Social Media and Employer Brands

In doing some research for an upcoming webinar I am presenting, I found a statement on About.com in the article “Ten Deadly Mistakes Job Searchers Make” that drove me crazy:

Candidates Skip Human Resources and apply to the hiring manager or the CEO:

Why it Matters: Job searching books persist in making this recommendation, and maybe it was a good one, once upon a time. It’s still good when a person is introducing herself and making a professional contact. But, when job searchers use this tactic to apply for an advertised position, warning bells better ring. What about her qualifications makes her believe her resume won’t be noticed if it arrives over the transom? Does she persistently fail to follow directions? Certainly, the candidate fails to understand the importance of the Human Resources function. (The role of HR has changed radically in many organizations these days.) Will that continue if she’s hired? The better managers pass this resume back to HR anyway; they know they have no basis for comparison until HR builds a pool of candidates.

Granted, once upon a time every book recommended something insane… but in today’s digital world we have to remember that the human resources funnel has quickly expanded into every nook and cranny of the organization.The beginning funnel of candidate application is no longer controlled by newspaper ads or a simple job board postings. It is now influenced by hundreds of contact points that exists both offline and online.

Employers who believe that they “control the world” of communication and personal exchange need to examine methods of participating and leveraging existing channels.

If a qualified professional applies through a forum and says “yep, I’m interested” – you should have a system in place to collect that persons information and engage with them in a conversation that they are comfortable with.

The end idea: don’t allow $150 spent on a job posting requirement derail engaging with a $5000 prospect.