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October 15
Hero we-love-pinterest-and-recruiters-should-too

Do you Pin?

I do! Pinterest is my favorite way to spend time on the internet. Well, I am a woman, like the vast majority of Pinterest’s active user base. An imbalance made blatantly obvious by the overwhelming number of “pin boards” dedicated to wedding dresses, ponies and Brazilian JiutJitsu! Okay, maybe not that last one, though I do have a BJJ board where I “pin” and “re-pin” instructional videos, links to articles and any relevant infographic I can get my tough little hands on.

Yes, Pinterest is the online mecca for all things girly, but don’t let that fool you into thinking it’s just another pretty face. Pinterest is the fastest growing social network, EVER. And as much as its popularity has to do with the image-based nature of its interface, Pinterest also has great functionality and awesome networking potential.

Pinterest’s active user base increased by well over 2,500% from May 2011 to January 2012. It has a greater referral traffic percentage than Youtube, LinkedIn and Google+ combined. More importantly… it’s really really pretty. Even more importantly, it’s an awesome way to recruit and grow your employer brand. And now is the perfect time to join. Pinterest is still new enough to give your business early adopter cred, which is great for impressing prospective candidates, especially those in tech and design.

We’ve recently retooled our Jobcast App to make it, in my humble opinion, the most effective app out there for recruiting on Pinterest. In honor of this, I’ll be blogging a series of short posts about how to make Pinterest work for recruitment and branding.

Check out this infographic for more reasons to hop on the Pin-wagon. (Yeah, I punned it!)

Oh and before I forget…

Links! Some of our favorite Pin Boards:

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October 10
links we love image v12

New feature alert!

At Jobcast, we read a lot of blogs. Although you may not believe me, they are not all to do with kittens, delicious foods and Jiu-Jitsu. Most of them are about recruitment, HR and social media. Many are also about running a small business, being more organized and other generally useful things.

I do still read a disproportionate number of blogs about kittens though.

We thought it might be nice to pay homage to the blogs that inspire and delight us, and share them with our lovely readers. So, starting with this post, we will be doing some serious Link Love every Wednesday.

Here we go!

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October 8
Hero take-that-facebook-job-boards-still-on-top

Job Boards are alive and well, despite the flurry of predictions last year that they were soon to be ousted by social media (I'm looking at you Forbes!). The role of social media is definitely on the rise, but Job Boards are still going steady. This is especially true for niche and local Job Boards, as their specificity makes them quick and easy for employers and job seekers alike. According to a 2012 survey, Job Boards still account for 20% of hires. This is second only to referrals which, like diamonds, are forever. Job Boards are still one of the first places that job seekers (even those much coveted 24 - 34 year-olds) turn when on the hunt. As much as we love Facebook recruiting, we also make Job Boards a priority. We've even found a way to merge the two.

Jobcast API allows Job Boards to push an employer's job listing from their Board directly onto that employer's Facebook Page. This means those jobs get the best of both worlds. Okay, that explanation is a little confusing. Even to me and I wrote it! Let's try a diagram:

Job Boards, like other employers, can also use our app to post on their own Page. I'll use screenshots this time:

We call this feature Job Sync. If you'd like to know more about it, check out Ryan's Blog Post (he's much better at explaining how things work than I am.)

For the screenshots, we used Alberta Health Services' Page, because they do a really great job with their Branded Career Page. You can also check out Retail.ca and BC Jobs for more examples.

Links that Love Job Boards:

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October 1
Hero whats-your-minimum-effective-dose

When I was 20, my good friend Kiel taught me a fantastic life lesson in a completely ridiculous way. When he went to a pub, he would always walk straight up to the bartender and ask for a pint of their “cheapest-finest”. I thought this was a pretty odd thing to do, until I asked him why he did it, and he explained that he was just asking which beer would get him the most bang for his buck. Cheapest-finest meant the least he could pay without sacrificing taste. You can probably guess what I asked for the next time I went out for drinks!

This concept can be applied to most things in life, and social recruiting is no exception.

Being able to use social media for recruiting is awesome in so many ways, but even for the most tech-obsessed it can get a little overwhelming. There are new social networking platforms popping up all the time and everyone has their own opinion about how these are best used for recruiting. So, how do you figure out what your cheapest-finest is? What is the minimum effective dose for effective social recruiting?

I wish I knew! I would be a millionaire and writing this article from a sandy beach somewhere. I do have some suggestions though. Start simple

Facebook first. Setting up a branded Career Page for your company and posting jobs on Facebook is simple, fast and effective. It gives you access to over 900 million potential candidates and posting jobs takes very little time or effort (there’s an app for that!)

