine has some element of The Force surrounding it. The Jediss use this to their advantage (or for Evil for Mr Vadar) and extract what they can out of every situation.
The most famous line for me, and one that we all use on a regular basis is “Use the Force”. When I want something done, or someone else to do something, “Use The Force” is always thrown in there. Maybe I haven’t grown up, but that’s not the point and I have to eventually relate this to Social Recruiting.
So what is “The Force” for recruiters and companies trying to find the best talent in the market? Your Network!
Call it a community, a tribe, a bunch of people, call it what you will, but a recruiters “Force” is the breadth and extensiveness of your professional network. You see the more you are networking, be it via Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Blogs, Events (yes something offline, it still exists) the list goes on, the better access you have to finding what you are looking for. If you are not using Social Media to assist with this, I have nothing to say other then YOU ARE MAD!!!!! Never before have you been able to network so EASILY…..
It may not always be a candidate for that open position, you could need some specific industry information, a recommendation on your work or help with just about anything and your network will be there for you, Use the “Force”.
So next time as a recruiter you are sitting there wondering where your next candidate or client is going to come from, or you need that specific piece of information that will win you a deal, or best yet you are seeking a new position, double check how much time and effort you have spent building your network of contacts across the various social media channels and how you can leverage “Your Force”…..or are you mad?
PS. George Lucas has no copyright on this blog post at all.
