Cheezhead Recruiting News and Opinion

At the recent ERE Expo, a term that I heard industry experts toss around quite a bit was “tools.” How do recruiters choose which new Web 2.0 (or 3.0) tool to add to their arsenal, and how are these tools changing how we recruit?

On a panel that was moderated by Gerry Crispin of CareerXroads, Cheezhead blogger and SEO expert Joel Cheesman, Yahoo’s Senior Talent Acquisition Manager Carmen Hudson, and JobMachine’s Shally Steckerl each described which tools are most important to them and how pervasive these recruiting weapons have become. Steckerl put it best when he said, “You cannot stop it. It’s everywhere. People are even twitting from the bathroom stalls.”

Members of the panel described the tools that they can’t live without. For Steckerl, it was Twitter, Trillion, and Voice over IP. Hudson chose live-streaming meetings, Meebo, and Yammer, a Twitter for internal company use, as some of her favorites.

To get some audience feedback, Crispin asked why Web 2.0 tools are important to their company. One lady from the Columbus Library spoke up and said that they recently hired a well-known digital strategist to consult with them on such technology. The strategist created a list of 23 things that each employee can do to enter into this new world, including blogging and Twittering, and she noted that the recent push has become the new craze at the library.

She said, “We wanted to be considered cutting-edge since libraries typically don’t have this image. And we want to remain relevant within the community.”

Before deciding which of these tools to use, Crispin cautioned that each company should carefully evaluate what message they are trying to get out to their candidates.

“Tools must have context with the business proposition of your company,” he said. “That’s the only reason to make the investment.”

Cheesman brought up social networks to address their relevancy within business initiatives.

“These social networks have a tremendous amount of traffic, but they haven’t figured out how to make money yet, but all of these networks have ways to advertise in terms of targeting because Facebook and myspace have demographic info,” Cheesman said. “For example, Facebook has social ads that allow you to target age, sex, or political affiliation. And you can target based on that person’s employer, so people get your branding. If you are uncomfortable having a presence [on these networks], most of you might be more comfortable advertising on these mediums and getting the candidates to your own site.”

A common complaint from the audience was that these tools seem to reduce productivity rather than enhance it within their organizations, and so many companies have blocked the use of these programs. How can they get past such obstacles?

Steckerl suggested, “Get passed the blocking of social networks by using mobile phones until big brother comes around and turns it off. The point is you cannot stop it - it’s going on everywhere. Gameover, we win.”

Hudson said that while these tools may seem foreign and a waste of time to many companies now, that mindset will change in the future.

“Stay open and creatively use these products,” she said. “It doesn’t take up a lot of time. In three or five years we will have these tools in the forefront. I mean I remember ten years ago when I petitioned in my company for the ability to use email.”

Crispin closed the discussion by summing up the most important reason why recruiters use these tools.

He said, “Ultimately the candidates make the choices. We influence them on how to make better decisions for themselves on the issues.”