Blog

On Monday we went over all the new changes to Facebook’s 2014 Page layout.

Some good, some bad, some sneaky!

I think our post does a pretty good job of explaining the key changes, heck we even included screenshots, but in order to really get the most out of Facebook recruiting it’s important that you know how to use these new features to your advantage. Especially the “Pages to Watch” feature!

Jobcast is a Facebook App so we live in constant fear anticipation of updates to the social network. We have to pay attention in order to adapt, and grow to best serve our clients. This means we follow a lot of great social media blogs (as Facebook’s explanations are never enough) that cover a diverse range of topics pertaining to Facebook Page Admins.

The past couple of weeks have been rife with articles about Fabook’s recent make-under. There are so many blog posts, videos and Infographics on the subject, that there is simply no way that you could read all of them without going completely bonkers.

To avoid the mess that would surely ensue if all of our wonderful clients fell victim to information overload: we have decided to play curator!

Team Jobcast has compiled some of our favourite articles to help you get the most out of your Facebook Page:

Buffer Blog: New Facebook Page Redesign: Everything You Need to Know to Optimize Your Page.

Have Camera Will Travel: An unofficial guide to what’s what, what’s where, and how big for your Facebook Page! 

Social Media Examiner: How ‘Pages to Watch’ from Facebook Can be a Source of Competitive Insight. 

Tabsite: 8 Popular Questions Answered About The New Facebook Page Layout 2014. 

Vertical Response: What Facebook’s New Pages Layout Means for Your Business. 

Want to make your Company Facebook Page the most awesome recruitment tool ever?

Then, you should probably install the Jobcast Facebook Recruiting App like so:

(video not available)

How do you feel about the updated layout? Do you have any tips for using Facebook’s new features? Of course you do! Please share in the comments, we’d love to hear what you have to say 🙂

Happy Link Loving, and stay social!

I love Facebook’s new Page layout. With it’s latest update, Facebook has attempted to streamline Company Pages, and focus on features that are the most used by Page managers in an attempt to make our jobs easier.

For the most part, I think that they have accomplished their goal. Awesome!

Except…

The new layout seriously de-emphasizes third party apps, and as a consequence of this your Career Tab will also less visible (no matter which recruiting app you use.)

Your Career Tab with the customized icon now appears to the left of your Company Page under the “Likes” module, which places it far bellow your navigation bar instead of within it. This means candidates will now have to scroll down in order to view your tab. 

Fortunately, it is still possible to have a Career Tab (without an icon) displayed within your navigation bar.

Here’s How

1 – Go to your Company Page and click on “More”.

2 – From the “More” drop down, select “Manage Tabs”.

3 – Click and drag your Career Tab towards the top of your tab list.

4 – Save your changes.

Now that we’ve got that under control, let’s go over the other new, and important updates to your Page.

Cleaner Page Timeline

Your Page posts are now displayed in a single, larger column on the right hand side of your Page, making it easier for you, and your fans to scroll through your posts.

Your company’s information (website, location, photos etc…) are displayed on the left hand side of your Page.

This will (hopefully) make the overall Facebook experience more consistent for users. 

New Like Prompt

Users who are not already fans of your Page are now shown a prominent prompt encouraging them to do so, which will hopefully encourage them to do so! 

Worked on me…

Easy Access to Key Info 

My favourite thing about the new layout is how easy it is to access important information such as new Likes, stats on your currently running ad campaigns, and any unread notifications. 

All of this can now be accessed via a simple menu at the top of your view, and new notifications and stats are visible at all times in the “This Week” module to the right of your Page.   

Love it!

Smash the Competition

Facebook as a company is pretty darn competitive, so if anyone knows how important it is to monitor rival businesses, they do. The new “Pages to Watch” feature Facebook has added to Company Pages is an incredibly helpful tool for this.

Pages to Watch allows you to create a list of competitors’ Pages, then compare your own Page’s performance to theirs, and view an assortment of stats about their general performance, posts, and popularity.  

If you thought I was going to screenshot our Pages to Watch, think again! I’m crazy for you, but not that crazy.

