Had an interesting chat with a recruitment agency earlier this week regarding their consultants and LinkedIn. Firstly hats off to them for pushing the use of LinkedIn as hard as they are, it’s a recruiters gold mine if you engage and use all aspects of the site/network, we receive a lead on average once a [...]
Over the weekend I finally went and saw Inception. Unless you have been living under a rock you know this movie has something to do with dreams, and stealing them. On the surface that is initially what it is about, however as the movie progresses the key plot is planting an idea in someone’s dream/subconscious [...]
The Future of Mobile Recruitment report is the result of a roundtable co-hosted by Jobsite and Allthetopbananas.com in London in May 2010 with some of the leading brands involved in mobile, including Google and Microsoft. You can download the report below, here though are some key findings: More people now access social networking sites via [...]
About eleven years ago Job Boards burst on to the scene to end the demise of print advertising. Whilst that has not entirely occurred, it certainly has made a massive dent in to the once prominent employment sections of the Saturday paper. But what of eleven years from now? Social Media, or Social Recruiting as [...]
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
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.
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.
I’ve had a few interesting chats with people all around the world over the last few days regarding social media and the impact it is having on the recruitment industry. There is no doubting that social media is not a fad, however there are still some, or should I say many, within the recruitment industry that just don’t believe that social media has a place, is worth their time and effort, or will produce any results to bother with it at all.
To me this is astounding. Having been around the industry for 9 years now, the one thing that has always been the most difficult thing for any recruiter, in-house or 3rd party to do successfully was connect and engage with the candidate market place, to truly have their finger on the pulse of what is happening out there beyond their usual 1st degree contacts.
With social media, that has changed the game, so why are so many recruiters, in-house and 3rd party, still so scared to delve in to the rabbit hole of social media?
Are they simply scared of the technology itself? Surely not, no doubt they are all on Facebook anyway.
Are they scared that they will be found out not to be a people person, for that is in fact what social media will highlight if you do not get involved.
Are they worried that it won’t produce results? How can this be, surely talking to people in your industry is your main focus anyway, how on earth from that can social media not produce results.
I’m stumped. Social Media for me has given me greater access to people within the recruitment world like never before. If you’re a recruiter, wanting to find candidates or clients, why on earth would you not utilise the vast power that is social media?
Laziness or blindness? You be the judge.
Simple answer you would think? Yes, it makes sense really doesn’t it. The Social Media craze is sweeping the world and has taken over traditional media to a large degree, in terms of it’s immediateness and impact and knowledge sharing and networking. Iran, Mumbai, Patrick Swayze, Haiti, Michael Jackson etc etc. were all first broken to the wider world via social media. So if the world is so in tune with Social Media then why wouldn’t business benefit from having some presence in order to stay “more in tune” with their consumer/client base?
The 2 biggest negative comments or worries that I have heard is that Social Media is just what Ashton Kutcher had for lunch (ie Twitter) or that we are worried that someone will say something bad about us or it gives them a greater chance to, all social media. Firstly, the wonderful thing about Social Media is that you get to choose who you follow/track/watch, you can always opt out of receiving some ones updates or life story.
Secondly, and really the answer to the second response is pretty simple. If you are worried about people saying negative comments regarding your business then 2 things, not being on Social Media isn’t going to stop that, and secondly the issues in your business that they are suggesting should be something that you look at. Isn’t it best to know what the market is saying and either prevent or react to these issues then to not know at all. Ignorance is not bliss.
Regardless of what angle you wish to use social media from, recruitment, consumer, networking, new business generation, customer service etc etc. you are doing yourself, and your business a disservice by not utilising the tools that the broader community today are all over.
Whats your thoughts? Should every company have some Social Media presence?
It was only a matter of time until an Australian Recruitment Agency took the lead and created a new position for a Social Media Manager. The first (that I am aware of) is Sarina Russo Group. Not only is this a step in the right direction for Australian Recruitment agencies, it is being lead by one of the more innovative recruitment firms in the country.
Sarina has long been an industry leader and has always done things a little bit different. Her TV show that was focused on a wide range of recruitment areas was something that most companies globally wouldn’t dare to think of doing. This is taking the already great work that Greg Savage and his team at Aquent are doing with Social Recruiting that little bit further.
