Jennifer McClure`

Equipping people leaders to navigate change — and design the future — with boldness and purpose.

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A Recruiting/Sourcing Pro Explains How to Use LinkedIn for Job Search

Binoculars I’ve referred my readers before to the candidate sourcing genius of Glen Cathey and his blog (Boolean Black Belt), which is must-read for me in my Google Reader. I enjoy learning from people who are at the top of their game and really appreciate the many folks out there who share so much of their hard earned knowledge for free on their blogs. Glen is most definitely one of those people and while he’s normally sharing complex methods and tips on how Recruiters and Sourcers can find candidates via the own internal databases, job boards, social networks and the internet, last week he posted a great tutorial for those in career transition on How to Use LinkedIn in Your Job Search.

As is his style, the post is long and includes several illustrations and “how-to” videos. It’s very detailed and worth spending some time with it to digest. If you’re interested in performing Company research, finding opportunities and making connections to those opportunities via LinkedIn, I’d recommend you bounce over there and take a look. Also, if you find the information valuable, leave Glen a comment letting him know that you thought so!

How to Use LinkedIn In Your Job Search Tips Include:

  • Using LinkedIn’s Job Search feature
  • How to identify the connections you already have to Jobs posted within LinkedIn
  • Finding connections on LinkedIn to jobs posted outside of LinkedIn
  • How to use LinkedIn Groups to communicate with people regarding job opportunities
  • Locating job opportunities posted within LinkedIn Groups
  • Advanced tip: How to “x-ray” LinkedIn to find Contacts outside of your Network
  • How to use LinkedIn to find and research Companies of interest

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Clues For How to Use LinkedIn

Sherlock Holmes It’s no secret here in Cincy Recruiter’s World that I’m a LinkedIn
Fan. When I boot up my computer each day, the first thing I open after
Outlook and Google is LinkedIn – and it’s open all day as I drop in out
on a regular basis. I use LinkedIn to stay connected to my network, to
research people and companies and to learn new things from the Groups
I’m in, questions that are asked/answered in the Answers section and
the numerous blog posts, Slideshare presentations and reading suggestions that are uploaded by those I’m connected to.

I speak to groups and organizations regularly and I probably answer several questions a day from individuals about how to use LinkedIn. Recently, Kerry Sandberg Scott – the brains behind the super awesome blog Clue Wagon
– asked if I’d answer some common questions that she gets from her
readers to share on her blog. I was happy to participate and this week,
she’s running a LinkedIn 101 series of posts with those
questions/answers. The first post is up today – LinkedIn 101: Getting Started – and myself and another Recruiter – Betsy Curtin from plum
– will be sharing our thoughts. So check out what we had to say and if
you’re not a subscriber to Clue Wagon already – I’d encourage you to do
so. Kerry shares a lot of great information on HR, job search and
recruiting with a sense of humor and great writing style.

For more tips on how to use LinkedIn, check out the 2nd most popular post to date on this blog – 25 Web Resources to Help You Get Your LinkedIn Game On.

Do
you have any burning questions about LinkedIn? If so, share them with me in the Comments section and I’ll do my
best to answer them in a future post.

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ERE Social Recruiting Summit 2009 – Recap, Resources & Tweets

Despite the challenges created by modern-day air travel (really, how many times in one trip can you be delayed by planes missing a part, having malfunctioning parts or a baggage crew who "forgets" to load the plane?), I've returned safely and inspired from the ERE Social Recruiting Summit held on June 16, 2009 at the Google Campus in beautiful Mountain View, California! Alas, no Google Goats were sighted during my brief stay. Apparently after an organizing attempt by PETA and demands for perks and free benefits, they've been unceremoniously relocated…

Click on the link below to view a brief video recap of my experience:

Cincy Recruiter's ERE Social Recruiting Summary Recap 6 17 09 on Vimeo

I must say that the crew from ERE did a fantastic job of assembling a full day of content with great speakers! They should also be highly praised for live streaming the Conference to allow those who were not able to attend to participate "live" and for many to be able to view the content in the future.

I'm sharing links below to the presentations, as well as some selected Tweets shared by Conference attendees and others in the Twitterverse who were either watching the live feeds or "listening in" via the Twitter "hashtag" #socialrecruiting. Lots of great stuff here. Take some time to check out the slide decks and videos – as well as the links to all of the blogs and Twitter profiles!

—————————–

Conference opening video (Evolution of Recruiting) shared by Susan Burns of Talent Synchronicity.

Keynote presentation by Reid Hoffman – Chairman & CEO of LinkedIn – Slide Deck & Video.

@lifeatmcgladrey: http://newin.linkedinlabs.com/ – Shows new LinkedIn users as they sign up. Very, very cool!

@CincyRecruiter: April 2004 LinkedIn had 500k members. Now over 42 million.

@mspecht: Every individual is a small business therefore every individual is an entrepreneur. Everyone will have an online profile

@joshuakahn: LI profiles are more authentic cuz people tend not to lie in public as much. True?

