Link Love

This has been quite a week for the Jobcast team. Mostly because Ryan "Our Fearless Leader" St. Germaine hosted the first ever Jobcast sponsored webinar! Ryan shared his in-depth knowledge of passive recruiting live, to a huge turnout of recruiters and employers, hence the nickname. It was pretty awesome, if I do say so myself. And I do. We had such a great time working on this webinar that I'm sure we'll do more of them in the future. Which is pretty amazing when you think about it, as Ryan lives in Vancouver, I live in Holland (most of the time), and there were people in attendance from all over the place. Thank you technology! It's still amazing to me that connecting with people like this is even possible. Technology has really changed our ability to interact on a global scale, engage with each other, and, of course, how we recruit. Always gotta bring it back to recruiting! So, to celebrate our very first webinar, this week's links are all about technology, what's new, what's cool, and what it means for employers. Google Glass is about as new as it gets when it comes to tech, well for me it is anyways... Blogging for Jobs recently posted a great piece about the impact of Google Glass on HR by Mike Haberman. Apparently there are a ton of legal issues that will need to be addressed as Google Glass becomes a more commonly used technology. Mike's got you covered, I'm still trying to understand exactly what Google Glass does?! With great technology comes great responsibility, and a whole lot of data. Chris breaks down how to tackle all that Big Data you've got access to these days. Google Glass may be new and shiny, but the most important area of tech for recruiters to focus on is mobile, without a doubt. But if you did still have some doubts, check out this infographic about the importance of mobile, brought to us by Leader's West. Then there's that old standby of recruiting technology: job boards. They certainly aren't dead, but they're not exactly alive and kicking either. According to Raj Sheth's article for ERE, job boards are just plain boring! Although I would love to point you towards the Job Board Doctor who has quite a few ideas about how to fix that. Our favorite recruiting and employer branding technology for recruiters is, you guessed it, Facebook. Shocking, I know! But what I didn't know was that apparently, according to a recent announcement by the social network itself, over one third of Americans use Facebook every day. That's a huge talent pool right there, just sayin'. And if you want access to all those passive candidates, might I suggest a certain awesome Facebook recruiting app?

There's always something new popping up in the world of tech. If you have any hot tips about what the next new bit of tech that's going to come along and "revolutionize" how we look at recruiting, or you just want to share your opinion, let us know in the comments!

Do you ever have one of those weeks where absolutely nothing works? "Nope, never have, never will" - Said, Nobody Ever! I am writing this on Tuesday, only one day into the week, and I've already had a Mailchimp disaster, broke a pair of headphones, and dropped a dumbbell on my foot (this actually happens to me pretty regularly, but still!) The broken headphones and slightly damaged toes are pretty easy to recover from, but Mailchimp mistakes, like diamonds, are forever! If you subscribe to our newsletter, we are very sorry [Insert Name Here], merge tags are finicky beasts! So what better topic to cover in today's Link Love than social media blunders! Everyone makes mistakes. It's the choices you make in trying to correct them that really matter. Don't do what I did and bury your face in a bowl of coconut milk ice-cream, do what these fantastic articles suggest you do instead.

Link Time!

This lovely article by Sharlyn Lauby of hrbartender fame is a great reminder that, no, we can't "unring the bell", but we can definitely ring it again! She does a great job of reminding us that recovering from mistakes is all about moving on and doing better next time. I'm also going to link to her rant about how

"sorry is not a customer service program", because it is hilarious and very, very true! If you recruit in the 21st century, then you probably have a career site. If you don't, here's how to get start a Fully Branded Facebook Career Page. Otherwise, read this awesome step-by-step guide to fixing landing page mistakes, if not for the information it provides, then at least for the hilarious cartoon it features. Recruitment guru Jim Stroud explains what the top HR mistakes are and how to fix them on his blog, The Recruiters Lounge. This is probably the most serious post I've read of Jim's, although that may be because I usually prefer to watch his awesome and hilarious video blogs. But what if you've made a recruiting mistake so terrible you can't bare to face the repercussions? You've hired someone who really, really isn't working out and now you have to let them go. Thankfully, I've only ever had to do this once myself. It was horrible. I cried afterwards. A lot. If only I'd had a better game plan, like this blog post by Ron Ashkenas, explaining how to fire someone the right way.

