Samara Parker


November 26
Hero mobile-metrics-and-social-recruiting

In case you hadn’t noticed, everyone and their seven-year-old has a smart phone. Adoption rates continue to soar, and as they do, more and more people are using their phones to manage online networks. Last year, there were more smart phones sold than PCs and recently Facebook revealed that over 50% of their users are primarily logging on with mobile. Social recruiters cannot ignore the importance of mobile, nor can we. That’s why Jobcast is constantly working to improve mobile functionality for our app.

Many of our clients ask us for advice on how to improve their social recruiting — a huge part of why our blog exists. Since Jobcast has some pretty unique features that can help social recruiters dominate mobile, so we thought we’d write a post about them.

Unfortunately for Facebook app users, Facebook doesn’t load Page apps on mobile. This can be very frustrating for recruiters and job seekers alike. So, when clients use our built-in sharing tool to post a job, we generate a smart bit.ly URL.  These smart URLs intelligently redirect mobile candidates to a mobile friendly site, so that they can continue to view job-listings.

But wait, there’s more!

Metrics are also extremely important for running effective social media campaigns. With all of the different available networks, it’s important to figure out which ones work best for your specific needs.The Jobcast app provides detailed reports of performance metrics, so that users can plan their next move.

Remember that smart URL we were just talking about? (if you don’t, you may want to consider eating more salmon.. I mean it was just a few sentences ago!) Well, when a job-post is shared on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter with our tool, a unique trackable URL is generated for each site. With Jobcast, you can then access reports with information about which social sites your talent pool is using most.

But how does it all work?

Here’s a little tutorial we’ve put together: Firstly, here’s an example of  a typical job post

Now, if you were to copy the URL from the browser’s navigation bar, and share that — it would only work for desktop users! You’d have a 50% loss of reach already.

Not to worry! If instead you choose to share your links with our built-in sharing tool:

It will create a link that looks like this:  http://bit.ly/SsJtOT

Much cuter, huh?

Not only does this link redirect mobile clients to a site they can actually use, but it also creates those awesome smart URLs we were talking about earlier! This means better metrics, which leads to more effective recruiting campaigns.

We do it because we care. And we are optimization nerds!

.. but really it’s because we care. Our clients are amazing! We are so very thankful and honored to work with you all.

If you would like to suggest blog topics, ask questions about the Jobcast app, request new features or just chit-chat, you can reach us on Facebook, or Twitter, or right here on our blog!

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November 21
Hero social-recruiting-is-super

Just in case you haven't read all of my previous blog posts (And why not?!?) I will preface this article by announcing my unabashed love of comic books. Nope, I'm not going to try and make my hobby sound hip and cool by calling them graphic novels. Mostly because the comics I read are about men in tights, not wistful days in Portland. The comic story-lines I'm drawn to are the same ones I read growing up. My dad's Fantastic 4, Iron Man, Spiderman and Silver Surfer comics. I'm pretty sure the bright red hair I had as a teen was inspired by a deep-seated desire to be the Scarlet Witch — she was so cool! But sometimes being a superhero is not all it's cracked up to be. This Link Love is inspired by an article by Holland Dombeck. It's about what happens to super heroes when the day no longer needs saving (very Watchmen). How "Hero Culture" is often incompatible with the everyday. How the worship of office heroes can leave their colleagues feeling under-appreciated and just plain annoyed. It's an awesome post. You should definitely check it out, along with these other (super) cool articles. Links

Heroes are all about inspiring people to be great. Holland Dombeck's great post was inspired by an article by Seth Godin of Seth's Blog fame. How would a super hero handle Facebook? The same way recruiters should, by taking control! The recent U.S. elections elevated social media to hero statistic.

In this article, president Obama's digital super team shares tips for social media domination! Is there any better accompaniment to comic books than Video games? Nope. Gameification is all the rage these days (wanna be friends on Fitocracy anyone?).

John Sumser explains how it can relate to HR. Movember's not over, there's still time to support these mustachioed HR heros in there epic battle against clean-shavednes and prostate cancer. If you need a little boost, check out this real life Bruce Wayne and his unconventional campaign to brighten sick children's days. Oh, and I should probably admit that today's super hero theme may also have something to do with the fact that I'm reaaaally excited about Iron Man 3... I've watched the trailer more times than I'd like to admit :)

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November 19
Hero make-your-job-post-viral

When exactly did “viral” become a positive word? It still makes me think of the flu! But, in the world of social media, everyone wants their creations to go viral.  That’s why how-tos about creating viral videos, memes, blog posts and tweets are so very popular. That is why I am blogging about viral job postings; It’s to please the masses… Otherwise I would be blogging about teacup kittens and the latest James Bond flic (It was pretty awesome by the way. The kimodo scene!).

