When it comes to using social media for recruitment, not unlike the climate change debate, there are two broad divisions  – sceptics and converts.

As it currently stands, sceptics (or followers) are in the majority. Meanwhile, early adopters are busily experimenting, making lots of mistakes along the way, but embracing social media nonetheless.

Social Media – A Recruitment Revolution is the latest instalment in the debate about the relevance of social media as a recruitment tool. Social media is not going away anytime soon, whatever school of though you belong to, it’s worth paying attention.

I’ll be following the tweets, join me.

With so much said about social media and the value it offers, the issue of ROI in monetary terms is bound to be a major issue. Yes, your company may have hundreds of friends on Facebook and hundreds more followers on Twitter, but how does all that translate to revenue?

Olivier Blanchard at BrandBuilder  took a fascinating look at how ROI on social media can be measured and achieved. He chalked a clear distinction between non-financial and financial benefits that social media can offer, and how they can combine to bring about ROI.

While Olivier’s argument has a marketing slant, I believe it is relevant to recruitment. The fact is, sooner or later, you (or your boss) have to ask yourself what your social media ROI is?  Does it leads to more placements? Does it open new channels to talent? Did you win new clients? 

The next phase in our industry’s flirtation with social media will be about connecting the dots between the intangible benefits and tangible outcomes. 

When I started blogging a year or so ago I was aware of only a handful of blogs in the HR/Recruitment space. Today, there are a lot more blogs around. Thomas Shaw alone maintains 27 different feeds. I’ve also come across several recruitment firms who are dabbling with blogging. Without doubt more companies and individuals are blogging.

Forrester recently released their 2009 Social Technographics Profile, which categorised Internet users into different groups based on their behaviour and usage of social media. Forrester doesn’t provide a year-to-year comparison for Australia. But from 2009’s data alone, it is clear that the vast majority of Internet users are ‘joiners’ or just ‘spectators’(refer graph).  I believe the scenario is the same in the HR/recruitment industry.

So, here is the big opportunity : ‘Creators’ are still a minority. And as far as reaching out to job seekers or employers is concerned, it is a good minority to belong to.

Blogging is a good way to reach out. It is authentic and encourage transparency. It forces you to give before asking anything in return. And that is what your future employees or clients are increasingly expecting (Why? Amongst other things, your competitors may already be doing that).

While I talked exclusively about blogging, I think it is the same for other forms of social media. First mover advantage applies. It’s much better to be a leader than be a follower. What do you think?

P.S: Interesting that most of the presenters at Recruittech are avid bloggers

If you are a CEO, no one really trust you. Any day consumers prefer the opinion of their friends or peers.

In his groundbreaking study, Frederick Reichheld, argues that a company’s growth is strongly tied to the voluntary marketing efforts of loyal customers; fans recommending and selling on behalf of a company. In other words, positive word-of-mouth.

The only question worth asking, Frederick reasoned, is “How likely would you be to recommend our company to a friend?” . That a company’s growth potential should be gauged by the number of fans spreading good news about a company. This make a lot of sense. When you recommend something to someone, your reputation is on the line. It is unlikely a recommendation will be offered if there is no conviction in the value of a product or a service.

So, if you are a recruitment firm or an ATS provider, do you know how many of your satisfied customers are willing to recommend your service or product? If so, are you assisting them to share and spread your story? LinkedIn is good at amplifying its successes, often giving fans a platform to spread their stories.

Word-of mouth flourishes on the Internet, social media amplifies it. Find your fans and give them the right platform to spread your story.

It’s one thing to have a good story to tell. It is another to tell the story effectively.

Atlassian have a good story to tell. They also tell it rather honestly and convincingly.

Dig deeper and you will see Atlassian work really hard to spread their story – they blog incessantly (it looks like half their workforce have personal blogs), they tweet, they network on Facebook and upload their videos on YouTube. Isn’t it interesting, organisations that can afford to rest on their laurels are the ones that continue to work the hardest. Attracting talent is a never ending exercise.

My point is, the media landscape is fragmented like never before; the audience even more. Attention cannot be bought, it needs to be earned. You really have no choice, but to work hard at telling your story.

So, what is your story? How are you telling your story? Is your story heard?