RCEuro Member Blogs

Recent research indicates that there is now no such thing as a passive candidate. The vast majority of workers are open to new opportunities or actively searching for a new role. The rise of social media and smartphones has meant that it is much simpler for recruiters to find those looking to switch jobs. What does this mean for the regular jobseeker?

 

When I graduated and began seeking work my first ports of call were job boards and newspaper adverts (I’m showing my age here). I spent a great deal of time tailoring my CV in Word to upload to job boards or email to employers (bet you thought I was going to say post, I’m not that old) or completing lengthy online application forms. Being fairly well qualified (if I do say so myself), I believe I got a higher response rate than average, something like 20% of my applications resulted in invitations to interview or calls from recruitment agencies.

Some of the interviews I attended were assessment days including group activities and psychometric testing and some were straight interviews with either a single person or panel, but the overriding theme was that whilst my qualifications got me to that initial stage, to progress or be hired I had to demonstrate something more than could be gleaned from my CV – cultural fit, experience, problem-solving skills, etc. – all things that workers will find it easier to demonstrate than a jobseeker.

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I attended the event Social Media in Recruitment at London and was dazzled about the whole bunch of information I got. In this first blog, I will write about the three most discussed social networks: LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. I just bundled all the information I got and wrote down a conclusion of all three of them. See here we go...

LinkedIn is the professional network used to look for candidates. The two biggest groups represented on LinkedIn are white collars and young graduates so if that is your target group, get yourself a profile and start engaging! Not all people on LinkedIn are looking for a job, there are also professionals who are just using it as a tool to develop themselves professionally. But why not communicate with them also? One day they might be looking for a job and then you already have build up a relationship of trust with them. If you want to use it as a company, I would suggest to use Company Profile (customized version). Here you can adapt your content to your target group. A sales manager for example will see other content on the career pages as an IT-specialist.

Twitter is noise so this one is for keeping everyone up-to-date about anything you like. As a company you can choose to tweet about jobs or news or maybe both. What is suggested is to use feeds: One for the news and one for jobs.  People who do not like to be spammed with jobs, can choose not to see them. One thing you really have to do before starting to post jobs on Twitter is making sure that you have a proper career page. People still have to be attracted to your company after they have left the safe & sexy Twitterpage.

Last but not least, Facebook. I personally always felt a bit withheld to use Facebook professionally but Thursday I was provided with some new insights. What most people do not know is that the Fan Pages of Facebook are indexed by Google. When you set-up a customized Fan page (not that difficult apparently), you optimize the branding of your company. The more fans you have, the higher you will appear in search results. I concluded that Facebook is not necessarily used to look for candidates but that it is best used to increase your brand reputation and make your company more popular. And maybe, who knows, your very cool customized fan page is going to attract lots of talent from Facebook.

So now you know: LinkedIn to look for talent, Twitter to keep everyone up-to-date and Facebook to increase brand reputation.

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10 days to go before I get on the big bird to Chicago and then a bus to Madison to join the TruCrew and a great line-up of track leaders  and participants to share knowledge at TruUsa .  I am leading some tracks (Job Board 2020, Culture Clash, JIT Sourcing)  and hope to pile into many others while there.

I have been thinking a lot lately about the future of traditional conferences, the Unconference movement and the more ad hoc ‘conferences' that we have on social media gatherings on Twitter with #hashtags like #TNL. Check out the radio show that Tru co-founder Bill Boorman and I conducted on Tuesday this week on hashtags and a range of Twitter tips from #mrbill

I was one of 3 speakers at a ‘traditional' event today, hosted by Recruitment Consultant Magazine , in Manchester (that is England, not New Hampshire). We ran the same event a couple of weeks ago in London (England, not Ontario) Recruitment Conference IT and Technology 2010 #recconfit2010  You might have seen my exciting effort at breaking the ice with audience in London.

Targert audience for both events was professional recruitment consultants (agencies), along with a smattering of technology suppliers and media types.  

