I have attended two recruitment in social media events recently and although I thought I was fairly social media savvy – I definitely learned some interesting new stuff showing that you can indeed teach an old dog new tricks!

The first was the UK Recruiter and  HB RIDA Directors’ Networking Event. The first presentation was from Sophie Relf the Head of Marketing Strategy at Guardian Jobs.  While I didn’t actually agree with a lot of her comments (‘social media is a walled [...]]]>

I have attended two recruitment in social media events recently and although I thought I was fairly social media savvy – I definitely learned some interesting new stuff showing that you can indeed teach an old dog new tricks!

The first was the UK Recruiter and  HB RIDA Directors’ Networking Event. The first presentation was from Sophie Relf the Head of Marketing Strategy at Guardian Jobs.  While I didn’t actually agree with a lot of her comments (‘social media is a walled garden, for example’ – don’t get Andy Headworth started on that!), there was one phrase she did use which really struck a chord and that was “mobile is the remote control of people’s lives.”
This was a theme that Andy Headworth of Sirona Consulting picked up when he asked “How many of you have a mobile website”? The answer of course was everyone– it’s just that most look crap!  Andy then went on to (in his own words) take down the wall brick by brick and gave some great examples of how powerful the platforms have become.

Next up was Steve Evans of NetNatives who gave some really interesting insights into how Facebook pages are changing.  Likes will no longer be the be all and endall – but visitors will able to ‘recommend’ or say ‘I work here’ – think aboutthe potential branding for a temps recruiter around that!

Will Winch of Mishcon de Reya scared everyone to death (only joking Will) by giving the legal perspectives around data protection, data theft and cyber bullying

The other event was #RTSM11 run hosted by Recruitment International.  Andy Headworth (yes him again) talked about how Facebook is a content management platform – not a social network and so your content has to be relevant interactive and interesting – not just a page of jobs!  He also told us that Google+ is now the fastest growing social network in history and there are certainly some really interesting applications for recruiters.

Patrick Traynor from LinkedIn highlighted the new company status update function and pointed out how few organisations were using the free
products and services tab on company profiles. And a really interesting nugget – mobile searching on Linked In is up 400% year on year!!

Jorgen Sundberg from Link Humans gave his top five tips on putting together a strategy for your content marketing while Dave Martin from Brave New
Talent told us that mobile will overtake desktops and laptops by 2013 and gave us a brand new buzzword – SoLoMo ( Social, Local Mobile).

Steve Ward from Cloud Nine shared a great story about his social media journey and then Oracle occupied the graveyard slot by aptly telling all
the recruiters how they recruit everything in house through social media !

All in all two great events – and I learned a lot !

Now don’t get me wrong – I am a huge fan of social media and you’ll regularly find me tweeting away, ‘working’ [...]]]> I have just returned from just under three weeks away.  I had a great time travelling around the States.  And as I always do when I am on holiday, I take my blackberry but I turn off data roaming. No e-mail, no Twitter, no Facebook…. and definitely no logging on to free wifi ..nothing.  And it was soooo liberating.

Now don’t get me wrong – I am a huge fan of social media and you’ll regularly find me tweeting away, ‘working’ LinkedIn and checking in on Foursquare.  But just recently I have begun to think about all the ‘noise’ and how incredibly disciplined you have to be. If I log onto Twitter, there are so many genuinely interesting articles/links that people are sharing that are relevant to my world that I could spend literally all day reading them.  I get weekly LinkedIn group updates in my in box – sometimes I just have to grit my teeth and ignore them – and then stress in case I have missed anything  important. And, because we are in the PR business and need to keep abreast of all new developments, I have also been playing around with Google +. 

So now I have the drumming back inside my head – what have I missed, what have I missed, what have I missed.

I think it’s time to go and have a drink and try to forget. But obviously I’ll check in on Foursquare in case you want to join me

Technology has brought us all closer together.  Social networks have provided platforms making it easy to connect with long-lost friends and family, new friends, business colleagues and other people who have similar interests, aspirations and goals. They have also become crucial in job search and career management.   

However good etiquette is still essential. Its infuriating when you get inundated with asks and requests [...]]]> Having just heard the new phrase ‘Connectiquette’ I decided to look into the etiquette of managing connections online.

Technology has brought us all closer together.  Social networks have provided platforms making it easy to connect with long-lost friends and family, new friends, business colleagues and other people who have similar interests, aspirations and goals. They have also become crucial in job search and career management.   

However good etiquette is still essential. Its infuriating when you get inundated with asks and requests from people you don’t even know.  A simple please and thank you also goes a long way. Social media mimics real relationships. Would you do the following within real face-to-face relationships?

• Jump on the friendship bandwagon without properly introducing yourself?
• Consistently talk about yourself and promote only yourself without regard for those around you?
• Randomly approach a friend you barely talk to and simply ask for favours — repeatedly?

In order to manage and maintain online relationships there is certain etiquette that needs to be followed!

1. Typically only connect with people you know and who know you. 
2. If you are on a professional social network such as LinkedIn and you want to connect with someone you have not met, ask for a referral from someone you know who does have a connection.  Explain your rationale for wanting to link and don’t forget to offer to reciprocate.  
3. Connect.  If you know the person and have had positive interaction, your decision is easy. The larger your personal network of people on sites such as LinkedIn, the better equipped you will be in your business or in a job search. 
4. Unlike traditional face to face networking, your ability to write including grammar matters. It’s shocking how often this element is overlooked.
5. Humanise your profile. Social networking is also about real relationships. Let people know who you are and add an avatar and a bio to your profiles on twitter and LinkedIn.
6. Be honest and respond.  If you’re not interested let them know (in a friendly way).
7. Add value to the site- At the end of the day, the thing that will earn you great connections with others is if you add value to the community. This means not submitting content that nobody cares about and not constantly promoting your brand on networks such as Facebook and twitter.
8. Think about the consequences of your actions. When commenting on Facebook or writing blog posts, you’re leaving your digital signature. Racial slurs, criticisms without warrant, and blatant abuse don’t work in real life, and they really have no place in the social media world.
9. Consider how your comments would be perceived before you actually post them, and think about logic above emotion at all times. Once it’s in the public domain you can’t take it back. It may even be used against you when looking for future jobs.

