Unemployment Can Be Stressful--HireFriday Can Help

As the HireFriday community grows, we learn lessons along the way. When I started this community in February, I wanted it to be a stream for job seekers, not jobs. Twitter has a plethora of streams where jobs are posted. HireFriday is recruiting in reverse. Instead of job postings…we post job seekers. Instead of my colleagues posting jobs into the stream, they can watch the stream for interesting candidates, and get in touch with them.

HireFriday’s purpose is to be a voice for the job seeker. Unemployed people feel invisible sometimes. Particularly in the wake of the recent Huffington Post article that scooped the story about companies that tell unemployed people they need not apply. Not only do I think this is heartless and short sighted, I think it’s stupid. There are some incredibly talented unemployed people. Why not tap into this brilliant talent pool?

I care about the feelings of job seekers. As the founder, and community manager of HireFriday, people know I am a job seeker evangelist. Sure, I wrote a tough love post a few weeks back. Some job seekers need a hug. Some job seekers need a nudge. All job seekers need support, and a helpful community that stands behind them. I will never let anyone take me to task for standing up for unemployed people.   It’s a tough time in anyone’s life.    If you’ve never lost a job, just live long enough and your day will come. I don’t care how good you are at your job.  Lay offs happen.  By all means, job seekers must be pro-active in their search.

HireFriday is not the same as #JobHuntChat or #TNL.  JobHuntChat does an excellent job of answering the questions of job seekers.  The HireFriday twitter stream is more of a job seeker posting board.  Again, it’s the reverse of a twitter job stream.  Now, our HireFriday facebook page, and linkedin group is designed to be more interactive, as we can share in larger bites than 140 characters.  Bottom line: unemployment is hard. HireFriday is here to help.

In case you were sleeping during the recession of 2009, a lot of outstanding candidates lost their jobs. Yes, I am the host of Compassionate HR. I interview thought leaders in the Recruiting, HR, and Social Media community who live and breath corporate responsibility, not because it’s good PR, but rather because it is the right thing to do.

The meaning of Compassion is understanding and having empathy for the pain of others. This is why I care so deeply about people in the midst of a career transition. It is the heart and soul of who I am. I don’t get paid for my community stewardship for HireFriday. I do not monetize it, rather it is my volunteer work. I do it because I care. I do it because it’s the right thing to do.

HireFriday is not just a twitter stream flash in the pan where we retweet job seeker’s credentials. It is a space where job seekers know that there is someone out there who cares about them. They know that they are not lost, or forgoton.

I’d wager about 85% of my of my followers on twitter are recruiters, and human resources professionals. When I retweet a candidate in the HireFriday stream, all of my recruiter friends see them. I respectfully request that they do not post jobs into the stream. Rather, if they are looking for a person with a particular skill set for their job req, I can forward the candidates to them, or they can contact me directly. Since I follow hundreds of recruiters, I already know about the jobs they are posting.

HireFriday is pull, not push marketing. Our job seekers need visibility and access to contacts. Rather than posting, “Java developer with xyz experience,” We post the java developer. Don’t get me wrong, I’m an advocate for recruiters too. I like the recruiters I’m connected to, and many of them are my dear friends.

Recruiters are looking for square pegs in square holes. I care about the round pegs. They need help too. I think that’s why I’ve taken this developed this community. In part, because I care more about the job seeker than the job req.  Recruiters, believe me, I understand you work for the client.  I respect the integrity of your work.  The most ethical recruiters I know always leave the candidate with a better understand of how they can be more effective in their search.  At least, that is what the good ones do.  I was recently on the phone with Lou Adler,  and he confirmed this point.

Your pal,

HR Margo Rose

P.S. By now, most of you know I like to attach theme songs to my posts. I now give you Gloria Gaynor:  ”I will survive.”  This was my 80′s theme song.  I hope you enjoy it.

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