Showing posts with label Social Networks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Social Networks. Show all posts

Monday, May 11, 2009

NAS Launches Social Network Training Initiative

Webinar helps organizations position themselves to reach broader audiences

Cleveland, OH (PRWEB) May 11, 2009 –NAS Interactive, a division of NAS Recruitment Communications, announced today the launch of a new training offering for recruitment professionals: Recruiter’s Social Networking Boot Camp. The announcement came on the heels of a successful webinar NAS Interactive co-hosted with popular social network LinkedIn, “Using Social Media as Part of your Talent Sourcing Strategy.”

“Even before the presentation ended, we had received dozens of requests from participants for training on how to get a viable social networking strategy up and running,” said Kevin Hawkins, National Internet Strategist for NAS. “We recognize it can be daunting to determine where to begin engaging for recruitment. Our training will help organizations supercharge their online recruitment team with a comprehensive knowledge base of social media, access to the top time-saving tools and the blueprint for a comprehensive social media campaign—from launch through measurement.”

Recruiter’s Social Networking Boot Camp will guide organizations and recruiting staff through the maze of social media sites and develop a strategy for brand extension, outreach and engagement. And, as conversations that affect your brand as an employer are happening every day—in environments you may not know about— Recruiter’s Social Networking Boot Camp will include tools and techniques for online Brand Reputation Management. That means not only will you be able to identify where conversations about your brand are taking place online, but you’ll also be able to quickly respond to and engage in those conversations.

To learn more about NAS’ digital recruitment solutions, please contact your dedicated NAS rep today.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

NAS, LinkedIn to share Social Networking secrets

Webinar will help organizations position themselves to reach broader audiences

Cleveland, OH (PRWEB) April 27, 2009 – NAS Interactive, a division of NAS Recruitment Communications, announced that it will team up with LinkedIn to present “Using Social Networking as Part of Your Talent Sourcing Strategy,” a special webinar to be hosted May 5th at 2:00 p.m. EST.

Kevin Hawkins, National Internet Strategist for NAS, and Brandon Salom, Partner Relationship Sales Manager for LinkedIn, will co-host the hour-long presentation. Those attending the session will learn how many HR organizations are already successfully using these powerful Web 2.0 environments to reach candidates, as well as how to use LinkedIn’s platforms and solutions.

This webinar will also explore how proactive organizations use Social Networks to coordinate recruiter activities in order to find and engage quality talent. Participants will learn how job listings are virally promoted to reach “perfect fit” candidates; why personalized, network-driven connections increase quality lead generation; and how Social Networks allow candidates to learn about you as an employer without feeling like they’re being marketed to.

Social networking is a necessary component for today’s employee recruitment strategies,” said Kevin Hawkins, “particularly when you need to reach out to people with highly specialized skills. Professional and social communities like LinkedIn are where HR goes to look for top talent. NAS Interactive helps clients to build their own niche community and extend their brand presence in unique ways within the SNS space.”

In fact, social networking sites, such as LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and Tagged, have become a cultural phenomenon that transcends age or computer proficiency. Today, college students, working parents, seniors, executives, professionals...57% of all active online users—over 130 million people—are members of at least one social network. And that makes these sites fertile ground for recruiters.

To learn how NAS and LinkedIn can help you develop a social network strategy and engage talent in a uniquely effective manner, or to register for the May 5th webinar presentation, please email lgarten@nasrecruitment.com.

Monday, December 29, 2008

Four Required Recruiting Tools

Here we are in 2008, soon to be 2009, and almost a decade into the 21st century. The Internet is maturing: it’s been around for ordinary people to use for almost 15 years and has already earned its place as a technology and a social movement as important as electricity.

Most recruiters, corporate or agency, have finally developed career sites and use the Internet for attracting, sourcing, and communicating with candidates and clients. The website is the bedrock of an effective recruiting practice, and while it may still be possible in local or niche markets to avoid it, for mainstream and volume recruiting a website is essential. In this article I am assuming you already have a decent website that has interactivity, video, audio, and other graphic material and updates frequently. That is old news.

