How social recruiting has changed recruitment forever
Last week I saw a tweet on Twitter from SocialHonesty, that really resonated with me with regards to recruitment. She summed up the essence of the changes brought about by the 'magic words' social recruiting.
I have taken the tweet and made it graphical (below). Having met with a good number of recruitment companies over the last few months, I can say with any doubt, that many recruiters are still definitely pre-social recruiting! Right or wrong, that's where the majority are.
When will Recruiters realise that there are great resources out there in the world of social media like LinkedIn (still many recruiters are not using it properly - some not at all!!), Twitter, Facebook and Google, that can be used to really improve the recruitment process. Social recruiting isn't a fad anymore, it is real and it is here right now!!
It doesn't mean that other channels like job boards are finished, they are not. It also doesn't mean that you forsake every other recruitment channel for social media channels, because they still all work, and they very much part of the mix. But, social media channels should become a valuable addition to your recruitment armoury - not next month or next year, but right now!
By next year, social recruiting will just become a normal part of recruiting new people, and the word 'social recruiting' will probably be dropped from conversation, reverting to just plain old 'recruiting' again.
If you are still in pre-social recruiting mode, I would be interested to know why you haven't made the step forward yet? Maybe you could share your reasons in the comments below?
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Comments 9
Andsomepeople
Interesting. Strange how ‘attract’ is not seen as integral to the ‘social recruiting’ model any more. For direct recruiters, even those using social media, they still need to ‘sell’ the opportunity/business. As for engaging and connecting, those were (or should have been) part of ‘pre-social recruiting’ anyway. Just because they weren’t so tangible, or trackable, as they are now with social media doesn’t mean they didn’t exist. As you say hopefully social recruiting will probably soon be dropped as a buzzword - social media is just another recruitment tool. Just like a few years ago when the world of recruitment fell in love with the term ‘digital’.
Steve Ward
Why do we think `Social Recruiting` is new? - it’s a new phrase, but the principle is longstanding - just with newer and shinier platforms?
Andy - the message is a good one. 95% - probably more - of recruiters are pre-social recruiting, as you put it. The industry just forgot to be social when recruiting, and doesn’t trust the new methods.
Andy I referred to this blog in my post here: link to recruitmentmisfit.com. I believe it covers my feelings on `social recruiting` pretty clearly.
Andy Headworth
Actually, you may have apoint there re ‘attract’!
With regards to the engaging and connecting point - I agree it is something that should have been happening, but I would suggest it was not the majority of recruiters practising it!
Social recruiting as it has become known has allowed (in my opinion) a certain section of recruiters, a chance at learning to engage and communicate that they haven’t done before.
For those that had hidden behind emails for a long time, the opportunity to start engaging with people via the likes of Twitter and Facebook for work purposes, has probably ‘refreshed’ their approach.
>>>>> you never know they may well actually use the telephone next to actually speak to people!
Andy Headworth
Social recruiting isn’t new - you are correct, Steve. But I have seen so many recruiters that:
a) have hidden behind emails and job boards for so long they have lost the ability to do their job properly
b) have obviously had their tongues removed for the fear of talking to people
c) are in the wrong jobs
that I believe that ‘social recruiting’ as it has been coined, is something that can actually help many of these recruiters find their ‘commuicative feet’ again. By using the likes of Twitter and Facebook etc, they can again feel comfortable, not awkward in starting dialogue and relationships with candidates and clients alike. After all many of the recruiters of the last few years are gen y after all! Aren’t they the social generation?
One day soon when ‘social’ is dropped, there will still be a large proportion of the recruiters who just won’t try anything new. They won’t change, so why should we worry about them.
With regards to your post - I think that they would be correct additions to my thoughts. I like the idea of adding in FOCUS - especially with the volume of social stuff out there!
Alan Whitford
Hi Andy
Trying again, as the blog gremlins ate my first reply.
I agree with your move towards Engage, Connect, Listen, but also agree with Mark, that we cannot forget ‘attract’. After all, if recruiter has not attracted candidate or client, and candidate has not attracted the recruiter, there will be no parties to engage. The ‘new’ social media channels are additions to the communication kitbag, extending the means of engaging, connecting and listening - on the way to Recruit.
Cheers
Al
Alconcalcia
I would suggest that one of the problems with recruitment is that there are, as you suggest Andy, many people in the wrong job. Recruitment is a communications business and there still is no more powerful communications tool than the telephone. Latterly though it seems, many rely largely on job board response and then bemoan the fact that they a) get too many or b) not enough or c) the quality/profile of the applicants is wrong.
Are these same people then not just going to scattergun stuff out onto Twitter and the like and hope for the best there rather than network via the telephone like they should be doing? Seems to me that compared to say 15 years ago, recruitment has become very one off transactional. i.e. advertise, get someone to trawl through the vast swathes of response, ignore the rejects, bag your few possibles for your client, client chooses one, you get your fee, end of.
Of course that isn;t the way for every recruiter. The sensible ones look long term and think about what that candidate might be doing in five years time. They keep a relationship going with people they have placed or even those on their books who they haven;t yet placed but might get an opening for. That was the old school way - communications. Regular quality interfacing with potential candidates for future roles and maybe even getting a recommendation or two to a friend chucked in along the way.
Social Media is not the solution alone. it is part of the mix granted, but it still very much depends on how it is used. My fear, and it is happening already, is that many agencies will just chuck job after job after job listing on there and hope for the best. Very ,much like they have done on the job boards for years.
CloudNineRec
Couldn’t agree more with all of that Andy. Recruitment has turned very antisocial, and `web-based recruiting` is on the rise - frankly lazy recruiting, and I am guilty of having dabbled in it for small fees in desperate times - but it’s totally unfulfilling, and anti-relationship-building.
As a bloke who walked out on an interview with Reed 3-4 years ago when I challenged their business development methods, and the Director said “well it’s worked for us for over 50 years and we’ve done alright, why should we change?” - I totally agree with the `who cares` sentiment, if others can’t be willing to join us in the 21st century…
Andy Headworth
Alan,
I like your turn of phrase, “communication kitbag” because I think , like you it aptly describes the array of channels available to us as recruiters. (Just a shame so many recruiters are still living in the dark ages!)
Andy Headworth
Job boards shouldn’t be blamed for recruiters inability to do their job. Many of the recruiters have never been trained properly, and were just shown the process to follow - and that is post and pray online. They have not been shown sourcing skills, and to be honest many don’t give a crap about that side of things. They just want an easy life and sifting a job board response has been the way - so what if the client isn’t happy - many don’t care about that!
Social media allows (the recruiters that want want to use them) a wider range of comms channels, which they may be more comfortable in using. This can only be a good thing.
The thing is that many recruiters still don’t actually want to use them!!!