Or even better, if I'd had access to Tim Sackett's hypothetical "iFire" app to do the dirty work for me! "Slip-ups are inevitable, especially in the fast-paced, gut-reaction world of social media." No matter how many preventative measures you may take! But, fear not, Mashable has you covered with this post about how to bounce back after a social media disaster.

They also include some of the WORST social media PR facepalms to have graced the interwebs, which will make you feel much better about any slip ups you may have made yourself. Unless you tweeted topless vacation pics from your company account... Then you may as well just start in on the ice-cream ASAP! Hopefully these articles help you as much as they've helped me, and hopefully Tim can find a developer for his app.

I am woman, hear me roar.

Okay… so I don't actually roar, although I do heckle pretty loudly at baseball games, if that counts for anything? (and believe me, it does).

Luckily for me, and you, there are lots of fantastic women roaring HR advice, employer branding tips, and social recruiting know-how from the rafters, so no one has to suffer my attempts at creating Facebook-themed musical covers of old baseball chants.

This week the women of social recruiting have been especially prolific. So much so, that without even realizing it, every article we've chosen to feature in this week's Link Love was inspired by women in the industry, or written by a female blogger.

How cool is that?!

Our first featured article, Saving Sandcastles: Determining Worthwhile Endeavors, comes to us from Blogging4Jobs. In it, Rayanne Thorn provides you with some critical questions to ask when deciding whether or not to attempt a new project.

In case you didn't know, we love Facebook here at the Jobcast blog. That's why this article by Meghan Kelly got us so excited! In it, Meghan explains why Sheryl Sandburg is so excited about Facebook's killer advertising quarter. Facebook ads are an awesome way to attract candidates, and grow employer brands, which is why they're getting lots of attention from marketers and employers alike.

Speaking of Sheryl Sandburg, apparently a management supervisor at a certain fairly well-known San Francisco agency has decided to take a new approach to finding a husband, inspired by Sandburg's book “Lean In”. She's decided to start a referral program to fill the position, and is offering a $10,000 prize to whoever manages to introduce her to the perfect candidate. Talk about being proactive with your goals!

Women are often said to be great communicators, which is probably why there are so many women in HR. Margaret Heffernan's latest piece for Inc. is about how what you do before you open your mouth determines how effectively you'll communicate your thoughts. She explains how to use the mantra “Think. Breathe. Speak.” to become a better communicator.

The most girl-powery article award definitely goes to Stacy Donovan Zappar's latest blog post. In it, she reviews the documentary She++ and gives her take on how we can get more women working in the field of technology.

And how could we do a Lady themed Link Love without featuring the Cynical Girl herself, Laurie Ruettimann?! Well, maybe if she hadn't written such an interesting article about what motivates us to go to work, and the taboo of office romance. Laurie's article asks you to “open your eyes. Take a look around you. Is your workplace all about sex and death?

And now I'll ask you, how can I possibly compete with a such a racy topic?

Well, I'm pretty sure I can't, so, that's all folks.

If you've read any great blogs by or about women in HR, employer branding, or social recruiting that we should feature on our blog, let us know in the comments.

I just entered an Instagram contest.

I feel very mixed about it.

Not because I don’t think contests are great, but because I work very hard at keeping my Instagram account lookin’ good. I do so by being extremely diligent with the content I post.

I use select filters (almost always Walden, because I am a hipster, and a girl), only post my own pics, and try to stick to sharing images of attractive subjects, like farmer’s markets, my friend Monika, and shots of espresso with exceptional crema (told you I was a hipster!).

I refrain from posting shots of me watching MMA, baseball, or the food I eat that is not attractive (i.e. nothing starring ground beef).

This is because I believe that cohesive, well thought out content makes for a better social media presence.

So, disrupting my usual content flow to re-post another user’s neon-text-splattered image made me wince. But the prize is lots, and lots of fancy treats. And fancy treats trump my personal branding resolve any day! I did, however, use a filter to make their text less neon and a slight blur… Hopefully that doesn't rule me out.

For those of you who, like me, value content in the same way that most people value diamonds, here are some links you are really going to love:

Our first link is to an article by Beth Hayden at Coppy Blogger. Her post explores the importance of keyword research. I love how she makes the point that trying to smoosh every single keyword you can think of into your posts is both a waste of time, and disrupts the cohesiveness of your content. She then gives some great advice and links to a free e-book about how to find and utilize keywords for SEO optimization and better content.

