Chris Wellington “The Recruiting Guy”, President, The Wellington Group

Social Media and the Corporate Impact Part I 

To put this blog piece in context, Social Media for this blog is any third party on-line or internet based networking or people-connecting tool. Examples of such are Facebook, Eacademy, Plaxo, Myspace, U-tube and Twitter. What I am not referencing are internal corporate “wanna be” social networking tools, associations (most of which have gone “on-line” now to save on cost), static websites, email, instant messaging or even the ever prevalent texting.

Why did I highlight the difference? In the next couple of blogs I will be talking about the trends I have seen and researched and the data which exists about social media or social networking and its impact to the corporate environment. Those non-social media types are many times already present in the workplace as companies provide employees with limitless emailing, cell phones (or the policy that it’s ok to have it with you and work) and texting, instant messaging solutions, web-based company portals, on-line meeting programs, and on and on.

The goal of my blogging about this topic is not to create hype or fear about allowing such uses in the work place, but rather highlight the fact that the World of Work has changed. In just a few short years we have gone from telecom and land-lines ruling the communication method and business sectors to flat screen monitors with built in web-cams on employee desks and Blackberry’s in the hand of all those around the conference table.

I hope you enjoy these pieces and please do leave your thoughts and feedback on this topic as you never know who on the web might just like what you have to say!

Chris

To hire The Recruiting Guy as a speaker or trainer visit The Recruiting Guy or contact The Wellington Group @ info@thewellington-group.com. 

Recruiting and Technology: Session 2

As I tour the country and work with various recruiters and professional headhunters I can’t help but to chuckle at the complaints the modern recruiter (corporate, executive search, staffing and basement dwellers) all seem to have. My internet is too slow, CareerBuilder is down again, my wireless mouse is not working, and on and on. It was not that long ago when we had to fax or hand deliver resumes and you were lucky to get a company email to contact some hiring manager or job seeker.

Now, I have a flat screen TV in my office and can’t live without all the small technology toys to include the so aptly named crackberry! Well most of it I can live without and probably become an even more productive recruiter and member of society, except my multiple monitors! I remember the first time I heard about running dual monitors for recruiting. I had seen the concept for call centers and IT developers but never thought it would apply to me. I was wrong.

I was attending a Top Echelon conference and one of the main presenters was hosting a training session. He had two screens being projected and showed how to run their ATS tool on one screen and look at a candidate or job order on another. What? Yeah I said that and laughed it off but Tiffany who was with me said, “Pretty cool.” Ok, so maybe there was something we were missing here. So, we asked what does it take to set up dual monitors in our office.

The set up was very easy, and after a few years now I have assisted numerous recruiters and companies, with various laptop or desk top hardware configurations, transition into the multiple monitor mode. If you are paying attention I said multiple monitors as I have found out with my laptop and docking station that I can have three monitors, and have since found a great USB product that will allow me to run up to five (yes, not enough desk space).

So why multiple monitors? As I learned at that conference; efficiency, efficiency, efficiency. I am sure there are a number of other gains like cost savings on printing, speed to market, enhanced phone time, etc. But it is great to have the resume of the person you are talking with on one screen, your ATS on another and the job order or client website on the third. Not to mention, but hey I am the boss, facebook or Yahoo IM running to see who I might ping during the day.

All told, running a dual or multiple monitor configuration is not that big of an investment, even for an entire team of recruiters and researchers. The enhancements you gain far outweigh the time and cost to set this technology up. Plus, you seem smarter to the person on the other end of the phone when you can Google a word or phrase they mention and say, “oh yeah here is what you are talking about!”

To engage The Recruiting Guy to train or consult with your staff visit our services page or contact The Wellington Group @ info@thewellington-group.com.