Tag Archive for News

The Ultimate Job – What is it going to be?

June 29, 2010 / Justin Hillier / No comments

We have all heard of the Hamilton Island “Best job in the world” competition that ran last year. It was a global success and the use of social media tools to drive awareness, engagement and the overall success of the campaign can not be questioned. While it certainly did sound like The best job in the world, perhaps for many it may not have been, we didn’t really get a say did we.

This is about to change. Drake Intl. have created a competition to find “The Ultimate Job”. The competition is being run right around Australia to find The Ultimate Job in each city. The wonderful thing about this campaign is that the public decides what is The Ultimate Job.

Here’s how it works:

  • Each capital city will have its own Ultimate Job
  • There are celebrity judges who will choose the top 10 jobs to be voted on by the public. An article will outline each of the positions with the opportunity for each Employer to produce a video to promote their position further.
  • Mission Australia will receive revenue raised by public SMS vote for The Ultimate Job, % of job placement fee and all monies raised via Gala Event concluding the competition
  • Companies with vacant jobs will be encouraged, through multiple sources to submit their applications to be short listed for The Ultimate Job.
  • These are all real jobs that the public can apply to. Some companies are actually creating jobs specifically for this competition, how cool is that?.
  • The Ultimate Job will be announced at a Gala Event with the Top 10 companies in attendance. All jobs will be introduced, No. 10 right down to the winner. The celebrities participating in the judging will be in attendance.
  • The winning job applicant will be showcased at the Gala Evennt.

    • This is a fantastic competition that is going to showcase many great companies, and gives them the opportunity to not only showcase a fantastic job opportunity but also their Employer Brand and EVP. The involvement and support given to Mission Australia is brilliant and the calibre of the Celebrity judging panel is outstanding.

    Drake have done a great job of putting together this competition and from what I understand Social Media will be used to promote the competition and allow engagement with the public, which after all is one of the main aims of this campaign, public choice. With companies like Deloitte, Foster’s and Myer already on board, plus many more, it promises to test each company to not only come up with a great job opportunity but might very well redefine what constitutes a great job, or in this case, The Ultimate Job.

    You can check out the competition website here, or follow them on Twitter here.

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    Down Under Update

    December 3, 2009 / Justin Hillier / No comments


    tweetmeme_url = ‘http://socialrecruiting360.com/2009/12/03/down-under-update’;

    For those who don’t think social media is a useful tool for finding a job, YOU’RE INSANE. As I mentioned last week I am heading home to Australia to get back in to the sunny way of life and I am searching for a role in the Social Media Recruitment space.

    To date I can tell you the response and support has been amazing. Since tweeting about it all last week my call out to Australia has been Re-tweeted 20 times, I think this is amazing. The blog article itself has been viewed 64 times. Not bad.

    Through all of this activity I have connected with some great people in various states that have offered their assistance and further contacts within the industry. Whilst the Australian market is still quite “green” in terms of social media recruitment adoption, there is certainly a growing awareness that their is an opportunity to be had.

    Given all of this I have been advised from many circles, that given my 2 years experience in the UK, focus on enterprise social media solutions in the last 14 months and their faith and trust in my knowledge and ability, that I should consult to recruitment agencies and corporate’s on their social media recruitment strategy upon my return home to Australia. Quite flattering I must tell you.

    So hoping not to stretch the Social Media friendship to far, if there are any recruitment agencies or companies in Australia running around in circles as to where to start with Social Media and it’s benefit’s then drop me a line. You will find many of my thoughts on this blog site and if they sound interesting then we should talk. Don’t worry about a heavy sales approach, that’s not my style.

    I am easily contactable via this blog.

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    Jobs Boards – Ditch The Resume DB Please, get SOCIAL

    December 1, 2009 / Justin Hillier / 6 comments

    Ah, the good old resume database. How I hate thee. Might sound a little harsh but having worked at job boards in a sales capacity for 6 years I think I have every right to say they are fundamentally floored in today’s market. You see if I had a $ for every time I had a client say “It’s a waste of money, all the candidates are old or not relevant” I’d be a millionaire.