After you’ve got a handle on Facebook, try Twitter and LinkedIn. You can use the same profile information for each and we’ve already blogged quite a bit about how to best use them for recruiting. If you’re feeling adventurous, you can give Pinterest a try. It’s my favorite, but is not as popular for job seekers as the other three, so you’ll probably want to focus on them first.

Exception! I love exceptions. If you’re looking to hire the artistically-inclined, then Pinterest is probably a more important tool than Twitter, due to its graphical nature. Oh snap. The plan is: Stick to the plan

It’s tempting to try and utilize every new gadget or platform that pops up. This is an easy way to get totally overwhelmed and start to hate your job and the internet in general. My theory is that this is why I used to see so many smashed computer screens on the sidewalk when I lived in Toronto.

Social media attack plan: Pick a few sites to focus on, plan out how much time and effort you’ll devote to each one and carry out your plan. Give it some time, a couple of months even, so that you have a clear idea of what’s working and what isn’t. You can keep track of new social networking trends and include them (no, not all at once!) after you feel confident with the tools you’re already using.

Exception! Do sign up for new social networking platforms as soon as they come to your attention. This helps guarantee that you get the user name you desire, in case you do decide to use it in the future. Oh, I guess this is only kind of an exception… but having a sub-topic that repeats looks really great for blog layouts. Measure your results

How else are you going to know if your efforts are paying off? Using tools like Google AnalyticsOpen Analytics or Crazy Egg will help you track your results. You can then use those results to determine the effectiveness of your social media attack plan! I like to use Pinterest to keep track of blogs and articles I need to revisit, as I find visual reminders very effective.

Exception! There are no exceptions. Always measure your results. Always!

So, what’s your minimum effective dose? Unfortunately, it is probably not a delicious pint of Guinness! Fortunately, our Jobcast app allows you to simultaneously post jobs to all the aforementioned social networking sites while tracking your results ­- We’re that cool. I only shamelessly plug because I love!

Speaking of love, here’s some relevant links:

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September 24
Hero recruit-a-few-quick-tips-on-tweeting-to-hire

Make friends

Start by creating a presence. If a business tweets in the forest and they have no followers… then no, it does not make a sound. You’ll need to make connections for your tweets to be heard. The best way to increase your presence on Twitter is to follow other tweeters. Search twitter for other users within your field and search relevant hashtags to expand your twitter community. Follow associates and recruiters, your tweets can be requests for referrals as well as for applicants.

More on how to build your Twitter presence

Tweet

Making connections and posting tweets go hand in hand. Post consistently about what your company has to offer. Tweet about the things that make your company great: innovations, new projects, opportunities for growth. This is also a great reason to have staff parties and events. I kid, but I’m also completely serious. Photos of employees having fun look awesome on Twitter (and Facebook, and your blog). You can also tweet amusing links or comments. You’ll likely want to keep them relevant to your field, but think outside the box to stay interesting. Wholefoods does a great job of this, tweeting links to cool sustainability projects and food blogs. Just please, please, please don’t tweet about the weather… unless you are the Weather Network.

More on how and what to tweet Re-Tweet

This is a huge part of expanding your Twitter community. People love to be heard, and re-tweeting is an extension of this. If you are not incredibly witty, giving away a car or a celebrity, re-tweeting is your best bet to garner twitlove!

More on re-tweeting and tons of info about growing your Twitter account #Hashtag

Hashtags are how you become searchable on Twitter. Use them wisely! Some of the most searched, and therefore, most effective recruitment hashtags are: #job, #careers, #hiring. It’s also a good idea to add the type of position you are looking to fill, and also the city. For example, next time you tweet tweet (using our wicked Jobcast app, obviously) try something like: “Position available for passionate #souschef. Trendy #Paris restaurant #hiring”. My only caution is to not over-tag, 2-4 should do it.

More on hashtags, from a job seekers perspective In keeping with the Twitter mentality, I’ll keep my conclusion brief. Here’s a few awesome Twitter accounts to follow (don’t be like me, I only follow stand-up comedians!)

Tweets we Love

And of course, if you want to make recruiting with Twitter (and Facebook, and LinkedIn) even easier you should really try using our Jobcast app… not that I’m biased or anything!

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September 17
Hero facebook-its-where-the-talent-is

Facebook is a social media behemoth. With its user base at over 900 million, it’s a pretty sure bet that the talent you seek is on Facebook. In fact, its quite likely that Facebook is where they spend most of their time when online. Facebook is a hugely effective resource for both active and passive recruitment. Not convinced? I’ll try harder!

