This article is written as a review of a webinar I attended on November 10, 2010. The topic was Social Media Recruiting; The Game Changer sponsored by Simply Hired and hosted by Matt Baum.
As a job seeker, it was quite interesting to see how recruiters are using social media to attract talent. I was invited to participate in this event by Jodi Addison with onTargetjobs.
Simply Hired is job aggregator which collects job postings from all over the internet and consolidates them in one place. The advantage of these kinds of sites is that it can greatly reduce the amount of effort required to look for a job. All you need are a few key words and a geographical preference. The disadvantage of these kind of sites is that sometimes the positions become stale and when click-through is performed, the position posting has already been taken down.
My single biggest take-away from this webinar was the fact that when looking through Simply Hired job posts, the user is immediately reminded of his/her 1st, 2nd and 3rd degree contacts on LinkedIn who work for or know someone who works for the hiring company. Of course this 'mashup' needs to be established to allow LinkedIn and Simply Hired to work together.
Other take-aways include Simply Hired's connection with other large media players in the internet space such as WSJ Tech Blog, CNNMoney, Fortune, Business Week, Washington Post and others. The primary function was that each of these site provides 'real estate' which Simply Hired uses to advertise relevant positions for the readership of these sites.
Controlling on-line brand is a paramount concern of mine as my name and reputation are searchable. On-line brand is also a concern of recruiters and firms providing a service for job seekers. Building this brand is important for active and 'passive' job seekers. The next time a prospective employee is looking for work while either gainfully employed or seeking full time employment, Simply Hired wants to be the brand that is remembered.
For a link to the webinar you can Download a copy of the presentation now!
I have been using online job application systems for a while, and am usually discouraged by the process. However, at your prompting, I tried Simply Hired -- I actually submitted an application for a contract position that came up in the search.
ReplyDeleteI'm happy to report that the process was fast and simple! I didn't see the LinkedIn connections that you referred to, but I will continue exploring this resource.
Thanks for review and the pointers.
Debi
Glad you enjoyed the webinar, Andy! We're always grateful for feedback.
ReplyDeleteDebi - thanks for trying SimplyHired.com! To see your LinkedIn and/or Facebook connections in-line with your search results, just click the "Who Do I Know?" button underneath the location and keyword search boxes on the results page and login to your account(s).
Here's a quick how-to video on identifying your connections as well: http://blog.simplyhired.com/who-do-i-know-video.html.
Hope that helps.