Workplace of Choice

Remember the days of rushing to meet print deadlines in order to place an employment ad in the Sunday newspaper?  Then Job Boards took over about a decade ago, but now Social and Business Networking sites are all the buzz. With the advent of new technology there are always pro’s and con’s.  While these sites do have a place in recruitment, it’s up to you and your company to determine how to best utilize them.  Here are some of our thoughts and experiences.

Using LinkedIn is a valuable recruitment tool.  It is easy to navigate and provides the ability to post ads, view member profiles, search by keywords, participate in Q & A’s, and reach out to people that you are interested in pursuing for a position.  LinkedIn is exclusively a business networking site and its reputation has grown as a credible and professional site. When we receive an “inmail” or an invitation to become connected to someone: we know we are not receiving spam.  Although we have not yet filled a position exclusively as a result of LinkedIn,we have certainly developed candidates and gotten the word out about searches we are working on.

We are in experimental mode with Twitter right now.  As retained recruiters, we represent client companies and need to be respectful of their branding and philosophy of how they would like to be portrayed.  One client is currently tweeting twice a week about the job openings we are working on for them.  So far no bites, but what can’t be measured is how many of those folks are re-tweeting the message to followers of theirs.  The potential is very far reaching but is very time consuming.

Facebook is the most controversial social media site when using it for business purposes.  Here you are most likely to be mixing personal with professional.  One credible way to use Facebook as a recruitment tool is to include a link on your business facebook page that brings the viewers (your fans) directly to the career section of your company web site.  Then in one quick click they can view your job openings.  Facebook does provide you with the ability to post jobs at no cost but this is not being utilized by many of the recruiters we know.  Of course the biggest Facebook hazard is learning something about a potential employee or current employee that you are embarrassed to know or worse could jeopardize their standing in the recruiting process or company.

The bottom line for recruiters is that these technological advances make our job easier.  We are able to identify qualified candidates more quickly than ever and weed out those that don’t fill the bill.  But, as with all new tools, we need to rely on our own good judgment in order to represent our employers and clients in the most professional manner.

Please tell us about your recruiting experience using social media networking sites.