Recently I ran across an article Web 2.0 revolution has not yet hit recruiters. The article states that, “10 per cent of recruiters use social networking sites and only a small minority use blogs, videos or other web 2.0 technology for recruitment”. I would like to say that I am shocked, however I have been running into this more and more. Now granted this is only one source that is stating these stats, but I do not feel they are far off.

I think the bigger issue is that large organization are still in the mode or “reactive recruitment”. A position/req opens up and comes across a recruiters desk, the recruiter immediately starts to search for that warm body. There is no pipeline built or talent pool. More times than not ,the ATS is overlooked because it has become a central repository for unwanted candidates, rather than those key people recruiters would like to tap back into.

In order to truly leverage Web 2.0 and all its wonder, companies have to be in a proactive mode to recruit talent. They must start investing and educating their team in order to get a head of this learning curve. Start with baby steps and train your team on one aspect that may be implemented, blogs for that matter. The recruiters can start to listen to what others are saying about their particular industry in the blogs. Then once they are comfortable they can start leaving comments or asking questions.

Organization that do not take the time to invest now will certainly be left in the dark sooner than later. Start to think outside the BOX, Mr. Recruiter. Take the initiative and push this up the ladder. Think of who you are trying to attract into you corporate culture and where they may be on the Internet. The upcoming generations are growing up with Web 2.0 and will expect their employer to be up with the times or be left in the dust.

Recruiters can harness the power of twitter. If they have the right followers  Twitter could provide a dramatic impact to finding the right candidate. Recruiters can quickly tap into a very large passive candidate pool in under 140 characters. One can send messages to their network of the ongoings inside the company, providing that “authentic view”. Communicating events, job opportunities, industry news, special programs, while driving them back to the website.

Now to convince upper level management that this is the RIGHT tool, thoughts?

Social networking is here to stay. For those of you who were praying and hoping that you would not have to invest the time into social networking are now on the outside looking in.  Millions of people from every walk of life, young, old, numerous countries are all using and loving social networks. The beauty of Social Networking is that it is bringing people together and finding commonalities in a world where these groups may have never connected. Among the social networks is the “widget world”, tiny applications that can be shared among users and even allow corporations to target market to. Here is an article that discuss the most popular applications, “Top Friends” Ranks as Most Engaged Facebook Application” 

Way to go ADP!

10 Signs of an Old-School Recruiter

Here is a simple list that can be used by hiring managers to determine if the recruiters assigned to them are decidedly old school.

1. They don’t use text messaging.While only 20% of the adult population utilizes text messaging, over 50% of the younger generation uses it. In fact, they prefer instant or text messaging over email by a significant percentage. If you don’t utilize text messaging to communicate with your candidates, you’re likely missing a significant portion of this new mobile phone-reliant population that doesn’t require a laptop to communicate. If you’re not aware of the new IM applications and jargon, IMHO, you are so last year! In fact, the mobile phone is becoming the next must-use recruiting platform for those smart enough to successfully utilize permission-marketing techniques.
2. They don’t blog.Having your own blog is no longer unusual, but it’s still a great way to communicate your message to potential recruits. Blogs by corporate recruiters give potential applicants a chance to get a real, unfiltered message about the recruiting process and what it’s like to work at the firm. They also provide an opportunity to make comments and ask questions before a formal application to the firm is made.
3. They don’t have a MySpace or Facebook page.If you are a corporate recruiter and you don’t have a profile of yourself as a recruiter (and as an individual person) on a social networking site like MySpace or Facebook, you are a relative dinosaur. Most old schoolers are afraid of MySpace because they’ve heard about the lurking molesters who can be on it (molesters can also use telephones, but that’s no reason why recruiters shouldn’t use them). Some think that these sites are for only young people, but the average age range of a user on MySpace is in the 30s. Facebook is the fastest growing of the two, but there are many other social networking sites that allow individuals to learn more about you as a recruiter and as a source of potential recruits. It used to be that you had to have your own personal website in order to be new school, but it’s becoming okay to use social networking sites to display your individuality.
4. They are not using LinkedIn.Business-oriented social networking sites like LinkedIn might themselves be well on their way toward becoming old school, but for now, they’re still an effective way for recruiters to become known and get referrals. Other non-resume based search approaches that new schoolers are likely to use include ZoomInfo, Plaxo, Jigsaw, Spoke.com, Passado, or GoLeads.com.
5. They don’t use news alerts.As the amount of information that’s available to potential prospects and corporate recruiters expands, you need electronic help in order to keep up with the latest news and what bloggers are saying. If you’re not using Google alerts (or a similar service offered by Yahoo!), you’ll never be able to keep track of the activities (and then comment on them to build the relationship) of your targeted top prospects. Old schoolers don’t visit Google trends or digg.com to keep on top of what’s hot.
6. They only use English.As the U.S. becomes more diverse, and recruiting from around the world becomes more common, only old-school recruiters recruit 100% of the time using the English language. Yes, even though the job itself requires English, it’s often still a good idea to begin the conversation in the recruit’s native language.
7. Videos are too difficult.If a picture is worth a thousand words, think how powerful a “moving picture” would be. A significant portion of the world’s population is hooked on visual means of passing information and telling stories (TV, streaming videos, and/or films). New-school recruiters, at the very least, periodically visit their websites like YouTube in order to keep up with the latest trends. The very best new-school recruiters either post their own online videos that visually demonstrate how great their company is or they actively encourage others at their corporations to post their compelling videos. Although new schoolers love all forms of video technology, old schoolers would never consider using online video interviews or reviewing portfolio or video resumes.
8. They don’t use podcasts or jobcasts.The majority of new-school recruiting prospects probably don’t even know what a Walkman is. Instead, they love MP3s or iPods (if you don’t know the difference is you’re probably old school). If you think they’re just for music, put yourself in the old-school category. Even Walgreens is utilizing podcasts as a recruiting tool. If you haven’t made a recruiting-oriented audio or video message available for download on these devices, you are missing a great opportunity to communicate.
9. They’ve never tried contests.What better way is there to create a buzz than to offer online contests. The top firms have found that these contests not only allow you to identify and hire previously unknown talent from around the world, but they are also a great source to gather ideas and innovations.
10. They don’t use nonrecruiting places or websites.While old school recruiters frequently attend job fairs, new-school recruiters, much like their targets, like to hang out for hours at places that have never been recruiting venues, like Starbucks. They see recruiting at these places (especially ones located close to major employers) as an opportunity, whether it means recruiting in person or by placing messages on the protective coffee sleeves that fit outside the coffee cups (Accenture, Sun, FlipDog, and LAPD have all used coffee sleeves in this way). Other prime recruiting venues for new schoolers might include concerts and industry conferences, as well as alumni, sports, charity, and community events. Places where well-paid people (and thus, likely top performers) frequently dominate the crowd. Old schoolers also see no value in spending time in electronic forums or placing recruiting links and banners in frequently visited nonrecruiting websites.