Facebook is all about interaction. Or, a Like is worth a thousand views

It’s not without reason that companies are trending towards directing consumers to their Facebook pages rather than their official websites. A Like on Facebook ensures interaction, as the user will receive notifications when you make updates, and is then prompted to share and comment on your new post. This kind of dialogue works wonders in marketing and can do the same for recruiting.

Unlike your typical website that a potential candidate may bookmark or visit from time to time, a Facebook Like allows you to stay on their radar. Think of a Like as a far more effective mailing list. Liking a page on Facebook is quicker, easier and far less intrusive than signing up for a newsletter, thus people are much more likely to do it. Once they’ve become a fan of your Page, you can stay at the top of their list of potential employers by posting frequent updates and photos that showcase how awesome your corporate culture is. Which is much more effective than sending out newsletters that are more often than not destined for immediate deletion.

It’s really, REALLY, big

Yes, I know I already said that, but it bears repeating. Not only is Facebook big in the sense that it has a ton of users, it’s also a huge part of those user’s lives; they don’t call it Crackbook for nothing (I wish I was kidding). This makes it a great place to look when you’re trying to find a very specific candidate. Statistically speaking, your ideal hire is spending their time on Facebook, a lot of their time. It’s unfortunate, but quite likely, that the person you’re looking for has a job already, so you’re much more likely to find them on Facebook than updating their LinkedIn page or checking job boards. Facebook is the perfect place to roll up your sleeves and recruit actively.

Facebook has huge reach

Facebook’s mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected.”

And the interface that they’ve created does this superbly. Facebook has an extremely active community, that is of great benefit for passive recruiting.

Example: Angelo Liked your page a while back when he was looking for potential employers. You’ve stayed on his radar by posting regular updates and photos of fun company events. Angelo isn’t looking to switch jobs, but his University buddy Stella is looking for a change in career paths (she posted about it on her wall!). He knows that your company is hiring (as you always update your page about job opportunities) and that Stella would be a perfect fit. Angelo lets Stella know about your job post. Position filled! Angelo has done the recruiting for you. The invested nature of the community that Facebook cultivates means that even if your job post doesn’t reach a potential employee directly, it can still reach them indirectly.

At Jobcast we believe that Facebook is one of the most useful tools in today’s recruitment arsenal. It’s an easy, affordable and effective way to increase your talent pool and maintain a connection with your talent communities. This is why, as you may have noticed, we have so many awesome posts about Facebook in our blog archives. It’s also why we chose Facebook as the flagship social network for our recruitment app. Okay, I’m off to Like some pictures of cats doing ridiculously cute things and spy on my friends.

Links we Love

Some useful links, I especially recommend the second one, but I’m biased!

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September 10
Hero employer-blogging-for-humans-quick-tips-for-effective-relatable-blog-posts

Find Your Voice

Cultivating a unique voice is essential for effective blogging. If your company has well-established branding, this will be a matter of translating that identity into a voice compatible with blogging. If your business is still establishing its image, your blog is a great place to evolve your brand and define your company culture. Use your blog to explore how you would like to be perceived, be it traditional and time-tested or innovative and cutting-edge, executive-chic or, as we at Jobcast prefer, business casual. Just be sure that the voice you choose is true to your company’s core values and becomes consistent from post to post.

Think of your blog as a brand ambassador

A successful brand ambassador portrays the company that they represent with positivity and enthusiasm, but even more importantly, they are relatable and trustworthy. Your blog is a way to make your company human. Yes, it is important to highlight strengths, but occasional posts showing weakness will keep your blog from seeming too corporate and unrelatable. Consider blogging about something new that your company is attempting to implement, something you don’t have all the answers for, as this encourages input from your readers, creating dialogue.

Foster audience participation

Your blog can be a vital part of your company’s visibility if you cultivate an active readership. Effective blogging inspires readers to comment, like, tweet and pin! Use great photos, link to some handpicked posts or online resources, use polls, catchy titles and humor. This kind of blogging encourages readers to share your posts with their colleagues and friends. And remember, in order to share a blog post on Pinterest, it must have an image. The image will be what inspires other pinners to click or skip, so make it count.

Also, write content that elicits response. Try writing posts that are open-ended, ask questions, and allow for debate. Appearing knowledgeable is important, but you must leave room for input, differing opinions and conversation. Dialogue not monologue!

Think outside of your industry

Of course it’s important to stay up to date on what other websites and blogs in your field are doing, but if you want to set your company apart, you’ll need to seek inspiration from outside your community. Think of some of your favorite tech blogs, design blogs, even food blogs. There is no reason that aspects you love about them can’t be applied to your employer blog.  Personally, I love how Food52 fosters audience participation through the “Community Picks” section of their website.