Images

You may want to update your Cover Image and Profile Picture, so here’s an Infographic with all of the specific dimensions for both your Facebook Page, and image based content. 

How do you feel about all of these updates? Let us know in the comments 😀

Today’s Link Love is all about employees. Making them happy, keeping them productive, and helping them achieve their full potential.

But first, we have a small announcement to make: Jobcast has a brand new video posted about how to brand your Facebook Career Page.

We’re pretty excited about it because we think this video tutorial will be super helpful for all of our awesome Jobcasters!

You should probably watch it right now

(video not available)

Then share it with all of your friends, family, and pets. Thank you kindly!

Okay, now that we have all of that out of the way, here are the links:

Ted Coiné explains: Why You Should Pay Your Employees More Than You Must!

Pam Moore gives us: 15 Easy Steps to Ignite Employees as Brand Evangelists.

Over at Blogging4Jobs Stephanie Hammerwold explains: Getting Employees on Board with New HR Technology.

Tom Gimbel shares: 5 Ways to Save High Performers from the Sophomore Slump.

Then the ever awesome HRNasty makes a strong argument connecting: Business Cards, Employer Branding, and Employee Pride!

Happy Link Loving!

I’m off to watch our new video a thousand more times, because I’m cool like that 😉

Hourly workers, you want ‘em, we got ‘em! Except not really… Having a warehouse full of eager baristas, elevator mechanics, and house painters is illegal in Canada. What we do have are some helpful tips for recruiting qualified hourly workers with the help of social media. Next best thing… Right? If you want to attract the best candidates, you need to have a solid understanding of the talent pool from which you’re fishing. Today’s hourly workforce is not all teens and indecisive “job-hoppers”, as the internet might have you believe. According to TLNT (one of the best sources for recruitment info out there), the hourly worker labor market is extremely diverse in age, gender, and attitude towards their work.

Here are a few interesting stats on hourly workers they shared:

• 39 percent of hourly employees are under 25 years old

• 33 percent are 25–44 years old, and a full 28 percent are 45 or older

• More than 80 percent work within a 5-mile radius of their homes

• Over half (56 percent) consider their jobs a full-time career

• The vast majority (74 percent) prefer to work 30 or fewer hours a week

• Most apply for three jobs at once, making employer responsiveness critical in recruiting. The most important factors to these job seekers are: (1) Being hired quickly (37 percent); (2) pay (33 percent); and (3) being close to home (17 percent)

Helpful tip number 1: Tailor your recruiting strategy to your audience

You wouldn't try to woo a meat lover with steamed tofu, or meet the vegetarian of your dreams at Outback Steakhouse would you?! Hopefully for your love life the answer to both questions is an emphatic NO! Well, same goes for hourly workers. If you want to recruit them, you’re going to have to build a recruiting strategy that targets this specific audience. This strategy may differ substantially from the one you use to recruit for salaried positions. For example: Using LinkedIn works extremely well for filling salaried positions, hiring managers, and recruiting suits. Facebook, and Twitter are a much better option for sourcing, engaging with, and recruiting hourly workers because that’s where they spend more of their online hours. Oh, and less than 36% of them even have LinkedIn, let alone visit the site regularly! You’ll also want to hit up local job boards specifically, as (the majority of) non-salaried positions require local talent, and do not warrant relocation costs.

Helpful tip number 2: Lay it all out there

Hourly positions often lack benefits like stellar vacation packages, and full dental coverage, so you need to broadcast what you do offer, especially if it’s something your competitors don’t! If the wage is competitive, list it. If you have amazing staff parties, post about them on Facebook. If you offer flexible hours for students, put it in bold! Our last post used Earls restaurant as an example of a company effectively using social media to recruit hourly workers. One of the things they make sure to highlight again, and again on their Facebook Career Page, is the fact that they offer tons of room for education and growth within the company. They entice candidates applying for lowly line cook positions with the prospect of gaining the education, and training required to become head chef.