How do you make a job posting viral? HOW?!?! 

Well, first things first, you need to use the internet. No, not just for streaming Dexter and perfecting your Gangnam Style dance — not that those things aren’t important. You need to be on the internet creating a web presence, promoting your company, and generally making yourself known. We have tons of posts on how to do that already, so, if you don’t have a blogTwitterbranded Facebook Career Page, and/or Pinterest account, that’s step number one. If you have no community to share with, you’ll have no one to contaminate!

Presuming that you have all your networking ducks in a row, we can move on to step number two:

Content!

No one wants to share boring content. No one. People do all the time, but usually it is about themselves, so they are under the false impression that what they are sharing is extremely interesting (see my teenage selfs’ Live-journal for a perfect example!).

Most job descriptions are a total snore. Position Title, Summary, Essential Functions, Qualificationzzzzzzzzz… Unless these details are accompanied by a ridiculously generous salary, the chance a post like this is going to be shared once, let alone go viral, is pretty darn slim. To make your job post interesting you need a hook. Brag about your sunny location, great vacation policy, amazing staff parties, or your world-class foosball table! What does this position offer your desired candidate that no other position does?

This company used its generous vacation policy to make their job posting go viral, worked like a charm. Using images to describe a job post like this campaign does is another great way to stand out from the crowd. It’s especially effective for sites like Facebook and Pinterest.

My current favorite tool in the social recruiting tool belt is video! Companies, like this one, are using recruiting videos that show off their awesome company culture to attract talent.

Once you have a stellar post, Pinboard, or recruiting video ready to go, it’s time to get social. Post on all of your networks, promote on popular search engines and job boards, and don’t forget to leverage your connections. If you know people in the field you are currently hiring for, ask them to share your post. Get in touch with “influencers” and ask for their advice and help. Ask other employees to share the post on their social networks.

Be social!

Being social means starting conversations. So, once you post your job and chat up your connections, don’t hole-up in quarantine — connect. Be present on Facebook and Twitter to respond to questions applicants may have. Banter wittily. Post more photos and comment on the status of your talent hunt! Be the best virus-spreader you can be by continuing to sneeze (digitally, of course) on everyone through every available channel.

Now, just in case all this talk of coughing and going viral has you feeling a bit queasy, I’m going to sign off with this recipe for delicious chicken soup, yummers.

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November 19
Get-yer-social-on-11

When exactly did “viral” become a positive word? It still makes me think of the flu! But in the world of social media, everyone wants their creations to go viral. That’s why how-tos for creating viral videos, memes, blog posts and Tweets are so very popular. That’s why I am blogging about viral job postings! It’s to please the masses… otherwise I would be blogging about tea-cup kittens and the latest James Bond flic (it was pretty awesome, by the way).

How do you make a job posting viral? HOW?!?!

Well, first things first, you need to use the internet. No, not just streaming Dexter and reading drunk Nate Silver Tweets — not that those things aren’t important. You need to be on the internet, creating an presence, promoting your company, and generally making yourself known. We have tons of posts on how to do that already, so, if you don’t have a blog, Twitter, branded Facebook Career Page, and/or Pinterest account, that’s step number one. If you have no community to share with, you’ll have no one to contaminate!

Assuming that you have your social networking ducks in a row, we can move on to step number two: Content!

No one wants to share boring content. No one. People do all the time, but usually it is about themselves. They are under the false impression that what they are sharing is extremely interesting (see my teenage self’s live-journal for a perfect example!).

Most job descriptions are a total snore. Position Title, Summary, Essential Functions, Qualificationzzzzzzzzz… Unless these details are accompanied by a ridiculously generous salary, the chance a post like this is going to be shared once, let alone go viral, is pretty darn slim. To make your job post interesting you need a hook. Why not brag about your location, vacation plan, amazing staff parties, or your world-class foosball table? What does this position offer your desired candidate that no other position does?

This company used its generous vacation policy to make their job posting go viral. Using images to describe a job post like this campaign does is another great way to stand out from the crowd. It’s especially effective for sites like Facebook and Pinterest.

