Is ‘Dream Recruiting Job’ An Oxymoron?
Posted on December 5, 2013 1 Comment
When I had to hire a recruiter (I’ve hired a few of them over the years, they know all the tricks so it’s kind of hard), I’d always throw this question in there:
If you had to recruit for the same role for the rest of your career, what would that role be and why?
It’s a stupid question, but I got some interesting answers. You should try it – it actually works for almost any kind of job with a little find & replace action. I’ve never been asked this myself, so I haven’t had to really give my job seeker answer of “whatever was the most mission critical position in the company.” Boom. But I have given it some thought.
CE Change: The Only Fix for Candidate Experience Is Compliance
Posted on December 5, 2013 1 Comment
Candidate experience is another one of those terms recruiters just can’t seem to shut up about. But unlike the blizzard of buzzwords mostly designed to sell consulting services and content marketing, it’s one that, if anything, we should all be talking about more. The reason is, unlike, say, employer branding, candidate experience is actually a concept that has real impact on real people and real recruiters every day.
The Real Reason Google Rocks at Recruiting
Posted on December 4, 2013 Leave a Comment
I was watching the movie The Internship (don’t ask), and my big takeaway, even with my fancy degree in film, was this: how the hell did Google get a feature film for an employer branding initiative? I mean, it’s not enough that they’re already the most InDemand employer according to LinkedIn, which obviously means it’s totally true – they’re also the top rated company to work for on almost every such list out there. Then, I had this admittedly nerdy thought: I wonder what ATS Google uses?
6 Social Media Content Marketing Lessons
Posted on December 3, 2013 Leave a Comment
6. People Hate Long Leads. People love numbered lists. Read More
Twitter Chats: Two Cliches in A Dark Place
Posted on December 2, 2013 7 Comments
I was asked to contribute a few thoughts recently on how a particular Twitter chat changed my life, or something similarly specious. Instead of looking like I actually intrinsically endorsed this particular chat, I decided to devote an entire post to it, and others like it, which to me more or less encapsulate everything that’s wrong with social media.
Buzz or BS? Don’t Believe the Hype About These 3 Recruiting Trends
Posted on November 26, 2013 1 Comment
Last week’s post, “3 Hot Recruiting Trends We Should Shut Up About, Already” created a ton of comments and conversation about some of the “trends” that real recruiters and real candidates really could care less about. The feedback was pretty uniform: most “best practices” and “recruiting challenges” are just a market play by consultants and thought leaders designed to sell products, services or to peddle influence. The post also received a ton of suggestions of other “hot topics” which recruiting practitioners are tired of hearing or talking about; here are three of those suggestions that, no matter what your take, are more played out than Miley’s career, podcasting or the perpetual quest for a “seat at the table.” So, shut up about these 3 “recruiting trends” which aren’t actually trends at all. Unless, of course, you happen to sell into talent organizations.
Behind the Buzzwords: 20 HR Technology Vendor Definitions
Posted on November 25, 2013 Leave a Comment
When your vendor talks about SEO for Recruiting, what they really mean is that SEO for Recruiting is one of those terms that sounds really cool, even though they have no idea what the hell SEO for Recruiting actually means.
Which is ironic, because they’re using excellent keyword density. They always do. At least according to this research that’s conveniently protected by a firewall.
Here’s how to decode some of the highest ranking, highest volume, but mostly meaningless messaging used by HR Technology vendors. Because you don’t want to be collateral damage when it comes to product marketing.
Read More
Shut Up, Already: Stop Talking About These 3 Recruiting “Trends”
Posted on November 21, 2013 21 Comments
I read a ton of blogs, participate in a lot of Twitter chats (or as I call them, “pithy parties”) and listen in on a lot of presentations about trends in talent acquisition and HR technology. But what’s trendy among the industry “influencers” who need your company’s cash to keep the lights on don’t necessarily jibe with the stuff that really matters to candidates and employers.
Here are three hot topics that drive a ton of talk but very little value unless you’re a consultant with a specific agenda in mind: Read More
Smoking Hashtags
Posted on November 1, 2013 Leave a Comment
TGIF, right? Yeah, that used to be more exciting before they pulled Family Matters, Step by Step and Boy Meets World from the best programming block this side of Thursday nights on NBC circa 1996, but now, Fridays just mean having to see #FollowFriday (or #FF, if you f-ing like) proliferate throughout my social stream.
I’ve always hated these because they’re not only pandering, but was a trend started by Mashable, the landing spot for all douche canoes floating on social streams. I understand it even less considering that Twitter, in particular, has a pretty good algorithm displaying people you should follow that really defeats the point of this weekly onslaught of hashtag abuse.
Which got me thinking a little about the purpose of hashtags.
How To Stalk (or Source) Someone on Twitter
Posted on October 31, 2013 3 Comments
Twitter can’t be beat when it comes to business development. Sure, it’s good for engagement, and great for sharing content. That’s what it’s really designed for, after all. But the nice thing about effective engagement and relevant content on Twitter is that you can build up a very targeted, highly segmented base of followers which essentially make them warm leads.
If you want to know how to proactively source talent with Twitter’s advanced search function, Jen Picard recently published a great guide for recruiters worth reading. For just-in-time recruiting, I’d also recommend FollowerWonk, a free tool offering many of the same functions but with some nice sorting and ranking tools. Getting true value from Twitter, however, is entirely correlated (in my experience) not to who you find or engage, but who your followers are.
