By Peter Gray for Recruiter’s World:

Have you noticed that last year’s best sourcing tools are already losing their luster? Are Craigslist, LinkedIn, and Doostang are losing their punch? Well, someone once again “Moved Our Cheese,” as Spencer Johnson would put it. Here is where the cheese has gone:

Twitter http://twitter.com/ Twitter is possibly the next great “happening” on the web. It is a micro-blog that works in a similar fashion to Facebook or LinkedIn section “what are you doing now” Twitter only allows users to post a few words, yet they update constantly via computer, blackberry, mobile phone, etc. It is addictive and users do CONSTANTLY update. Posts range from “eating pasta,” to “waxing the car” to “looking for a new job” to “getting ready to paint the house, ugg.” Many more uses to come once I get my head around this tool but for now we can post, for example, “looking for an Application Architects in Stamford ”

Catelas – http://www.catelas.com

This is a Social Network Analysis tool that can help us leverage the networks we already have built. It graphically shows who knows who and what level of a relationship they have (strong, moderate, or weak). This tool can be “pointed” at social networking sites, CRM software, telephony logs, etc.

This tool measures the quality (depth) of the relationship by assigning a “rating” to the number of touches (times contacted) in a set period. i.e. ten touches in 1 week = very strong; 5 touches = strong; 2 touches = neutral; etc.

Additionally it can measure quality indirectly. The higher the number of Level-2 contacts two people share, the more likely it is that they have a deep relationship. I know many people in the networks of the people that I am closest to. (I know friends of friends and colleagues of colleagues) …we often share networks.

While Catelas doesn’t catch non-electronic communications, as soon as you log: a phone call, marketing campaign, or meeting into a database, it is now an electronic “touch.”

TalentEvent! – http://www.talentevent.com

If someone told you you could recruit active, passive, and “curious” candidates simultaneously — in one event — would you believe them? TalentEvent, a veteran in the virtual recruiting space, specializes in showing companies how.

Virtual career fairs are growing in popularity as recruiters seek new ways to engage a candidate population whose lives are increasingly intertwined with technology. Static websites that offer job postings and block text just don’t cut it. Candidates want to be engaged and entertained online and TalentEvent is addressing that demand.

Interactivity and convenience are what differentiate TalentEvent. When a candidate logs in to a TalentEvent fair, they are immediately presented with multiple ways to engage. They can chat with a recruiter, view a webcast, or browse and apply for jobs. The environment is always current, fresh, and real-time. Moreover, since virtual career events take place online, anyone can participate. Coupled with the right media package, today’s virtual events have the power to reach active job seekers as well as those who might not be looking, but are interested in learning more.

Myspace– http://www.myspace.com/

As a name generation and targeted research tool, Myspace is very time consuming, very targeted, passive candidates requiring a lot of development (after finding them, it is several rounds of e-mails, phone calls, generating interest, etc.), but they are top quality.

A very high percentage of candidates generated and developed in this way should turn into placements, however, the number of candidates we can develop in this way is seriously limited due to the resource intensiveness.

You can also post jobs on Myspace…nothing new or novel here, but it is a valid approach. Additionally, Myspace can be used as an attraction tool. One way to do this is to create an affinity. It must be content forward with a trail of breadcrumbs back to your organization.

2nd life– http://secondlife.com/whatis/

There are so many way to use 2nd life as a recruiting tool, but so far I have only scratched the surface. Here is what I came up with:

2Nd life is perfect for Virtual Interviews/Group Interviews. I can’t impress on you enough, this FEELS totally real, we can meet with candidates in a virtual office, dressed in business attire, one-on-one or in a group. It is very efficient because there is no travel to get a group of hiring managers together. Also, we can tell a lot about the candidate by how they are virtually dressed for the interview and how their Avatar looks.

Use 2nd Life for field recruiting. In this virtual world, we can go out, meet people and shake a lot of hands. We can focus this search in several ways. Are our best potential hires attending virtual classes at virtual Harvard, are they in virtual libraries, conducting virtual research, or are they in virtual Hawaii , drinking a virtual piña colada?

…and for Virtual Job Fairs/Job Kiosks. Players can buy land and build Virtual offices, in Virtual locations. People can stop by your office to check out your “latest innovations” and wander into the HR department if they like, which can be staffed by a live person via chat window.

The people who use this product tend to be very technology savvy. Although it is resource intensive to recruit in this model, if targeted correctly, we can achieve great quality candidates (high percentage convert into hires) although the quantity will be low.

 

 

 

 

 

 

About the Author

 

 

 

 

 

Peter Gray joined Gartner’s recruiting team 2007, where he is currently Head of Sourcing & Research, HR, USA. Throughout his career as a search firm manager and individual contributor, Gray has assisted both privately-held as well as Fortune 100 firms. Past clients have included: American Power Conversion Corporation, International Paper, Bloomberg, Kraft Foods, Modem Media, and Thomson Financial. Gray is also known through his local college lectures, workshops, and newspaper and business journal articles and columns that focus on human resources and employment related issues. Gray is the author of: Pocket Idiot’s Guide to Performance Appraisal Phrases, (Pearson Education, 2005) and Beyond the Resume: Phrases, Tips, & Tactics for Making the Right Impression Through E-mail, Cover Letters, Resumes, and Pre-Interviews (Career Press, 2006).