Keep it short and sweet

No one has time to read a novel when surfing the net. Your blog post is not a comprehensive article in Inc. Magazine (a fantastic resource for employer bloggers, by the way). It must be short and punchy in order to hold a reader’s attention. Blog posts work best when they provide information in a way that is quick, enjoyable and easy to read. If a reader wants more details, they can reference the handpicked links you’ve provided, or even better, email you directly.

Get social

Promote your blog through social networking. Okay, so this one is glaringly obvious, but so often overlooked. When you put up a new post, make sure you promote it through Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, or other social networks that suit your needs. Use captivating images wherever possible. Urge employees to like, promote and link to the company blog. Asking your staff for content ideas and feedback is a great way to encourage employee involvement. For more ideas about getting your employees onboard with social networking, see this article on BusinessWeek.com

Don’t fear New Media

A fantastic way to meet your goals and appeal to those within your talent communities is by showcasing company culture on your blog and what better way to do that than through video. You don’t have to be too technologically savvy to or spend a lot of cash to make a short video that gives prospective employees a taste of what working for your company is like. By making your companies values visible, you’ll attract readership from those with similar ideals. For more specific advice on recruitment-oriented video read Ryan’s awesome post here. Blog with purpose

To keep tabs on the effectiveness of your blogging you need some trackable goals. If recruitment is a major focus, then a relevant goal would be to increase the number of likes or comments from desirable candidates. In essence, use your blog to grow your talent communities. Then, track sharing and comment sourcing so you can verify the results. This will let you monitor which blog posts appeal to the select audience you are looking to cultivate and help you tailor your posts to encourage sharing. Chances are they have equally desirable peers you want to reach so that when you next embed a job opening into your blog (oh, and did I mention our new job widget?), it will be seen by all the right people.

Links we Love

Check out these links for even more, possibly better, tips and some very useful apps. Happy blogging! Drop us a line and let us know how it goes.

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August 22
Hero introducing-job-widget-an-embeddable-widget-for-your-company-website

A couple of months ago, we introduced Job Sync, an incredibly easy way to automatically synchronize your jobs between your existing career site and your Facebook Page. But what about those of you that don't have a career page on your corporate website? We've found that many of you are using Jobcast as your exclusive ATS, and as a result, you want a way to embed jobs on your company website. In other words, you want to use Jobcast to manage all of your recruitment efforts.

Introducing the Job Widget

Our Job Widget is easy to set up: just copy and paste one line of code and a career site will appear instantly. Your visitors will be able to search jobs and apply to them directly from inside of your website.  And for those clients who have upgraded their account to a Premium plan, you will be able to brand your career site just as easily as branding your 'Careers' tab on your Facebook Page. How to get started....

1) Retrieve the Job Widget code from the Jobcast app on Facebook. This code can be found under Customize -- Pages -- Job Widget:

2) Copy and paste the Job Widget code into any web page (or pages) where you want your jobs to appear. Here is how that would look if you're using WordPress:

3) Your jobs will instantly appear on your website:

If you upgrade to Premium, you can strengthen your brand by customizing the Job Widget just like you can for your Facebook Page:

We hope that our Job Widget will make it extremely easy for you to embed your jobs on your company website and provide an excellent job application experience for your candidates.

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July 22
Jobcast Careers

With today's technology, companies of all sizes can take advantage of video to showcase the unique culture within their organization. Be real, be honest, and focus on presenting your company in an authentic way to potential applicants. Star employees are on the hunt for more than just a J.O.B and want to work for an organization whose values and mission are in line with their worldview.  Great organizations are built when like-minded people come together to work on projects they believe in. What does your organization stand for and how can you present that in a recruitment video?

 Ideas for producing your recruitment video

Allow candidates into your world and give them a true feel for who they'll be working with, what the company's vision is and why it's important. Try incorporating some of these ideas into your video footage:

  • Add an introduction from the CEO or founder

  • Conduct interviews with existing employees

  • Provide tours of the office

  • Show staff interacting at a company event

  • Highlight benefits and perks that make your company unique

Need a little inspiration?

In a recent blog post, Jennifer King, HR Analyst at Software Advice provides some great examples of excellent recruitment videos by Zendesk, Rackspace and HubSpot which are embedded below. You can find her full article here.

Example Recruitment Videos

Zendesk

This is Zendesk

Rackspace

Your Career at Rackspace

HubSpot

Inside HubSpot

Have you seen any recruiting videos that deserve honorable mention? If so, please share them with us in the comments! P.S. With Jobcast Premium, you can build your own employer branded Facebook Career Page complete with graphics, embedded YouTube video and a list of your latest jobs. To get started, install Jobcast on your Facebook Page.

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