» 2008 » September

The recruiting process is a two-way street, based on good communication, information, honesty and transparency. Companies are recognizing this more and more, and doing something about it. They’re doing more in their efforts to attract the right target audience of job seekers and get them engaged. Many companies are realizing that they need to do more with their employer brand and the candidate experience they offer. Some are hiring Candidate Community Managers.

Companies have to do more. It’s really as simple as that.

But so do job seekers…

Remember, for recruiting to work, you need both groups involved - companies and job seekers - reaching one another effectively…and, ultimately, doing more. So what can job seekers do?

Willy Franzen has some ideas on that very subject, so he started a Facebook Ad experiment. Not for employers; for job seekers. Strange idea, right? But exactly the kind of idea that resonates with the fact that connecting great companies with the right talent requires effort and an evolution in how things have been done for so long.

Willy recently wrote about the experiment in his post Use Facebook Ads to Make Employers Hunt You Down. You gotta love that blog post title!

The experiment was simple - he got a few volunteers (job seekers) to post Facebook Ads targeted to certain employers. They tracked the results, and he’s now published them in his post.

Universally, the job seekers got results. It doesn’t look like anyone was hired, but they got plenty of traction in terms of increased awareness, ex-employees reaching out (of the companies that the job seekers were targeting), current employees, etc. A number of the volunteers who ran Facebook ads went on to formally apply to the companies of their choice — one would hope that these candidates bubble to the top by virtue of the effort they’ve put in.

There are examples of job seekers doing outrageous and innovative things to stand out from their peers, but they’re few and far between. Willy’s experimenting with the use of social media and social networking tools & technology to see if job seekers can do more. It’s not enough to just throw your profile online and wait for something to happen, he’s shown that there are ways of reaching out and saying, “I’m here, I want to work for you, and this is why you should hire me. So let’s do this thing.”

Jeremiah Owyang has led the way in many respects on defining Community Managers and their roles within organizations grappling with social media and Web 2.0 technologies. Ultimately, it’s not about technology, but more about the ways in which technology allows us to communicate and interact more effectively.

Consumers have more power than ever. They can voice their opinions openly, collect feedback, get advice, etc. Consumers have more control and as such are becoming more demanding of companies.

The same holds true for job seekers and their interactions with employers. Job seekers - as consumers - are more demanding: they want more information, more interaction and more transparency. They want a better candidate experience than they’ve had (and let’s face it - if you’ve ever applied for a job, it’s typically very, very painful and frustrating!) Technology can empower companies to open their doors and put themselves out there, but someone still has to do the work. And someone still has to get it and understand the value of leveraging social media and Web 2.0 technology to give job seekers and candidates what they want.

Enter the Candidate Community Manager.

In the Standout Jobs world we call this person a “Talent Agent” but this term (coined by Shannon Seery Gude) - a Candidate Community Manager - is great.

I’m tempted to re-publish all of Shannon’s post, but I won’t. Just go read it. She makes a very straightforward and compelling argument for why it’s so important for companies to make sure their online recruiting presence and recruiting communication strategies are strong and ready to go. And she extends that argument to the idea that companies will have to identify someone to lead the way…as the Candidate Community Manager.

Let me conclude with a quote from the post:

The results for a progressive company that implements a social recruiting strategy, lead and fostered by a Candidate Community Manager will be increased relevant and real online conversation about their employer brand, their culture and job opportunities that exist. This will lead to increased credibility, exposure and most importantly, an increased understanding of your target - The Candidate.

The folks at RecruitingBlogs.com are putting on a conference in Toronto for HR folks. It’s on September 19th (and creeps into the 20th as well). Knowing the folks organizing it (including Jason Davis), and those helping to promote it, including Maren Hogan, I’m sure RecruitFest will be a blast.

All the details you need are here: http://recruitfest.eventbrite.com/

There will be a number of great speakers including Scott Love, Craig Silverman, John Sumser and Susan Burns.

If you’re a recruiter - either 3rd party or corporate - you should go. It will be intimate (80 people or so) and you’ll get a chance to meet many of the people leading the charge on evolving HR and recruiting. Folks that not only talk about social recruiting, Web 2.0, etc. but actually leverage the technologies and techniques on a regular basis.

Check out RecruitFest! and make your plans…

Niche social networks are popping up all over the place. It makes complete sense; Facebook or other behemoth social networks can’t possibly service everyone’s needs. And this is no more true than in the world of recruiting.

The most well-known social network for recruiters is RecruitingBlogs.com which offers a great place for recruiters and folks in the HR industry to get together, chat, discuss best practices, network and learn from one another.

And most recently, HRMToday and HR Bloggers joined forces to create their own social network for recruiters.

The news of the merger between the sites is all over the recruiting blogosphere.

I’m certain the new site - which is located at HRMToday.com - will add a valuable voice and resource to the recruiting world. It will be managed by Jennifer Barnes, Lance Haun & Laurie Ruettimann

HRMToday says: “HRM Today seeks to elevate the profession of Human Resources and increase media awareness of Human Resources through blogging, social networking, and aggressive use of other Web 2.0 technologies.”

