Jobs in Pods Blog

Check out this great explanation of what podcasting is…..in plain english.

Indeed.com, the job aggregator is now getting over 7 million monthly visitors so that puts them just behind Monster in terms of traffic. That means they are now a big driver of web traffic to your jobs on the job boards you use.

They integrate information about your company inside a profile page and forums. So here’s your chance to add content and respond to job seekers (much like a Facebook page). The profile page is a bit hidden though. You have to click the “More” link:

View IBM’s profile

Once you get there you can add links, videos and read comments about your company from the blogosphere. We are adding our Jobcast videos from Youtube to our clients pages.

But you can do it too as long you register with Indeed. You can also use the forums to interact with job seekers and give them info on your interview process, benefits, etc.

Companies would be wise to assign a recruiter(s) to monitor this area and respond to job seekers when they ask a question. Indeed’s traffic is only going to grow and as more job seekers discover these places to interact, its your chance to reach out to candidates and be proactive.

We came. We saw. We impressed.

Last week Jobs in Pods exhibited in our first ever trade show at the SHRM Staffing & Management Conference in Nashville, TN. Our service received oohs and aahhs from those who stopped by our booth. Many people commented on how cool this was as a way to connect with the next gen workforce. One HR director even said to us we should patent our idea. Matt Adams of NAS Recruitment also mentioned Jobs in Pods as part of his presentation on making corporate career sites better. Thanks Matt!

So here’s a few pictures from our trip. You can find us next at the SHRM national conference in June in Chicago.

The audience for podcasts is way up, according to the latest research by Edison Media Research.

Their study, The Podcast Consumer Revealed, found that:

• The audience for audio podcasts grew 38% in the last year;
• The audience for video podcasts grew 45% in the last year;
• About 30% of regular Internet users have downloaded a podcast;
• Awareness of podcasting has leveled off at about 37;
• People listen to or watch podcasts primarily on their computers (about 75%).

Hat tip to podcastingnews

On Monday April 14, Jobs in pods will be exhibiting at our first ever trade show, the SHRM Staffing Management Conference & Expo. The show is sold out.

Almost 2,000 people are expected and we are very excited to be there. As we enter our 2nd year, its time for us to bring jobcasting to the rest of the HR community. You will also find us at the SHRM national conference in June.

The first year of Jobs in Pods has been a proving ground for innovative online recruiting. We have proven both the success of our service as well as the need for a new way to recruit online. We’ve heard more than once from corporate recruiters who say “I’ve been looking for something exactly like this“.

In essence, our product will humanize your company by bringing your culture and jobs to life. 2008 is already shaping up to be a great year for us. We expect our sales to triple this year as more employers dip their toes into the waters of social media recruiting.

Jobs in Pods will be in booth #216.

For recruitiers on Facebook its getting even easier to connect with candidates. According to the ReadWriteWeb blog:

Facebook Chat will be slowly rolled out this week. The announcement, made via The Facebook Blog, says that the rollout will be slow, but, unlike MySpaceIM, there won’t be anything for you to install when it arrives in your profile - you’ll just have a new “Chat Bar” at the bottom of your browser. On the one hand, Facebook needed to launch chat in order to compete with the News Corp giant, but on the other, we have to wonder, do we need another IM?

Facebook IM takes a page out of Gmail’s GTalk, mimicking the way that browser-based IM functions - it even offers a way to pop-out your conversation window, so you can continue browsing Facebook without losing track of your chat session.

In addition to the pop-out feature, Facebook chat, like any IM program, lets you appear “offline” if you don’t want to chat. The conversations are private, and the chat sessions history is saved from page to page and between login sessions, but not permanently. You can also clear the chat history at any time using a provided link in the conversation window to do so.

Live chat is something every company should be integrating into their own corporate career sites. Facebook’s announcement will now let you try it out for those employers who are establishing a presence on the social network. Use it to answer prospective candidates questions about your company. Its just another tool in the Facebook recruiting toolbox.

When we came across this little diddy about the use of iPods/music at work, we just couldn’t resist telling you about it. Just another reason to podcast your jobs in our humble opinion. (click image for a larger view)

Don’t you just love it when a plan comes together?

Kudos to a member of the Sprint recruiting team who has made several hires from her social network profile. Read about it here.

Photo sharing sites like Flickr and Slide represent yet another free way to promote your company.

You already have pictures on your company website. Why not take it a step further and use these new social media sites to increase awareness? Take a look at what LinkedIn does. On their company blog they have a Flickr widget displaying their latest photos. They call it “Working at LinkedIn” and show the actual people and working environment. How cool is that!

So do yourself a favor this summer. Hand one of your interns a camera and instruct them to photograph your office and the people in it. Give potential candidates an inside peek at what it looks like and humanize your corporation. Be more open. Be more transparent. Make yourself more approachable and candidates will begin to see you in a different light.