Social Media Headhunter

Twitter Could Be The Ultimate Sourcing Tool

I stayed away from Twitter for a long time.  Simply from a time management standpoint, I didn't need another Web 2.0 tool to follow, and success is a result of focus, not dabbling.

When I started SMH, it made sense to join Twitter because the types of people I wanted to reach would be on Twitter, and I needed to be aware of everyone I could.  Which is why it's such a nice thing to run into Andy Beal's list of Twitter Marketers on the Marketing Pilgrim.  I've been a longtime reader of Andy's, and when I saw the list, my head exploded.  This of Twitter feeds is an full connection to every possible social media candidate out there.  The list isn't complete, but if you know these 200 people, you can get to anyone you need.

Talk about a sourcing list.  Sourcing is something that sounds simple, but in the recruiting world, hasn't caught on in more than a few areas.  Sourcers are recruiters who create lists of names for line recruiters to call.  They basically make lists of titles and current phone numbers.  Sourcers are experts at digging up data, leaving line recruiters to focus on relationships, interviewing, and negotiation.

Walking The Walk

Chris Brogan comes out and gives a thinly veiled slap to social media consultants who want to get paid to teach companies how to play online.  Okay, that's not a direct quote, but he is asking the questions on whether social media is ready to assume responsibility for revenue creation, cost-savings, and other business metrics that will ensure that food continues to be placed on our tables.

But at the same time more people are just starting to get into this, and so it’s all new and exciting and fresh all over again, businesses are starting to ask, “Hey, is there something here, or is this just another billable item like when we used to pay for someone to build us brochureware?” Businesses are asking how this stuff all threads into their world, their terms. They’re asking how we’re going to change their bottom line, deliver something to their top line, make this all worth it.

I've been selling social media to corporations for over two years.  In that time, my services have had to expand and more technologies, more applications, and more uses for social media are found.  Heck - we used to call ourselves a "new media" company, because we were focused on blogs, wikis, and well, blogs.

One of the reasons social media headhunter makes so much sense is that I can teach candidates how to interview for these positions.  Companies call me and want to hire me for their social media positions, but they often don't know what those positions are meant to do.  It reminds me of the survey taken in 2005 that said three-fourths of companies weren't satisfied with the results from their blogs, but 80% of them started blogs because they were told they had to have one.  You can't evaluate projects if they don't have a point (ahh - an idea for another blog post just came to me).  Back to Chris:

If you’re looking at this from a “working with businesses” perspective, I have a few things to say. You’re going to have to address all that stuff up top and a bunch more. You’re going to have to know how to convince Corporate IT departments to crack open parts of the firewall. You’re going to have to help write job descriptions that explain what these jobs do for these businesses. You’re going to have to get a whole lot less vague on the value you’re bringing to the table as a thought leader and strategist in this space. You’re not going to have an easy walk into the door of a not-so-Silicon-Valley place as a blogger or podcaster, so start upping your ante on skills and perspective.

I would say this was true when we started.  My business was in Chicago, Seattle, Los Angeles, Atlanta, New York, and San Jose.  Today, we have a whole raft of clients in our homebase in St Louis.  The idea of social media has made the jump to the Midwest, and I don't have to educate companies before selling them anymore. It's not that there aren't companies who don't need education, it's that there are enough who get it enough to hire me without having to explain what everything is. 

Speaking Wednesday At MAPSS

I'm giving a presentation on using social media in recruiting on Wednesday.  The sign-up is the MAPSS website (which is strangely moaps.com).

This is a mid-level strategy presentation with just enough secrets to let you walk away with something actionable.   It's for executives to understand what is coming, but recruiters will benefit from the social networking secrets I reveal. 

Sharing In Social Media Ain't What It Used To Be

I posted my original thoughts on Brandstorming, but a couple of episodes this week reinforced the topic of when social media sharing becomes social media stealing.

I'm a consultant.  I've sold hundreds of thousands of dollars of social media and online marketing through my company in the form of training, campaigns, and thought leadership.  My clients pay me to understand their marketing and corporate communications and integrate that into the world of social media.  At the same time, I'm the member of several online communities.  I give information away for free because it's important to have a sharing ethic if you want your community to work.

So what happens when your desire to help others comes into direct conflict with your need to charge for your services?  It's not a new question - consultants of all stripes have had to learn to walk the fine line between promotion and giving away your secrets - if you're speaking at a conference, do you want to educate your audience (and also your competitors), or do you play it safe and speak vaguely about all the wonderful things you do?

