Media Jobs Monthly Newsletter

February 9, 2011

Worried that researching job candidates on Facebook and Twitter has turned you into a stalker? Rest easy. Not only is it acceptable to use social media to find out more about applicants, but companies now expect recruiters to use all the tools available, especially when they're free. You can troll social networks to research a potential hire, to seek out new talent who may not even be looking for jobs, or just to learn more about networking events or live chats.

Today's job seekers are extremely Web savvy and discerning, so it's imperative that your company's own online presence is also up to snuff. That means no boring templates or backgrounds. Creating a visually compelling page for your company allows you to build the brand and give insight into what you're all about in an accessible format. And there are plenty of free and easy design tools to help you spruce up that avatar and start Tweeting. (But, before you do, make sure that your industry won't censor the interesting stuff you'd want to write.) If hashtags and LinkedIn introductions still aren't cutting it, take the old-school approach and just pick up the phone.

Despite challenges in hiring, recruiting is ranked as the 55th best job in America for 2011. If that doesn't instill hope that things are turning up (job stress was a factor in the ratings), then maybe you'll be inspired by one man asking to be paid $1 million dollars and actually getting it.

And on that note, I'd like a million dollars, too.

Jacky Carter
Community Coordinator

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Unemployment Rate Falls As Economy Adds Far Fewer Jobs Than Expected (BLS)
The unemployment rate fell to 9.0 percent as the economy added just 36,000 jobs in January, mostly in manufacturing, retail and healthcare. Temporary help employment actually fell by 11,000 jobs over the month. The long-term unemployed still make up about 40 percent of all unemployed workers, and those "not in the labor force" now number 2.8 million.

Could Be Worse: Recruiter Lands 55th-Best Job Spot (CareerCast)
Recruiting was found to be the 55th-best job in America according to CareerCast, which annually ranks 200 jobs on pay, job outlook, stress level, and other work-related factors. That makes being a recruiter a bit better than a geologist (they make more, but have more stress) but worse than being an orthodontist.

6 Benefits of Using Twitter For Talent Acquisition (Into the Talent Age)
You can use Twitter to find candidates without ever even posting anything, though if you do engage on social media you could find even more great people.

The Five New Rules of Using Social Media to Evaluate Candidates (workforce.com)
Forget liability. Your real liability is that you can't afford *not* to Google candidates, says Kris Dunn. "Your CEO expects you to deploy all legal measures you can reasonably afford to make sure you're making great hires. He or she doesn't want to get sued, but doesn't want you to be a wallflower. Rule No. 1 -- maybe the only one you really need to understand -- you're expected to be in the game. You're an agent of the company, first, last and always."

When Social Recruiting Doesn't Work (Rehaul.com)
Some companies can't do social recruiting: they're the government, finance, and any other heavily-regulated industries. For Ben Eubanks, he can't give out any personally-identifiable information, even including where he got lunch. This makes it really tough to engage with anyone on social media without sounding like a robot.

Just Pick Up The Phone (ERE.net)
Are you stuck with a hard-to-fill position -- and you've checked EVERYTHING on Twitter, Monster, and Linkedin? Pick up the phone, says Maureen Sharib. "The technique is (still) golden and becoming more and more so as fewer and fewer recruiters do it."

Guy Asks For A Million Dollars...And Gets It (MediaJobsDaily)
In the strange world of "you might as well ask because the worst they can say is no," a guy's viral video asking for a million dollars ended in him...getting a million dollars. Just goes to show the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

Art-tastic Design Tools (mediabistro.com)
If you need to punch up that job listing or create a Twitter background for your recruiting handle, but your graphics department is swamped, here is a list of tools, programs and apps that will let you tackle a DIY approach. Warning: if your art sensibilities are stuck in the "stick figure" era, you may want to leave this to the pros.

--Compiled by Rachel Kaufman, editor, MediaJobsDaily.com

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