My personal favorite tool in the social recruiting tool belt is video! Companies, like this one, are using recruiting videos that show off their awesome company culture to attract talent.

Once you have a stellar post, Pinboard, or recruiting video ready to go, it’s time to get social. Post on all of your social networks, promote on popular search engines and job boards and don’t forget to leverage your connections. If you know people in the field you are currently hiring for, ask them to share your post. Get in touch with “influencers” and ask for their advice and help. Ask other employees to share the post on their social networks. Be social!

Being social means starting conversations. So once you post your job and chat up your connections, don’t hole-up in quarantine — connect. Be present on Facebook and Twitter to respond to questions applicants may have. Banter. Post more photos and comment on the status of your talent hunt! Be the best virus-spreader you can be, by continuing to sneeze (digitally, of course) on everyone through every available channel.

Happy aachhhhooo!

I’m going to sign off with this recipe for delicious chicken stew, yummers.

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November 14
links we love image v12

One of my favorite sayings of all time is:

“The Plan is Stick to the Plan”

When it comes to social recruiting, and social media in general, planning is usually referred to as strategy. This makes it sound way more professional and impressive, but, unfortunately, doesn’t make it any easier to do. Luckily for us, the internet exists! I have not broken it yet, although I have shaken my fist at it quite a bit.

Here are some links to help you with your plans for world domination… and by world domination I, obviously, mean social recruiting. They’re pretty much the same thing, right?

Links!

This article is awesome. It gives you a solid plan to help you define and implement your social media goals, then track your return on investment (ROI). Seriously, these steps could be applied to any part of your work or life. It is sooo worth the click.

This one  has pictures! A great article that lays out social media strategy in 8 easy steps. These steps are also presented with a well-designed graphic that you could print out and post above your desk in between the motivational posters and pictures of your cat.

Some strategic ways to develop your business with social media. Screenshots (love screenshots!), smart tips and great app suggestions.

The 5 Best Social Recruiting Apps!  Behind every great social recruiting strategy, there’s a great app… or two… or three. Another fantastic piece by The Undercover Recruiter. Not to brag or anything, but they think Jobcast is the best bang for your buck. Okay, so that was totally a brag 🙂

You know I can’t post anything without including an Infographic. I just gotta be me, and that means all infographics all the time.

A huge part of any social recruiting strategy is a Facebook Career Page. Jobcast is an amazing tool for creating a branded Career Page on Facebook. Oh, and by ‘great’, I mean BEST ever! True, completely unbiased, fact 😛

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November 12
Hero facebook-sponsored-stories-better-than-waffles

Sponsored Stories are all the rage. But what are they?

“Sponsored stories are messages coming from friends about them engaging with your Page, app or event that a business, organization or individual has paid to highlight so there’s a better chance people see them.”

Weird fact about me and Facebook. Their sponsored stories have no effect on me. None at all. Nada.

This has nothing to do with their effectiveness. Seriously. Click through rate (CTR) percentages for sponsored stories are crazy high.

Nor their relevance to my life. I’m sure the stories popping up on my feed are well-tailored to my demographic (Mashables told me so). Data from Spruce Media shows that with sponsored stories, Facebook has been more successful than ever at showing users ads that are geared towards their interests and demographic.

It’s definitely not because of my reliance on the mobile app for most of my Facebooking; Sponsored story CTR performance is highest with mobile. Which is crazy important, seeing as 60% of Facebook activity is now mobile (that percentage is probably higher today, and will be even higher tomorrow).

And, although I’m loath to admit it, sometimes I get super confused and think sponsored stories are just regular parts of my news feed! Facebook, you’re so sneaky!

Nope.

They fail to convert me because I’m confused by all the things my new Dutch friends Like. I should be clicking on so many sponsored stories (at least according to these stats and graphs), but living in Holland has made me immune. Now if only I was immune to the fattening effects of Dutch treats! Damn you Stroopwafel!

So what’s the take-away for recruiting? From what I can gather, there are three major points to focus on when it comes to recruiting and sponsored stories.

Visibility

Sponsored stories show up in users’ News Feeds. This is the same place that updates (hot gossip) show up, so this is where users are often focusing their attention. It’s not surprising then that these ads are getting a lot more love (CTR). As with Facebook ads, you’ll get to target a very specific audience with your sponsored stories, which increases the chances that those viewing your stories will click-through, that they’re actually potential candidates, and that they’re not my grandma.