Punk Rock HR's Laurie Ruettimann – Ubiquity & Authenticity in Social Media – Slide Deck & Audio.

@CincyRecruiter: For inquiring minds – @lruettimann is adorable & TINY! Started her HR career as HR Asst at a "cream of the crap" candy co.

@ewmonster: Respect professional boundaries. "Don't tell someone else's story for them- tell your own story." Nice.

Mobile Marketing for Recruitment by Chris Hoyt and Michael Marlatt – Slide Deck

@masterburnett: Worldwide adults 25-34 send more text messages that they make phone calls. Not just youth

@GerryCrispin: mobile benefits: ubiquitous, immediate, private, convenient, actionable. need relevance to community to reach further


IBM Emerging Technologies Evangelist Sacha Chua – The Awesomest Job Search Ever – Video. (also check out Sacha's many awesome presentations on Slideshare)

@CincyRecruiter: Job search of the future ~ when u go to an interview & u already "know" each other. Social media can do that

@MattAlder: This girl is so enthusiastic it's actually scaring me, then maybe that's me just being British

@TheDavidGroup: Sacha Chua: [Employees] are going to be incredible recruiters if they LOVE the company. Boss's take note

No Sacred Cows: Making Sense of Social Recruiting by Joshua Kahn

@Frannyo: BEST Quote of the day "Advertising is the price we pay for being unremarkable." (Robert Stephens)

@lruettimann: @joshuakahn advocates bacon, social media, and having back-channel conversations

@TheRecruiterGuy: @joshuakahn used Facebook page (that was created by FANS of BestBuy) to connect with job seekers AND customers.

@JohnSumser: You don't build communities, you discover them. Most important point of the day.

@CincyRecruiter: It's a post-brand perfect world. So don't pretend that u are & that this stuff isn't happening

LinkedIn Networking – Shally Steckerl – Video.

@shally: Here are the top ten reasons recruiters should create LinkedIn groups: h
ttp://tr.im/oAjO

@shally: Answering questions and getting “best answer” helps establish you & your team’s credibility in your area of expertise

@shally: Idea 4 using LinkedIn Events: Create “virtual career day” and invite your target prospects, + u get 2 keep attendee list!

Welcome (Back) to the Community with William Uranga – Slide Deck

@JobVite: getting back to community…the biggest rewards in recruiting will come from building communities

Online Employer Reputation & Social Recruiting – Shannon Seery Gude – Video.

@masterburnett: Never let an agency draft blog content if your goal is authenticity, it shouldn't be marketing perfect

@CincyRecruiter: Have social media guidelines vs social media policies. Tell employees what they can & should do vs shouldn't

@jrl2002: Great point made about looking at your goals & then determine the best tools vs. picking the current "hot" tool of the day

Additional Summaries from Social Recruiting Summit Attendees:

– Australian HR Technology Consultant Michael Specht – Social Recruiting Summit

– Pay-It-Forward Executive Recruiter Jenny DeVaughn – Notes from the Social Recruiting Summit

– Recruiting & Social Media Consultant Paul Jacobs from New Zealand – The Social Recruiting Summit (I'm Wagging My Tail)

– Human Resources Blogger/Writer Laurie Ruettimann of Punk Rock HR – Today @ Le Googles

– Jobing.com Social Media Manager Brett Farmiloe's Notes from the 2009 Social Recruiting Summit at Google HQ

– Chris Hoyt – Associate Director of Talent Attraction at AT&T – What I Leaned (and Taught) at Camp

– IBM Emerging Technologies Evangelist – Sacha Chua – Notes from the Social Recruiting Summit



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Google, Goats and Recruiting – All In a Days Work

Google goats On Monday, June 15th, I’ll be attending the Social Recruiting Summit sponsored by ERE.net at Google HQ in Mountain View, CA – and I’m pretty excited about it to say the least! Here’s a brief rundown of why I’m jazzed:

  1. The Agenda/Speakers – ERE has done a great job of assembling a top-notch group of some of the sharpest tools in the box in recruiting and social media.
  2. Keynote by Reid Hoffman – CEO of LinkedIn. Apparently Reid’s going to make some special announcements about new features being introduced for Recruiters on LinkedIn. Maybe this will be one of those opportunities to say “I remember where I was when LinkedIn announced…” (or not)
  3. The opportunity to meet some of my “virtual friends” in person – many of whom have already been more than helpful to me by providing advice, tips and help via email, social networks or by phone. I’ve developed some great relationships with some really smart and helpful people in the “talent community” through LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook & blogging. However, those relationships become even more solid when we’re able to connect in person.
  4. The Social Recruiting Summit will be held at Google’s Headquarters and part of our day will include a tour. I’m looking forward to checking out some of what makes Google the former #1 in Fortune’s 100 Best Place to Work.
  5. The Google Goats. Apparently, in an effort to be more “green”, Google has hired a herd of goats to keep their campus grounds neat and tidy. There’s just not much more in the world that this Farm Girl would want right now than a photo op with one of the Google Goats. (I’m a simple girl – really.)