    The major problem with the Resume Database as we know it, is that it is WAY to simple for a candidate to put the resume up there and do nothing else with it. This causes many problems. Often they sit there for years and more often then not they classify themselves in the wrong way. So how can job boards take the resume database forward and socialise this aspect of their sites.

    I have one word for you, “Community”. The Resume database on most job boards is a formant sleeping giant. The candidates are asleep and the Employers/Recruiters are getting lost in the maze. Where is the interaction and engagement, what’s the point of having 300,000 people on a database if talking to them is near impossible. Greater engagement would mean greater value, not only to the job board in terms of revenue but to the candidate and employer in terms of faster matches.

    So rather then candidates simply uploading a word doc, here is what it perhaps should look like.

    1. Candidates creates Profile similar to Visualcv.com with added fields to create competencies that show specific situations of soft skill usage ie Leadership, Organisation, Decision making etc. Provide examples.
    2. All Fields are searchable and the candidate has the ability to keep any fields “Private” as to avoid current Employer finding them.
    3. Employers have their Company Profiles integrated in to the Community to enable candidates to shop around, search jobs, leave messages for HR or line managers.
    4. Candidates and Employers can engage via SM tools such as chat, video messages, twitter feed, Forum engagement, connecting with like skilled candidates (similar to connecting on LI or Facebook)
    5. Candidates can communicate with each other about current job searching issues or experiences and Employers have the ability to see this and react.
    5. Employer talks/finds candidate they like. Candidate and Employer can organise “Virtual” interview via video next time they are both on line.
    6. Candidate and Employer meet face to face and candidate is hired.

    And this is just a start…….

    Not only will the whole process be more transparent, but the interaction and engagement will be far more beneficial for both sides. And I’m sure far easier to justify the price of the database “Community”, then it is now.

    Katherine Robinson wrote a great blog this week that focused on the front end for the advertisers. I totally agree with her comments.

    Perhaps we are both barking mad, but I seriously think job boards will need to adapt and move with the times in order to maintain their value. The Greg Savage “Post and Pray” methd is simply not effective, and allowing candidates to just “spray” their CV’s off also needs reviewing. Something does need to change.

    Job boards may not die, but they certainly will if they don’t move with the times.

    And don’t get me started on ATS platforms, grrrr, but that’s for another blog.

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    Back to the Land Down Under

    November 29, 2009 / Justin Hillier / 5 comments

    I am writing this not out of pleasure but what I see as necessity. You see when I started this blog it was to discuss all things within recruitment related to Social Media. The tables have turned a little and I am going to practice what I preach and show all the nay-sayers or doubters that Social Media is a powerful recruitment tool. I want to use Social Media from a candidate perspective to find a new job back in Melbourne, Australia.

    That’s right, for those of you who know me I am currently based in Europe and due to Visa problems I need to return to my mother land. So my family will be happy to hear, via me directly not my blog, that I will be home for Xmas.

    So why am I telling you all of this?

    Well I have built up a nice little network of contacts within the recruitment market, via sites like LI and Twitter, and I want to leverage this to find a job that suits not only what I am looking for but obviously what my next Employer is looking for as well.

    So how can you help?

    Well there’s a few things you might wish to do. Maybe you might like to Tweet the link to this blog to spread the word. You might wish to add a comment to this blog giving your recommendation of your dealings with me to my future employer, or you might simply have someone that you think I should talk to.

    The main purpose of all of this is that as someone who is entrenched in Social Media, just like yourself, I think it is important to use the methods that I say are important to include in your recruitment strategy in my own life as well. Practice what we preach.

    So I turn it over to you, can you help me find a job in Australia in the social media recruitment space. If not then just simply wish me good luck.

    My Resume

    I will of course keep everyone up to date as to my progress, thoughts, and if indeed social media helped me find me my new job.