Helpful tip number 3: Make your job titles recognizable and searchable

Do you know what a “Chief Chatter” is? Neither did I, until I read Business Insider’s list of weird job titles and learned that Chief Chatter is just fancy talk for call center employee. Please do not do this. For the sake of all job seekers everywhere! Not only is the job title the first thing a candidate will notice when scanning through page after page of job postings, but it’s the main SEO factor for any of the jobs you share online. I’m not saying you can’t have some fun with your job titles, I am all for fun, just not at the expense of being findable on Google, or the sanity of your potential candidates. For example: Another of the weird job titles was Retail Jedi. That’s actually a pretty rad job title. I would definitely want to work for someone with whom the Force is strong, but I would also want to know what exactly I would be doing for this Yoda of an employer. Try “Comic Book Shop Assistant/Retail Jedi” instead. It’s much clearer, still fun, and has a bunch of great SEO words to boot. Remember, if your job description or title is too vague, and you are receiving applications from scores of unsuited candidates, there are fixes: these are not the droids -- ahem, I mean candidates -- you are looking for. Alright young Jedi get out there and recruit those hourly workers like a pro. Do or do not... there is no try! Oh, and if you haven’t already, check out the Jobcast Facebook Recruiting App for all your social recruiting needs.

Did you know that physicians who are likeable are less likely to be sued?

 “People just don’t sue doctors they like,” according to Alice Burkin, a leading medical malpractice lawyer.

She goes on to give an example of a client who wanted to sue a random specialist, even though her primary care doctor was obviously at fault because, in the clients own words:

“‘I don’t care what she did. I love her, and I’m not suing her.’”

The impression that we make on others dictates our success in life, the workplace, and apparently, even legal matters!

If you are an employer, then you want your employer brand to make a great impression on potential candidates in order to convert them into applicants.

If you are a recruiter, a candidate’s perception of you will influence how they feel about both the job opening you are looking to fill, and the company you are representing.

Eep!

That’s a whole lot riding on candidate’s opinions, especially when those opinions are often formed in a matter of minutes.

In order to help you radiate awesomeness, and repel potential law suits, we present to you…

5+1 Articles to Help You Win Candidates and Influence Applicants

The first thing you need to take into account when trying to influence applicants is your job post. I am always shocked by the amount of job posts I see that do everything in their power to convince potential candidates to run away. Far, far, far away!

If you would rather candidates run towards your company, rather than flee from it, checkout this helpful post over at Blogging 4 Jobs:

OMG Not Another Sucky Job Posting! 

Language and tone play a key role in how we are perceived; this can get slightly tricky when we are communicating via Twitter, email, or job posting.

Carolyn Kopprasch shares her thoughts on two very commonly used words, their impact on email campaigns, and on the importance of word choice in general on the Buffer Blog:

The Power of Every Word: Why I Stopped Using “Actually” and “But” in my Customer Service Emails

Connecting with people, and connecting people with each other, is what recruiting and social media are all about when it comes right down to it.

There are very few ways to leave a better impression on someone than by connecting them with a new friend, new idea, or new job.

Learn how you can make the kind of impression on a person that will make them want to connect with you:

5 Tips for Better Super-Connecting

Your actions speak louder than words, especially when you are in a position of leadership and authority.

Show employees, both current and potential, that you are the kind of leader they want to follow, with this advice from TLNT.com:

Manager’s Mantra: Walk the Talk, Give Credit, Admit When You Don’t Know

Although many popular inspirational quotes would have you believe that first impressions are the only ones that matter, it is not true.

This myth is happily put to rest by Kazim Ladimeji on Recruiter.com:

First Impressions Count, but Last Impressions Count More

For even more great advice about how you can get on a candidate’s good side, here are 5 more great articles about how to make candidates like you.

Happy Link Loving!

Hiring hourly workers is easy: there’s a huge candidate pool to draw from, hourly positions require little to no experience, and these workers have minimal impact on an organization’s success.

Wrong.

Wrong.

WRONG!

Yet many HR articles, and HR tech solutions seem to focus on recruiting for salaried positions.

I don’t know about you, but what our clients want most, is an effective way to engage, recruit, and hire hourly workers.