For those of you that weren’t able to snag one of the 200 spots before the Conference sold out, ERE is graciously providing a live video stream of the Conference here. Also, if you have a Twitter account, you can follow @socrecruiting for updates or use Twitter Search and follow the hashtag #socialrecruiting here.

I’ll be taking lots of notes and likely have some good fodder for future blog posts. So stay tuned for the really juicy stuff…

Stand Off uploaded by Kevin

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Social Media for HR Professionals Beyond LinkedIn

Last week, I spoke to a local Human Resources Group (the Northern Kentucky SHRM Chapter) about using Social Media as an HR professional along with David Cohen, a Senior Account Executive from LinkedIn. David did a great job of covering how LinkedIn can be utilized by HR and Recruiting professionals – including some of the cool features available with their corporate solutions. My job was to talk about some other tools to consider beyond LinkedIn — in about 15 minutes. Fueled by probably one too many Diet Cokes in advance, it's entirely possible that I completed my presentation in record time. Click on the link below to view a copy of the slide deck:

Cincy Recruiter's Social Media for HR Professionals Beyond LinkedIn 4 16 2009 on Slideshare

Here's a brief summary of my recommendations in the presentation including links for you to check them out:

Read/subscribe to Blogs, News Feeds, etc. to stay current.

There's a ton of great, leading edge content out on the world wide web to make us better as HR/Recruiting/Talent pros. The best way to access it is via RSS using some type of Reader. The second best way – via email subscription. For an HR starter pack, I recommend:

  • Fistful of Talent – a multi-contributor blog where you'll get a variety of viewpoints in HR, Recruiting & Talent Management. (Added bonus – my ramblings appear of FOT every now and then too.)
  • Benefits Buzz – Kris Dunn (the brains behind The HR Capitalist and Fistful of Talent) recently launched a second multi-contributor blog covering all things Benefits. While it's tough to make Benefits exciting and interesting, these folks are doing a nice job of bringing a little sexy back to this corner of the HR world.
  • Compensation Cafe – Ann Bares' blog Compensation Force is where I go to get the latest news and thought provoking ideas about the world of compensation. Ann recently launched Compensation Cafe – where she and several other compensation pros will drop some knowledge on all things comp. 
  • ERE.net – The Columns and Articles on ERE are a fantastic resource for HR pros with Recruiting responsibilities. 
  • Alltop – For those who want to add more to their starter pack – find additional blogs of interest at Alltop, where feeds have been categorized and made available in a "magazine rack" format. You can browse several categories and check out what you like. A variety of HR and Recruiting blogs (including Cincy Recruiter's World) can be found in the Careers category.

Join Profession-Based Social Networks for HR.

Unfortunately, I see too many HR professionals who have isolated themselves from their peers and the outside world. Building effective professional relationships is critical for career development and some of the on-line professional networking options can be very helpful in that regard. These resources allow HR peeps to connect with each other, ask/answer questions, find resources, etc. Some recommendations:

  • The HR Net – a global on-line resource for HR professionals to ask/answer questions that is facilitated by Steve Browne – Executive Director of Human Resources at LaRosa's, Inc. Steve is a super-connected HR pro and sought after speaker whose goal is to put the "fun" back in HR. He shares an original HR themed song each week in an email summarizing recent activity on the Net. (Connect to the HR Net by emailing Steve here.)
  • HRMToday.com – Find blogs, groups, forums and other HR pros to connect with and become a part of the community. Recently started by HR bloggers Lance Haun, Laurie Ruettimann and Jenn Barnes, it's growing fast and becoming a great resource. 
  • RecruitingBlogs.com – Similar to HRMToday, RBC is the place where Recruiters of all types are connecting. With over 16,000 members, it's a great place to connect with the recruiting community. 
  • ERE.net – In addition to the content mentioned above that is produced by the writers at ERE, there are many different Discussion Groups to ask and answer questions on a variety of topics.
  • SHRM Connect – coming soon from SHRM – a new "social-network" for HR pros! I'm excited to see how this one turns out so stay tuned. 

Facebook and Twitter – HR Can Use Them Too!

We also talked briefly about using Facebook and Twitter as HR pros – mostly to wake people up after their food comas had set in. Of the 100 or so attendees, maybe 10% were on Facebook, and it looked like about 5 were on Twitter. There are huge possibilities for both tools in HR – and most definitely for Recruiting and Employment Branding. Hopefully, a few of the attendees were inspired to at least begin to try them out.

If you're interested in more of my thoughts on social media resources for HR and Recruiting pros – check out my recent posts on Fistful of Talent – 5 Must Use Social Media Tools for HR & Recruiting Professionals in 2009 and 5 (More) Must Use Social media Tools for HR & Recruiting Professionals in 2009.

What are your thoughts about how HR pros can effectively use some of the social media tools beyond LinkedIn? What did I miss? What are your concerns? I'd love to hear from you in the Comments!

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