But, to get a jump on your competition and to attract the savviest candidates, it takes more than a good website and good recruiting skills. Here are four essential tools for success.

Tool #1: Facebook or MySpace
You should have a personal and a corporate presence on a social network. I have only listed Facebook and MySpace because they represent the largest share of the social networking world in the United States and a significant percentage outside the U.S. If your organization has global operations and recruiting needs, then there are networks for China, India, and many other places that you should also consider.

College students and most other young professionals turn to these networks for information about you, to ask their friends about you, or to join a community of practice that you have created.

IBM DB2 developers have a Facebook community developed and maintained by IBM. KPMG in South Africa has developed a Facebook page to attract and communicate with potential candidates.

The U.S. Army, faced with massive recruiting challenges, has numerous Facebook and MySpace pages. Some of the pages act as testimonials or provide videos of real people talking about why they joined the Army. Other pages are focused on fun experiences such as simulations of driving a tank or on gaming.

However you use these networks, you will be exposing your brand to thousands of potential candidates who, at least to some degree, will judge their potential work experience by the quality of the content. That’s why these pages have to be done thoughtfully and have to connect to the type of viewer and what they are expecting to see and hear.

Tool #2: LinkedIn
I separate LinkedIn from Facebook and MySpace because it is not really a “social” network so much as a simple way to link people who know each other together in a web of interconnections. These interconnections can be useful when they are leveraged well, and LinkedIn has developed special applications for recruiters.

You should all get a copy of Bill Vick’s excellent guide to using LinkedIn for recruiting. LinkedIn allows you to build a network of people who know you and each other. By working to populate this network with the kinds of people who you either would like to recruit or who can help you find those you can recruit, you can leverage your success many times over.

And by learning methods such as those taught by Shally Steckerl you can use LinkedIn as a structured, searchable database of potential candidates.

LinkedIn is a versatile tool and can be used for marketing, search, and connecting. This is what makes it as essential tool for your toolbox.

Tool #3: Your Personal Blog
Developing a blog puts you ahead of almost all other recruiters by building your brand and your organization’s brand. Blogs have become the most authentic course of information for candidates. They like to read the personal stories and hear about your organization from your perspective.
Most candidates are wary of official corporate career sites because they realize how controlled these sites are and they understand that a public relations expert wrote the copy. What candidates are hungry for is authenticity and personality. And this is what blogs have in abundance.

Yet, every time I tell recruiters to create a blog I hear groans and complaints. I hear things such as, “My organization won’t allow us to blog.” Or, “I don’t have time.” Or, “No one can read all the blogs that are out there.”

While I can’t do much to help you overcome internal organizational bans of recruiting blogs, I can suggest you think about creating a personal blog outside of work that can build your brand and help you source good candidates.

Blogs can be updated once a week or so and entries can be quite short. Good blogs keep each posting to a single idea and add pictures or video to maintain interest. Devoting an hour or two a week to a blog is far more useful than spending that time pouring over unsolicited resumes or cold calling.

Tool #4: Twitter
Twitter is the most recent and least understood of these tools. It is a mini-blogging tool that allows you to write 140 characters at a time and send the message to a candidate’s mobile phone or website as a message or as an SMS. Over 2 million people have Twitter accounts and the number is growing very fast. Twitter can be used in a variety of ways to improve the recruiting experience and as a sourcing tool.

Jason Whitman from IT Toolbox has written a few blogs pointing out ways Twitter is being used as a sourcing tool. Art’s Blog from Bullhorn, a major supplier of recruiting software for the agency world, also gives some ideas of ways to use Twitter for recruiting.

Use Twitter to push out job announcements to potential candidates, stay connected to a special group of people, or keep those top candidates in the loop. It’s free and easy to use. And, because so few are actually using it, you will have a real advantage for a while over everyone who is isn’t using it.

Staying current is never easy, but at least it can be fun. Experiment, play, and see where these tools take you. I think you will like where you end up.

Source: Kevin Wheeler, ERE.net