I had the pleasure of leading off with a presentation on Social Media (a recurring theme, as I had the same slot at this conference a year ago). Raymond Pennie (@rpennie) of Kamanchi followed talking about creating effective strategies (with some focus on the impact of technology) and Felix Wetzel (@FelixWetzel) of Jobsite (a major #TruLondon sponsor) discussed candidate and advertiser behaviours (now and future) along with sharing some interesting research

Why do I bring this up when I am supposed to be writing about #TruUsa?  In one word: Engagement

I have spoken at, chaired or led more than 200 conferences, workshops or events over the last 10 years or so.  Which ones have given me the most buzz, the most satisfaction?  Other than Global Recruitment Conference 2008 , which I organised and chaired in Amsterdam, with an outstanding group of global thought leaders and delegates, I have to say that it has been those events where I set up or ran workshops/breakout groups. Why? Because in that environment, you get the engagement of every delegate/attendee - either with you as a session leader or with the others in the room.

In a sense, today confirmed that. We had an excellent group of delegates, professional and committed to their industry and their business, eager to learn from the 3 Talking Heads and the hosts.  All 3 of us tried to engage with the delegates (none of us are what might be considered wallflowers when it comes to speaking to an audience).  We had a few in the audience who were willing to discuss their company, strategy, questions and experiences. Feedback from delegates at the breaks and the post event drinks was excellent, delegates were happy, had learned and gathered real value from the day. The organisers (Jim and Gary) had two successful events and the sponsors/exhibitors did well.  But for Felix, Raymond and I, it felt a bit like an opportunity lost - for the delegates to engage in real debate and discussion with each other throughout the afternoon (although it did happen during the breaks).

That brings me full circle to Engagement - the real essence of an Unconference.  Track leaders start a conversation, hoping to guide it a bit and sometimes act as a referee if required.  The participants in the track drive the discussion/debate -its direction may go places other discussions just cannot reach.  In any session, the engagement of individuals - with each other, with a track leader or two (if we are lucky) is exhilarating.  Learning what challenges others have (Hey, look at me, I'm not so far behind) or successes someone is experiencing (Hey, if he/she can do that, we sure can!) - make it worthwhile flying 4,000 miles and taking a 3 hour bus ride to get to Madison. As it was worth it for the North Americans who flew over for #truLondon.

I can't wait. See you all there - or on video feeds on RCEURO, hashtag #TruUsa, twitter posts @rceuro, @alanwhitford or whatever means we come up with to share the experience.

As #mrbill says, it isn't just about the conference, it is about the conversations that happen for weeks leading up to an event and months afterwards. That is what I call: Engagement.

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Let's be honest with each other for a moment. We all know that's easier said than done, sometimes you just have to keep quiet. Sometimes, you have to bite your lip. It's just easier that way.

But then where does that really get you? In the short term it can make sense, even make life easier, but the reality is, without honesty, in the long term we never really improve.

What if you could ask any question you like and get an honest answer? How much easier would that be when it came to making the right decisions?

If that were the case organisations could create even more authentic and transparent employer brands, based on honest employee feedback and opinions.

Recruiters could manage candidate expectations from the offset, delivering the right candidates for the right reasons.

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I have been busy, busy, busy this week! Now I’m back working 5 days a week it’s a real change of pace. It’s actually a bit alarming how quickly you get used to enjoying a 4 day weekend… [Note to self: Challenge for the new year is to get Mr J into a top notch job so that I can laze around more and he can keep me in the manner to which I’ve always wanted to become accustomed!] So anyway, my social media play time has fallen by the wayside somewhat and I’ve really missed it. But actually not quite so much as I thought I would, because so many of the people I talk to on social media are now people I talk to in ‘real life’ too!

In the last seven days I’ve spoken to @LisaScales, @AndyHeadworth and @AlanWhitford on the phone and to @RadicalRecruit on Skype. I’ve had dinner with @MervynDinnen and @LaraNewman, and tomorrow I’m meeting @ClareWildman for after work drinkies. Who needs social media, eh?! Not one of these relationships would be in effect without social media. Well, without Twitter, to be precise!

