FOT01 himself, Kris Dunn, and I have been talking about the future of recruiting. So much time is spent on job boards, LinkedIn, mobile, social, referrals, networks, etc., but Kris and I are simple folk – we need idiot-proof HR types of things. One thing we both agree on is whomever figures out recruiting on Facebook – is THE winner. Period. End of story.
With that in mind, we think the majority of HR/Talent Pros, like us, don’t get how to recruit on Facebook. I’m sure the big HR shops in the Fortune 500 have a good handle on it, but what about the other 99% of us, just trying to get through our days of FMLA, FSLA, oh by the way your 11am interview is here, Bob in Operations wants to talk about firing Mark at 12pm, and you still need to put together the 2012 increase matrix, because guess what?! You ARE it – my friend – in HR at your organziation. So how the heck do you think I have time to figure out Facebook for Recruiting?
You don’t – but we think we can help, with a little help from our friends at BranchOut and about 60 minutes of your time on February 2nd! All for the Low-Low cost of – Free. Register here – Social Recruiting – MacGyver Style: No Money, a Paperclip and Facebook - all a real HR Pro needs to recruit! We hope to give you a couple of silver bullets for your Talent Gun!
So, why did we choose to partner with BranchOut on this? It comes down to relationships and leadership – BranchOut has tremendous relationships with Facebook (which not every App on Facebook can say) and Leadership that gets what small shop recruiters are going through. Below is just a taste from Chris Merritt, GM of Enterprise for BranchOut (former executive with HotJobs and Monster), who sat down with me:
(Tim) Why should FOT readers believe BranchOut is the answer to Recruiting on Facebook and listen to you specifically?
(Chris) Well – I like pina colada’s and getting caught in the rain, which should count for something:) Beyond that, I’ve been fortunate to work at the intersection of technology, companies and consumers in North America, EMEA and Asia. Through my own experience building teams around the world and working with the best clients in the talent acquisition business, I firmly believe that the best teams always win – and that’s what I’m focused on at BranchOut. Building a great BranchOut team, building world class recruiting products that leverage the Facebook platform, and ultimately helping our customers build the best teams so they can dominate their industries.
(Tim) Who is your favorite old school rapper and why? (this is our legit test)
(Chris) -I’m not sure it’s going to add to my street cred, but over the last few weeks I’ve been listening to quite a lot of classic Queen Latifah and LL Cool J from the early 90′s. People at the office like to make fun of this, but I can see it rotating more frequently on everyone’s Spotify… you know who you are! AND while not rap or hip-hop, I encourage everyone to listen to Fela Kuti from the 60′s. It gives you an excuse to practice crazy hip movements… which drives my kids nuts as a bonus.
(Tim) Why will BranchOut eventually become the go to product for Talent/HR Pros to get Talent?
(Chris) Facebook has over 850M users, and they ARE using Facebook to network and find jobs. 18.4 million Americans say Facebook got them their current job. And the best way to find a job, and for companies to find top employees, is through referrals.
That’s what we do – we help job seekers find out who they know at companies they want to work for, and we help companies find people they know who can introduce them to potential candidates.
We’re also the largest professional network on Facebook, so when you put all of that together, it’s a great recipe for success.
(Tim) Is BranchOut a better choice than LinkedIn right now? If not, how does it get there and when?
(Chris) LinkedIn has developed a great set of products and is clearly doing well, but their focus is on the top 10-15% of the workforce. Our customers are telling us BranchOut is complementary to LinkedIn’s services- as we cover the entire spectrum of the workforce.
Because our database is built off of Facebook’s 850M users, our customers tell us that we’re a talent pool that they can’t ignore. Some customers see us as a must-buy solution along with LinkedIn, and other customers see us as the only solution they need. It’s a flattering position to be in, and we’re continuing to work hard to build great products and expand our business.
(Tim) What is the future of recruiting (next 5 years)?
(Chris) The next 5 years will be a social recruiting revolution. Mark Zuckerberg was right, Facebook did change the world. And now it’s changing the recruiting world.
According to a recent study, 89% of US companies will use social networks for recruiting this next year. And over 80% of companies will check a candidates online profile in some way before hiring them. Social matters.
And with people spending more and more time on social networks, it’s fast becoming the quickest and most effective way to identify and reach candidates. Companies that want a competitive edge in recruiting recognize this and are quickly adopting products like ours, in addition to using traditional products like job boards, to help them source candidates
Register right now for Feb. 2nd – 1pm EST – Kris and I will attempt to drop some Facebook knowledge on you to get your recruiting funnel loaded for 2012!
if BranchOut is the future of recruiting, there must be a lot coming down the road that we don’t see.
Facebook is a fun diversion, but I personally see no indication that BranchOut is the second coming; conversely, I see it as more of a “copycat” of what LinkedIn has become.
Tell me I am wrong.
You are wrong.
I use BranchOut. We signed up when they were in beta mode.
I find candidates faster than ever. These are skilled trade workers that are difficult to find. The candidates don’t even have to be using BranchOut for me to find them. They just have to be on Facebook. Facebook is much, much, much bigger than LinkedIn. And in my case, not many skilled trades workers even know or care about LinkedIn. But they are all over Facebook. I find them, I send them a message, I recruit them. It’s truly that simple.