The high demand we see for this category of candidate indicates that recruiting hourly workers is no cake walk. In fact it’s often an extremely competitive market (depending on the specific position of course.)

Nor has my experience led me to believe that hourly workers are not a vital part of a company’s culture and achievements. At Jobcast, we work with so many incredible organizations where the majority of their staff is comprised of non-salaried positions, and we wouldn’t dare suggest to them that those employees do not have a huge impact on their company’s success.

Take Earls Restaurant for example:

“Great guest experiences begin with great partner experiences. At Earls, our people are our most important resource in delivering irresistible food and engaging experiences that build relationships for life!”  – Jessica Slussar, Earls Family of Restaurants

Jessica also makes it clear that although many of the candidates Earls hires do not come to the company with a huge technical  skill set, this does not mean they hire just anyone.

In fact, nothing could be farther from the truth.

Earls recruits new employees with potential for advancement in mind. They have found a huge return on investment when they put stock in their employees’ future by providing training and encouraging advancement from within.

At Earls there are many great examples across the company of partners who started out as hostesses, and dishwashers, only to become President, GM, and Chef.

So, when the HR team at Earls hire these “unskilled workers”, they are looking for the soft skills required to excel in higher level roles.

Then there are organizations like Fraser Health Services.

Fraser Health is currently building capacity to address unprecedented population growth. This means they need hourly workers; lots of them!

But, the hourly workers they need are not your average candidates.

Fraser Health provides the best care possible: they prioritize safety, quality, and innovation in healthcare. This means that they rely on their staff to be highly skilled, well trained, and educated.

Fraser health Authority is not the only health care organization preparing for increased demand, so the candidates they’re after are a hot commodity, and as such, they must do everything in their power to attract, engage, and recruit them.

These are just two examples of companies that demonstrate the importance of a focus on recruiting hourly workers. We see similar examples every day.

At Jobcast, our clients have taught us that hourly workers are vital contributors to your company’s success, that the quality of hourly workers does matter, and that recruiting these candidates is a challenge that needs to be addressed!

Another thing our clients have taught us?

Facebook is a powerful tool for engaging hourly workers – Tweet it!

Fraser Health currently has a brilliant Facebook recruitment strategy. They use their Facebook Page to promote job openings, to show potential candidates the positive work environment they can expect, and to highlight incredible innovations and projects that inspire job seekers.

Earls has used Facebook to run their hugely effective “Earls Wants You” recruitment campaign, successfully meet recruitment goals in one of their most competitive markets. They have also built up a recognizable employer brand using Facebook’s photo galleries, and run effective, highly visual Facebook Ads campaigns to reach passive candidates.

Facebook allows both organizations to target specific demographics, reach passive candidates, and entice those potential hires by showing off their company culture, and perks.

Both companies also use Jobcast’s automated social sharing feature to broadcast their open positions across LinkedIn, Twitter, and Google Plus.

Fraser Health Tweets all of their latest job openings!

This way they reach as many potential candidates as possible!

We’ve worked with so many fantastic companies to help build their employer brand, and implement successful social recruiting campaigns with a specific eye towards hiring for non salaried positions.

Next week, we’ll go over some of our favorite strategies and discuss how you can recruit qualified hourly workers using social!

Combat those midweek doldrums by taking a little break and reading our top five recent social recruiting blog posts. Taking breaks throughout the day has been proven by the internet science to increase productivity! And if that isn't a good enough excuse; all of these  articles are HR related, so basically you are still working… Even if Tim Sackett's article does have you laughing so hard you spit coffee all over your key board! Tim’s recent re-write of the classic commencement speech is funny and true (the greatest combo since pancakes and bacon!) Check it out, and let me know if you agree that his redux is far more inspiring than the bland original. Warning – There are swear words in Tim’s post. They are not flagrant, but they do exist, in case that bothers you. Speaking of the hilarious men of HR, Andy Headworth has a new article up that begs the question: Is your ego affecting your social media recruiting?  Also, his twitter banner looks like this now:

Andy’s new banner makes a strong first impression, which is important in all aspects of life, but, especially during a job interview. According to Kris Dunn: “Executives say ten minutes is the amount of time it takes for them to form an opinion of job seekers during interviews”,  his article, First Impressions – You’re On the Clock, shares more on this topic. But what about the impression employers make on candidates? Thanks to the internet, a potential candidate’s first impression often comes from a Google search! And that impression can easily go horribly, horribly wrong. If you want some cold truths about how you may be turning job seekers off, Shauna Moerke holds nothing back in her post: 11 Reasons Candidates Don’t Want to Work for You! Let’s end on a fun note with some HR Happy Hour. Steve Boese and Lindsey Pollak discuss the next generation of workers and their transition into leadership roles. Cocktails are optional, but highly recommended!

BlogTalkRadio with HR Happy Hour

For more tips about recruiting millennials give this article on the Entelo blog: Techniques for Recruiting Millennials. Happy Link Loving!

Recently I've been working with several new Jobcasters on their social media branding. This has got me thinking a lot about just how difficult it can be to get started with social. There's just so much information out there, so many different "Must Use" social platforms, "Best Practices", and gigantic lists of "Essential Apps" that you "Can't live without!" It's terrifying. One of my favorite blogs, BufferBlog.com, recently put out a list of the 61 best social media tools for small business. This is awesome... For me, and community managers like me.... But I would never send something like this to a client who has just begun the process of building their organization's employer brand! To be honest, Buffer's list left even me feeling somewhat overwhelmed, and I use at least 20 different apps to optimize my social media efforts before lunch. I know a lot of our readers are in a similar position to Michael. So I thought I would share a short list of apps that I think will help you guys, and some quick tips on how to use them.

5 Apps to Help You Get Started with Social

A Content Calendar When starting out it really helps to plan out your content strategy in advance. This will mean you are never scrambling to figure out a blog post, forgetting to share enough image based content, or missing the opportunity to promote a new feature, or event. I'm not going to recommend a specific content calendar app, as I haven't found one that I like (if you know of one, please share it in the comments!) Personally, I use a combination of Trello app (more on Trello farther down the page!) and Google Calendar for organizing content. I sync my Google Calendar to Sunrise for my phone and tablet. Sunrise has a much better mobile experience than the Google app, it is beautiful and very simple to use, and I highly recommend it! Here's what the setup for our Trello content calendar looks like (I've hidden the content we plan on sharing so as to maintain our element of surprise!)

Check out this fantastic article on setting up a content calendar with Trello.

Hootsuite

I have a love/hate relationship with Hootsuite. It is ugly, and doesn't let me view RSS feeds from within the app, but after experimenting with Sprout Social (so much prettier, so much pricier!) and Buffer for Business (love it, but it's too buggy for me), Hootsuite is the clear winner. Hootsuite allows you to manage all of your social channels from a single dashboard, which is a must! You can also track metrics reasonably well, keep on top of Twitter lists, and collaborate on your social efforts with co-workers from within the Hootsuite Dashboard. With Hootsuite you create "streams" as a way of monitoring your social channels. I used to keep separate streams for all of our social platforms, but this meant far too many streams to track. Now I just use two streams that I label "Pending" and "Activity". Way easier to manage! Here's what our Hootsuit looks like before we add content:

Our pending stream displays the scheduled content for all of our social platforms (Twitter, Facebook, G+ etc...). Our activity stream shows mentions, Likes, comments and other interactions we get throughout the day.

Feedly

I've written about Feedly before, and I'll probably write about it again!

Feedly is a reader app that organizes your favorite web sites into a single, comprehensive location so that you have a constant of diverse content to share on your social channels. There are tons of reader apps out there, and I have tried waaaay too many of them. From Zite (the worst) to Flipboard (pretty, but not practical) to Digg (love it for personal, not for work!) and none of them even come close to Feedly. To use Feedly, add blogs and websites that publish content appropriate for your social brand to the app. Then categorize the blogs you've added based on what type of content they provide. At Jobcast we like to share posts about HR, recruiting, social media, productivity, and work life, so I have divided the blogs we follow into these categories within Feedly. For example: TLNT is in the HR section, Co Design is in our social media section, and Tim Sackett's blog is in our recruiting section... And our hilarious bloggers section, of course! Hot tip for Feedly: Create a competitors section to keep track of the competition. - Click to Tweet!