Maybe I’m preaching to the choir here, but social media is really only the beginning. So far I’ve met at least 24 people from my personal Twittersphere, and frankly I need to work harder to increase that number because it’s a bit lame all things considered! Seriously though, there’s only so much you can convey in 140 characters or with the written word and if you truly want your relationships to flourish then you need to take it offline, into the real world and onto the next level. Yes, social media is a fantastic start and, sadly, I may never get to meet a lot of my favourite Tweeps in person due to geographic barriers, so in that respect is still an amazing tool, but even so… There are plenty of people we can and should meet. There are people in all our networks who we’ve never met but who live within a stones throw.

Now obviously you have to be a bit cautious about meeting anyone from off the internet. Though the prospect of being ‘groomed’ at 20-, 30-, 40-something is actually marginally flattering, personal safety comes first! But we’re all adults and we can all use our common sense. There are local tweetups and events happening all the time and this can be a perfect setting for a first meeting, not to mention providing the opportunity to meet a whole host of other people you might not have connected with otherwise!

@LaraNewman was the first person I’d met on Twitter who I met offline. We went ice skating together and had a lovely afternoon! Mr J thought she was probably an axe murderer or, failing that, some sort of swinger who was touting for new recruits. Of course, she was neither of those things (I suspect he was slightly disappointed about the latter!) but we met in a public place and Mr J demanded I leave a report with him listing everything I knew about her, just in case I never returned home. To be honest, I’ve never (yet!) had any doubts about my meetings with people on Twitter. Most people reveal a whole host of information about themselves on both Twitter and LinkedIn and are known by at least one other person in my network, so short of it being a very large and organised axe murdering ring, the odds are good that they’re not a psychopath. I’d be far more reticent to meet anyone who wasn’t pre-vetted though and you do have to use your common sense.

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Geoff Webb from Toronto, Radical Recruiter and session leader at TruLondon I in November has added to his many outlets with Tru Blogs , which should grow to include content from many of the proposed Tru events, including Tru London II in London in February and possible Tru North and Tru USA.

Spreading the gospel of Bill Boorman and many many thought leaders in all aspects of recruitment from around the world.

RCEuro.com is happy to be a sponsor of the London series and I am personally looking forward to travelling to North America (back near my roots of upstate NY, only 85 miles or so from Torornto) to share learning and knowledge with so many individuals I have met on Twitter and the various recruitment blogs.

Geoff has just posted a terrific wrap up video from TruLondon I, with original content, video from Andy and Sarah Headworth and stills from our onsite reporter, twitterer and all around good egg, Jill Elswick, which you can watch from the Audio/Video player on the home page.

 

 

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 Last week was the UK’s first recruitment unconference and it was certainly an interesting event. I was working the Social Media Track with @mattalder and@carveconsulting. Anyone who knows Matt and Paul will know how knowledgeable both are when it comes to social media; I cannot tell you how much I learned from them throughout the day!

Matt and Paul know all about using social media in business but me, I don’t know anything much about that really. I work in the construction industry and, as emaciated as the industry is, you don’t find that many candidates or clients from my little niche working the social networks. I use social media for me; my personal development and networking. I don’t know anything much about posting jobs, using boolean searches for finding candidates on LinkedIn, or monitoring my company’s brand because that’s not how I use it, so I didn’t feel as though I had an awful lot to contribute on that front. I’m more about personal branding and interaction, so I was a little sad that everyone was more interested in the corporate stuff. I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised though really; these are tough times for recruiters and social media is a fairly new tool for a lot of people. Me, I’m a bit of a geek – I’ve been making friends and networking online since my mid-teens and the days of ICQ, IRC and forums.

Social media for personal use is something we all need to be aware of and work smarter at though. The benefits are endless but the two major ones are, in my opinion, personal development and networking.

Personal Development

We all have different work ethics, operate in different industries and have different training. Sharing our experiences and opinions, be it through blogs, tweets, emails or in person, is enlightening! We can learn something from everyone in our network and I think the unconference really highlighted that: There were all sorts of unique ways that companies and individuals were using social media, all sorts of tools that people were using to monitor their brand, and a variety of positive and negative experiences that people had had which we could all learn something from. I’m not going to list them all here; go to the next unconference in February and see for yourself! I didn’t get to visit any other tracks (apart from the secret track at the end!) but I still came away with a couple pages of notes, so I can only imagine what those who had a chance to move about learned!