Jenn Barnes has worked in human resources since 2001. She is the creator of the blog HR Wench, a popular destination for business professionals that want straight answers to their workplace dilemmas. She lives in Washington State.

Lance Haun has been a Human Resources Generalist practicing in the field for five years. On his award winning blog, YourHRGuy.com, he tackles workplace issues by giving employees an inside scoop of how your HR department runs. He is a native of Portland, Oregon.

Laurie Ruettimann is the founder of Punk Rock HR, and a SPHR certified Human Resource professional with over 10 years in the corporate HR departments of Fortune 500 companies. She lives in Raleigh, NC.

The Web’s new social media tools have had a profound influence on business. Never before has the barrier to publishing content been so low, and the ability to pinpoint and influence an audience with it so great. That’s the promise of the Groundswell, and that’s the driving force behind our company Standout Jobs and our Recruitment Communication Platform product.

This post serves as Standout Jobs’ value proposition submission for the Forrester Groundswell awards, which will recognize “excellent and effective use of social technologies to advance an organizational or corporate goal.” We’re true believers in the promise of social technologies within the enterprise (Enterprise 2.0)—in fact we make our living from them. Standout Jobs embodies the spirit of the Groundswell awards because, as it was so well put in Groundswell – winning in a world transformed by social technologies, we have created “a completely different way for people to relate to companies and to each other.”

Standout Jobs provides employers with new, innovative and compelling tools to better brand their culture and people to prospective employees. For too long companies have used the web as a static, broadcast only medium, which people no longer accept. Web savvy employees demand more: more interaction, more transparency, and more empowerment because they’ve grown up with, and accustomed to, those traits. Companies that understand the Groundswell see the Web as a two-way medium. They foster the creation of relationships and build trust and affinity with these high-value workers.

Standout Jobs’ tools create relationships between people and companies. Our career site software offers additional channels of interaction that foster meaningful conversations. The net result is a deeper connection with a more web savvy audience that has grown to expect authenticity and transparency, and a greater likelihood those people will want to work for a company which best represents these ideals.

Name of Entry: Standout Jobs recruitment communication platform.

Example of Standout Jobs-powered career site provided by customer Akoha here: http://jobs.akoha.org/

Here’s a screenshot:

Name of Company Entering: Standout Jobs

Category: Managing

Description of this Entry:

The Standout Jobs recruitment communication platform is a turn-key, interactive career and online recruiting site delivered via software as a service (SaaS) model. Standout Jobs provides a do-it-yourself interactive career site that leverages video, blogging, and widgets to showcase the hiring company’s culture and team. The solution also includes candidate relationship management tools, enabling HR managers to identify, interact with, and track candidates. The software is designed specifically to promote and market the hiring organizations themselves, not just the job openings, and to foster ongoing relationships with both active and passive applicants.

Organizations using Standout Jobs provide more information about their companies and attract high-value candidates through increased communication and interaction on an ongoing basis. Customers report employees who have come in through the platform are much better suited for their positions based on cultural and skill set “fit.” Standout Jobs uses a drag-and-drop system for deployment, allowing companies, without IT experience or training, to build custom career sites and get them online in just minutes.

How does this Entry Accomplish Business Goals:

Standout Jobs was created to bring employment branding to the “masses.” Typically very few companies outside of the Fortune 500 have budgets for big recruitment marketing campaigns. Standout Jobs exists as an alternative that uses the best social tools to brand an employer to prospective employees and interact with prospects in a way that keeps them engaged. The effect enhances both the employer presence and candidate experience to deliver the most favorable “first impression” for both sides and fosters an ongoing dialogue. Business goals accomplished include:

• Saving money (reducing the dependency on recruiters, and empowering HR to do more on their own)
• Saving time (automated job marketing, more constant candidate flow, better candidate management)
• Increasing internal collaboration & communication by ensuring everyone in a team can review and comment on applications
• Hiring the right people by:
• Creating a centralized hub for recruiting efforts
• Managing distribution of jobs and employer content through social networks, social media
• Promoting a great employer brand
• Giving candidates the information about the employer they want
• Capturing more candidate attention and interest
• Building ongoing relationships with candidates
• Developing an active talent pool

ROI Calculation:

Standout Jobs became available in February 2008. Since then the company has delivered its interactive career site platform to more than 180 customers, each with its own definition of return on investment. The Standout Jobs recruitment communication platform is offered for free (with a premium services option). The software has delivered returns as diverse as reclaiming much of a hiring manager’s time and effort for other pursuits he once devoted to recruitment; to saving literally 10s of thousands of dollars in recruiters’ fees for another organization. Below I’ve included three recent case study benefits:

1. Rainbow USA – a retail clothing chain with more than 1000 locations across the United States: In just a short period of time using Standout Jobs, Rainbow has filled key positions including a number of store managers; the company’s Visual Manager, responsible for the overall look and feel of the brand both online and off; a lease administrator and a Senior Buyer for Rainbow’s 579 division.

