Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Analog World and Social Media


Our analog recruiting world indirectly affects social media, and we love it!

It wasn’t that long ago that the business community viewed social media as unimportant, a fad that young people used to waste time.  Many didn’t see how social media could be a benefit to business, and some of those same folks thought it would fade away.

Well, those days are over!  To say social media is here to stay seems like a pretty obvious statement in 2013.  What is surprising, though, is how businesses are discovering new ways to apply the power of social media tools to their daily tasks.

One area of business where social media is taking root is in the field of recruiting.  The rumors that hiring officials have been checking out candidates on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter are true.  While LinkedIn is a natural for seeing what a candidate brings to a job professionally, Facebook and Twitter allow companies to get a sense of who the job seeker is as a person. 

Some might not be pleased with hiring officials checking out social sites, but checking candidates out is a legitimate way to minimize hiring risks.  Social media allows recruiters to get a better picture of a candidate, by learning about their likes, dislikes, and interests. 

In a recent article on ere.net, Raj Sheth suggests that companies may want to consider expanding their job search beyond LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter to other social sites such as Quora, where you can gain insight into their career expertise.

Quora is both a blog site, and also a question and answer site.  It’s a mix of Blogger and Wikipedia, where users can get questions answered from blogs that were previously written. 

Sheth writes, “Quora enables you to take a deeper look into potential candidates. Other sites might scratch the surface, but Quora will highlight competitive intelligence, dialogue, and a reflective experience… Quora answers the question: Do they really know their stuff?”

Another social tool is Dribble.  The site showcases the work of web, graphic, interior and fashion designers.  It’s a great way to find a candidate by seeing their work first.  Then you can decide whether or not to pursue that person further.

Quora and Dribble are just two social tools available for use by recruiters.  There are many others where the work or thoughts of candidates can be discovered.  “As recruiters,” Sheth states, “we have to figure out what we can get out of these tools.”

Social media continues to change, evolve and grow.  As it does, it is proving to be a valuable tool to businesses not just in marketing their products or services, but also in attracting talent.

Source: http://www.ere.net/2013/06/06/social-media-recruiting-beyond-facebook-twitter-and-linkedin/#more-32473

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