    Thanks

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    Yesterday's cover letters can't help you today

    November 25, 2009 / Justin Hillier / 10 comments

    Recently on Twitter the debate has raged on over the perceived added value that a cover letter can add to a candidates prospects when attempting to secure a new job. This all started when @ExpertResumeMan suggested “cover Letters ensure resume gets read”. No doubt that the old school cover letter has the best intentions, but is it really relevant to the current internet Web 2.0 world that we live in today?

    Probably not. With IM, video chat, google wave and every other new communication tool jumping into the market, is writing a traditional cover letter really going to make you stand out from the crowd. Is it the most appropriate use of what is available?

    Cover letters are a disappearing art, we rarely see anymore. However, when they are well written they can provide an concisely crafted snapshot of you and tell a story that can’t possibly be told in your resume.

    Through a cover letter you can explain why you are applying to a job from out of state, why you are interested in a position that doesn’t align with your past work experience, gaps in employment and additional accomplishments that would make you a top candidate. You can also give examples of your strong work ethic, write why you would like to work for the company and provide many other pieces of critical information about you that will entice the Recruiter to put your resume on top of the stack and not in the circular file.

    Read the Full article here

    The above text are all reasons that Karla Porter says are reasons to write a traditional cover letter. Whilst I can’t argue with any of her points, she knows her stuff, what I will say is that time and methods have moved on. Ok, so I might be a touch biased (yes I’ve said this before and I’m not shy about it) but I honestly do believe that candidates have a far better option in video available to them.

    Karla pointed out that:

    Cover letters are a disappearing art - Does this not tell us that candidates see little value, Employers see little value and that there are better tools that need to be explored?
    They can provide an concisely crafted snapshot of you and tell a story that can’t possibly be told in your resume - Can you not do this easier with a video and actually show your personality at the same time, we are hiring people after all aren’t we?

    There are many other reasons I can outline from Karla’s post that show that video is a better, more current and appropriate tool to use. But to me it comes down to 2 key points.

    1. Use a tool that is current and in line with today’s technology. This show’s your ability to adapt to the changing technology landscape and that you are adept with their usage.
    2. Tools such as video “show” who you are and are far more “personal” then the traditional cover letter format. What can be more personal then a video of someone then meeting them face to face, why not speed up the process.

    The key to the traditional cover letters is personalisation, what could be better then an introduction via video?

    P.S This wasn’t an attack on Karla, she just posted her article on this topic during the debate.

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    Gen Y – Don't get caught in the trap

    November 25, 2009 / Justin Hillier / No comments

    Gen Y, it seems like everyone is focused on the age group of 18-30 more then ever before. The age group that are our next thought leaders and will be running our major companies and countries in the next 15 years. So why worry about them so much now, are we really in a position to fast track any of that much needed development and learning that we put a “wet behind the ears” candidate into a role that they have no experience in, and yes it does happen.

    You see, I hear and read every day, that HR and recruitment folk and doing their best to understand how to attract Gen Y’ers. They are a fickle generation, the digital generation, and demand things that in all logical terms is outlandish. What makes them so wonderful that we should bow down and give them what they want. And why is it that the older, more experienced are getting pushed to the side, are all recruiters out there, middle aged men having a mid life crises and looking for the 21yo blonde?

    I was listening to Lucian Tarnowski debate with Alan Whitford recently at #trulondon, and he said that Gen Y looked for stability and security in their careers – but don’t we all? That Gen Y were facing trouble’s that no other generation has experienced, but how is this different to the world wars of yesteryear or The Depression? Are these not all unique challenges? And the thinking that Gen Y are more adept at using the internet and other technologies, well i doubt that very much, the oldest person on Twitter is over 100yo and she gets by just fine.

    Think back firstly when you were a child, or your own children were toddlers. Think of how many times they asked for McDonald’s or an ice-cream and how many times you said no, maybe later. Clean your room, tidy up your toys or eat your vegetables and I will think about it. That reward had to be earned. So why is everyone chasing the Gen Y candidate with such gusto? What have they done to deserve such high adulation and desire within the recruitment market.