Trust

People are much more likely to click-through to your page if they think you’re legit. Sponsored stories promote user trust in two ways.

The first is by showing potential candidates that their peers Like you, yes Facebook is basically high-school all over again. Sponsored stories show people that their friends think your page is great by highlighting it when they comment on and Like your Page. Facebook users are much more inclined to visit and Like pages that their friends and colleagues have pre-approved. Sort of like word-of-mouth, but without the bad breath.  You get to choose whether to promote Likes, Comments or Activity with your stories and whatever you choose comes with a stamp of approval.

The second way that sponsored stories encourage trust is through their presentation. They look like any other post. Daniella’s getting married, Duncan Likes Castleville, Pam changed her profile pic (she has such cute hair!) Did you catch that? Facebook puts your ad smack dab in the middle of a potential candidate’s comfort zone, which makes them much more likely to click-through to your page.

Mobile

Social networking is mobile. Just ask your colleagues next time you all go out for a drink. Oh wait, they’re all ignoring you. They’re way too busy “checking-in” and Tweeting about how awesome it is that you’re all out for drinks! 60% of Facebook users log on through mobile first and these numbers are continuing to rise. Sponsored stories have much higher CTR for mobile than desktop. This percentage increases further when both mobile and desktop are targeted together. To recruit successfully on Facebook, getting your ads seen on mobile is a must. Sponsored stories are the most effective way to get that done.

Now if only I could figure out how to use sponsored stories to send fancy baked-goods to my friends back home! Sam Likes stroopwaffel. Click it! CLICK IT!

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November 7
links we love image v12

We’re officially on a Facebook kick!

I think writing these Link Loves is the best part of my job. Wait… I take that back, researching them is the best part of my job!

I would never have found the Bit Rebels blog if not attempting to stay abreast of awesome links to love. If I had not found this blog I would never have read this line:

“The Internet is not bad, it’s the way we use it sometimes that can be harmful to us”

So wise.

Though addressing a pretty serious topic (internet addiction) it got me thinking about a pretty non-serious one: super powers and the great responsibility that accompanies them. This, obviously, lead me to re-watch X-Men 3 whilst munching fancy chocolate. Pretty great Tuesday night, if I do say so myself. Thank you Bit Rebels.

These links are all about the Cyclops of social networking sites: Facebook! Who’s using it, how to use it better, why research done about it is often flawed and woefully incorrect, and Facebook-related fashion. General awesomeness!

Links!

Essential Facebook Apps to Improve Fan Engagement. As mentioned multiple times in the comments section, this post is EPIC! So thorough. So many screenshots. As far as my over-extended X-Men metaphor goes, this author is definitely smarty-pants Jean Grey.

The LikeBelt. An interesting new way to update your Likes on Facebook and possibly get a date or slapped while your at it. Sounds like Gambit to me!

Three Reasons Why Facebook Advertising Seems so Damned Impossible. Don’t worry, the author goes on to give some great advice on how to address these problems. I’m going with Wolverine for this one, solely based on the title having the word “damned” in it.

Six Easy Ways to Increase Likes on Your Page. An awesome article by Ryan the beloved Doctor Xavier of Jobcast.

Why a New Study on the Effectiveness of Facebook Totally Misses the Boat. I am officially dropping this metaphor thing — I’m starting to annoy myself! Though not as much as a recent study on Facebook ads annoyed the author of this blog post!

Happy reading!

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November 5
Hero facebook-ads-and-you

There is a lot of controversy over the effectiveness of Facebook ads for small business. Most of this controversy seems to be about its lack of effectiveness for hard sales, which is a problem, but only if we’re approaching Facebook as we would Amazon.com. Soooo… Let’s not and say we did, okay?

Instead, let’s continue to view Facebook as a place to grow brand awareness, increase talent pools and nurture brand loyalty. Let’s see it as a place to create community, be social… as a social networking site. We know that Facebook ads do a great job of targeting specific demographics, increasing visibility and fostering relationships over time.

If we look at Facebook ads as a way to accomplish these tasks, then there really isn’t much controversy over their effectiveness — especially for small businesses. Small businesses, more than any other, need to get their message out there and become visible to a larger community. Facebook ads are a great way of doing this.

Still not sold? (I swear I am not getting paid by Facebook. Why am I not getting paid by Facebook?!?) Here are some more reasons why Facebook ads and small business make an awesome team:

  • Facebook ads increase likes. You can then message these fans periodically and incentivize them to share your Page with their peers.