Looking Ahead to the Future

If you’re old school, there’s really no need to look ahead and anticipate recruiting tools that, while now used by only a handful, may soon become typical. Some of these trends that new-school recruiters need to plan for include using video games (the Army and the MITRE Corporation already use them) and TV shows (Donald Trump with The Apprentice and Southwest Airlines with Airline have already led the way) for recruiting.

Other future trends that old-school recruiters won’t need to worry about include sourcing using data mining of financial and credit card databases and focusing on putting together applicant pools (because nonapplicants don’t have to be tracked according to the commerce and EEOC guidelines). Committed old schoolers also need not worry about how expanding “work from home/anywhere” options will change recruiting forever (IBM, Sun, Best Buy, Cisco, and JetBlue have already jumped on this incredible opportunity) or how to recruit college students remotely without having to go through the career center. Other concepts to ignore might include using matching/dating sites for recruiting, as well as learning from/converting concepts from successful business approaches, including AdWords, viral branding, pattern buying, and capturing innovative product ideas from customers.

Final Thoughts

If you read this (or a friend makes a similar comment on it) and you think, “This is silly. I don’t need any of these modern, flashy techniques to be successful as a recruiter,” then the odds are that you are hopelessly old school. You probably also said similar things when these new wireless mobile telephones came out (you might have remarked, “I don’t see why I would ever need one of those”). In fact, it wasn’t very long ago that a majority of recruiters didn’t see any need to use the Internet to look for candidates or to post a job.

Like it or not, it has become a fact that recruiting all candidates, especially the 5% that are innovators, is closely tied to changes in the way people communicate and learn. As long as those methods keep expanding, recruiters will either adapt quickly or lose their jobs. It’s really just that simple.

Dr. John Sullivan (JohnS@sfsu.edu) is a well-known thought leader in HR. He is a frequent speaker and advisor to Fortune 500 and Silicon Valley firms. Formerly the chief talent officer for Agilent Technologies (the 43,000-employee HP spin-off), he is now a professor of management at San Francisco State University. He was called the “Michael Jordan of Hiring” by Fast Company magazine. More recruiting articles by Dr. Sullivan can be found in the ER Daily archives. Information about his numerous other articles, books and manuals about recruiting and HR can be found at www.drjohnsullivan.com. Dr. Sullivan is also the editor of VP of HR, an e-newsletter providing “out of the box” solutions for senior HR managers. Free subscriptions can be obtained on his website.

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article reviews and discussion

Old School vs. New School

posted 11/26/2007 at 9:50 a.m. PT by Kent Voyles

I really like this article. It reminds me of the story my father tells from his banking days. He was an executive and held loan committee meetings every Tuesday. He would run the meeting with a TI calculator and a 8.5X14 legal pad. All of his loan reps (snot jocks he called them) showed up with their laptops and spreadsheets. My father always achieved the same results in the same amount or less time than his jocks when it came to doing calculations.