Whilst this move should be lauded as a monumental step in the right direction for candidate engagement and interaction, its a shame the application process from the Seek website is not working, see here
Makes me wonder that if someone who has the experience they are looking for, would actually bother going out of their way to track down the process in which to successfully apply. The ad is very well written and covers a wide range of aspects that the Social Media Manager will be responsible for, great insight and effort here I must say. The position is based in Brisbane which may also limit the attractiveness of the role, small market of candidates and really this job could be done from anywhere you would think, Head Office shouldn’t restrict this.
So who is going to be next in the Australian Market and look at hiring a Social Media Manager. I would firstly like to see a job title change to Social Recruiting Manager but hey we can’t have everything now can we.
It sounds funny to say that content isn’t King when referring to a blog site or any information that you are seeking about a particular topic. The information stored within a site/blog/book is paramount to learning something new and furthering our minds. But when that content is put in front of you time and time again, every day multiple times a day, with no other option but to delete it, it is no longer helpful or wanted. It is SPAM.
My example of this is Jeff Bullas, and his tweet’s that ran at a rampant 90 or so a day (yes i have checked this) of his blog articles. Now don’t get me wrong, the content that Jeff has is brilliant, I will be one of the first people to should his praises for his insight into Social Media and how effective it is. I have garnered much knowledge from his postings and will stay tuned in to his future blogs.
What I will say though is Jeff, if your listening, tone down the barrage of tweet’s that we have all seen 100 times already and engage with us. I say this with respect to Jeff and his knowledge. Auto Tweets, and more importantly auto DM’s simply are not effective, not at the rate they come through. They reek of laziness and show little respect for your network. I want to hear more of what Jeff has to say and although with his large following it can be difficult to reply to everything, surely a few “human interactions” would be better then the bot approach we see now.
Jeff, I actually received an Auto DM from your account saying “Thanks for the RT”, whilst this may be a nice gesture, I did not RT any of your tweets, I in fact said to you “why do you repost everything 100 times”?. This to me is a contradiction of everything engaging and interactive about Social Media and clearly not in tune with my tweet. I felt cheated.
I encourage everyone to read Jeff’s blog, there is some brilliant content there and we can all learn a lot from his knowledge and insights into Social Media.
Jeff I love your work but please talk to us, turn off the Auto Posts that are starting to become SPAM and join in the conversation.
P.S This is not a personnel attack on Jeff and his work, just highlighting the need for engaging interactions rather then Spam like tweets.
Social Media has opened up a behemoth of opportunities for companies to converse and attract potential employees and understanding the thinking process of candidates has changed entirely. No longer does the traditional Passive vs Active candidate argument satisfy. Engagement is now imperative, however is it as simple as just trying to have a conversation with someone who is on your page/account?
We are now living in a much deeper, and to some degree, more complicated methodology of candidate interaction. Whilst the basic principle of “being social” is key, it is important to understand the different phases that a candidate is likely to go through to be the “bum on the seat” that you are trying to achieve.
Focusing on the ultimate objective of building a community, I believe there are 4 stages to consider that a candidate now moves through.
1. Browsing – Candidates are researching or surfing around Twitter, Facebook etc looking for a potential employer, or general searching and come across your business. There is no affiliation or loyalty with this candidate and they are not sure what it is they are looking for. This is as close as we get to the passive candidate in terms of “not looking”, however something strikes them they move to Interest.
2. Interest – Candidates whilst browsing see something that connects with them, and, in turn interests them. It could be a wide range of propositions that you have marketed, or could simply be a testimonial of a previous employee or a current employee. They are not entirely sold on your business quite yet but are intrigued enough to find out more. Two to three positive messages (estimation) should see them move to the Interaction phase.
3. Interaction – The Candidate is now asking questions, downloading information and conversing within the community to get a headline overview of the company and what potential career opportunities there are. They are still in the research phase, and will likely ask a wide range of questions to qualify their key criteria of what company they would like to work for. It is more likely that they will simply seek answers to questions and not offer any more communication unless they are genuinely interested. Then they will shirt to the Engagement & Contribution stage.
4. Engagement & Contribution – Your candidate now wants to join your business and you have now directed them to your Community Platform (Tribepad, shameless plug yes..) to engage in more meaningful conversations with current employees and HR staff and proactively apply to positions. It is at this stage that you have a candidate, that should their skills be applicable, that can not only be harnessed for positive word of mouth, but that is “sold” on working for your company and they may not have even applied for a job yet. They are giving back to your community their views and thoughts of your hiring process, and what they have seen that has made your company the one they want to work for. Can there be anything more powerful then that?
