Posts Tagged ‘how to use facebook’

Strategy. Where would we be without one? Rowing rudderless down a rapid river without a paddle. If we don’t have an object, strategy, and plan our efforts are fruitless. The low rate of return is a waste of time. More importantly, if you are a recruiter, and your recruitment techniques are bad, you risk your reputation, and good standing in the recruitment community. Furthermore, you risk alienating job seekers, and clients which is just a faulty business practice. The the gold-standard recruiters, and recruitment firms this is not news. However; to job seekers it is a validation of how damaging poor recruitment practices can be.

Strategy. If you are a job seeker, and you are not both disciplined, and strategic in your job search planning, you will stall your re-employment, and sabotage your morale. In this economy, the unemployment rates can be depressing, and attitude deflating. If you subscribe to this blog, I consistently challenge job seekers to “think like a recruiter.” Likewise, I challenge recruiters to put themselves in the mindset of a candidate, and cultivate empathy for the job seeker, as well as the client. A recruiter must keep ever present in their minds that your candidate may one day be the hiring manager who will retain your services. Furthermore, the candidate you place, and even those you don’t place will be a treasure trove of referrals.

Strategy. I am a fierce candidate advocate. In addition, Compassionate HR isn’t just the name of my radio show, it is a way of life. I straddle the worlds of career development, recruitment, training and development, and organization effectiveness. First, let me define compassion. The dictionary defines compassion as follows:

“A feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering.”

In 2007, I was struck my deep sympathy, and grief in the loss of 2 family members, and in the loss of the family members of dear friends. Compassion, however; does not mean a measly groveling of emotionalism. Rather, it reflects the mindset of equanimity. It acknowledges the suffering all around us, and a willingness to serve to alleviate the suffering that we are able. Compassionate HR, Recruitment, and Social Media is a way of being. It is a method of outreach to my professional community. There are those who would argue too much compassion can get in the way of working with our clients. I beg to differ. Compassion is a sound business practice so long as it is matched with sound pragmatic methods.

Recently, I have noticed an over abundance of pre-scheduled job spamming in the HireFriday, Job Angels, Jobs, and Careers twitter streams. This spray and pray recruitment approach is a joke. It is a fallacy that must be exposed. It is a bad business practice that alienates job seekers, and the average business person in your twitter/facebook network. News Flash recruiters. Nobody cares about your indiscrimanent job postings. Be strategic. Find the right venues for your job postings. Search the new media venues industry relevant candidates, and engage them in a dialogue about the jobs opportunities you have to offer. If I am not a java developer do you think I care to see your java developer job posts? I don’t, neither do most job seekers.

People may wonder: why am I so adamant about keeping the HireFriday twitter stream for candidates only? It is because I was once a job seeker who was turned off by streams that did not post relevant job postings. I’d unfollow companies that posted nothing but jobs. If I want to see job opportunities, I’d follow TweetMyJobs and request industry relevant jobs only. I’d go to a job board, see who’s hiring, then leverage my linkedin contacts to make inroads into the company. I’d tweet to the executives of companies where I wanted to work, and build those relationships. I’d tweet to the recruiters who were credible, ethical, and dignified, and build those relationships. I’d network with colleagues, and take those relationship from online to a face to face meeting, if local, and a teleconference if not.

There are ways to do things. There are ways to not do things. The reason why HireFriday is a success is precisely because it features, supports, and encourages job seekers. Most job seekers might watch the #jobs stream, and run a twitter search for key words that match their job title, but will they follow and watch a stream of just plain spammy, irrelevant jobs? I argue no!. HireFriday connects people to people who can offer contacts, opportunities, and jobs. If it were to become a mixed media of jobs, and people it would lose readers, members, and the job seekers would soon scatter, and disappear. I’ve seen this countless times with other online communities.

Strategy: in order for job seekers and recruiters to be successful in the use of HireFriday, they must connect with one another offline, and find one another online. People ask: can anyone control a twitter stream? I’d argue yes. I do it all time. I do not own the HireFriday stream, our community does. I manage the stream. I watch the stream like a hawk. I consistently post guidelines for job seekers, recruiters, and companies to follow. If I see someone behaving contrary to our community values, thus destroying the integrity of our group, I redirect them, and stop with if necessary.

You see, I am a fierce advocate. I’ve been a fighter of the good fight all my life. I am part sweetheart, and part scrappy terrier nipping at the heels of the big dogs. One thing I have learned is this: if you want to run with the big dogs, you have the aim for the high bushes. I encourage recruiters, and job seekers alike to aim for the high bushes, take a quality strategic approach that will yield fruitful results, and when necessary, take the high road. I also advocate fighting for your rights, your beliefs, and your integrity. In the final analysis, no one can strip us of our dignity, our integrity, and our self respect unless we let them.

Now it’s time for today’s theme song: The Beastie Boys Anthem: “You Gotta Fight For Your Right To Party.” I selected this song for four reasons. 1) It’s fun. 2) You gotta fight for your rights. 3) I’m a rebel at heart. 4) If you want to play hard, delay gratification, be strategic, work hard, then party.

Bookmark It