Here's what my Feedly looks like this mornin':

Pocket Another app I've written about in the past; Pocket, is an essential part of my repertoire and has been for over a year! That's basically forever in app years.

Pocket is a simple bookmarking tool that allows you to track and save the content you wish to share. It integrates seamlessly with Feedly, which is a huge bonus, and also has an extension for your desktop web browser. It looks like this:

Basically, instead of just randomly posting content as you come across it, with Pocket you can save the content you find throughout the day to one location, and then add all of it to your scheduling tool in one fell swoop! Using Pocket to bookmark the links, articles and images you want to share will save you time, and give you an overview of everything you wish to share throughout the day, ensuring that the content you post is varied in topic and source. One of the best ways to make Pocket more effective is by using its "Tagging" feature to separate the content you save. I like to tag content by our previously mentioned categories: social media, HR, and the like, or by what platforms I plan on using it for: Facebook, Twitter, the Jobcast blog, etc...

Trello

Trello is my favorite social media management app by far. It is actually the BEST organizational app I have ever used... In fact, I would go so far as to say: Trello is my favorite app of all time! Yup. I even like it more than Instagram, which is saying a lot considering Instagram provides me with a steady stream of adorable pictures of my friends’ pets. At Jobcast, we use Trello to manage all of our projects, including our content calendar as mentioned above. Trello’s visual card-based interface is easy to use, and its intuitive design is second-to-none. Their mobile experience is incredible. I am just as happy using Trello on iPad as desktop... When does that ever happen?!? Their "alert" system keeps our team members up to date on any changes made to projects they are a part of. Their tagging system is incredible for prioritizing tasks. You can also use filters to view only top priority tasks for any given project, or only tasks assigned to a specific team member... Oh, wait... We're supposed to be talking about social media management, oops! Trello has made my social media efforts significantly less time consuming. I use their "boards" to track each network Jobcast uses separately, and then create checklists within each board to make sure I stay on top of sharing content, responding to comments, updating our status, and interacting with our community. Here's what my Trello social media management checklist looks like:

We'd love to here about your favorite apps for social media, time management, productivity, and making life more awesome in general. Let us know in the comments!

id you read Gareth Cartman’s latest guest post?

In it he explains why you must get social with your recruiting, if you want to attract millennials.

And, along with his convincing arguments, he even shares a quirky tip about how his company encourages employees to act as social media brand ambassadors.

Gareth presents all of this info with his signature British wit.

Unfortunately for you, I do not poses Gareth’s wit, but what I lack in wit, I make up for in curatorial skills! So, I present to you…

5 Actionable Tips for Getting Your Social On

“Inclusion of words like “click”, “please retweet”, “comment” and “share” are proven to increase engagement” – Click to Tweet!

From, 6 Ways to #Fail at Social Recruiting, by Raj Sheth

Read this whole article please. It is short. It is sweet. It is chock full of good advice. Every single one of Raj’s tips can be applied to your social recruiting immediately with little to no effort, and will make your efforts more effective and your brand more likeable.

“Increase your recruiters visibility by letting them interact with candidates through a twitter chat” – Click to Tweet!

From, How Top Brands Use Twitter for Recruiting, by Nisha Raghavan

This article has been written before, and it will definitely be written again. Possibly by me! But, it has not been written this well. Nisha cuts through the fluff and gives you smart examples that you can actually use… Even if you are NOT blessed with Sodexo’s budget, or Zappos’ brand recognition!

“Know and reflect your company’s unique employer value proposition in order to build content that resonates with your prospects” – Click to Tweet!

From, Predictions for the Future of Digital Talent Acquisition (Part 1 Content), by James Ellis

If you aren’t following this series, start now! I know it sounds extremely boring, but I promise, the title, although technically correct, is misleading. Ellis’s article is fascinating, especially his explanation of fast versus slow content for recruiting.