My point? Technology is wonderful, especially if volume is your goal. A search is still a search though and the human factor of character and truth will never be identified by technology. I find it hard to believe that ‘New school’ tools produce ‘better’ candidates than ‘Old school’. ‘New school’ is just a different vehicle to get the same result. A covered wagon or a Lamborgini to get to the same place. If time is not the critical issue in a search, usually the candidate being right is, than the pace should not matter.

Who won the race between the tortise and the hare?

Dr. Sullivan seems to have missed something here…

posted 11/26/2007 at 11:48 a.m. PT by Jim Cargill

The good Dr. is not my favorite contributor on ERE, though I do read his articles. I am often left with the question, ‘Is this person really familiar with our industry, and if so, in what venue?’

His subtitle for this article is really where the action is (‘Is your recruiter and his recruiting approach obsolete?’). We are to believe this question was asked from the client point of view. Well, our clients range from $50M revenue to $35B revenue, and not one of them cares how current or outdated our approach is. The only concern they have is results.

I get the feeling that Dr. Sullivan wrote this article as much to display his own hip, contemporary intelligence as to educate recruiters on what they might want to do to update their processes. Certainly, any recruiter who wishes to be effective five years from now would do well to be familiar with blogs, jobcasts, industry news tracks, etc. The same goes for knowing how to cold call, get referrals, and build relationships.

In 2000, the bell tolled for recruiting firms, as many claimed ‘there will be no further need for agencies, once corporations become adept with job boards’. Well, just the opposite has happened. Recruiting agencies are as much in demand as ever, and those who provide results, regardless of how they get there, are more in demand than ever.

We should dismiss neither the promise of new technology, nor the wisdom of ‘old school’ recruiters.

Top 10 Indications That You Are a Dinosaur (Old-School) Recruiter!

posted 11/26/2007 at 1:30 p.m. PT by Mark Tokay

Jim -

I couldn’t agree with you more on your post. It would be interesting to see Sullivan’s resume (documented and verified) that reveals his ‘real world’ experience in the recruiting business. After all, at the end of the week, it’s all about Metrics (people interviewed and HIRED). Text messaging, blogging and other tools are great if they make a person productive – But Recruiters aren’t paid for effort. They are PAID for RESULTS!!! All of the gadgets, software tools, LinkedIn contacts, etc. won’t help if you can’t get someone HIRED.

By the way, I haven’t used a job board in 4 years. Nor do I have text messaging, blogs, MySpace, Facebook, podcasts, etc. But I do have a ‘killer’ database, a phone and the ability to ‘make things happen’ – which brings me a ton of repeat business, referrals, standing offers to contract, incredible reference letters and lifelong clients who have become personal friends.

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 There was a great post on Enterprise Software Directory entitled

HR Software and Social Networking

With all the advances in social networking it is beginning to bridge a gap between the HR and IT Folks. More and more technology is being utilized to find, hire and screen new candidates. So if you are in HR you are going to have to play nice with the IT folks and start to try to understand their “language”

This is way beyond the “old technology job boards” we are talking about truly innovative ways to allow employers to get in front of the best possible candidates. Employers are now adding in more functionality( widgets, enhanced job searches, podcast, blogs, on-line chats, etc.) to their career site. They are paying attention to where their next hire is coming from and going out and getting them. They are marketing on Facebook and MySpace. We all know how competitive the job market is for employers to find the right fit. The key if you are in a recruiting role is to take the time to be educated on the best way to leverage technology for who and where you are trying to hire.

So if you are looking to hire great people, throw out those job adds, throw out that same recruiting book you have been using for the pass 10 years. The water has changed and it feels GOOD! Jump on in!

More fun tools are popping up all over…….Scriblink.  This free online whiteboarding tool really got the creative juices flowing. Sometimes a picture is worth a 1,000 words and in this case it may help achieve a concept faster than emails or phones calls. Imagine being able to interact directly on the screen, immediately with no set up or cost. You can start drawing your site map….ideas…whatever you need.

Check it out!

Why does change send people running for the hills? This is something that has always made me sit up and take notice of people react to CHANGE. We hear it all the time..change makes people nervous…..it makes them feel insecure…BLAH BLAH. The real question is WHY and how can we overcome this.  SO you may be wondering how does change tie into this BLOG?

Changes is all around us in the recruiting industry and we are currently dangling our toes into the pools of “uncharted waters”. The recruiting enviorment is being overwhelmed by change through technology. Years ago it was the Job boards that caused the first wave in our pool. Today it is everything from blogs, social networking, virtual job fairs to communicating with job seekers solely through the Internet. I know these are not “cutting edge” for us Geeks who live for the next new thing, but to the corporate recruiting world this new technology is certainly not considered “Best Practice”…YET!

SO fellow readers…..how do you convince Corporate HR that technology will make them stronger…not kill them?

What are your thoughts on this??