  • Facebook ads let you target a very specific demographic. If you are promoting your real-estate company, you probably do not want to waste ad money on 13 year-olds. Unless you’re based in LA. Then you’ll only want to be targeting 13 year olds, specifically 13 year old pop-stars named Justin Bieber.*

  • Facebook ads let you build a list to track the success of ad campaigns.

  • Facebook ads have less keyword competition than Google ads.

  • Facebook ads reach users in their comfort zone. They never have to leave the warm Snuggie-like zone of Facebook in order to visit and like your Page.

  • Facebook ads are better for increasing word-of-mouth sharing. Only my mother-in-law sends cut-outs from newspapers these days. Other people share things via, you guessed it, Facebook.

  • Facebook ads direct people to your Page, where other customers, users, friends, mother-in-laws have left nice comments about you, which makes you more trustworthy.

How do you make an effective Facebook ad? By following this tutorial, obviously! (I used the best bits of everyone else’s tutorials and mashed them all together, saving you time, because I’m nice like that)

Tutorial

I’m half-assuming you already know this part: Log onto Facebook, go to your Page, select “Build an Audience”, then click “Create an Ad”. Facebook loves to change these steps — just try watching a tutorial from last month and you’ll see what I mean — so be prepared for slight variations.

Choose your destination: Select the page or URL that you want advertised. Simple.

Facebook will pull info from your selected destination. Easy peasy. Then you’ll need to choose what you want your ad to do. For our purposes we’ll choose to “Get More Likes” (don’t worry, we’ll talk about promoting page posts in the very near future… okay, okay, next Monday!)

Next, we create the ad itself. Facebook will provide a headline, and then below that you can enter text. Keep the text short and sweet, as you don’t get a lot of characters. This is where you enter your call to action (Do NOT use all caps, Facebook hates this and your target audience hates this — no one likes being yelled at). You’ll select a “Landing View” which is where users who click on your ad will be directed. It’s often better to choose a specific tab and not just your timeline. As our goal is to have people download the Jobcast app, we’ll choose to direct people to the tab where they can do exactly that. Then, you’ll need to upload an 100 by 72 pixel image. Luckily for us, our logo is awesome and Facebook auto-filled our image selection — thanks guys!

Next you get to select your “Sponsored Stories”. For this we’ll keep things simple and choose “People Liking Your Page” which plays into that trust-concept we talked about earlier. Nice!

Now here’s the most important step, “Choose Your Audience”.

How you narrow down who sees your ads will be a determining factor in their success. Be specific. We’re choosing to target The USA, Canada and Mexico with this campaign, because I want to see if we get traction in these regions. Then I’ll select an age group. Ageism is bad! But you know who your audience is and there’s nothing wrong with targeting them specifically. You can select to target men, women or “All”. Again, sexism = bad! But being realistic about who you’re targeting is not. I encourage playing with these options, watching your metrics, and adjusting in future campaigns. The data you uncover may surprise you. We have selected women here, but we could eventually run three campaigns: one targeting women, one for men and one for both. Then we’d get some interesting data about that campaign.

Next, we can choose specific interests (see screenshot above). Type in a few and Facebook will suggest more options.

Now Facebook asks us to select how the target audience is connected to our page. As we’re running a campaign to get more likes, we don’t want to target people who already like us. Unless by the time I publish this article Facebook starts allowing double-likes.

Finally, painfully, budgeting. Yuck. You can choose between a “Daily budget” or a “Lifetime budget”.  This is pretty self-explanatory: one sets a budget per day, while the other is set per campaign.  You can choose to run your campaign until your funds run out with the daily budget, or choose to run it within a certain time-frame, which works with either option.

Next we get to selecting optimization (see screenshot above). This is one place you’ll really need to go into the advanced options. We’ll want to optimize “Per Click” rather than impressions. It may be a bit more expensive, but it’s worth it, as otherwise we could be paying for an ad that pops on the screen of a person who has left their computer to make a sandwich. Facebook will suggest a bid per click — it’s best to offer a bit more than the minimum suggestion to ensure your campaign gets the go-ahead from Facebook. No need to go high with this first round of ads. If your bid is rejected, or you know that you have a ton of competition, you’ll bid a little higher.

Now all that’s left to do is review our ad and click “Place order”.

All done, time to check Twitter!

