a video about social media ROI

Thanks to Jenny DeVaugn, a social media trainer for pointing out this video about how to view social media and ROI. We think its a must watch.

Chris Hoyt on using social media to recruit

At last weeks Social Recruiting conference in California, our founder Chris Russell had a chance to interview AT&T’s Director of Talent Attraction. Check out this 5 minute podcast and pay close attention to the last 2 questions about using social media to recruit. You can check out Chris at recruiterguy.net.

Download MP3 >>

Recruiters should take cue from Obama’s social media strategy

Attention recruiters! Take a look at how the Obama Administration is using social media to communicate with people.

Recruiters and employers everywhere should be establishing their own communication points on these sites in order to communicate with prospective candidates. And we do mean communicate. Social media after all is a two-way street.

Social recruiting conference

We just heard about a social recruiting conference taking place at Google in June. Not many details yet. According to the website, SocialRecruiting.com – June 15th. Looks like ERE has some involvement.

http://twitter.com/socrecruiting

Plaxo & SimplyHired get into social media recruiting

First Linkedin got a job board and now Plaxo, the social network contact management site has one too. This one is powered by SimplyHired. Its an interesting move to tap into one’s “social network” through your contacts on Plaxo.

Here’s the meat of the recent press release:

Plaxo members will now be able to use their social connections and Simply Hired’s comprehensive database of 5 million listings to find their dream job or to efficiently find great candidates for their own postings. Simply Hired is powering a new job portal for members and visitors to Plaxo at http://jobs.plaxo.com/.

“In the current macroeconomic climate, we felt Plaxo could and should do more to help our members connect with relevant career opportunities,” said Ben Golub, CEO of Plaxo. “So we partnered with the largest job search engine, Simply Hired, to help us create an innovative offering that brings a strong social dimension to both finding and filling a job.”

Plaxo members in the United States will now see a new Jobs section on Plaxo.com, where hiring managers and recruiters can post new job listings, and where job seekers can browse or search postings from across the Simply Hired network. In a unique twist, jobs posted on Plaxo are turbo-charged with the “social power” of the poster’s extended network. They can be shared, re-shared, and commented upon, like any other shared content on Plaxo. In addition, Plaxo members will start to occasionally see highly targeted job listings in their Pulse stream, based on the professional info on their profiles.

Social Media Reference Checking

Checking up on prospective candidates has never been easier. Witness, Yasni a new people search engine thats extremely easy and free to use.

For candidates there’s really no where to hide your digital dirt. Sites like Yasni are watching. This is yet another tool to source and investigate your future employees.

Social media recruiting is free

As we enter the new year, recruiting budgets are sure to be under pressure. At a local SHRM event last night many in the room were pessimistic at best. So if you are a major job board or an expensive ATS your sales are sure to remain flat or down.

We think 2009 will be the year that Recruiters will start adopting social media as a main part of their recruiting strategy. The economy will force the issue by making companies become more efficient and cost-effective. That means utilizing social media, much of which is free to recruit talent.

Think about it.

• The cost to create a recruiting blog is zero dollars.
• The cost to twitter your jobs is zero dollars.
• The cost to create a facebook group is zero dollars.
• Heck you can even create your own social network dedicated to your company for zero dollars.

The only real cost involved is your team’s time and energy.

What company can’t afford that?

The return on your investment is priceless. As long as you stick it out. As long as you dedicate the required time and energy into these new tools, your employer will reap the rewards.

Social media isn’t going away folks. Its here and its entrenched into the minds of the next generation workforce. This is where you have to be to recruit them. And remember its not about sales pitches. Its about a two-way dialogue about your company, its culture and what you have to offer. Get real and the candidates will come.

See you in 2009.

Company profiles now available on LinkedIn

A much anticipated feature is finally here. Company profiles on LinkedIn.

Why is this important for your firm?

Employer Branding.

Candidates are already finding information about your place of work through all kinds of social media from facebook to Youtube. Profiles on LinkedIn now allow you to take part and provide some measure of input directly from you. LinkedIn has a post about how to set it up.

sample company profile

These profiles provide a unique snapshot inside your company. Every job seeker thinking about applying to you will be interested in what it has to say. So what are you waiting for? Get your company profile started today and take part in the conversation thats happening around your employer brand.

The ecommerce recruiter speaks

Bill Vick has a great interview today with one of recruitment’s most innovative players, Harry Joiner. Although he is not in HR, Harry has a great perspective on the new social media tools and technologies which fuel his candidate pipeline. Every recruiter whether they are third party or corporate should heed his advice. In this interview he mentions how a LinkedIn group has helped him.

Sodexo and social media

Apparently some employers are getting this social media thing. Sodexo today announced 4 new micro-sites targeting specific candidates. Nothing earth shattering about that except when you visit them you see what they are doing in social media via Youtube, facebook, LinkedIn even Twitter. We love the fact they are promoting these pages on their sites as it will help to engage candidates further and build those individual communities.  Candidates can get newsletters and read their blog also which has been progressing nicely.

Now if only they would podcast their jobs, their strategy would be complete!

According to Sodexo’s blog post about the micro-sites;

“Don’t be surprised to see more of these microsites from us. For example – did you know Sodexo is not just a food and facilities management company who hires food and facilities managers? We are a global food and facilities management company with global IT, marketing, and human resource needs. We hire a full range of professionals for just about every position you could possibly imagine.”