The next link has to do with a different kind of content altogether. The kind of content found on your phone. More specifically, it has to do with your voicemail recording or lack thereof. The HR Capitalist; Kris Dunn presents a witty little rant about the less than optimal ways in which people handle their distaste for voice messages in the age of email. If you want to learn by example how to write pithy, sarcastic, and hilarious commentary, I highly recommend doing so by studying Kris’s blog.

Getting back on our usual employer-themed track, let’s talk employee performance goals. Andrea Devers over at Blogging4Jobs presents a smart article about the trouble with using SMART Goals. This article will have you questioning what you thought was true about setting goals for your staff. It also provides some fantastic tips for improving both your goal setting, and the way you communicate the goals you set to your staff.

This (almost) last link explores two types of content: the content of a recent Gallup poll and the content of your future hires' resumes. According to the poll, employees who have college degrees are less engaged than those who don’t. China Gorman explains why this information may be completely invalid, and yet still worth considering the next time you’re contemplating what kind of education requirements to include in your job posts.

For the grand finale, I present to you; This Season’s Biggest Fashion Trend at Work according to the one and only Cynical Girl, Laurie Ruettimann.

Happy Wednesday!

If you have any cool links to share, let us know in the comments.

Everyone likes a good fight.

Some of us prefer physical battles : boxing, MMA, shark vs. bear, whilst others prefer the more intellectual skirmishes : political debate, heated philosophical discussion, and Amanda Bynes vs. Everyone on Twitter.

But I think we can all agree that a little conflict from time to time keeps things interesting, and, when handled properly, can even spur creativity and improvement.

This is why some of the best reviews and blog posts out there pit one product or concept against another. Comparing and contrasting their best and worst features, practicality, and general usefulness.

Today’s links are all about conflict, as it relates to social media of course, and to kick things off, I present to you:

Entelo vs. Falcon

Jim Stroud’s Cool Tool Cage-match: Falcon vs. Entelo. This is basically Jim making up for how disappointing the recent Anderson Silva fight was, by pitting two well-rated Chrome extensions that are popular for sourcing /social networking against each other. Thank you Jim! This post is awesome; it goes through the pros and cons of both apps with screenshots and commentary, and ends with Jim choosing a winner. You’ll have to read the article to find out which app reigns supreme!

Bloggers vs. Common Sense

Bloggers love to take on common sense. No, not because they are crazy and weird, but because it makes for great headlines and more interesting articles.

This past week brought us two stellar examples of this kind of journalism.

We’ll start with a piece on Inc.com, where Drew Greenblatt argues against promoting exceptional employees. Yup, that’s right, Drew says that if you have an awesome employee, who’s doing great at their job, you may want to keep them right there doing the job they are so very good at. You’ll have to check out his article if you want to know why, but I’ll admit he makes some very strong points. And, hey, just because you may not want to promote these employees, doesn’t mean you can’t give them a raise!

… annnnnnd, just when you thought things couldn’t get any crazier, those recruiting rebels-without-a-cause over at Fistful of Talent posted a blog by Jason Pankow that argues in favor of hiring “idiots”. The article is pretty sensationalized, but the gist is that hiring less than intelligent employees means improved productivity, as they will not question your orders. It’s based on this Swedish (of course) study, which the author admits to not having actually read (of course). This is a must read. We’d also love to hear your opinions on the matter!

Buzzfeed vs. Facebook

Buzzfeed recently posted an article criticizing Facebook for not informing their users about how many people actually see their posts. According to the article “feedback is crucial for the system to work” and people need to know how many people see what they are posting in order to better understand just how interesting they actually are.

Facebook shot back saying that most of their users (Company Pages not included of course) do not care how many people have seen their posts, only how many of them have clicked the Like button. According to Facebook, not sharing things like reach and ratios of Likes to Views keeps the user experience positive.

As much as I think it is important to track reach and stats for Company Pages and recruiting, when it comes to personal accounts, I have to side with Facebook on this one.

What about you? I’m sure you have an opinion, let us know in the comments!

I don't know about you, but I am seriously in love with the internet this week.

This is mostly because my best friend just got a dog, so my Instagram feed is extra cute. But that's not all!

Facebook Graph Search is rolling out, which is going to be amazing for Facebook recruiting (and internet stalking), Jobcast is offering 30 days of Premium, completely free, and there are a ton of cool links to love. It really can't get any better than that.

