Archives for April 2013

Is Mobile The Ultimate Passive Candidate Solution?

April 29, 2013 By Leave a Comment

smartphones

An article in the Wall Street Journal caught my eye last week. It was talking about how a smartphone could get you a job.

Nothing new in that you might think, particularly as I have writing about mobile recruitment since 2010! However, in this particular article it gave a specific example of just how effective mobile recruitment can be, especially for a passive job seeker.

Keith Gormley was the person mentioned in the article, and whilst on the train last year he looked up the Indeed.com mobile website whilst travelling to work (he was a bit bored that morning and he felt Twitter was a bit quiet).

A social media position at a large insurance company (Prudential) caught his eye on the mobile Indeed.com website and over the next couple of days he did some research on Twitter and LinkedIn before applying for the job from home. After going through the interview process he was successful and got the job.

What was interesting about this particular example was that Keith was already in work and wasn’t actively looking for a new job at the time. Instead he was browsing Indeed.com out of curiosity rather than as part of a specific job hunting plan.

A couple of questions come to mind:

  • If Indeed.com didn’t have a mobile website would he have found out about the job? In which case would he still be with his former employer?
  • How many passive candidates could your company be missing out on every day by not having a mobile-enabled website?

Ever since I can remember the ultimate goal of a lot of Recruiters is to find those elusive passive candidates who are currently employed, but could be open to new opportunities. (You can view the full WSJ article here)

Will mobile recruitment help Recruiters achieve that goal?  What do you think? Please feel free to comment below:

Further Information

To find out more about mobile recruitment check out our upcoming Mobile Recruitment Conference on the 11th Juy 2013 and our Mobile Recruitment video-based training course.

Filed Under: Blog, Mobile Recruitment

Social Media In Recruitment – Where Have The Last Four Years Gone?

April 4, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Four years ago this week I came up with the idea to run Europe’s first Social Media in Recruitment Conference and quickly registered the domain name SocialMediainRecruitment.com. Having just paid the fee to renew the domain name again it got me thinking… where have the last fours years gone and what has changed since then?

My first conference took place on the 16th July 2009 and both YouTube and Facebook were amongst our speakers.  There was a lot of buzz and interest on the day and I distinctly remember Facebook proudly announcing that they had just reached 250 million members. They now of course have more than 1 billion members!

Twitter was just starting to get talked about, mainly because of celebrity profiles at the time like Stephen Fry, but there were still the predictable comments like “what a waste of time, why do I want to know what someone had for lunch?” and “Twitter will never work in recruitment”.

There were also questions around why would people want to use YouTube as it was “only for stupid videos where cats fall off skateboards.”

Then of course there were are our speakers on the day, including a certain Bill Boorman, who then went on to build a globally successful #TRU Conferences brand. There is even a picture of him in a suit and tie (without a hat!)

Do You Remember How You Felt About Social Media Four Years Ago?

Can you remember how you (and your clients?) felt about social media four years ago and how have your views changed compared to today?

Also, can you remember any classic reasons that people gave you as to why social media wouldn’t work in recruitment? I’m sure there must be some real gems out there!

Please feel free to leave your comments below.

Filed Under: Blog, Social Media In Recruitment

2013 Social Media in Recruitment & Mobile Recruitment Conferences Announced – Two Conferences – One Venue

April 2, 2013 By Leave a Comment

I am pleased to announce that our Social Media in Recruitment Conference  and our Mobile Recruitment Conference will take place in London on the 11th July 2013.

With Social Media and Mobile being so closely aligned today, we will be running both conferences together at the same venue, together with a new format.

Our confirmed speakers so far include Matthew Jeffery – Head of Global Talent Acquisition Strategy & Innovation at SAP and Bill Boorman, founder and disorganiser at #tru conferences.

New Format

The morning will be a joint conference with a mixture of Social Media and Mobile speakers, together with case studies and best practices. In the afternoon there will be separate Social Media and Mobile Master Class sessions, with the latest advice and practical tips to help recruiters get the most from using Social Media and Mobile.

Social Media

Facebook spoke at our first Social Media conference in July 2009 and they proudly announced that they had just reached 250 million users (they now have more than 1 billion users!).  If you add to that the fact that social media offerings like Google + and Pinterest didn’t even exist in 2009 then you can see just how quickly things have changed.

Mobile

Mobile usage has also grown significantly since our first Mobile Conference in 2010. With 8 out of 10 phones now sold in the UK being smartphones it should be no surprise to recruiters that so many job seekers are now expecting to be able to search and apply for a job using their mobile device.

Social Media & Mobile Expo Area

Delegates will have access to a dedicated expo area during the day where they can talk to suppliers and watch demonstrations of various social media and mobile related products and services.  (Any company interested in being part of the expo area should contact Mike Taylor for the latest stand availability.)

About Web Based Recruitment

Web Based Recruitment ran Europe’s first ever Social Media in Recruitment Conference back in July 2009 and the world’s first Mobile & Video in Recruitment Conference in September 2010. Over the last four years more than 1,000 delegates from 23 different countries have attended the conferences organised by Web Based Recruitment.

If you have any questions about the conferences then please feel free to contact me.

Mike Taylor

Filed Under: Blog, Mobile Recruitment, Social Media In Recruitment