Blogs and Recruiting

I keep hearing about HR recruiters who are using blogs to recruit talented people. Microsoft, for example, has two recruiting blogs including this one. I've posted blogs for a couple of startups that generated qualified leads, including this Rogue hire for Riya.

I am becoming convinced that recruiting may be one of blogging's "killer apps."  A recruiting blog is superior from a Help Wanted ad in so many ways. 

• More personal--The recruiting blog puts a human face on a company's recruiting arm. Heather at Microsoft is a real person, and an interested applicant can actually use the blog to get to know her.  Compare that with the website'sCareers@Microsoft.com email address.
• Word of Mouth--We seldom read the Help Wanted listings when we are not looking for jobs. But an interesting blog gets readers who will tell friends about new jobs as they occur.
• Demystification--While everyone knows we want to do our best when applying for work,we often forget that the hiring company wants to see your best shot. A recruiting log let's a company show a potential ire what the company and people would look like.  You can use a recruiting blog to show, workspace, co-workers, the building, the neighborhood etc.

There are more reasons, but I'll stand on those three.  What I'm really looking for is some reader input on recruiting blogs.  Who has them?  What are some f the great success stories?  Do you know cases of people being hired who would not otherwise have been found and encouraged to join?

Please send in your comments.  If there appears to be a bigger story, I may contact you for a follow up story.

Comments

[/pd/pd]

Shel, I remember that a couple of HR Folks in Toronto who are using blogs in a nice way. Will check my archieves and ask them to comment or contact you !!

[Jane Genova]

Paul Chaney at Radiant Marketing Group (http://www.radiantmarketinggroup.com) opens his blog to those recruiting talent. Usually those needing help are still currently start-ups which can't pay well, yet.

The only reason that I explore the possibility of doing work for them for a pittance is that they are getting Chaney's third-party endorsement and also I assume since they're smart enough to recruit via a blog they are going to be big some day.

As you well know, having a blog is the best tool to find work, either full time or freelance.

[Jim Durbin]

Shel,
There is an entire Recruiting Blogosphere out there, starting with Recruiting.com and populated by 1400 unique visitors plus Rss feeds talking about online employment.

Several of us are speaking at the Kennedy Expo in May in Vegas on the need for corporate recruiting departments to have a blog, and local recruiting agencies are using the blogs to build talent communities.

Using blogs to recruit is starting to make waves - currently niche markets are served - shoot me an e-mail and I'll answer your questions.

The answer is yes, blogs are a killer app for recruiting. Candidates use them to pitch their knowledge, Companies use them to pitch their companies in personal ways.

Add Rss feeds, video interviews, mini-job boards, referral services, and even college recruiting and you have a recipe for success. The goal is keeping the company name in front of pools of talent until they are ready to mke the switch.

[Shel Israel]

Jim,
Thanks for this. It's very useful.

[MN Headhunter, Paul DeBettignies]

Shel,

I would normally not leave a comment as what I am about to say will sound like I know what I am doing. Really, I only think I know what I am doing and this has been one big experiment.

Most of my blog is about what is going on in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Some of it from what I experience as a headhunter. Some of it is job search tips.

I have two other pages I connect to. The first is a volunteer page. I have started a network of technologists who are willing to volunteer with local nonprofits.

The second is a jobs page. I get about 1/3 of my total blog traffic from search engines with visitors using job, "skill set", and Minnesota or Minneapolis as key words.

As a search firm I am only looking to fill a few positions at one time so not everyone is sending a resume. I did start a newsletter which has worked well in keeping in touch with what might have been one time

In the last month I have received 20 resumes. Most of which have not been related to current postings but past ones. Of the 20 I was able to pass 4 on to corporate colleagues who were hired, no fee just a favor.

I have placed 1 with a client. All but 2 of the remaining 15 signed up for the newsletter.

So far I would call this experiment a success.

Sorry about the long message and if you would like to speak further about what I am doing, drop me a line.

[Jeremiah Owyang]

Intersting, on a side note, I consider my personal blog as part of my resume --but that's because business blogging is part of my skill set.

[Heather]

There are a number of "blog hires" here at Microsoft; several people who contacted me via the blog and now work here, one that contacted me and I connected him with the hiring group through the blog of one of their employees (got that?).

Blogging is mostly an employment branding opportunity, though. The hires are great...they are a sign that the employment branding works. But the branding is the goal. A couple more reasons that I think are worth mentioning:

1) helps set interview candidates expectations, helps them prepare
2) great brnad reearch tool. If you want to know about your employment brand, ask your readers

I've been presenting on this quite a bit lately. I've got more info if you need it. You know how to reach me.

[/pd]

different prospective here

http://jobstuff.blogdrive.com/

[Robert Scoble]

Every blog at a company is a recruiting blog. I remember the first time I was taken aback when someone said "I joined Microsoft because of your blog." It's happened several times since then.

[Canadian Headhunter]

I don't think that recruiting blogs necessarily have a great future.

Many companies worry that bloggers will reveal important secrets so if they have recruiting blogs they will try to turn them into bland corporate vehicles uninformed by any lively personalities.

And, besides that, regular blogging is a lot of work, which few people want to undertake and few companies want to finance.

