At Recruittech I argued that the balance of power has shifted to job seekers. I highlighted three trends which I think made this scenario possible:

1) Information asset increased: Barriers to corporate information and employment opportunities are broken. We are in an environment where job seekers know more about an employer then vice versa.

2) An explosion in job searching tools and options: Without doubt the job seeker of today have a myriad of tools to find jobs. If 250+ job boards are not enough, a whole world of connections is offered by social networks. New media continually offer new platform to announce availability.

3) Changing job search and work behaviour : While tools are abundant, it’s the changing behaviour of job seekers which will have the most impact on job advertisements. Job seekers are increasingly mobile, frequently change jobs and do not trust corporate advertising. Our view of workplaces and jobs is evolving.

Implications for recruiters and employers are many. Attention will be harder to win. Targeting and employment branding will go niche. Generic ‘employer of choice’ doesn’t mean much to job seekers accustomed to seeking contextual content. How recruitment advertisement (vacancy index) moves and behave will be dictated by the whims, behaviour and choices made by job seekers. Rejection or patronage by job seekers will dictate the winners.

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.

Monitoring social media
What are job seekers saying about your employment brand? What are your customers or suppliers talking about? Monitoring the social media landscape is becoming an essential activity. Here’s a useful primer on how to make sense of the ever growing social media landscape.

The growth of Twitter & other social networks
Statistics after statistics indicates Australians are quick adopters of social networking tools. Australia is the fourth largest user of Twitter, after Canada, UK and US. Fascinating statistics on Twitter adoption.  Meanwhile Techcrunch attempted to measure the  value of various social networks.  Australia ranked second ($145 on average) after the UK in per capita spending on Internet advertising. 

Social media marketing
All you can eat case studies on social media marketing.

Social media is punk rock
David Merman Scott points us to an analogy on social media using punk rock