Digital Recruiting

A vision of students today

Just come across this - as today seems to be video link day - and thought I'd share.

have to say found this to be particularly compelling & thought provoking (my head now hurts - and no, not just because I've strained my eyes trying read some of the comments!). Geez there are some clever people out there.

Happy birthday?

My colleague has just informed me that it is the 15th birthday of the internet as we know it today (see how I pass the buck of blame there, for all those of you who know better), and she very kindly sent this ad from 1994.

Made me smile, so I thought I'd share.

DEC - Glimpse of the future, 1994

Social Media

This one is dedicated to Alex and Tim!

More corporate lip syncing japery

Just spotted this on Jim Stroud's blog

Digg Dubb: Groove Is In The Heart from Trammell on Vimeo.

Not as good as this one but a nice try!

"10 Downing Street" is on Twitter but who are they?

You may have read that "10 Downing Street" is now updating us on various facets of the Prime Minister's day via Twitter. While the thought behind this move must be applauded, it's a shame that the execution misses the point somewhat. There is no pretence that Gordon Brown himself is writing the updates which is good but they are coming from the anonymous www.twitter.com/downingstreet  and this is not how Twitter works. The point is that when you're talking on Twitter you are a named person. Even if people don't know you they know that they are listening / talking to a real person. If a big brand came on and starting Twittering as a product name there would be uproar so why should it be any different for the Government?

I've asked Downingstreet twice now for some more details about who is writing the updates but as yet I've not received a reply. It's definitely a real person (or people) as they've referred to themselves several times in the first person. Why not be completely transparent and let us know who you are!

Anyway as I can't get a reply on my own I'm enlisted help from all you other Twitter users out there. Send Downing Street a message when you're next Twittering and ask who they are....maybe with weight of numbers we'll find out who is really behind the virtual door of Number 10!!!

Matt

Follow me on Twitter here

Web 2.0 - unleash the potential, but be ready the storm

I recently gave a presentation to an eFinancialCareers breakfast seminar about "Making the most of web 2.0". Considering where most organisations are in regards to Web 1.0 let alone web 2.0, I made sure that at the same time as (hopefully) evangelising about the fantastic benefits that you can realise for your employer brand and linking with target talent through such platforms that are encapsulated by the Web 2.0 collective noun (or is that verb?), I also offered pragmatic advice about making sure you were ready for all that stepping into the Web 2.0 mass communication and contribution arena potentially brings with it.

If you’re in any doubt as to what opening your brand to what Web 2.0 can mean then can I direct you to Dilbert. Very recently (I think over the weekend) they’ve moved from their normal site to a beta one thatis  more of a Web 2.0 style platform. Well as if they ever did – and so the debate goes. 

Only 4 other words for the change: BRING BACK OLD SITE!

I really don't like the new website at all. I'm going to find a different site that aggregates the comics without all this flash garbage.

close to zero % positive feedback must be an industry first! you might be on to something there, scott.

I only signed up to get the daily strip in my e-mail. I don't think I will ever come back to this site; it's a marketing hell of pop and fizz.

The only reason I've signed up is to say how awful the new site is.

So what might we take from this:

1.    Although it’s dressed up as Beta (which is kind of modern web parlance for “this excuses us from making a complete arse up of the new site”) there’s still no escaping they’ve made a royal mess of trying to take the site on a step. BAD

2.    There is no getting away from the fact that Dilbert has an amazing reach of very passionate individuals who aren't afraid of engaging / being engaged across the web. GOOD.

3.    Could they get a worse PR to launch their new site off the back of – there’s no doubt this is / will be right across the blogosphere? (it also fails to fill my Gadget feed for my daily Dilbert fix on my google home page). BAD.

4.    The very fact that this is a format that engages with the audience and allows them to communicate with the site ensures that there can be no doubt as to how the new site is being received – and then do something about it. How much, in Web 1.0 days, would that kind of focus group have cost (and then not got right because it would only have scratched the surface of a select bunch of consumers/candidates)? GOOD.

5.    Some audiences don’t deal well with change very well – and sometimes they can be very vocal. GOOD & BAD.

So you can look at this kind of event in a couple of ways – but for me. actually the test will be how ready they were / are for the negative feedback they're getting and what they do with it. And that message has to be the same whatever field you’re working in when considering Web 2.0 enhancements. I personally feel  the positives still outweigh the negatives even in this extreme case (get beyond the initial shock and some of the enhancements are actually a vast improvement), but only if you’re ready to face the negatives head on, and then put the resource in place to address those and maximise on the positives.

I’ll leave you with this, perhaps the embodiment of a pure Web 1.0 or print based delivery? Maybe sometimes ignorance is indeed bliss:

Some brief thoughts on blogging and Twitter

Brief Interview with me in the The Recruiter.....wish I'd been able to find a more up to date photo!!

Matt

LinkedIn - Follow Up Post

There were so many interesting comments in response to my recent thoughts on LinkedIn that I thought I’d post a follow up. The revolution it would seem is well under way. It was good to hear from John who has just successful landed a VP of Engineering role by using his LinkedIn profile rather than having a CV (well resume in his case!). I was also very interested in Jacco’s comment about the ING job site which is already allowing candidates to upload their Linkedin profile as part of the application process. Finally Peter Gold pointed out the widgetisation  of the site, something that reminded me to add a link on the blog to my own LinkedIn profile.

Revolution it may be, but this week I also got proof that the UK recruitment industry still isn’t embracing the site as it should. The extremely well connected Louise at UK Recruiter asked permission to publish my email address in her newsletter and on her blog so that her connections / readers could link to me on LinkedIn as an “Open Connector” . The response was brilliant and I got over a hundred new connections in a couple of days. I was surprised though that such a small percentage of these came from the UK. It’s certainly not always the case with online recruitment but, in this instance, it would seem that they are a significant distance ahead of us in the US.

I’m still convinced though that this is going to change and when it does what are the longer term implications? What’s the future for job board CV databases, CV writing services, CV Parsing companies etc etc. Are they ready, with their future strategies already mapped out, or will they be caught on the back foot? Would certainly be interested in people’s thoughts.

Finally a new equation for you and a taster of an article that I’m currently working on for another site

Linkedin + Twitter = Business Facebook

Valid for the moment but the continuing uptake of Ning could certainly make the algebra a bit more complex in the near future!

(to connect to me on LinkedIn add me as connection on the site using my email address [email protected], to follow me on Twitter follow this link)

So that's how you do it!

I'm pretty sure that some people in our industry actually think this is how you build web sites!

The best "Rick Roll" so far?

Doubt they come better than this