Something I enjoy almost as much as the internet is weightlifting, which is what earned this article the number one spot in this week's Link Love. It's a surprisingly fascinating look at CrossFit's social media strategy. I'll give you a hint — it's even more intense than their notoriously brutal workouts.

On a lighter note, Tim Sackett explains why he actually loves hiring people who'vebeen fired! This article is hilarious, but also makes some very important, yet often neglected points about the hiring process. He reminds us that any candidate with a decent amount of experience will have made some mistakes, and that people who have something to prove work really, really hard. Hard workers make for awesome employees — some pretty interesting logic and definitely worth exploration.

On the subject of recruiting, if you want to land the best candidates, you have to ask yourself what those candidates are looking for in an employer. Or, you could just ask Francesca Fenzi. Her latest article for Inc. outlines some of the key things top performers look for when considering a job offer.

Human resources does a lot more than just fill job openings — trust me. Both of my parents are HR veterans (we've even featured their advice for writing better job posts on our blog), so I know a thing or two. People in HR also play tons of solitaire and make sure the office has decent coffee! Just teasing. Here's a fantastic break down of what HR really does from Fistful of Talent.

And, just to keep with the "fabulous lives of HR" theme we've got going on, this last link is a video following one week in the life of a sourcer by the ever-entertaining Jim Stroud.

Happy hump day!

In the world of social media, if you can't communicate an idea, it's almost as though you don't even have one at all. Sad, but true.

For anyone not blessed with the gift of gab, social media can be a tricky thing to navigate. You just can't attract viewers without engaging people, especially on networks like Facebook and Twitter.

So, improving your communication skills is a great way to improve your social recruiting. And luckily, the web is abuzz with ways to make you a better communicator.

From improving your sales pitch to simply writing better comments on blogs and forums — these links have you covered!

Need another reason to chill on the couch and watch a movie? Well, according to HR Capitalist (Kris Dunn) you can learn a lot about how to communicate for better sales from "Boiler Room", which he quite aptly describes as Gen X's version of Glengarry Glen Ross. If you're too busy enjoying the summer to watch movies, never fear! Kris breaks down the main sales pitch tips he learned from the film on his blog.

But what if you are trying to sell your idea to someone high up on the corporate food chain? Jessica Bruder of Inc Magazine has you covered with this great article explaining how to pitch to VCs without incurring their wrath, which we all know Vice Chairs are famous for.

This article deals with a topic very close to my heart : internet commenting. If you ever want to feel depressed about the state of humanity, just spend a few minutes reading Youtube comments. If, on the other hand, you are interested in making the internet a better place, check out this awesome article about how to leave productive blog comments, that people will actually want to read and respond to.

You can take the knowledge you learnt about commenting on blogs from the previous article, and then use it to up your Facebook-commenting game as well. Then you can elevate that game even further by using Facebook hashtags. Facebook is now making a concerted effort to have users hashtag their posts, by suggesting possible tags. This is great for search-ability and recruiting passive candidates!

Say what you will about the addition of video to Instagram, but moving pictures are undoubtedly a fantastic way to communicate. I mean, yes, we already have Vine, but why wouldn't you want to at least try out this new feature on Insta? This blog post explains why using both Vine and Insta video together is a good idea, and how to do so without duplicating content.

Now that your brain is full of knowledge, give it a rest by feasting your eyes on this gorgeous Infographic. The Communication Prism is a beautifully designed map of social media websites by Brian Solis and JESS3, enjoy!

If you know any awesome blogs we should feature, let us know in the comments!

Happy Wednesday

It's LinkLove time!

We've got some good ones for you this week, hopefully they'll brighten up the mid-week slump and keep you entertained until Friday. If not, you can always follow us on Twitter for more great links, witty quotes, and twit pics of our handsome CEOs.

Our first link sets the bar very high. Which is something we've come to expect from Sharlyn over at HRBartender! This week she wrote about the importance of companies embracing mobile as a part of their corporate culture. Mobile optimization isn't the future — it's now!

Speaking of the future, this cool Infographic puts the history of the internet into visual form. And in doing so, accomplishes two very important tasks: supplying us with interesting facts to quote at networking events, and making me feel old.

Another thing that makes me feel old is my dislike of Instagram video. Why did they have to go and mess with a good thing, and force me to re-think an app I'm just now getting comfortable with? Remember the good old days, back when there was only Vine video? Well, here's everything you need to know about Instagram video.