With Social Media/Social Recruiting forming an integral part of the recruitment process, it is important to adapt to the new ways of thinking that candidates or potential candidates now move through. Passive vs Active is no more.
Social Media
I was thinking about this movie the other day and noticed some stark connections between the concept of a collective mind producing outcomes for a desired positive goal. You see the 3 collective minds, lets call them, Twitter, Facebook and Youtube, were all working together to produce a result. They all had their unique strengths and all played off each other to get the desired outcome.
Tom Cruise, lets call him “HR Director”, would watch all of this play out on video and be one step ahead of the game thanks to the forward thoughts of his assistant, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. The three would talk to him in a unique way that no one else had access to and allow him to forward plan strategies to save the day.
Armed with this knowledge there was nothing that “HR Director” couldn’t achieve. HR Director had the deepest insights into the rest of the world, lets call this the “global community” and could plan well in advance. Now that HR Director understood his community, the engagement levels were heightened to a level that was never previously dreamed of. The Community was now a juggernaut and there was no stopping it. Plans could be changed well in advance and industry changes and community sentiment were known before others had thought about researching it.
So does life imitate art or does art imitate life? Or have I had to many sleepless nights of late?
Blogging, it’s something that many people say takes to much time and to much thought to be successful at. It’s difficult to think about a new topic 3 times a week, and takes so much time to write that perfect blog that you are happy with. For me, 6 months ago I never thought I would be blogging and enjoying it. Not only realising how easy it is, but also the amount of ideas that I have to blog about, such as this
So why do I blog?
Tell the World what I think
Well it was something that I did not seek out personally and was desperate to get in to. Given my line of work I read blog after blog every day and sometimes, not always, I have differing views to that of the article and author. I have always commented on my views, however explaining my thoughts in more detail then 2 paragraphs was obviously not possible. Having my own blog however I can rant and rave as much as I like.
New Ideas and Concepts
For those who know me, know that I have some really good ideas about certain aspects of recruitment but never had the platform to voice them. Blogging has allowed me to not only put those ideas on paper (yep I even forget some of my own ideas off the top of my head sometimes, Am I alone on that?) but also allows other people to add there opinions to the conversation thus generating constructive and creative debate.
Build a Network
I am actually quite amazed at some of the people that read my blog. At the beginning every blogger sits there checking stats 4 times a day to see if anyone has visited. The thing is once you get going and write thought provoking quality content the feedback you receive from all over the world is outstanding.
Be known and seen as a Industry thought Leader
This takes time and a lot of hard dedicated work. Something I am actually looking forward to. For people to approach you for your thoughts on a particular topic is not only quite humbling, but also shows that you are engaging with people in a way that we should all be striving for, knowledge sharing and collaboration.
Flex that muscle in my head
I don’t know about you, but my mind never stops thinking of how I can improve a particular process, a new way of doing things, or a new concept entirely, so why not share that with the world. Now I won’t always go deep into a new concept or a game changing way of thinking and operating, but the frame work is always good to put out there for feedback. Collaboration is paramount for Social Media and I am a big advocate.
Generate New Business
I would be lying if I didn’t want to garner some commercial benefit from blogging. The thoughts and concepts that I put out to on my Blog form the basis of what I advise and recommended to the clients I work with. I obviously don’t divulge everything but if a HR Director is reading through my site and likes what I have to say, I hope they contact me.
Share and Share alike
Collaboration and sharing a key components of Social Media and I am very very vocal about how important this is. If you read or follow numerous blogs, it’s only fair that you either A. Provide feedback on an article that resonates with you one way or another or B. Blog yourself and give back to the wider community.
Differentiation
There is a ridiculous amount of people out there labelling themselves as Social Media Experts (seriously none of you are) and a number of peers that have either differing views or actively blog. We don’t all think the same (which is healthy) and it is good to have a point of difference. Whilst the tools we all use are the same, the methodology can differ and thus produce different results for different companies. There is always more then way way to skin a cat, and not every idea or concept connects or fits with every company. So why not tell everyone what your ideas are work practices are to help you stand out.
Cause I can
Do I need to say more???
SO why do you Blog?
