Social Media Recruiting Works? Prove It.

I am working on two searches that have turned out to be somewhat of a purple squirrel and shouldn't be..I thought. Having advertised the positions, direct called, asked for personal referrals etc. etc. Still no viable candidates that are of interest to my client. Now, they have changed the job requirements mid search which caused some whiplash. But here's my thought. To all you who believe that social media recruiting is the holy grail..show me the candidates. If you can find candidates for these two positions using only social media, no posting ads, no direct calls, if you have one in the data base he/she has to be the result of social media recruiting, i'll split with you.

These will not make you rich, but on the surface they won't seem to be that difficult so if you want to give it a try, let's see if your medicine works. If it works we'll post about how you did it and give you the opportunity to show us how you did it.

Here's the job description:

Position: Staff Level Operations Manager - Wholesale Distribution

Location: Atlanta, Georgia - Here's the catch. Must be within 20 minutes commute time from the Lawrenceville, Georgia area. Prefer not to relo.

Salary Range: 50 to 60K. No bonus potential. 401K, Medical insurance effective after 90 days and expensive for family coverage first year. Fee is 20% of base, split paid upon receipt of check from company. 90 day replacement guarantee.

Deg. Supply Chain Management, Logistics, Business with supply chain management or other four year degree with Supply Chain/wholesale distribution experience..

Functional Responsibility: Supervise a team of 20 -25 hourly associates in a fast paced , automated pick, pack ship environment. Flexible for second shift or weekend shift work. Position is one of 12 Ops Managers at this level reporting to the AGM and GM. Experience with SAP, Red Prairie, High Jump or Manhattan WMS PkMS.

What the client wants. Min. of 3-4 years management experience in the wholesale distribution warehouse facility of any of the big box DC's ie; Target, K-Mart, Toys R. Us, Best Buy, etc. Can not consider candidates coming directily from Wal Mart distribution. Manufacturing background not a fit.

Retail not a fit. Stable job record. Heavy on the stable job record. Good reasons for change.

If you can find candidates using social media only i will be impressed. Questions, comments, my email address is prosearch@suddenlinkmail.com. Or post it here. We have looked at a lot of candidates for these positions. If we already have them from ads or direct recruiting will let you know immediately. I want to see if social media is really a tool that will produce candidates who are not findable using other recruiting processes. Wanna play?

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by pam claughton on October 28, 2010 at 4:57am

It's funny but I don't really think of LinkedIn as 'social media' recruiting, though maybe it is. I view LinkedIn as a great tool for name generation, to make a list of people to call and recruit/ask for referrals.

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Permalink Reply by C. B. Stalling!! on October 28, 2010 at 9:47am

Good Luck

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Permalink Reply by Naomi on October 28, 2010 at 10:41am

Sandra McCartt said:

Right Peter,
If social media recruiting is going to replace all third party recruiters so we can RIP and won't be missed i darn well want to know how i am going to die so i can have time to write my last will and testament. Or keeping an open mind i want to know how to avert my untimely death. :)

Only one player so far. What happened to all these bloggers raving about talent communities and SM as the end all to be all. Where are you kids? Not only can you prove you are right, i'll pay you to do it. Hello, hello. Third party recruiter to all those gurus of social media talking about how easy it is to find those hidden candidates.

Sandra,
I love your sense of humor! :)

Personally, in my searches, I've found LinkedIn users respond too slowly. I've used it as more of a pipeline builder, keeping in touch w/ people I like, for candidates that I could place multiple times/places, & for positions that I saw constantly. Posting jobs on LinkedIn also takes a long time to get a response. When I say "long," I mean in weeks. I was recruiting for contractors, so my turnaround time had to be in hours.

I did have some success joining Groups on LinkedIn, i.e. a Linux group if I was looking for a Linux Developer. Once you're in a group, you can reach out to the group members via LinkedIn messaging. But again, you need to have the time available to wait for responses to come in. Not everyone stays on top of their LinkedIn account like they do for email. :)

Good luck!!