If Insta-vids (you heard it here first folks) wasn't enough to keep you on your toes, check out Potluck. Potluck is an entirely new link-based social network that's being touted as "A house party on the internet." A BYOD house party, of course!

And just in case you thought you could get through one of our LinkLoves without a single debunked myth, we had to share this awesome debunking of recruiting myths by Tina Iantorno. Apparently recruiters and employers still "post and pray"! Sad, but true. If you don't want that to be your recruiting strategy, I highly recommend using a recruitment app with built-in metrics.

To finish with a bang, let me ask you this very, very serious question: What if John Lennon were to compete on the Voice? The John Lennon! Would he have even made it past the preliminary rounds? This article is worth a read, but the commentary that follows is what really steals the show.

Read any fantastic articles lately? Let us know in the comments.

Mobility is very important. Which is why I do yoga, even though I think it's kind of boring. I would much rather play a rousing game of one-on-one basketball with my husband (even though he thoroughly trounces me every single game — I blame the height difference). Take care of your mobility or you'll miss out on all kinds of fun! Such as: dancing like a crazy person, scaling the shelves at your local grocery store to reach your favorite chocolate bar, or taking advantage of killer recruiting opportunities. If your social media strategy isn't mobile-compatible, you're missing out on candidates. It's as simple as that. We know that more and more candidates are using their phones and tablets to look for job opportunities. According to this awesome recruitment Infographic, it's around 86% (Although, even I'll admit that seems a tad high.) But still, If your Career Site isn't optimized for mobile, the candidates that do find you via tablet or phone are probably not going to return to your site. In fact, according to this survey 46% of mobile users will not return to a website that they had trouble accessing from their phone! We believe that being optimized for mobile, means more than having a Career Page that doesn't break when candidates try to access it on their phones. A truly mobile-friendly site is responsive, which means it is flexible enough to work on a range of different devices. We really focus on this, because our app is built for Facebook and the amount of Facebook users accessing the social network via mobile just keeps growing. We also help employers recruit via social networks like Twitter, and through job boards, which have also seen a huge jump in mobile users. Candidate experience aside, mobile compatibility even matters for SEO — big time! Google recently announced that if sites are not mobile-optimized they will be demoted in search rank. This makes a lot of sense considering that 1 in 5 of their users are accessing the web from mobile devices. Google will be using a speed ranking for mobile, and they also highly recommend avoiding Adobe Flash as it's not smartphone-friendly. Wow. I think that's our most serious Link Love to date! Mobile isn't all stats and business though. It is also super fun. Remember when we made a Vine recruiting video? That was hilarious. Nowhere near as awesome as these incredible Vine videos by Ian Padgham though. Well, that's all the links for today. Hopefully they inspire you get a bit more mobile. If you have any tips or advice for mobile optimization, or on how I can improve my basketball skills, let us know in the comments!

Yesterday, Facebook webcast its first shareholder meeting live.

This meant that anyone with access to the internet could sit in and observe. Pretty crazy, especially when you think back to 10 years ago, when it was barely possible to stream low-res cartoons.

For today’s Link Love, in honor of our ability to watch Facebook do business in action, we thought we’d highlight some cool Facebook news from around the web.

This article goes into some detail about the recent Facebook shareholder meeting. It shows their current stock performance and explains Zuckerberg’s strategy (which basically boils down to : THINK LONG TERM.)

Something that should make stockholders happy is Facebook’s increased focus on improving services for businesses. According to this article, one way in which FB is going to do that is by giving Facebook Ads a big face-lift. Which kills two birds with one stone by making businesses happy, and by setting up that terrible pun!

Speaking of ads, this blog post by Joe McCormack explains the science and art of getting Facebook Ads just right. He also references the Amazing Spiderman, thus providing our quote of the day:

“With great power comes great responsibility”

And as if a Spiderman quote isn’t amazing enough, this next link takes a look at what successful brands are doing right on Facebook, and brings them to life as personas. Okay, so that sounds less amazing than the Spiderman thing, but trust me, it isn’t. This article is hilarious and brilliant. My favorite persona is the “Game Show Host”. Check out Carrie Kerpen’s article to find out which one you like best (or most resemble).

This last link is just for fun. I can’t believe how many posts we’ve done on Facebook, and yet we’ve never featured a link from the ever hilarious Failbook. It could have something to do with the fact that much of what they post is completely inappropriate for work… But this one is G-rated, so click away!

Happy Facebooking!