Just this week, a few members of RNG, recruitment leaders in the GTA, and also users of Social Media for networking and recruitment purposes, met to talk about current trends and the future of using these web 2.0 technologies for sourcing.
I’d like to share some of the thoughts and discussions that surfaced at the roundtable discussion. First and foremost, I would like to acknowledge and highlight that although the focus of my thoughts will be on social network recruitment, the group recognized that this is only one tool in an arsenal of online and offline sources.
Really, social network recruitment is not much more than an extension of the offline networking you probably already do, or the employee referral program you already have. The focus here is to harness technology to formalize and synergize other methods to create a dominant, and sometimes new, source to make your life easier and propel you ahead of hour competition. It is to go where you talent is going, or better yet, be there first and welcome them with your brand and with open arms.
As one member put it - recruiters need to dedicate a portion of their time to networking, whether in person (over coffee), on the phone, or through any one of a number of online channels.
How much time you spend will depend on a number of other influences, but the fact remains, to be effective and out there, you must be proactive, and you must network. To take it one step further, recruiters need not only remain in contact with their network, but should create a symbiotic relationship – sharing information, staying close and picking up cues on what is going on around them.
Before I get into too much more, I want to share highlights of some relevant comScore metrics that one of the Yahoo! product managers shared with us. From a social media tool perspective, I think the group was a little surprised to learn that while Facebook has meteoric growth in Ontario, Bebo is more dominant in the prairies, out west and in Europe (Facebook is just beginning to overtake Bebo in Europe). LinkedIn is bigger and has faster growth in western Canada, but in the last month or so, has 150% growth in Unique User visits (Facebook with 211%), both stealing share from most other players - where, for example, we see a decrease of 11% of Unique Users for mySpace in the same period. However, if you are recruiting in the United States, it is good to know that mySpace remains dominant over Facebook, Bebo, and all other tools – so, if you are recruiting or advertising to potential candidates south of the border, you may wish to re-evaluate where your marketing dollars are being spent. Looking at age demographics, which I will not go into at this point, adds a whole new dimension to the metrics looked at here. For more on stats or any questions, you can find me at jet@iQd2.com .
With the growth statistics illustrated above and the never ending quest for the elusive passive candidate, lets look a little bit more are the evolution of recruitment 2.0. At the roundtable, everyone acknowledged that, among other market changes, job boards are going to need to grow their offerings and rethink their business models to remain a relevant viable and affordable option for recruiters. With a vast array of recruitment systems, job boards, and networking sites – recruiters are going to become more and more particular about where they spend their precious and limited time. Differentiators will emerge that will allow recruiters to prioritize their sources, to weed through the fray. There will likely be a movement to find tools capable of integrating with each other and with legacy systems that are easy to use, affordable and efficient.
For sake of not preaching, and getting some discussion going, I am going to cut off my thoughts there. I encourage those of you reading this article to pipe in with comments and questions. Comment on the thoughts I have presented, and concepts that have worked or not worked for you. Ask questions to the group if you are looking to build a social network recruitment strategy or have run in to roadblocks in doing so. But, let me first add a few more teasers…
Some more food for thought?
Give some thought to not only sourcing directly through your network, or through introductions by those in your business network, but perhaps introductions by parents in your network to their job seeking kids. Think about how to effectively bring your employee referral program into an online social network, how to keep it up to date, and how to effectively use it without offending or abusing the relationships with potential “passive” leads.
Think about how you will protect candidate leads as a company asset, should you have recruiter turnover. As networks emerge outside of your applicant tracking databases, consider how you might integrate structures into your business that will allow you to retain a recruiter’s leads as those individuals exit your company – especially in a small environment where you may only have one or two recruiters.
Don’t forget to get legal advice and give some thought to the privacy and employment law implications of the sources and data you may be using as part of the recruitment process – specifically social media recruitment. If you are blogging or providing content to third party sites, have you thought about how to optimize your content (search engine optimization, or SEO) so that the various search engine tools will automatically pick up and list your information – for FREE!
Finally, as you stray into the vast online world of social network recruitment and blogging, remember to keep it interactive, current and build street cred! Be different, give potential candidates a reason to visit you and keep coming back. Make sure you are properly staffed to do so. Don’t be one sided – be prepared to let the truth come out, but carefully monitor and manage those thruths. Know that if you’re not providing a place for netters to talk about your company, they’ll be doing it elsewhere, so why not stay in the middle of things. Be leading edge. Get into social media recruitment before your competitors do – just one more tool in your arsenal, but given current trends, probably an important tool becoming more and more so every day.
Now, let’s hear your thoughts, agreeing or disagreeing comments and questions.