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Social Media or Social Madness?

Social Media or Social Madness? Part 1
When I started my recruitment career back in the early part of the 2000’s, candidate acquisition was a phrase I had never used , email was a fax machine, LinkedIn was a Rolodex and connecting with someone meant picking up the phone and calling them. So as I sit here scrolling through the 55 emails I have received today from multiple social media recruitment networks, updating me on the recent movements of the several thousand connections that I have tucked away in my laptop, I have to ask, has Social Media improved a recruiters chance to find the perfect candidate, or is it the perfect way to waste time?
In the past the activity of sourcing candidates could almost been thought of as something rather underground or almost guerrilla like, with consultants using their own private and clandestine methods and networks to seek out the best talent for each vacancy. Our time was spent constantly talking to the people working within our respective markets, listening to the gossip and taking every opportunity possible to meet with potential contacts. These activities gave you the opportunity to build a reputation throughout the industry with both clients and candidates as a recruiter with a deep knowledge and strong personal network. This reputation and knowledge would be an essential part of a recruiter’s ability to build a successful recruitment desk whilst fending off the ever growing number new recruitment consultants joining the market. How then do we incorporate the ever growing social media and online professional networks which are changing the landscape of recruiting by removing the personal approach of phone calls and meetings, with the voiceless, faceless approach of instant message and mass email communication?
In reality this is something that every consultant is going to have to deal with in the near future as more and more candidates start to use these sites to find new opportunities, whilst clients start to uses them to source, attract and engage new staff members. Personally the thought of using social networks to attract or find candidates has been a new development for me and one I have really taken to, not because I am sure it is the best way to find that 1 in a million candidate but because I have always been a firm believer of moving with the times. LinkedIn, Twitter, Face book, Beknown, Bullhorn, etc …. are but a few of the new “times” being created that allows me to keep in touch with you and for you to see what new opportunities are out there.
Bettngjobs.com has recently joined these new times’ with the launch of our updated website ( I hope you like it), focusing on establishing ourselves as social networking gurus, working towards communicating with as many new candidates and clients whilst still trying to retain our old fashioned values of speaking to people on the phone and of course meeting everyone when we can. I will be sharing our progress over the next couple of months so stayed tuned.
I’m off on my holidays to Cuba now for a couple of weeks but I will update you on the social media experiment upon my return!
Jamie Walsh, Senior Consultant, Bettingjobs Malta