HireBetter Blog

LinkedIn and Recruiting: How it is (and isn’t) useful

September 29th, 2011 | by | hiring, networking, social media

Sep
29

Do you use LinkedIn in your hiring process?  If so, you’re not alone.  Over 80% of companies used social media for hiring purposes in 2010, and LinkedIn is the network du jour for most of them.  LinkedIn can be a great talent resource if used to its potential; here are a couple of things to keep in mind so you can get the most out of it.

Referrals: “Do you know someone who can…?”

As we’ve stated before, referrals are still a top source of talent.  LinkedIn is a collection of referrals waiting to happen.  Ask your LinkedIn network if they can recommend anyone for a certain position.   LinkedIn is particularly helpful for this because your contacts can dig much deeper into their rolodex to give referrals.  They don’t have to remember every detail about a good worker to recommend them.  They can easily index their contacts and then pass them along to you.

But this is also a double-edged sword.   A LinkedIn connection doesn’t necessarily represent a real, deep relationship.  You’ll likely have to spend a little more time talking with the referrer on these, but don’t let that scare you away.  If someone who you trust willing to put their faith in someone they refer, then you’re probably in pretty good shape.

 

Direct applicants and “Apply with LinkedIn”

The new “Apply with LinkedIn” button can give you lots of direct applicants in a format that is very easy to read.  The standardized pseudo-resume style that LinkedIn applications provide makes applications very easy to quickly sort through.  And even if you received a resume through some other means, you can cross reference that with their LinkedIn profile and compare candidates with one another very easily.

But in our experience, referrals and sourced candidates are much more likely to be the ones you end up hiring.  So though this feature makes direct applications easy to digest, remember that your best employees will usually come from elsewhere.

 

It’s no Google

Though there are ways to directly search for profiles on LinkedIn, unless you pay them very high fees (up to $500/month!), their search is relatively useless if you don’t know the name of the person you want to find.  Directly doing broad talent research isn’t easy for most people to do, so you might want to leave that to the pros.

 

The social media recruiting tool

Like any other piece of technology, LinkedIn is a tool.  Use it well and it can make your life much easier, but remember its limitations.  How has LinkedIn changed recruitment for you?

 

Image used under Creative Commons from shekharsahu.

No Comments »

Hiring then and now: Craigslist is not a hiring strategy

August 18th, 2011 | by | hiring, human resources, networking, recruiting, referrals, social media, talent

Aug
18

Raise your hand if the Internet hasn’t changed the way you do business.  Any hands in the air?  Exactly.  The Internet, and lately the social web, has fundamentally altered the way we act as people and as companies.  The Internet’s role in the hiring process is no different.  But like any technology, the trick is using it as a tool instead of a crutch.  So how do we apply lessons from the past to today’s Internet-enabled world?

Timeless Advice: Still Go with who you know

New tools don’t necessarily mean new strategies.  Remember, most hires still come from referrals.  That’s right, about one in three of your final candidates will come from inside your network, and the referral will get the hire twice as often as the other two.  The difference is, the Internet and social media have expanded the size of our networks drastically.

No matter how good your memory may be, your computer can keep up with more contacts than you can on your own.  And with tools like LinkedIn (which we’ll go into more detail about in a later post), you can easily see your contacts and their qualifications.  You can ask for referrals from employees, too.  Let the people you already know and trust help you recruit the best fit for your company.

 

Watch out for Monsters

Just because job boards and career sites deliver resumes, that doesn’t mean you should limit your search to them.  Though Monster.com or Craigslist can and sometimes do give you good candidates, you shouldn’t rely solely on them (especially for higher-level roles).  Using it as a pillar of your search is fine, but it can’t be your whole strategy.  Also, be ready to be flooded with dozens, or even hundreds of resumes from applicants who are completely unqualified to do anything for your company other than waste your time.

A good rule to go by: if it’s a role you’d feel comfortable posting on a bulletin board in a business school or a career fair, then the online approach might be enough.  But if you are looking to hire anyone other than a low level employee or an intern, you’ll need to put more thought into your search (or hire an expert!).

