Most of the marketing conferences I attend these days are heavily focused on social and/or professional networks. These online communities are places where you can do any number of things from share pictures and reminisce about college days to “meet” and interview potential employees. The two big sites out there in this space are Facebook and LinkedIn. Facebook prides itself on being a “social” network and LinkedIn is a “professional” network (don’t call it “social” when talking to their team).
And, at most of these conferences, someone on a panel or on the stage says this, “The lines have blurred between your social life and your work life.” In fact, I just said that on a panel a few weeks ago… Anyhow, it is true. If you are out there, you are out there. And, ultimately you control your destiny – as do those folks you are thinking about hiring.
You should absolutely be using FaceBook, MySpace and LinkedIn to gather information on those people you are thinking about hiring. These sites are a window into the personality of your prospective employees. And, it is all public based upon the individual’s security setting of choice. You may feel like you are snooping, but you aren’t. The fact is, the info is out there and you should use every bit you can find.
Social and professional networking has blossomed as part of the recruiting mix. To this end, we at CareerBuilder.com wanted to understand more clearly the power of the network. We currently have a great partnership with Facebook that enables us to help you target the right type of employee. In turn, we have learned much about the demographics of the Facebook user and what may appeal to them. CareerBuilder.com also built BrightFuse, a professional networking site for the masses. BrightFuse is a labor of love that turned into a great place to not only meet people and share interests but also network about job opportunities. Its relaxed atmosphere is more focused on the organic networking experience and not the high-powered, network-at-all-costs mentality.
Social and professional networking is not a fad. Whether it is BrightFuse, LinkedIn, Facebook, or any of the other networks that seem to pop up every day, you should be embracing social and professional networking in your recruiting mix. Generation Y has and if you are specifically looking for that generation, they live online. Give it a try. It is fun to reconnect with old friends, make new ones and find that next top [enter your desired job title] person.
3 Comments on “Making “Social” Networking Part of Your Recruiting Mix”
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Posted on 12. November 2008 at 23:19
I have had good results with Myspace and LinkedIn and some moderate success with Facebook. I have looked at Brightfuse and haven’t really seen any value there. It doesn’t seem like there are many people on the network and the site doesn’t have much to offer. It just seems like a copycat and isn’t where the candidates are.
Posted on 15. November 2008 at 23:44
I can certainly understand using Facebook and LinkedIn and so on for cold sourcing, but the idea that you should stalk out existing candidates to “get a glimpse of their personality” is, I think, a horrible idea.
First, you’re assuming you can accurately gauge a person’s personality simply by observing it on a social network. Beyond that, I doubt there’s any genuine or substantive correlation between what you could observe on a social network and the individuals potential performance on the job (short of finding out they have a raging drug addiction or something).
So… I agree about reconnecting with friends, and sourcing potential job leads, but as an observational or selection tool… not so much.
- Chris
Posted on 20. November 2008 at 15:17
Chris, thanks for commenting on this posting. I’m the original author of the post and wanted to mention that I think your comments are interesting. I do think that social/professional networks can be used for recruiting purposes. But, I also agree that if one thinks they are a “tell-all” about someone’s personality that is most likely an incorrect assumption. I do think that taken in conjunction with other recruiting info the stuff a person posts can be an indicator of that person’s personality. I would never advocate that any info gathered from Facebook or LinkedIn take the place of an interview - assuming the person was relevant for the job. I will also admit to still being a novice with Facebook - my profile is laughable to most Gen y’ers who see it. Regardless, it is exciting ground and I look forward to seeing how those sites grow and impact our daily business lives. - Jason