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October 31
links we love image v12

What a productive week so far. We unveiled our new website, cast a trillion jobs (hyperbole is a well respected literary device!) and I invented a new word. Actually several, but only “Pincruiting” is work-related. The rest were invented at the gym when I tried to do too many pull-ups and fell on my posterior chain.

I hope all of your weeks are shaping up to be equally fruitful and far less painful than ours.

Here are some links to inspire even greater productivity:

Wunderlist! Where would I be without this awesome app? I have experimented with more list-making apps than I can count, but I just keep coming back to Wunderlist. It’s simple, intuitive and gorgeously designed. I can’t wait to see more from Wunderkinder.

20 Unconventional Tips to Improve Productivity. This girl’s entire website is devoted to improving efficiency and has lots of solid tips about becoming more productive at work.

Gamification For Better Results. Gamification can increase both engagement and productivity at work. Nerds all over the world rejoice! Leveling up is a pretty great feeling, so what if the goals can be a bit silly. You won’t mock me when I’m officially an inbox zero ninja-wizard level 82!

The Happy Secret to Better Work. An amazing Ted Talk about how a simple shift in thinking can improve success and productivity at work and in life. I’m pretty sure just watching this has made me a better person. And it’s funny. And maybe I cried a little.

Speaking of happiness… Happy Halloween! I’m going as John McClane— my poor husband got stuck being shards of glass, as he is only a level 80 ninja-wizard.

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October 29
Hero chasing-down-your-perfect-candidate-with-pinterest

So we’ve established that Pinterest is worthwhile as a recruiting tool. We’ve gone over how to create a presence on Pinterest. We’ve talked more than enough about every Pinners responsibility to post pictures of infographics and kittens. So let’s get down to brass tacks (is that not the best saying ever?!)

How exactly do you actively find candidates on Pinterest?

First things first: You’ll need to ask the question “Is active Pincruiting possible for the position I’m trying to fill”? For a lot of fields, the answer is no. Let’s use Taco Bell as an example. They have a huge recruiting presence on Pinterest, but are they using this site to actively searching for new line cooks, HR reps or managers? No. The boards they have are focused on attracting candidates and creating awareness of these positions. Actively seeking these types of candidates on Pinterest would be just plain silly. No one has a Pinboard dedicated to their love of rolling burrito, after burrito, after burrito. Trust me, I looked!

Now, if you are looking for someone obsessed with fashion who will make your storefront look amazing, or a graphic designer to give your brand a facelift, or a tech-savvy blogger to write articles your clients actually want to read… I give you Pinterest.

Let’s say I’m desperately in need of a graphic designer to update my brand. I’ve had a lot of resume submissions, but haven’t found anyone all that promising and, let’s face it, I don’t really know that much about design. Relying 100% on my own taste is maybe not the best idea; I’ve been sporting the same haircut since I was 18! That’s where Pinterest comes in.

So, I log into my already awesome Pinterest account and go to the main page to begin my talent search. Pinterest’s search functionality, like so many networking sites, is not super functional. I know, it drives me crazy too, but since the results are so visual you can scroll through them much more easily and quickly than on other sites. From the main page, I can choose to browse FollowingCategoriesEverythingPopular, or Gifts. None of these categories are useful for what we want to do, and unfortunately it isn’t possible to narrow them down any further with an advanced search option. This is very useful if you want recipes for protein pancakes or pictures of Apple products, but not for recruiting.

For my purposes I’ll search “graphic designer”. Then I can choose to view results for Pins, Boards or People. As there are so many results I’ll select Boards. Searching under People is pretty useless in most cases, as it’s only going to yield results if someone has included the searched terms in their username. For something as broad as graphic design, there will be many great Pinboards with those terms in the title

Now, if I want someone based out of a specific location, I might have trouble searching by Board. For example, another search including the word Toronto yields one measly result. Not a big deal, I’ll just switch to the Pin option and low and behold, we get a ton of results!

I’ll scan through the Pins our search has returned and click through to the ones that look profitable. These will be pretty obvious. They’ll look professional, match my search criteria and appeal to me visually.

Examples:

I am seriously into pirates and ampersands so my choice is clear! Thank you Vinod, I shall follow all of your boards as I bet you’ll be a great resource for the future.

I’ll favorite him and then click through the image to it’s source location. Well, hello Grant Burke! Reliable and passionate with some serious internet love — sounds like a solid lead to me.

That’s a quick-start for those of you looking to actively recruit on Pinterest. Happy hunting!

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