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Permalink Reply by Sandra McCartt on October 28, 2010 at 11:00am

Hi Pam, i feel the same way about Linkedin, wasn't what i had in mind but i would have to agree that for purposes of this exercise it would have to be considered as hybrid social media.

CB - Thanks, hope springs. :)

Naomi - I like the linked in groups also. Most of my searches are not as time sensitive as they are specialized and more difficult to locate. I am finding fewer candidates as the number of recruiters increases. People are telling me that they have taken profiles down due to the number of recruiters tracking them down and calling. I have had some pretty fast turn around on linkedin and some who never respond. You are correct many are out of date. I think it is almost becoming a job board. Thanks for the input. Without humor i would really be a fussy old broad. :)

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Permalink Reply by Barbara Goldman on October 28, 2010 at 12:43pm

I am trying hard to 'get with it' as far as social media goes. As far as I'm concerned, anyone who follows me on twitter is a loser. Should be working, and I have nothing interesting to say.

Also, anyone who is reaching me on facebook is also wasting time.

I think that social media probably works for some types of recruiting, but not what we do. Our clients pay fees, if they can find the people on their own through social media, then I don't want to be involved.

The internet has confused people. It seems so simple, out of the millions of people on the internet, it seems that this should work.

I place executives, scientists, and pharmacists. Few execs I know are hanging out on Facebook, or following someone's tweets. The great people are busy working, not networking. I take that back, EMPLOYED executives and scientists aren't hanging at social networking. But, gosh, my clients won't hire unemployed people.

Good luck with your search, you are right, on the surface, it looks easy. But it isn't. That's why they need us, and not another webpage, or tweet.

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Permalink Reply by Sandra McCartt on October 28, 2010 at 1:06pm

We have an interview! This is a scream. Maria sent me a candidate last night. On first read i turned him down. He is in retail not wholesale. His current salary is almost 10K over the range. He doens't have any of the technology they have asked for on this position. His resume is functional with no dates or companies. He sent a link to a video presentation. After turning him down i watched the video. not once but about three times. Decided that since my client is wondering about SM etc i would do a take away presentation. I sent the link to the page with the video and a profile, no resume. My presentation was. This candidate is not a fit for what you are looking for he is asking X, he is in retail ops management not wholesale. His background is not what we want on these positions but i wanted you to see a pretty impressive candidate presentation.

I expected a "looks like an impressive candidate but not a fit for our position or what we can pay" response.

The email from my hiring manager said, "I'll bite, how about i talk to him on Monday at 4:00".

Ok now i get to eat a little crow. I have been a voice against video presentations. I am a stickler about candidates fitting as closely as possible the job requirements. There was something about this candidate in the video that compelled me to send it to my hiring manager. With a take away presentation.

We are a long way from this working but this is a linked in candidate with a functional resume and a video presentation that at least got him the phone interview. We may end up right back at not the right background and too much money but we got a phone interview. Stay tuned.

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Permalink Reply by Sandra McCartt on October 28, 2010 at 1:08pm

Barbara, i tend to agree with you but based on this little happening i am going to give some of this a second look.

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Permalink Reply by Maria DiLisio on October 28, 2010 at 2:46pm

I'm always trying to get my hiring managers to "see the big picture", or look at cross over skills, etc. It's a testament to Sandra's experience and intuition that she went out on a limb, seeing something in a candidate beyond the base job requirements, and presenting him. Combined with an open mind on her hiring manager's part - who knows? It might just work. This is a good example of what recruiters bring to the table - that human element.

Sandra McCartt said:

We have an interview! This is a scream. Maria sent me a candidate last night. On first read i turned him down. He is in retail not wholesale. His current salary is almost 10K over the range. He doens't have any of the technology they have asked for on this position. His resume is functional with no dates or companies. He sent a link to a video presentation. After turning him down i watched the video. not once but about three times. Decided that since my client is wondering about SM etc i would do a take away presentation. I sent the link to the page with the video and a profile, no resume. My presentation was. This candidate is not a fit for what you are looking for he is asking X, he is in retail ops management not wholesale. His background is not what we want on these positions but i wanted you to see a pretty impressive candidate presentation.

