Why corporate America needs to embrace social media
By Cyndy Trivella
It is my pleasure to have Margo Rose with me today. Margo caught my attention over a year ago when I saw her omnipresence on numerous social media platforms. She is one of the most respected and well-connected individuals in the social media and human resource space today. She is a community leader, HR pro, social media advocate and entrepreneur. She began working in human resources over 25 years ago and has seen this field go through metamorphic transformation with an insider’s view.
Margo is the brainchild and CEO behind HireFriday, the job seeker community and social movement that brings job seekers resources to people, information, career best practices and networking opportunities. Putting her HR background to good use, Margo dedicates many hours of volunteer time to coach and instruct job seekers on interview techniques, cover letter and resume development, and follow-up communications.
Cyndy: Margo, you have such a long and varied career with most of it being in or around the field of human resources. What is it about human resources that keeps you interested? (more…)
Recruiting Trend: QR Codes on Promotional Items
By Stephanie Hartman
It’s no secret that recruiters are always on the look out for new ideas that are innovative and creative to help attract top talent to their organizations. Many recruiters have used promotional products. And many recruiters are beginning to use QR codes. But have you ever thought of using them together?
What is a QR code? QR stands for “Quick Response.” It’s essentially a barcode, which, when read by a smartphone, links people directly to a mobile landing page. (more…)
New Year Baby Steps for Social Media
By Kendra Pearson
I am privileged to be a part of the board for my local SHRM chapter, the Raleigh-Wake Human Resource Management Association. At our recent chapter meeting, I shared the ways we are advancing our chapter’s mission through the use of social media. I asked attendees to raise their hand if they found social media to be “overwhelming and time-consuming.” I expected a lot of agreement with this question, but the speed with which so many of our members’ hands shot up demonstrated what a barrier this perception is to many HR professionals experimenting with these tools.
This time of year is full of many lists of goals for the new year, including tips for watching what you spend, watching what you eat and watching what you do with your time. Lots of people make lofty goals on January 1, only to find they fall into old habits by January 10. I fell into this frustrating category in the past, which is why I began spacing my resolutions throughout the year, focusing on different areas of my life each month.
If either launching a social media strategy or building upon an existing presence using these tools is among your goals for the new year, I recommend breaking down your goals into baby steps throughout the year to avoid that “overwhelmed” feeling that often accompanies the thought of actively engaging with social media resources.
Below, I have included a sample month-to-month guide for your social media efforts this year although I would encourage you to edit this plan as it fits with your goals. (more…)
Your values are not your employment brand.
By Charles Kapec
Having helped develop many employment brands, I know that one of the more common misconceptions among employers is the idea that their corporate values are their employment brand.
Corporate values serve a vital mission within any organization. They tell customers what you believe in. They also tell your employees what behaviors are important and how you operate. What they do not do is engage candidates or explain why they should work for you. Consider the following:
Values are not a differentiator.
What are your company’s values? Chances are they include words like Excellence, Quality, Integrity, Respect, Accountability, Diversity and Teamwork. If you are a healthcare organization, add in Compassion, Competence and Caring. Let’s face it. The values that contribute to success within any business are essentially the same. Focusing on these words in your employment brand does not set you apart or tell anyone what makes your company different as an employer. (more…)
Facebook à la LinkedIn
by Kristine Rhodes
This year, 18.4 million American job seekers claimed they found their job through Facebook. 10.2 American job seekers claim they found their job through LinkedIn (Source: SelectMinds survey 2011). With those sorts of statistics, it’s no wonder organizations are scrambling to find ways to capture their audiences through these channels. More and more, we are hearing success stories around the LinkedIn model of companies and their recruiters connecting with candidates and building relationships to ultimately make hires. But are organizations creating connections using Facebook? Obviously, companies are creating Facebook pages with job feeds to their ATS. And of course, we can buy targeted advertising on Facebook. But the biggest challenge with Facebook has been how to expand the organization’s network. How do we gain more fans for our company Facebook pages and make it worth the investment of time and money? After all, what’s the destination worth if a Fortune 1000 company only has 1,400 fans? How do you build that to be a viable recruiting destination? Our job with our client-partners is to help build the strategies around these social media destinations so they can make more meaningful connections and hire the necessary talent. (more…)