    Yes it’s true, there is an aging global population, and in 10 years time the baby boomers will be out of the market and the second “true” candidate short market will represent itself (the first being after WW2). Experience and knowledge counts for a lot in business, and hiring a 37 or 47 year old compared to a 27 year old can bring a wealth of knowledge into your business that is invaluable.

    At the end of the day you need to be very careful how much of your recruitment strategy is geared towards attracting Gen Y or any particular age bracket, even a slightly age skewed message or strategy could land you in discrimination hot water. They say the mind and body is only as young as it feels, and I personally know people that have a better outlook on life and more energy and experience then people half their age.

    Why we stereotype people/candidates based on their age is beyond me, should we just not be looking for the best candidate in the market regardless?

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    Hats off to Bill Boorman

    November 24, 2009 / Justin Hillier / No comments
    [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4cMIlNnMic&hl=en_US&fs=1&]
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    Video Recruitment – Are you a video hypocrite?

    November 23, 2009 / Justin Hillier / One comment

    Are companies who use video to attract candidates hypocrites, if they don’t accept video CV’s/Profiles from candidates? Is there a difference? To be honest I don’t really think so and here is why.

    Employers are using video to engage, communicate in more detail and “show” candidates what it is they are offering. They are advertising their employer brand/offering, in the hope of attracting the right candidates and building a stronger image. You can see, hear and feel what a company is like and learn more about an Employer from watching a 2 minute video then by a quick chat over the phone. You can watch and hear from current Employees “pitching” you the Company message. In the end it’s all about selling themselves to you and gaining awareness.

    Candidates use video to engage, sell themselves in the initial stages more effectively and “show” employers what it is they can bring to the table. Having the ability to “show” their personality and have a “virtual face to face” introduction, they are powering their profiles with a visual tool that speaks to their abilities far more efficiently and effectively then some words on a piece of paper. They to are trying to attract the right Employer and by using video they are giving an Employer a better feel for who it is they are.

    So I put it to YOU, for all the companies that utilise video as a vehicle to attract, engage and advertise their Employer Brand to candidates, are they being hypocritical by also not allowing a candidate to do the same?

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    Is your social media strategy, 120, 240 or 360 degrees

    November 22, 2009 / Justin Hillier / One comment

    So chances are you have heard of social media and you have a strategy in place to reap the benefits of the new wave of interaction that is now available to us all. You are using Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Youtube, Xing, Delicious, Digg, ah the list goes on and on.

    Your strategy is sourcing you a great deal of traffic and to date you have somewhat figured out there is a benefit in doing all of this and you are starting to see some return for your efforts. Well done, this will and should occur with a defined plan in place. Whilst it is still very much early days and the approach may very well change in 5 years time, we must get the most out of it’s current structure while we can, why not, it’s an opportunity missed otherwise and what is the business value in that?

    So for now you have solved what is the puzzle of social media and recruiting. But is that really it? It can really be that “relatively” easy can it?

    What if I was to suggest that your strategy is only 33% complete? And there should be in fact 3, yes 3, parts of your social media strategy.

    1. Attraction + Engagement + onboarding

    This one is a bit of a no-brainer for the first 2 uses, but who is using social media for onboarding? Attraction and engagement is great when talking about utilsing all of the above mentioned sites to spread the word about your company, the fantastic opportunities you have, and what a great business you have become.

    But what about on-boarding. Do you encourage new employees to connect with current employees prior to starting and entice them to start getting involved in the business in any way they can. Either just by following a conversation or getting up to date with current projects that they will be working on.

    2. Retention + Engagement + Collaboration

    Here is where your social media strategy provides you your greatest ROI. You have attracted talent, hired them, they have under-gone a great on-boarding process and they are starting to hit their straps. You’re employees are all over social media as we know, however how can you harness social media internally to improve outcomes and enhance engagement and more collaboration. We do after all enjoy the people we work with, more then the job itself most of the time.