All of these points add up to one thing—just be nice. Call me old-fashioned if you like, but there’s nothing wrong with being nice to others online.

One of the major problems I had with the IT system was the fact that so many external websites were [...]]]> I worked for the Ministry of Defence (MOD) for three years. It was a real shock to the system when I made the move from the private sector. Not only was it the change in pace, culture and processes that I had to get my head round; it was also the archaic computer systems. It was like going back in time!

One of the major problems I had with the IT system was the fact that so many external websites were banned, including all social media sites. It made my job of researching, building relationships and communicating with the ‘outside world’, that was light years ahead in terms of technology, extremely difficult. 

Now I have returned to the fast pace of the commercial sector, I am getting to grips with the social media tools that you all have probably been using for the past five+ years! Just from using Twitter and LinkedIn over the last three months I can certainly see their benefits for building up invaluable networks, enhancing my professional reputation, gaining useful information and also searching for jobs (if I needed to!). This got me thinking.

If I hadn’t had made the jump back to the private sector, I would probably not have experienced social media at its best, built up the networks I have and caught up with other technological advancements. So what hope do the 25,000 MOD civil servants have whose posts are to be cut over the next four years? The 25,000 who have probably been employed in Defence since leaving school, who may only be au fait with the IT systems they use in their role. How are they really going to prepare themselves, and make the most out of social media when looking for a new job if they have never experienced it in a professional context, or fully understood its capabilities? How will they know how to use it to its full potential to truly promote themselves, and find the best job that matches their skills and experience?

Do you think that the MOD should be doing something for their loyal employees whose posts are being cut? Should they give something back by training staff in the art of social media, which will set them up for the move to the private sector, and give them a better chance of being employed? Or should they do nothing?

What do you think? Are MOD civil servants losing out?

But what happens if your team don’t get involved, don’t see the point or there is conflict over who should be involved? A recent survey featured in PR [...]]]> I recently spent a day at one of our clients discussing their use of social media and how to get the whole team involved. And a great day it turned out to be, with an enthusiastic team all positive about the social media being utilised and with some great ideas going forward.

But what happens if your team don’t get involved, don’t see the point or there is conflict over who should be involved? A recent survey featured in PR week found that of 250 marketing heads, one in five believed that social media should be controlled by a business’s IT department. In my opinion this is nonsensical but does show an interesting point. There is often confusion on the issue. A company needs to clearly define who is to be in control and relay this to all staff.

In our experience in the recruitment sector, for a social media strategy to be effective you need buy-in from the whole team. And whilst this might not mean that every consultant is tweeting or blogging it does require them to understand why you are using it and to promote it. But is it as simple as this? No! Telling someone to be enthusiastic won’t cut it. If you want your team to be involved and encouraged by social media you need to explain it, and more importantly show them the benefits.

In the recruitment sector, results are target driven and your success is often shown by the number of candidates you place. Social media on the other hand is different. Of course if you are using the likes of Twitter and Facebook as a way of posting job vacancies then this is also results driven. But what if you are using social media to highlight your brand and get your name out there? In other words as a PR tool?

In this case show your team how you are using different social media platforms – is Twitter being used to highlight your recent press coverage? It’s all very well getting coverage but shout about it and get your consultant to do so too. A team needs to understand that by promoting your company on a blog, on LinkedIn, or on Twitter is a way of highlighting what you do to a huge audience, which you may not reach otherwise. If this results in more candidates registering or more clients giving them positions to fill it is worth their time and effort.

A few hours explaining this to your team will prove beneficial. And you never know it may result in some of your staff setting up their own social media channels to promote your brand!

I had an e-mail shot the other day from a supplier to the recruitment industry.  They wanted to test the power of viral marketing and were offering an incentive.  All good stuff you might say – great marketing ploy – but then when I read on it actually left quite a nasty taste in my mouth. All you had to do was to mention the supplier on various social networks and you stood a chance of winning a [...]]]>  

I had an e-mail shot the other day from a supplier to the recruitment industry.  They wanted to test the power of viral marketing and were offering an incentive.  All good stuff you might say – great marketing ploy – but then when I read on it actually left quite a nasty taste in my mouth. All you had to do was to mention the supplier on various social networks and you stood a chance of winning a not inconsiderable amount of  their services for free.  So what’s so bad about that I hear you cry?  Well what they actually wanted was a plug – not a mention. The examples they gave were announcing on your LinkedInstatus that you highly recommended them with their url; telling your friends on facebook that they are your favourite supplier;or that you follow them on twitter and then send out a message to all of your followers saying they should too. “We don’t care where and how you give us a mention as long as its clean and legal” they said.

Now don’t get me wrong – after all I am in PR and promoting yourself  as a ‘must have’ resource for the recruitment industry is all well and good. But, when I read a recommendation on Linked In – I’d like to think it’s because they know the firm or person involved, have worked with them, and can personally vouch for them. If a friend or colleague or fellow tweeter suggests I follow someone on Twitter, l’d like to think its because they think I’d genuinely find that person interesting.

Isn’t this just trying to buy recommendations? And isn’t that just a bit sad? Or is it innovative marketing? What do others think?