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Milch & Zucker conference, A Journey from Attraction to Selection

The first of the case studies on employer branding. Sabine Josch of the Otto Group, assisted by Milch & Zucker on the brand slides

Again in German, so my apologies for interpretation in advance.

Goal for 2012 to be top three trade employer.
Developing new HR campaigns, with Employer Value Proposition, as basis for external communication

This is good structured presentation, on the steps they have taken from Marketing to creative concepts, based on real stories and real experiences and using 'uncommon images', such as the wrinkles around eyes and belly button to hold the text messages.
Getting a good laugh - I like these two as presenters, very audience centric.

Next images  showing the traveller sitting on suitcases - these are good marketing driven approach, not the common recruitment style images. Will be interested to get the presentation later.

So, after testing campaigns against the EVP, how do you make that concrete approach to advertising?  Style, colours, Tag lines,  and establish set campaign elements for implementation.

Key points to underpin the approach
Personalise: employee as ambassador
Be seen as authentic: use real stories which are believable
Consistency of brand and image across media and campaigns

Tangible Results are emerging
2007, first improvements in brand ranking in Trendence
Make the list of Tope Employers

Relaunched their own career site
Fall 2007, Reflect the new branding and add more Web 2.0 features
Moved up from 52nd in 2007 to 15th in 2009 in the Potential Park rankings
Similar improvements in other rankings

Other initiatives include co-operations with various university and business associations

Now showing video applications - for candidate interviews, need to talk with her about this later

Twitter page is up: 
Receiving positive feedback from the pages. 895 followers today

Mobile recruiting, sees as necessary to embrace new technologies

Facebook
Have a profile page

Video campaigns on YouTube for the company, neat as shows a fun and different approach to overall company branding.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wo-_s6vClBI
Has had over 18,000 views leading to 40,000 his on the corporate site

 

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Great shows today

Bill Boorman's online radio show , in its third week had great guests from US and UK. This week's show features a collection of veteran recruiters discussing what clients want from the current market.

Listen to the full broadcaset in our Video/Audio stream: ON AIR - Ready for Lift Off. Or you can follow the link to to the BlogTalkRadio site and listen/download. Check out the first two shows either on our site or on the BlogTalkRadio site.

 

Listen to Billboorman on Blog Talk Radio

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Andy Headworth has started another stream of controversy on his blog and Twitter today, picking up on the article I wrote about last week here on the Recruitment Community Europe site: Lynne Featherstone and her suggested bill regarding equality and discrimination in recruitment that could be solved by taking names off CVs/Profiles.

Here is the text of my response/comments that I posted on Andy's blog.

Let's all get real about this. I agree with Andy that it could be the start of a 'slippery slope' When do you decide to stop 'anonymising' a CV.  Name, location, school, employer all could be used in a discriminatory manner.  The reality is, as we discussed last week in the posts about Video CVs, discrimination, if it happens, will happen at the interview, no matter how identifying characteristics might be hidden beforehand.

At the same time, Alex is right about what technology could do.  12 years ago at Resumix we had the ability to create a complete skill profile, match it against the job requirement and hey, presto! Matched candidate and job - without name, identity, etc etc.  All could have been anonymous. But guess what?  Hiring companies actually want to know the name of the person they will be interviewing. They want to know where the candidate lives (how long will it take the candidate to get to work everyday?)  They want to know what kind of education the candidate has.

So, with due respect to Lynne and Mark, this is an act of folly, a solution looking for a problem that it will not solve.

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Wow, interesting series of blogs/articles out there on this topic.

I would love to see our blogging and social network experts like An de Jonghe, Ricardo Risamasu, Peter Gold, Bas van de Haterd all leap into this fray.

Check out: Tom Foremski of Silicon Valley Watch , who started this off this week relative to a PR 'expert' who advised on the use of Twitter and Facebook.

Then Jason Gorham has picked it up and run with it as it relates to an 'expert' in digital recruitment advertising.

This topic stream could be related to any type of 'expert consulting' in our and other industries. How many of us who do have the expertise from actually using the products/services/strategies have been pushed aside by a client/prospect because we do not come from one of the 'big name' companies?

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