    Supplying your staff with the ability to create chat groups, pose questions to the rest of the business and move projects along with more communication is every companies dream. Imagine allowing managers the ability to have a better understanding and the “pulse” of their staff by simply getting more involved in what they want to talk about, business or otherwise.

    With meetings always cancelled or shifted to a time when not everyone can attend due to sickness or holiday, the meeting itself never resolving or covering every discussion point required, and follow up more and more difficult as some people just cannot be tracked down, why not have your staff continue moving things along with the power of a community platform.

    Not only is this great for speeding up discussion and greater collaboration, but if you ever have a question why not pose it to the rest of the company in a non-intrusive manner. Who knows what answers you will get and what other business enhancements may be raised from one conversation alone.

    3. Exiting + Alumni

    It is suffice to say that people move on at some stage, but does that mean your communication should cease entirely. Understanding why people leave is never easy or straight forward, and answering surveys, being involved in discussions and simply making them feel like their voice is still being heard is crucial.

    You may not want to stay in touch as a business with every ex employees but it would be remiss not to have some connection with former employees for either future job opportunities or business deals. You never know who might be your client or vice versa moving forward.

    This is just a snapshot of course, but how many of us can say, we are indeed utilizing social media and its power to its full potential. My mum always told me if I’m going to do something do it properly, I wonder if this relates to social media and its use in recruitment as well?

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    Video Resume's, Expectation not Discrimination

    November 13, 2009 / Justin Hillier / 3 comments

    video resume pic
    Firstly, I want to shoot down the claim that video resumes, applications or anything similar can cause more discrimination by an employer/recruiter. If ever I have heard of a more outlandish comment, this is it. The harsh reality is, is that if someone is going to discriminate, they are going to do it regardless of what medium is used or how the candidate presents themselves. If this is in their genetic make-up, then they will, you can’t blame the video, it just highlights a bigger problem.

    So for those of you who are still left (which I sincerely hope is 99.99% of you) how do you position video to not only avoid the unlikely chance of a candidate claiming discrimination, yes you can avoid any misunderstanding, but to ensure that you are getting the most out of the tool as well.

    Firstly, you’ll be happy to know its quite simple and something that for every other act you do in your job works for video as well. It’s all about “expectation”. Video in recruitment circles is still a very new concept for everyone, from all levels. The fact is, the level of education and understanding from all involved is still quite low.

    Candidates have no idea what they should say, and Employers have no idea what to expect. A candidate is going to claim you have discriminated against them due to their video, as it’s an easy target. With no guidelines or expectations, what do we expect?

    And this is where we can change the game. Employers/recruiters it’s up to YOU.

    Video Resumes/Profiles or whatever we call them, need a guideline. Many candidates struggle to know what to include in a word.doc let alone a 2 minute video, so we need to guide and educate them. Employers should provide a “What we want to see and hear” advice piece as to what is it they require from a video resume/profile. By doing this you are ensuring that all (ok most) video’s have the content that they require but also that people don’t sit there dumbfounded as to what to do.

    Video Resumes/Profiles provide a great opportunity to look at person’s communication skills, and evaluate if they are not only the right person to take to the next stage of the interview process, but also allow you to see how each candidate would represent “your company”. Whether you are wanting a cultural match video, skill based overview, or something left of centre and creative, the screening and decision making process can be made a lot easy and with constant review.

    Now not every candidate will feel comfortable creating a video resume/profile and we shouldn’t force them to, but for those who do, why not help them. Your candidate video expectations should form part of your social media strategy. If someone is going to discriminate, it doesn’t matter what tool or part of the process they do it, it’s all the same. Just don’t blame the video.

    If all parties know what is expected of them, then discrimination is something that can never be argued. Video is a wonderful tool, you just have to plan on how you are going to use it.

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