February 12, 2010

Building the empire one post at a time

By

Now that I have read no fewer than 100 articles on social media (and also wrote one), perhaps the world has shifted and we’re all in agreement that it works.

I have loved social media from the start, but do understand that there have been many reluctant participants out there and some who are still avoiding it. Like e-mail, it’s a critical component of the way the world works today and now there is a new evolution happening: Social Recruiting.

The concept of social recruiting is not a new one for me, since I have worked as a recruiter for several years. However, many business owners are still overlooking the jackpot of the Internet when it comes to hiring. Unlike job boards – which I have always found to be a waste of investment as you cast the net far and wide, but usually end up with quantity, not quality – social recruiting utilizes different types of social media to intentionally and strategically capture different demographics, professional backgrounds, and culturally aligned individuals who will fit well into your organization.

When I instruct companies on how to create a social recruiting program, the one thing that continues to surprise me is how little organizations concentrate on what they want; if it’s unclear what you’re hunting for, how can you find the right people? This goes well beyond a job description; social recruiting uses strategy, technology, intuition and cultural savvy to create a cocktail that is powerful, alluring and literally magical if it’s done properly. Suddenly you are finding all the right people at just the right time and you’re not spending thousands of dollars in postings and hundreds of hours of time in processing the wrong applicants.

Owning and growing a business involves many things but at the core of every successful organization is a great leader surrounded by exceptional talent. All of these people must fit with the organization and its ideals in order to sustain the vision and culture of the business. Social recruiting taps into this idea by aggressively announcing to a captive audience that you are interested in bringing people on board. From there, you can be as creative as you’d like, illustrating all of the wonderful things about your company in terms of why people like working there, how much you’ve grown, and unique selling points about your organization.

Be selective

One important thing to remember is you don’t have to blast across every form of social media all at once. Be selective. Perhaps Twitter will never be the right thing for your type of hiring project; that’s OK. There are plenty of others to choose from, including Facebook, MySpace, Plaxo, LinkedIn, and more. What demographic is represented on each site will be a determining factor in where to place emphasis. If you want to capture a very young demographic (high school through college aged individuals), MySpace is a great place to start. However, if you’re looking for the 30-something college graduate/young professional, you’ll find them on Facebook and LinkedIn, not so much on MySpace.

During a recent consulting project to set up a social recruiting program, the business owner assumed that he needed to select a young person from his staff to work with me, as they would be “more likely to understand social media.” Not necessarily true. Although his younger employees were all on social sites already, the person who was truly the right fit as the in-house social recruiting expert was actually a 50-something; she had advanced technical skills, was fast at crafting creative posts and responses online, and had also demonstrated exceptional organizational skills during past hiring projects. She had interviewed several people who had been hired into the company and retained for an extended time, so her understanding of the recruiting process was evident.

Capturing the Gen Y demographic is going to be extremely important as we move forward in business. The number one way to do this is online; this generation does not play by traditional rules and unless you capture their attention through skillful use of technology and online promotion, you will miss the largest demographic to ever grace our planet thus far (there are more Gen Y’ers than baby boomers)!

Quick, concise, and captivating are the key words to keep in mind if you’re going to successfully recruit younger applicants through social recruiting. If done correctly, this type of recruiting is not only effective, it’s fun; you get to be creative with promoting your business rather than running the same dull ad or job posting you’ve been doing for years (and getting marginal results – if any- I might add).

The new wave of hiring is here, and it’s no longer in the shape of the great abyss known as “the job board.” Social recruiting is free for the taking; maximize your reach and your image by creative utilization and management of it and you will see the incredible expansion and quality of your talent pool.

Dawn Duncan is the owner of Broadreach Recruiting & Consulting, a Fort Collins-based firm. Contact her at 970-221-3511 or

www.broadreachrecruiting.com.

Now that I have read no fewer than 100 articles on social media (and also wrote one), perhaps the world has shifted and we’re all in agreement that it works.

I have loved social media from the start, but do understand that there have been many reluctant participants out there and some who are still avoiding it. Like e-mail, it’s a critical component of the way the world works today and now there is a new evolution happening: Social Recruiting.

The concept of social recruiting is not a new one for me, since I have worked as a recruiter for…

Dawn Duncan
Categories: Archived Columns
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