I expected a "looks like an impressive candidate but not a fit for our position or what we can pay" response.

The email from my hiring manager said, "I'll bite, how about i talk to him on Monday at 4:00".

Ok now i get to eat a little crow. I have been a voice against video presentations. I am a stickler about candidates fitting as closely as possible the job requirements. There was something about this candidate in the video that compelled me to send it to my hiring manager. With a take away presentation.

We are a long way from this working but this is a linked in candidate with a functional resume and a video presentation that at least got him the phone interview. We may end up right back at not the right background and too much money but we got a phone interview. Stay tuned.

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Permalink Reply by Karie D'Amico on October 28, 2010 at 3:14pm

I agree about LinkedIn going a little slow and I'm guilty of not always keeping up on my messages there either. However, I have found passive candidates there and directed some traffic to our website or postings so for now, I will stick with my supplemental strategy when it comes to LinkedIn.

Sandra - This experiment is really interesting! And I also wonder where all the social media guru's are now...I, too, wonder if this is something I should be putting more effort into, i.e. actually using my Twitter account...so far the feedback only confirms to me that LinkedIn is useful.
Keep us posted on that interview!

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Permalink Reply by Paul Alfred on October 28, 2010 at 7:20pm

Damn Sandra ... I missed this ...Id love to have taken a shot at this - But time is a Killer for me now ... Id say this LinkedIn is better for other types of roles ...

This would be part of my approach to this challenge if I had the time ... You have provided some help though- by providing other potential companies to recruit from ie: Target, K-Mart to recruit from ... Next move List those companies on linkedIn then hit all the folks in wholesale distribution including folks who have viewed similar folks outside of Walmart ... As well as other not so popular competitors ...

Now its a straight phone job (Not using headhunting techniques) - Hit every one for a referral directly if you have a paid linkedin account or large network not paid linkedIn account .. Add everyone to your network on linkedIn who you have spoken to qualified or not in Wholesale distribution and walla you have increased your network in that area re -work the network.... The key in the end is how many professionals with those folks exist on linkedIn( and how big is your personal network) and at some point you have to ride Linkedin to the deadend of say a VP or director of xDept then work backwards offline ( traditionally )to get/work his/her team or have him/her recommend someone) ... By asking for a recommendation it forces " I am interested or I know someone ..." If they look like they qualify pitch directly"

Challenge is always going to be how many people in the work/Live location exist on LinkedIn....

Knowing Sandra its probably already filled ... :-)

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Permalink Reply by Sandra McCartt on October 28, 2010 at 9:14pm

Trust me Paul it' is not filled. There are two positions open that i have been working on for three weeks and have hit the wall. I love this hiring manager, he is a class act so i have abandoned several other searches with salary ranges about three times this high to fill these spots. I have recruited for this company for 30 years so this is not the time to blow it.

thanks for the Linkedin tips. Actually i have done a bunch of what you suggested but not as focused as you have suggested. My little partner here seems to be running the traps hard. Paul , you and your time commitments. Where are you when i need all your sexy search skills? :) We are to the phone stage. It's a tag team match at this point.

Anyone who thinks twitter is an answer care to give this a whirl and report back.

Calling all twitteratti, calling all talent community gurus,

Maybe we need to really define what Social Media is anyway. What is social media, is it splits on RBC, is this not social media, what other than Linkedin (which some of us seem to feel is sorta not what the gurus mean when they talke social media) do you consider social media?

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Permalink Reply by Sandra McCartt on October 28, 2010 at 9:17pm

Karie,
If you can make twitter work for recruiting there are thousands of us who want to know how. :)

So far it's linkedin only. Thanks for joining the discussion. I think it's interesting too. Desperation breeds desperate measures. :)