LinkedIn to the employment market

Using social network sites to find and attract employees is an exciting yet exacting art

By Sally Mills

These days, there’s no escaping the proliferation of social networking services and websites. Getting connected has never been so easy, with services like MySpace, LinkedIn and Facebook allowing greater access to a galaxy of professionals who are merely a click away from an employer’s fingertips. So, given that the web has reduced six degrees of separation to one or two, how do businesses get the most out of these online tools? What are some things to consider when using online social networking services to help find the right people to work for a company?

It is important to generate brand awareness in online communities by using a variety of promotional activities – ‘I Facebook, therefore I am!’ Engaging with individuals and online communities through interactive participation, and contribution to activities such as online forums, chat and blogs related to your area of business, has become necessary.

Facebook, in particular, allows the creation of a community around a company. It is an important way to establish a  profile and reference point for potential candidates when they want to find out more about an employer.

Importantly, it’s a medium for demonstrating that the company is at the cutting edge of what it does – and an opportunity to show just how many people enjoy associating with the group and the business. With the right kind of ‘sizzle’, people will seek to join it unsolicited because it’s perceived as ‘cool’.

Online presence in a social networking site is an extension of brand. While it is often an opportunity to present a lighter, more creative and human side, it should still be thought through carefully. Keep a balance.

Be mindful of some of the pitfalls or potential risks which arise when everyone and everything is so connected. The company profile, an employer’s personal page and any other groups of which either is a member, are all linked – and visibly so. Consider not only what information is floating around ‘out there’ about the company and employer, but also what is out there about colleagues, friends and the groups they belong to.

All of this is readily available for consumption by potential employees. Does having “I like to party with Pammy Anderson” on the profile send out the right message about a company and its people?

LinkedIn lends itself less to developing a company profile, but is generally the online network of choice for business and professional people.

Both LinkedIn and Facebook allow advertising for a role or position a company is trying to fill. The larger the network, the more people will see the advertisement (which goes out to  its networks’ networks, and so on). This is one of a number of reasons why it is worthwhile investing time in building and expanding a chosen online network.

Both of these online social networks allow a company to ask questions of its network, giving the opportunity to find particular kinds of talent or resources or to attain referrals. It is part of the accepted etiquette that the process is not misused to ask self-promoting or disingenuous questions. And to break that etiquette just reflects badly on a company’s brand.

Perhaps most importantly, social networks are excellent tools for conducting a ‘search’ for the type of candidates or people a company might be looking for. Usually this kind of search is undertaken by recruitment companies using their own or proprietary databases, but if time is willing, it can be very rewarding for a company to undertake the process.

LinkedIn, in particular, has powerful tools for locating people by keyword, job title, company name, or geographic region, and provides a number of ways to contact ‘targets’ once they are identified. It’s often these passive candidates, those who are not necessarily looking for a role, who are of most interest to employers. Facebook too has similar tools although it tends to attract a younger audience and perhaps one with more creative aptitudes.

Again, there is etiquette about contacting people, whether it’s sending an “InMail” on LinkedIn or a private message on Facebook. Be polite, be to the point and explain the purpose of the contact so the recipient can decide whether they wish to respond and how. And if a response is not received, don’t persist. No response means no interest.

And of course, if a company is approaching people about a role, the candidate must be assured  any discussions will be kept in complete confidence.  This is one reason many candidates, particularly senior people, prefer to deal via a recruitment company where they can manage a degree of exposure more gradually.

Any candidate worth approaching will take a few days to do some research offline and online about the company before responding. This goes back to the company’s brand, and is both personal and corporate. Perhaps have a quick re-think about that ‘digi-snap’ of a potential employer wearing someone else’s clothes and waving whisky bottles at the camera in a drunken post-party haze? It’s not that such an image is necessarily harmful, but it will appeal to some and potentially repel others, so make it consistent with the desired profile of the company.

A final note of caution: Obviously, social networking sites are a breeding ground for subjective opinion with the potential for ‘poetic license’. So while endorsements and recommendations from friends and colleagues certainly have their place, they are by no means a replacement for proper reference checks. Similarly, it is imperative to sight a candidate’s full resume rather than relying on their online profile. Good luck!

Sally Mills is the principal of LaVolta, an executive search and recruitment company which specialises in the digital sector.

This article was first published in Nett magazine