Using Social Networks To Recruit Locally

Had a very interesting conversation with my regional chamber today.  While talking about an initiative to showcase St Louis as a technology hub (we're great for enterprise-size information technology divisions), it occurred to me that social networks should be focused on regional spaces.

All recruiting is local, and while blogs can give a recruiter an advantage in a niche industry and in a city, a regionally-supported social network would take user-group recruiting to a whole new level.

Building networks isn't as easy as joining one, but if you know how to do it, and you are smart about the population you're going after, you could use the hubs as a lure for large companies.

"Hello, Mr. CEO - every metro areas says they have lots of great technology employees, but here in St Louis, we've built a candidate-centric social network for business analysts and project managers.  We have over 1000 people who are connected to each other through this social network, and we can show you how to communicate to this pool of talent for your hiring needs."

The beauty of it is that there aren't many people who can build a network like this in the recruiting space.  Those that can, like Jason Davis, Dennis Smith, Steven Rothberg, and Dave Mendoza, are busy on their own projects.  That leaves just a few of us with the experience and the contacts to make it work (and I know all four).

In St Louis, Charlotte, Kansas City, and Seattle, I already have SEO-enriched domain names to set the networks up.  All you need is the person to manage it and show you how to recruit talent locally. 

Digital Development Director Job Description

From the Carnival of the Mobilists, I find a post on Twitter, the iPhone and Facebook at FasterFuture, a weblog by David Cushman, a Digital Development Director with just about the coolest job description I've ever seen.

1) Evangelise the (revenue and idea generating) power of the network with the emerging effect that the company functions in a more networked way - leading to the delivery of more product launches, reinventions, and acquisitions which are fit for the future.

2) Seek, see, and share future business opportunities.

3) Quality assure big ideas across the business

A note to future clients - this is the kind of excitement that social media executives want.  Note that David's job is to "thought lead," but in a way that brings in revenue and makes the company function more effectively.  It's a strategy job, but one that has real world implications.   It's also the type of job that takes more than an understanding of social media.  A successful applicant would need to have 10 years or more of working within a corporate structure with a firm track record of sales, marketing, and management to make this happen.

That's different than 10 years of social media.

Take a look at the first paragraph again.  It's the perfect mixture of social media headhunting.   (takes a deep breath)

I use a blog carnival to track to a blog to read a story about Facebook and Twitter, which leads me to connect to David on LinkedIn, follow him on Twitter, pick up his Rss feed, and write a blogpost on my own blog which I then announce on Twitter, but only after creating a trackback to the carnival from another blog I use to monitor the mobile marketing space.

If you understand that, I want you as a candidate. If you don't, hire me to find you someone who does.

10 Social Media Interview Questions To Ask Candidates

I had a popular post at brandstorming that listed the types of questions that social media consultants should be asking their clients before taking a new position.  So now it makes sense to put the client hat on and ask questions that should appear in an interview.

Interview Questions:

1) What is the purpose of social media?

2) What tools/sites are you most comfortable with?

3) Name two social media sites/softwares/tools that have no business value.

4) Tell me about a campaign you executed from start to finish. 

5) How do you measure success in social media?  How would you justify it a) internally, or b) to a client?

6) How does social media affect SEO and your online profile?

7) Define the value in targeted traffic versus the value of large numbers of traffic.  Give me examples of how to 1) generate both and 2) when to generate each kind of traffic.

8) What is your policy on moderating comments?  Define transparency.

9) Is it acceptable to pay bloggers or social media types to post information?  Why or Why Not?

10) It's important that a company fully engage in social media to be successful.  Evangelize me, assuming that I know very little about social media, and might even be a little bit hostile to it.  Convince me that I personally should use social media in 2 minutes or less.

The answers for these questions will be varied, and the rightness or wrongness will depend on the client and the background.  If you have your answers, trackback to this blog or let me know and I'll link to them.

Following A Couple Of Hundred People On Twitter

Twitter seems like the ultimate killer app for recruiters.  If a population of people you want to recruit is online, being able to follow them, or have them follow you, is a perfect, non-intrusive way to capture their attention for your jobs.

If it's done right.  I'll try is, and then will add this to my webinars on how to use social media to recruit.  For more on using blogs to recruiting, check out StlRecruiting.com

And if you're here because I followed you, bookmark the page or drop me a line.  I'm a top-notch recruiter who lives and breathes the social media world.