 

The Internet helps, but hiring is no easy task

Online tools can be very helpful to hiring managers.  But hiring isn’t an easy job, and the Internet won’t change that.  While the Web isn’t going to make your hiring process easier, it will make it better!   At the end of the day, only true dedication and strategy will allow you to hire better.

 

Image used under Creative Commons from  quinn.anya.

No Comments »

Your Candidates Are Getting Smarter

October 2nd, 2008 | by | interviewing, networking, recruiting, retention

Oct
02

In a meeting with a client yesterday, our Chief Search Strategist had an interesting question come up: “You came up with 300 or so people who fit our general requirements in our local area.  If I went on LinkedIn, would I find people that you hadn’t found?”.

It sparked a conversation in our office afterwards that would have never happened 10 years ago.  The conversation’s focus: if we’re doing research on prospective candidates, and there are lots of easy ways for clients and hiring managers to do the same, how much more research can a candidate do once they’ve been contacted?

The simple answer: they can research.  A lot!

It starts with just knowing what jobs are even out there.  With aggregators like  Indeed and SimplyHired , active job seekers can quickly find out every job that could potentially be a fit for their skill set and fire off dozens (or even hundreds) of resumes in a very short amount of time.

But it’s more than just knowing about the jobs that are available. The “passive” candidate, the really elusive folks who don’t apply for jobs and who you have to go find, can quickly learn quite a bit about your company through social websites, information about your competition, what your past employees thought about how they were treated or if you have every had any financial difficulties by checking out sites like Frakked Company .

We’ve also seen a huge uptick in the number of sites that will provide really valid pay information. While every survey we’ve ever seen will show that Salary/Compensation is way down near the bottom of the list of reasons why someone would stay in a job, it’s a significant piece of why someone would choose to accept a new job. Everyone’s heard ofSalary.com and PayScale but now there are even sites where company-specific salaries are published. Don’t believe us? Check out Vault.com’s Salary Overview .

The biggest take-away from our whole conversation: we’ve got to make sure that our clients have cleaned up their online image as best they can and then keep an eye on it. People want to work at places where they can have fun and be recognized and if you’re not making sure that your company has a reputation for allowing those things to happen it’s probably having a pretty big impact on your ability to land A-Players.

No Comments »

Networking – It’s All About Who You Know

April 10th, 2008 | by | networking

Apr
10

In this century, it seems to be that who you know is much more important than what you know. This does not mean that you need to discount all of your professional and educational experience. It does indicate that you need to use the professional and educational skills that you have along with your professional network of individuals to leverage yourself among people who can prove to be mutually beneficial to your goals.

The job search process is one example of where professional networking is crucial. If you are of the mindset when you are looking for a job that you simply need to create a resume, search the ads, and send your resume in to the hiring manager, it is time for you to re-think your strategy. In this day and age, the old standby for applying for jobs is not going to cut it in most situations. It is time to step up your game and to reach out to your network of professionals to help you land the job of your dreams. Professional networking has become one of the key ways that many hiring managers within major corporations hire their talent. Professional networking has placed candidates searching for that perfect job in a position they may not have been in before their network was involved.

Professional networking sites, such as one of the key players out there today, LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com), are making the initial part of networking with others a simple task. In just a few quick moves, you can invite individuals to connect to your network and you are well on your way to a thriving professional network. There is a caveat though…you cannot join a site like LinkedIn and expect things to happen without actively participating in helping your network to grow. Being well networked does not come easy. There is some work involved in order for the benefits to be at their strongest.

Professional networking is here to stay. If you want to be a part of a growing phenomenon sweeping the professional world, start thinking about who you know and start connecting with them immediately. Build you network to be full of strong professionals in every field and geographic area out there. Even if you are not in need of their expertise right now, I can guarantee that the need will arise in the future. When that need does arrive, you will be glad to know that you have a strong professional network in place to rely on. Get connected today and see where your network can take you.

No Comments »