BranchOut is changing the face of Facebook recruiting. I encourage you to ask them for a demo. What do you have to lose besides a little time? It will be time well spent.
Preach on sister! HD
Found this totally by fluke and not familiar at all with Branch Out or using Facebook to recruit other than to publish openings on my own page. Please message me and fill me in on what I am missing.
Thanks!
Tamera
Tamera,
Check out our tool kit we put together on the subject:
http://fistfuloftalent.com/the-fot-toolkit-how-to-recruit-via-facebook
Hope this helps,
Tim
If you take the time to wade through the hype there are nuggets of truth everywhere. Your initial comment about you and Kris agreeing that what we need (read ‘long for’) is a simple solution….was a bullseye to my way of thinking.
I’m certainly in agreement with that…and for most corporate recruiters in small to medium firms who have few resources, other responsibilities and a budget getting squeezed…further and further, they want something straight forward, repeatable and low cost they can rely on.
IMHO The winners will not necessarily use any specific tactic, Instead a simple but comprehensive strategy for HR folks is evolving (at least for those who step up to put it on the line) and the strategy seems to generally fall into three buckets:
1. Internal Partner. Involves taking more risks in developing and then moving or promoting internal candidates (because critical skills are a premium cost on buy-side and ‘build’ is now less expensive, because access to learning via technology has improved incredibly and, it is better to invest in a known employee whose performance is high than an unknown candidate whose performance has not been veted internally). That should take care of 50% of critical openings (and subsequent openings will trickle down to entry level)
2. Focused Network. Involves taking referrals to a new level (maybe to 40% of external hiring- too much to comment here but worth lots of time elsewhere). Just the idea of shifting 20% of referral hires from those currently initiated by employees to those initiated by a prospect/candidate for example only requires small changes in existing practices (and will involve use of SM like Facebook but… not by HR…or your employees…or by BranchOut). This is a critical trend we’ll see more of this year.
3. For the remainder of the openings It’s a single AND simple point of contact recruiters/HR want… not a single ‘tool’ and of course there never was and never will be a silver bullet. Unfortunately, with every vendor out there representing some competing solution suite, we are missing that old fashioned and trusted ‘partner’ who you could call, text, email, skype, IM, huddle, hangout or whatever and feel confident they were knowledgeable enough to suggest what sources should be tapped from 3rd party placement to social media campaigns or various job boards without worrying whether they ‘owned’ the solution they advised..
They exist now. They just don’t have titles and most don’t have companies. They may be a contractor, former employee, etc. that you trust and who has the real time knowledge to advise and implement the best choices. Let them worry about which ‘tool’ works or not.
Trying to ‘pick’ a tactical tool that will win all the marbles when it has never before happened is an exercise I wouldn’t want to entertain.
Just sayin’
Totally disagree. I think that Facebook is a) transient – many people tire of it, there are already many dormant accounts/people leaving b) a place where friends and family just like to connect, not face intrusions from over zealous recruiters and c) hit and miss because many people don’t give full details about what they do for a living so any targeting/analysis is surely a bit limited because of that very fact. Also, on a network where users are drunk in 76% of their tagged photos do you honestly think you can be sure you are reaching the very best people? http://holykaw.alltop.com/study-british-facebook-users-drunk-in-76-of-t
Trust me, Facebook will be history in years to come. it;s OK for inane chat and talking about the minutiae of your family’s life with relatives who are far fling around the world, but as a recruitment vehicle i can think of many better, more targeted places to look for staff.
From the perspective of a long duration searcher for that next career challenge, I discount FaceBook significantly and put the bulk of my media efforts elsewhere. So many members of my 2 distinct networks do not use nor even have a FB account.
As a retired Navy veteran, many of the members of that network stay away from FB as a part of their career network machine because that is where relatives, picture updates on kids and grandkids all go. Just a separate safe place away from prying eyes to keep in touch with family, close friends and non-network friends.
Then there are the more mature crowd that really think they have no reason for FB and maintain it that way. They do have LinkedIN accounts and some have even added Twitter for specific communications, many times they need assistance from their kids or even grandkids with that social technology.
I am inclined to keep FB as a non-career network safe zone, utilize LinkedIN and Tweeter accordingly and then as social media continues to evolve I am add or transition to other opportunities but only when it has outstanding value added.
Two important points in the comments that bear repeating: 1) there is no magic bullet to recruiting, it takes a combination of outreaches (some very low tech, BTW) to find the right talent and 2) FB is primarily social. I’ve found that people who “got their current job” via FB have researched the company on FB, not applied for a role via FB. I look at it through the lens of a FB user – I don’t turn to that medium for job related activities. It’s all social with family and friends, and because FB is social for me, I don’t friend work colleagues. As a recruiting pro, would I ever use FB to find my next role? Maybe to research a company, but I don’t think that my FB friends – many of whom I haven’t physically seen in years – truly “know” me, so how can they recommend or refer me to a job? They don’t know what’s important to me. TBNT.
It is not difficult to understand why the next 5 years will be a social recruiting revolution. As a recruiter providing Staffing Solutions and Staffing Services, I am not surprised that close to 89% of US companies will use social networks for recruiting this year. This proves that Social Media matters in today’s HR world.