“Review social profiles for insights into a candidate’s personality, interests, and potential company culture fit” – Click to Tweet!

From, How to Hire the Perfect Graduate (Infographic), from Undercover Recruiter

Infographics are one of my favorite ways to learn. Mostly because they are pretty! It is the time of the season for hiring recent grads, so stats and tips presented in this Infographic are especially pertinent.

“Every social platform appeals to a slightly different audience. Defining your target audience and choosing the best social platform to reach them is key to social recruiting” – Too long to Tweet! #lol

From, 10 Ways to Make Social Recruiting Work for You, by Crystal at Leadtail

Not only does this article share lots, and by lots I mean ten, great tips for social recruiting, but it also includes a whole bunch of cool articles on the topic as well.

Do you have any tips, or techniques you use for getting jiggy social with it? If so, share them in the comments 😀

Happy Link Loving, Big Willy style!

I’ve been doing some recruiting over the last few months. 3 people, to be precise, all of them infinitely more social than me (I’m nearly 40, social for me involves being able to sit down with the missus for more than 20 minutes in the evening). They’re teaching me more about marketing than I’ve learned in the last 15 years, but above all, they’re teaching me that if we want to recruit more people like them, we’ve got to get our social on.

Candidates are choosy

I can yak on all I like about how millenials are not millenials and they’re just real people, but they are slightly different in their approach to their careers. And this is stereotyping older generations a little, but bear with me… in “days gone by”, people had defined career paths.

They sought security that came with internal promotion, they sought stability in ‘solid’ jobs and very specific career paths that came with, for example, graduate schemes.

My own generation started to tear this up, jumping around from job to job, but still with the same idea of career path at a very early age – but less reliant on one single employer. What we didn’t do was feel that we were empowered enough to “choose” our own employer. The very idea! Employers choose us!

Even in a world where youth unemployment is at an all-time high, the most talented young employees are choosy about where they go.

They want ethical employers, they want CSR portfolios, they want somewhere they can grow as a person and somewhere they can make a difference. They’re reading your Twitter feeds, they’re watching your output, they’re on your Facebook page, they’re probably even pinning your stuff on Pinterest.

The ease with which people younger than I take to technology is frightening (you should see my 3-year-old daughter on an iPad). They see it as a natural extension of their lives, and that explains why they see social as a natural extension of a business. Candidates are choosy, so if you’re not providing the evidence they want to see that you are the kind of people they want to work with, then you’re getting it wrong. 

You should be choosy first, though 

In order to get the people you want, you’re going to have to understand the future profile of your business a little better.

Simply replacing employees as they leave isn’t the way forward. Understanding the kind of people who are going to help you grow – whether they join today, next year or in five years’ time, is the way forward in this social world.

This is where HR and Marketing need to get round a table and talk. The way you talk about your business is the way you project yourself not just to prospects (hello, marketing), but to prospective candidates (hello, HR).

Who do you, the recruiter, wish to hire in the next few years if you’re going to grow the business? And therefore, how are you going to project your employer brand through the social channels that are currently in the hands of your marketers?

You have a stake – and a business case – for getting involved and shaping that message. Your candidates are stalking you – a lack of output, or the wrong kind of messaging can result in a top candidate saying “you know what, they’re not half as interesting an employer as I thought, I’m going to go with the other guys.”

Crack the whip (metaphorically)

It’s one thing to decide to take control of your social employer brand, it’s another to get it on.

What’s your plan? One great thing we’ve decided to implement is a social “wall of fame” (not shame), but it’s giving us the opportunity to highlight who has blogged, who has tweeted, who has shared, who has pinned stuff, etc. in a week. The winner gets out of making tea for the next week.

How very British. We don’t crack whips, we leave them on display.

But it’s a great incentive to get people more active, and if your brand relies on the expertise of your people, putting your people out there through social channels (and ensuring that they’re using personal-business handles) displays not just expertise, but atmosphere. It shows candidates that you want to profile your people and advance them.

And that you’re a good place to work.

So get yer social on – it’ll pay off. – Tweet it!