I am seasoned talent acquisition manager and my thoughts are that social media is ineffective in attracting scarce talent, they tend to be lazy at job searching and more dedicated to their profession.

Views please?

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  • Interesting post

    I would counter this Gary and say the opposite - I don't necessarily think 'talent' however that is defined aren't using social media rather they are using social media to their advantage and filtering, finding and selected exactly the information they wish to find in a much quicker and efficient manner. I think it does depend on the industry however as not all industries lend themselves well to social media....

    Whether this is through RSS feeds and aggregation, twitter lists, Linkedin groups & organisation profile, Google + communities etc etc

    I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing today without social media in all honesty and I personally think social media provides far more ways to reach 'talent' than in the past:

    • LinkedIn profiles & groups
    • Personal Branding and Blogging
    • Slideshare profiles
    • Twitter 
    • G+
    • 'About me' profiles

    Having a strong online profile is a necessity for me in the 21st century and social media plays a massive part in this and must make your job easier in being able to find people and make contact.

    I am no expert in this area though :-)

    • Mike and Alison

      Firstly thanks for your responses.

      Its actually horses for courses just by reading your answers if I was seeking either of you through a professional recruitment campaigns (not that I am) then I would recommend the use a different approach to reach a different type of HR professional. As I outlined in my initial response by talking in your network you get a feel on a candidate profile and where they hang out!!

      Alison I have worked in the higher echelons of HR for some blue chip companies and helped funky technology start ups develop from scratch and also recently helped a charity find trustees, at no cost.

      My philosophy stands..which is the one of taking the "employee brand" of the organisation to potential candidates for future success of retaining a motivated employee. A candidate who makes an well informed choice of career move, makes a strong psychological contract rather than one just based on salary.

      A mentor in my early career told me "always enjoy what you do, do it with passion and the money will follow".

      • Thank you Gary for sharing your expertise and your interesting approach. It sounds fascinating and very varied.
        I agree with your penultimate paragraph for sure. Interestingly the very candidate that you are bewailing in your original post might be one that you placed, using your technique to motivate candidates in their choice, thus enhancing the retention likelihood due to the psychological bond ( if that makes sense?)

        I agree with Mike that different industries are different in their social media usage - but is it an industry profile or a generational trait I wonder? And if it is the latter will that change with time?

        So much to ponder eh!
  • Perhaps it depends upon the age profile that you are looking to attract Gary.

    Or perhaps the "scarce" talented ones you are looking for, expect to be headhunted rather than use social media to hunt for new roles. Which profession are you scouting for?

    I think some of the x and y generations are beginning to get used to linkedin as a forum to find jobs. (i wouldn't say all by any means.)
    Many x gen bods are actively anti social media as they are concerned about invasion of privacy.

    My OH is a talented (and very experienced) civil engineer. Along with his colleagues, he works very long hours and as far as i know has never ever been on any social network. He is just about getting used to the idea of checking his e mails at home. It's just not his thing. When he's not at work he likes to be doing active outdoorsy things mainly. If he wants to change his job he uses his extensive personal (work related) network. He is self employed and has a very good feel for the industry, its upturns and downturns, and can forecast accurately his plans for the next 12 months, although he remains flexible as he likes a challenge.

    How do you acquire the talent you are looking for (other than through social media)?
    • Thanks Alison

      My approach is to get into the mind of the talent I seek!

      So for an example of a scare resource would be professional magazines (online and traditional) but also lifestyle magazines - so if I know there is group of IT developers who I know are members of mountain biking or running clubs then I target those magazines with links from social media. Not all professional like to approach their peers to talk work when engaged in social relaxation. By talking to my employees you can get so whacky ideas on where to place simple adverts.

      I find that many professionals hate headhunters and recruitment agencies as the feel they are fee driven and not candidate focussed.

      My style is the effective old traditional and romantic approach to candidate attraction which helps I believe with retention and longevity of career. Candidates and employer should meet through a mutual attraction media, go speed dating, then a sophisticated date, get engaged and married for a fixed time frame (not all future employees want jobs for life!)

      Keep it fun and enjoy work its a big part of our life is my ethos.

      • That's really interesting Gary. I know very little about talent acquisition I have to admit. In fact i know nothing about it. Do you enjoy it? Do you work for a company or an agency, or are you self employed?

        Do you start with the people (and find them appropriate jobs) or do you start with the jobs (and then hunt for appropriate people)? Or doesn't it go like that at all.

        You'll have to excuse my ignorance, so sorry.

        Do you work in the IT world or are you a generalist? I wonder if women use social media more than men?
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