How to use web 2.0 for recruitment

Last week we were asked by Maria, a student at ESCP EAP, if we could answer some questions about the use of web 2.0 technology in recruitment - which companies do it, and to what success? It’s an interesting issue, not least because traditionally the recruitment industry have been very slow to adopt new media, and often guilty of misusing it where they have embraced technology. But working alongside our sister company FreshNetworks, I know there is potential for social media to fundamentally improve the way recruitment companies and employers engage with their candidates.

So first, which companies in the recruitment industry have been the early adopters of web 2.0 technology? There’s three obvious examples that come to mind that demonstrate the good and the bad of companies entering this space. The first is Yell, who ran an award-winning marketing campaign in Second Life, handing out virtual yellow shirts to advocates (computer generated simulations of the user) to spread their brand and message. The initiative helped them to engage with a whole new audience, innovatively took the concept of online recruitment a bold step forward and earned them their rightful plaudits. And on the other end of the scale, last year American recruitment agency RJ & Makay posted a video on YouTube to attract disillusioned brokers from Merrill Lynch after the investment bank was taken over by the Bank of America. At the time, it attracted just a handful of viewers before the media made it much more popular to interested journalists and cynics, if not job seekers. More than being unsuccessful, however, the video also risked broaching a very difficult period in these Merrill Lynch employees’ lives in a very impersonal way. And from a recruitment point of view, I think that using technology to replace personal human interaction is a dangerous business. Much better that it should facilitate that interaction.

The best example of this third way, where an employer has adopted web 2.0 technology with the simple aim of making it easier to connect with potential employees, is KPMG in America. The accountancy giant has over a thousand people following their HR team on Twitter (@kpmg) for updates on job vacancies, podcasts that give insights into their corporate culture and - more than anything else - to keep aspirational employer and aspiring employee in constant communication. I’m not ashamed to say that some of our recruitment consultants have learned from this example and now use Twitter (@phillippadunlop) to keep in touch with a pool of candidates, not all of whom we can help immediately but who we nonetheless realise are extremely important to our business.

The key question is really what should a company do to ensure they use web 2.0 technology to enhance their employer brand and the candidate experience? We advise our clients to be very aware of the boundary between social and professional platforms - particularly when it comes to using social media. LinkedIn is a fantastic resource for putting professional contacts in touch. It explicitly asks you what you are using the network for, with career opportunities one of the options. Using Facebook to approach new audiences, on the other hand, risks blurring the line between a person’s public and private persona. When I apply for a job, I would happily show the recruiter my CV. I wouldn’t want them to see my holiday snaps.

In terms of the other risks, some companies do fear that by engaging with social media, they risk losing control of their employer brand - through user comments and reviews on forums, blogs and networks. Our colleagues at FreshNetworks always have a very good answer to those kinds of concerns. Namely, that people are talking about your brand online right now anyway. If you want a perfect example of this, just type the aforementioned “RJ & Makay” into Google. You can either engage in that debate, or ignore it. But if you’re looking for control, I know which option I would take.

Maria, I hope that was useful. If you, or anybody else, have any other questions you would like to ask about using web 2.0 to promote an employer brand, add your comments to this post and I will happily answer them. And, of course, feel free to follow me on Twitter - @Charlie_Boss

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