[Robert Merrill]

Keeping a blog does at least three things for me in my recruiting work over at GoodRecruits.com and my original recruiting blog, UtahTechJobs.com

1. There is NO FASTER way to add/edit/delete my current job postings. No other job-board tool gives me this power and agility.

2. I can connect, network, educate, inspire, meet and communicate with my most-precious resource--talented people.

3. I can simultaneously get to know more hiring managers as well, thereby allowing me even more opportunities to place the best people.

[Marketing Headhunter.com]

I speak from experience:

Because of the nature of the executive search business, recruiters are in the "emotional bond" business. Recruiters may ignore this fact at their own peril.

My blog has more inbound links than Heidrick.com or KornFerry.com, and it has received very favorable write-ups in MarketingSherpa, Recruiting.com, and the WSJ's "Career Journal Online." I don't say this to brag. I say this because it is simply astounding to think that one guy (me) working out of his house in a tee shirt could get so much traction on the web.

My blog has done more to "credible-ize" my executive search practice than 1000 print ads. And in my business, that's what it's all about: credibility.

Harry Joiner
MarketingHeadhunter.com

[Dennis Smith]

Shel - lively post...hopefully it will stir some activity that leads to greater involvement in the blogosphere by those of us engaged in corporate recruiting.

I started blogging in Dec. 04 while working for a large telecom vendor with HQ in another country. They soon put the squash on it so I went underground and assumed the "Masked-Blogger" identity. Obviously, it is difficult blogging behind a mask, as it defeats the purpose - the very spirit of why blogs exist.

I joined T-Mobile in Dec. '05 and I'm now blogging openly and using the blog as a tool - not just to recruit, but to influence. Why do I blog? Because I can. Why did recruiters start using job boards way back when? Because they could. When tools are made available to the recruiting public, we can choose to use them...or not.

I choose to use blogging as a tool. Anil Dash said, "Connect with the audience you care about." I care about the job-seeking public that has an interest in a career within the wireless sector. Conversely, I care about the job-seeking public that "doesn't" have an interest in the wireless sector. Why? Because one day they might change their mind.

My blog not only helps me influence job-seekers, but it makes me a "shortcut" for the public in general. People click on www.t-mobile.com to look at phone rate plans and check out the cool new phones. People go to www.talentbloggers.com, because they are interested in talking to the guy that works at the place with the cool phones.

If I offer you the opportunity to frequent a static website that simply serves as a conduit for information, versus, the opportunity to frequent a site where you can engage a live person who knows what it's like to work at the company, you'll choose door number two.

I provide an alternative to the "black-hole." I have the privilege of making a connection with someone that otherwise might not choose T-Mobile as a wireless provider; someone who might choose T-Mobile as an employer today; someone who might choose T-Mobile as an employer tomorrow. This is where the Employer Branding comes in that Heather mentions. I am extension of the T-Mobile Brand to the uninformed public.

Yes, we have made hires through the blog. Oftentimes, it's not even a job for which I'm recruiting, but I regularly speak with people that are coming to me - to T-Mobile - via the blog.

Do I think everybody in corporate recruiting should be blogging? Oh, I'm sure there's situations where it doesn't make sense. However, I think most of us should be blogging. Frankly, I'd just as soon my competitors didn't blog. It will prevent them from connecting, on a genuine level, with the audience they care about. They'll be left standing behind the locked door when the person they care about shows up with "the stuff."

Remember the Cheech and Chong parody? (short version):

Cheech: It's me Dave. Open up, man, I got the stuff.

Chong: Who is it?

Cheech: It's me, Dave, man. Open up.

Chong: Dave's not here.

Cheech: No, man, I'm Dave, man!

Chong: Who?

Cheech: Hey, c’mon man.

Chong: Who is it?..................

May my competitor's audience continue to stand outside of locked doors. Word-of-mouth will soon make its way to this audience and they'll realize that there's a company interested in hearing what they have to say.

Thanks for the opporunity to jump on the soap-box.

Dennis

[Barry Bell]

Shel - I'm a day or two late with this, but I noted down a similar idea in November last year, here: http://blogging.wurk.net/2005/11/25/blogging-business-idea-1-selling-graduate-schemes/

I'm also building http://wurk.net, a network of recruiting blogs, but from the angle of the jobseeker, rather than the recruiter.

Give me a shout if you want any more info.

B

[gretchen]

I posted a trackback here last week, but it appears to be gone. Zoe Goldring and I started (at least to our knowledge) the first corporate recruiting blog, and I posted about my thoughts on careers and blogs over on our new blog: http://jobsyntax.com/blogs/jobgals/archive/2006/04/27/recruitingblogs.aspx. I also link to some specific success metrics from our involvement with the Microsoft recruiting blog. We impacted several candidates who otherwise never would have applied to the company ... or at least that's what they told us. :)

[Mike Pauletich]

We have used both blogs and podcasts effectively for a number of clients. In fact, fellow blogger Misti Wilson (http://blog.tmp.com/mistiwilson) has been instrumental in driving this as a recruiting strategy. Perhaps Misti can provide some meat to substantiate the theory.