   Anthony Bockerstette, Rainbow’s Corporate Talent Acquisition Manager, estimates the savings on recruiters’ fees alone for just the above positions is more than $125,000. Bockerstette added, “We want to make hiring more proactive versus reactive. There’s huge turnover in retail due to bad hires. With the help of Standout Jobs we’ve continued to be proactive in finding great fits for Rainbow who will stick around longer, saving us money and keeping us on a competitive path.”

   Rainbow’s Standout Jobs-powered site can be found here: http://rainbow-apparel.standoutjobs.com/

2. HCI (Hogan Consulting Inc.) – is a recruiting and retention firm based in Omaha, Nebraska. Since starting with the Standout Jobs platform, HCI has posted four positions resulting in three great hires. The fourth position was later absorbed into another, resulting in a 100 percent successful hire rate using Standout Jobs thus far. Further, Partner Maren Hogan and her partners now have a formalized process for vetting candidates.

   Using Standout Jobs recruitment communication platform has made HCI more competitive in its market, more likely to be the employer a high-value candidate chooses when they have multiple options, and provides the firm with a formalized solution for internally vetting candidates while saving valuable resources.

   HCI’s Standout Jobs-powered site can be found here: http://hogan-consulting-inc.standoutjobs.com/

3. Atlantic Dominion Solutions – is a cutting-edge web development firm creating software applications for companies with requirements off-the-shelf solutions can’t address. A recent convert to Standout Jobs, ADS has already hired one great Ruby on Rails developer. Typically this would have cost ADS more than $10,000 in recruiter fees, money which can now go back into the business. Additionally, the hired employee immediately began generating revenue.

   Founder Robert Dempsey is enthusiastic about the effect Standout Jobs will have on his future hiring, “I can invite other people from around the company to review applicants’ resumes and profiles,” he said. “I can’t emphasize how important it is to me to be able to manage the entire process from one central location. It’s awesome. We can customize the job web site with anything we want without having to do any specialized development on it ourselves. And, I can have the rest of my team vet potential hires for cultural fit. Using Standout Jobs my company looks like the great place it is to work. No typical web ad or recruiter can convey that feeling to a candidate, and that’s priceless.” ADS’ Standout Jobs site makes good use of viral video in attracting the right kind of candidate for the company: http://ads.standoutjobs.com/

Dates during which the entry was available to users: From February, 2008

As I read Peter Weddle’s post, You Are What They Remember, I kept nodding to myself. In a few instances I caught myself agreeing verbally. “Yes…yes…yes…” (You can skip any obvious jokes with that last sentence…)

What’s Peter’s point?

It’s simple:

1. Companies need to be memorable to succeed in selling their products and services.
2. The same holds true in recruitment.
3. Positive memories are created and fostered by repetition. That’s why marketers hammer home the same messages over and over.
4. The same holds true in recruitment.
5. Marketing in this fashion is very expensive. Big companies can do it, small ones can’t.
6. The same holds true in recruitment.
7. There are other ways of marketing and becoming memorable for selling products and services.
8. The same holds true in recruitment.

Recruitment - at least the part of it that involves getting top candidates to the door and engaged - is all about sales and marketing. But since there are very few companies outside of the Fortune 500 with significant budgets for big recruitment marketing campaigns, what alternatives exist?

Here’s what Peter writes:

You can create an experience in your recruiting process that is so positively compelling and differentiating that it actually acts as an advertising message. To do that, you must move your entire organization (that means your hiring managers, employees and senior leaders as well as your fellow recruiters) from the transactional, supply chain mentality that dominates recruiting today to a relationship-based community development perspective.

Bingo. And employer brand and candidate experience meld together and will stay forevermore attached at the hip.

Peter goes on to say:

If you then trigger viral behavior on the part of candidates-if you formally and respectfully ask them to pass the memory along to their friends and colleagues-you can probably reach as many prospective candidates as you would with more traditional brand advertising.

This is absolutely true, and where so much of what we know about social media can be leveraged for recruiting. Even when it comes down to rejecting candidates you can create a positive experience and encourage viral spreading of your message.

Peter goes on to explain some ways that small and medium-sized businesses (and large ones) can improve their recruitment process, build up employer brand, and enhance the candidate experience.

In my mind, one of the key issues is your career site (no surprise!) I think of the career site as your recruitment hub. You drive people towards it and hope to convert those people into candidates. Your marketing strategy isn’t the hub, because you could drive hundreds of candidates, but without a good career site, you won’t convert the right ones. Your applicant tracking system isn’t the hub, it’s there to catch applications and move them through the recruitment / hiring process.

It’s the career site that matters most; because if you can’t convert the right candidates it won’t matter what kind of applicant tracking system you’re using, and it won’t matter how much you spend to drive candidates to the front door.

Your career site is one of the first and most prominent branding pieces of the puzzle that people will see. If it’s not up to snuff - if the hub isn’t working - all the other elements, the spokes of the wheel, fall apart.