Part Two: This is part 2 of the 3 part series The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of Social Media: Stories and Lessons from the Recruiting Desk . Previously I discussed the dangers of posting a “Share” that needs a back story or one that can be taken out of context. I ended the blog by explaining that you should be aware of your connections. The last blog article was more of the Ugly side of Social Media so I have decided to keep this article more on the typical Good and Bad of using Social Media for recruiting purposes.
This article will be focusing strictly on 2 topics: Managing Connections and Posting Jobs
Managing Connections
The Good
The great thing about Social Media and Recruiting is that it gives Recruiters access to Passive Candidates, Special Interest Groups, Companies, Contacts and Competitors. The access is not difficult to attain. Linkedin provides us the capability to search by name, current or past title, current or past company, key words, etc. At one time this data would have been proprietary to a competitor’s database, company directories and/or call lists only attainable by purchase and marketing research. Once you identify the person that you would like to add as a “Connection” on Linkedin, you typically send them an invite to connect. Once the connection is made, that person can receive your network updates and shares.
To maximize your Connections you must first invite prospective candidates to connect with you. It is much easier to gain a connection once you are working with the candidate. I would suggest connecting with candidates that you have submitted to your clients, candidates that are in the process of interviewing and candidates that you have placed at Direct Hire, Contract or Contract to Hire Positions. It might even be a good idea to connect with previous candidates from your database. Connecting with these types of Technical Candidates maximizes the impact of your “Shares” on Linkedin. Remember: If you are connected to a bunch of recruiters it really doesn’t do you a bit of good to share your jobs on Linkedin.
Contacts can be trickier to connect with but easier once you have established a relationship. I wouldn’t send an invite to a prospect that I just met but, once engaged in business, definitely. Some of you may not agree with me on this, but my personal preference is to ask once I’ve started working with the client contact.
Join Special Interest Groups that will help you and are applicable to the types of talent that you are looking for. If you are an IT Recruiter in DFW, you need to join groups that are specific to skills such as C#, .NET, Java, Sharepoint, SQL Server, Business Intelligence, Mobile Applications, SAP, QA, Oracle, Salesforce.com, Silverlight, Mobile, UI/UX, Unix, Project Management, etc. These groups will provide you access to IT Talent and you are allowed to share “Discussions” within the groups in the form of a Job Posting. Remember to look for groups with a large number of members. If you are looking for talent primarily within DFW, try to join the local groups.
Regarding connections with Competitors – I have one rule. Keep as few of these folks connected as possible and try to connect with competitors that you know. It’s good to keep up with “Friendly” competitors (if there is such a thing) but you must know that your connections can see MOST of your activity which brings me to…….
The Bad
Connections to Competitors can have a HUGE negative impact. For instance, every Candidate and Client Contact that you connect with is visible to your connections. If you are connected to a competitor they will have access to the same candidates and client contacts. I have had recruiters give me “Real World” examples of getting contract and direct requirements simply by viewing Network Updates on Linkedin and contacting the connection of a competitor. The same holds true for candidates. I have personally viewed competitor connections and added candidate prospects to my network after viewing recent recruiter connections on Linkedin network updates.
Bottom Line – BE CAREFUL connecting with competitors.
Posting Jobs
The Good
If you have the right connections, posting jobs on Linkedin can be an invaluable service. Whether you are posting a “Share”, Using Job Posting add-ons such as Bullhorn Reach/Jobmagic or even posting to Groups within Bullhorn, Linkedin gives you access to a larger pool of Passive Candidates.
The key to good “Shares” is providing enough info about the job to generate interest but not too much. Your goal is to generate candidate interest and get them to contact you.
Using add-on products can increase the info that you provide to your network with more specific descriptions and you can schedule the add-on products (Bullhorn Reach / Jobmagic) to automatically post your jobs directly from your ATS on a daily or even hourly basis.
Personally, I have had great success joining Groups within Linkedin and posting jobs to those groups using the Discussion feed. It is somewhat limited but like the Share function but the goal is to generate interest.
The Bad
There is only one Bad thing that could happen posting jobs on Linkedin or posting in general but it’s a BIG negative. Your competition could discover your client, contact the same client, and get your job order/requirement.
1st – Be careful when you post Share’s, Jobs or Discussions in Groups. Make sure that you do not provide enough info for your competition to determine the company that has the requirement. For example, Let’s say there is a company that needs .NET Developers in Allen, TX and they are a major Card Processing company. You post in the description that you are looking for a .NET Developer with Card Processing experience. Sounds harmful right? WRONG. The problem resides in the fact that the client may be the ONLY credit card processing company in Allen, TX. If you are worth a damn in this business, getting the rest of the info will not be a problem.
2nd – DO NOT, let me repeat, DO NOT have the company name in the description. Review all requirements and shares before posting. This holds especially true for add-ons such as Bullhorn Reach or Jobmagic. These tools allow recruiters to automate job postings from either an internal or public description.
There will always be positives and negatives in using tools, processes, applications….whatever. Just be aware and try to focus on the upside. Personally, I love using as many tools as possible to find people and get an edge on my competition. When I can, I try to avoid pitfalls and/or scumbags that might work for some of my competitors. My general feeling is that there is plenty of business to go around and I wish anyone that has the energy and desire to succeed in this business the best…….just not at my expense.
Next article will be the final in the Good, Bad and Ugly series. We will focus only on the Good and Positive of the last year in using Social Networking tools. Wish everyone continued success in 2012!