Jobs in Pods Blog

Kudos to Cadbury Schweppes in the UK for their forward thinking career site. Not only do that have podcasts but they also utilize blogs and chat as part of their recruiting strategy. Like Jobs in Pods, Cadbury understands the importance of using these new technologies to talk to the next generation workforce.

We just read this terrific post “Social Media Talent Wars“. Its basically a mantra about using social media (aka…blogs, podcasts, social networks) to recruit the next generation workforce. This particular quotes says it best;

“The modern workforce is very used to using blogs, podcasts and other social media tools in their personal lives. It becomes a near impossible stretch for them to lead interactive, digitized lives at home and shift to low-tech, paper-based, one-sided communication in the office. It just doesn’t translate.”

The job market is changing and companies must begin to add social media as part of their recruiting strategy.

We love the Jobacle.com podcast…so much so that we have decided to sponsor their show. Its producer and host is a twenty-something worker bee who dishes out job search advice and sites for job seekers everywhere. It’s lively and entertaining with a growing listenership. Sponsoring other podcasters will help to build our audience here at Jobs in Pods.

At the beginning of each show is a message telling their listeners about Jobs in Pods.

My Company’s Hiring is another Facebook application that you can use to display available job positions in you organization. For each recruiter you have on Facebook, have them add this app to their profile.

For the rest of the tip series, click here.

Tip: enable your Workplace

Workplace networks on Facebook are closed networks for individual companies. Think of them as a ‘company intranet’. Only employees with a company sponsored email address can join and participate.

Creating your own Workplace is a hybrid recruiting/retention tool.

It’s a retention tool in that it acts as a benefit to your existing employees, especially the younger ones who have made Facebook part of their daily life. Consider these stats for a moment.

• Facebook is the #1 site for people ages 17-25
• 50% of users return daily
• 25-35 yr olds are fastest growing audience among users

So the next college grad you hire is most likely a heavy facebook user. If you encourage your employees to communicate with each other using Facebook, it becomes a retention tool. Some companies are actually banning employees from accessing social networks, but we say you should embrace them. Just look at what Serena Software did. They started “Facebook Fridays” where they encourage all employees to use the site on friday afternoons as a way to build camaraderie among colleagues. Their CEO “believes that colleagues who get to know one another on a more personal level will work together better.”

How refreshing.

This is also a recruiting tool because you can promote this feature as a BENEFIT to potential college grads. Imagine a candidate who has to decide between two companies. The benefits and salary are basically the same, but one offers things like Facebook fridays. Which one do you think has an edge?

Don’t forget to join the Jobs in Pods Facebook group.

We will be exhibiting at 2 SHRM shows in 2008.

On April 14-16 we will be at the Staffing Management Conference & Expo in Nashville TN.

On June 22-25 we will be at the Annual Conference in Chicago, IL

Tip: Advertise.

At a recruiting conference recently we heard that Ernst & Young inked a 1 year deal to advertise their jobs on Facebook. The cost? $1.2 million. For that they get their own company profile page and premium ad space inside Facebook users pages.

But you don’t have to spend that much to get your jobs exposure inside the network. Their are a couple of ways you can get started for as little as $5. Ads com in two flavors: Social Ads and Facebook pages.

Facebook pages

These are basically your own “profile page” inside of Facebook.  Any business can create one. Features include;

• Communicate directly with fans.
• Display rich media in a flexible layout.
• Users’ interactions with your Page spread naturally to their friends

Creating a page is free but you’re going to need to advertise to pick up “fans” which are Facebook users who like what you have to say. There is currently no directory of pages on Facebook, so people will only discover it through perhaps keyword search or other friends. Thats why advertising it, is the only way to go. This is how Facebook describes the service;

Every Facebook Page is a unique experience where users can become more deeply connected with your business or brand. Users can express their support by adding themselves as a fan, writing on your Wall, uploading photos, and joining other fans in discussion groups. You can send updates to your fans regularly — or just with special news or offers. Add applications to your Page and engage your users with videos, reviews, flash content, and more. 

Once you create your page you can promote it. Here are the ways you can target the page. Notice the field that says ‘Workplaces’. Here you can type in your competitors Workplace networks (which we’ll talk about later in tip #5) and target the people who work there!

Social Ads

These ads work very similar in terms of setup and options. The big difference is that they are designed exclusively for send users to a web site outside of Facebook. So as an employer you can send users to your company career page to promote your jobs.

Creating an ad on Facebook is easy and quick. Use it to advertisie your jobs and promote your employment brand.

Coming Up tip #5 on thursday.

Don’t forget to join the Jobs in Pods Facebook group.

CNNmoney is reporting that LinkedIn is opening up its application to developers much like Facebook did. I think of LinkedIn as a B to B networking site so this is good news for recruiters. Cant wait to see what apps will develop.

LinkedIn, the popular social networking site for business, announced a platform that allows outside developers to build applications on LinkedIn as well as for their own sites. The company also added a slew of new features to its home page.

LinkedIn, which has 17 million members worldwide, said that its first partner in the applications program is BusinessWeek, the magazine owned by McGraw-Hill (MHP). At the BusinessWeek Web site, readers will be able to access their LinkedIn connections, look up profiles of people featured in BusinessWeek articles, and search for professional connections at companies mentioned in stories.

LinkedIn is in talks with other publishers and hopes to announce other partners soon, said LinkedIn CEO Dan Nye.

LinkedIn is the latest social networking company to open itself up to outside developers. Facebook has seen its traffic soar since doing so earlier this year. And Google (GOOG) recently unveiled OpenSocial, which lets developers create widgets…or as Google calls them, gadgets…for a variety of social networking sites.

Tip: tap the regional networks

Facebook is made of of 4 types of networks: Regional, Workplaces, Colleges and High Schools. As an employer you can take advantage of all but the High Schools. Workplaces, Colleges and HS are ‘closed networks‘, meaning you cant join them unless you belong to that organization. But the Regional networks are open to anyone.

The one caveat about the Regionals however is that you can only join one network per user.

So employers should assign their recruiters to a specific network. If you have offices in Birmingham, Bangor and Eugene, then have one of your recruiters join those networks.

Once joined you can take advantage of the following network features to promote your jobs and hiring efforts.

1. Post jobs to the Marketplace. Job postings are free. Have your recruiters consistently post and you will attract applicants from the region.

2. Add Events. Have an upcoming job fair? Add it to the network’s calendar. Add other related career related events that may be in your area.

Most networks have thousands of members. And guess what? They all live in that region. Talk about local targeting!

Each network also has ‘Discussion Areas‘ and something called ‘The Wall‘.

These 2 areas allow you to post links. Links back to your company career site. Links to specific job postings. Links to job opportunities.

PLUS you can do things like this:

On the discussion board you could have your recruiter start a discussion like: “My company is hiring! Find out why!“. Then you could engage the members of that community by listing reasons why its a great place to work or why you are growing. You can post news items about your firm. In short, promote yourself!

The Wall gives your recruiter a chance to introduce themselves to the network. Have them write a hello, and give out their contact information. Open up to the network and participate. Make friends, offer job search advice, answer questions about the job market or region.

Don’t go overboard by just posting links to your jobs or being too ’spammy’. The point is to get involved in the network and contribute to it. This is how your recruiter can gain credibility and make a good name for your firm.

Next tuesday, look for tip #4

PS…are you already on Facebook? Join the Jobs in Pods Facebook Group

I was recently interviewed by Bill Vick, via Skype, for John Sumser’s Recruiting Roadshow. In it I talk about video and podcasting for employers. Enjoy.