Oh yeah…a shiny new social media toy!
I’ve been waiting for this. LinkedIn is rote for me. I’ve got that puppy nailed. Twitter is fun, but well, I guess the honeymoon is over. I still use it daily but there’s no thrill, no “gotta see who’s on line” kind of thing. It’s a tool. And I mean that in a nice way, it’s an incredible asset for the research I do in my day job. And there’s Facebook….. I hate to say it, but I’m over it. Facebook has really become a reader for me. There’s still a purpose, no doubt about that, but I feel more and more voyeuristic as I go into it and my time spent on it is definitely down.
But Google+…it makes me smile. I’m like a moth to the flame with this one, I just can’t stay away. I’ve seen a lot of blogs on how great it is for recruiting because of the core features like hangouts and sparks and circles. Sure, there’s huge potential there, but I think that’s just looking at Google+ in a very surface sort of manner.
Here’s what I’m seeing:
Profiles – If you know me, you know I’m a huge proponent of building a Google profile. I have been for a while. You should definitely have one if you’re a recruiter and especially if you ever want to be found. It is my dream that everyone will build a profile, the more detail the better, but I’ll take what you give me. Everytime I think about how I’d like to have everyone build a Google profile, this classic Coke commercial comes to mind….
Really…everyone should build one…it’d make me so happy! And by the way, who doesn’t want to be found? Who doesn’t want a job to come find them instead of having to go through the grind of finding one? Create one. And be thoughtful, how do you want to be met for the first time? Use spell check.
And a side note….I will totally be surfing these profiles. Easy as pie. How? Like this…
site:plus.google.com google engineer
That’s pretty simplistic I know. Build it out however you want. Include inurl:about if Google isn’t being a complete pain in the ass.
Circles – Organization! I know, I know, I can make lists to my heart’s delight on Twitter. I live a very public life on Twitter, so you can dive through the lists I create, add those followers to your lists and so on. Not so on Google+! I can create a variety of circles to segment out my professional life, share information with those particular people and even better, if you’re trying to see who I’ve sorted where, you can’t! I like that feature. Where did I put Amybeth Hale? HR & Recruiting? Sourcers? Vendors? Friends? Only I will know….Sure you can add Amybeth to your own circle, but that level of interaction I have is left with me. And even better, I can post to just these groups. I get contract sourcing gigs coming at me all the time, I’ve made a sourcing group just so I can post to people I know are interested in those.
Intelligence – Competitive? Maybe. You’ll certainly be able to find alot of people scanning other people’s circles. Which is stalkerish I know but has potential to yield leads. Not in the most efficient manner but still….there’s potential. And will be more as this site expands.
Engagement- Right now I am finding it so much easier to engage and appreciate the people I interact with. I enjoy following Suzy Tonini – if you know your sourcing history, you know she’s brilliant. And while I can set up an RSS feed of her tweets, Google + is making it much easier to engage with her on a real time basis.
Home Base– I link everything to my Google profile. I also include random career information that I haven’t stored anywhere else, like links to articles I’ve been mentioned in. It’s a great home base. Want to make it really fantastic? Check out this item on How to Pimp Your Google+ Profile Design.
I’m not a guru, just a fan having fun. A fan wondering if this site could be a LinkedIn killer, wondering if it has the potential to really blow Facebook out of the water. That’d be sweet, but we’ll all have to wait and see. Want an invite to Google+? Hit me up, I have a few left. On there but not sure where to begin? Check out this item on Huffington Post.
Kelly is the Recruitment Manager for Westat, a leading social science research organization headquartered in Rockville, Maryland.