Recruiting on MySpace: Things to Think On

Q: What is your opinion on sourcing from MySpace.

A: Mixed in general but overall...any responsible recruiter is going to at least attempt to use this vast resource for sourcing new candidates. There are over 100 million people on MySpace, versus about 40 million on ZoomInfo and about 25 million on LinkedIn. Many people view MySpace as a place where very young people hang out, which is very true but most don't realize the average age of the users is 35, so many users are in the 30s, 40s, and 50s. One of the issues is that people are on here for fun, not to be recruited, so...there is often information in these profiles that as recruiters we are taught from day one to ignore. Age, sexual orientation, race...it's all there. Another issue is that so many of the users tell so much about themselves...often too much...including details on drug and alcohol use/abuse, and sexual exploits. You simply have to weed through these. One more...another big problem is that many of the profiles do not have the persons name on there, or any contact information. But...often searching for skills on here yields hundreds of results, many of which you are not going to find on other sources.

Having said all that, searching on MySpace is easy. They have a rudimentary profile search interface where you can search for specific skills and job functions and the good part is they also have a selectable geography feature. You can also use the SITE search method to search the profile database by going into Google or one of the other search engines and typing in:

site:www.myspace.com java programmer

This search will get you many profiles with the keyword java on there. Once you have your results the first thing I do is review the page for contact information. There might be external links for email addresses, personal homepages, blogs, etc. On most pages down near the bottom they also often state where they work. If all else fails MySpace offers users internal communications capability via email and instant messaging. You have to be a member and be logged in to use these features but it is free to join.

Perfect...no. Potentially productive...absolutely. Next time you really need a candidate give it a try.

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Permalink Reply by Jim Canto on August 19, 2008 at 10:58am

ok.. one... the "WEED through these" was pretty funny.. in context. LOL... thanks for the laugh.

Also... I had no idea about the SITE search function in Google. Very cool. Thanks!!!!

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Permalink Reply by Irina Shamaeva on August 25, 2008 at 1:37pm

Mark,

Thanks for the post. I agree that scanning sites like Myspace for profiles is a good idea.
To add some specific information to the example in your post, if you run the Google search

site:www.myspace.com java (programmer OR engineer OR developer)

you will get about 465 entries, out of which 22 have either a phone number or an email (there are some duplicates). Collecting this info by clicking on the results is hard work. The good news is, it can be automated. Here is my blog post (from last night) on how to do this. Let me know what you think.

http://thetalentbuzz.com/2008/08/i-disagree-with-donato-diorio

Irina Shamaeva,
Partner,
Brain Gain Recruiting http://www.braingainrecruiting.com
irina@braingainrecruiting.com
office (510) 233-9493
cell (415) 699-9841
View my profile http://www.linkedin.com/in/irinashamaeva

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Permalink Reply by www.GetNoticedFirst.com on August 25, 2008 at 1:42pm

You find all types of people on Myspace. I use it to spread the word on my site: www.getnoticedfirst.com.

We created a custom myspace page for our site as well: www.myspace.com/getnoticedfirst

The trick is sorting through the mess to find good candidates. I've found that by adding friends and posting bulletins, you may get a response.

The main issue is that Myspace users usually only reply to people they know.

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Permalink Reply by Mark E. Berger on August 25, 2008 at 2:14pm

Hi All:

Irina brings up a good point. There are tools available that can go through hundreds of results in just a couple minutes and locate all the MySpace users that have an email address or phone number. But...these tools have a cost associated with them, however, your return on investment is usually pretty good.

Also, GetNoticedFirst mentions customizing your MySpace page. Yes...yes...yes... Here is yet another free resource to promote yourself or your company. Certainly your knowledge and services. I would surely recommend that once you create your page to take a few minutes and customize it to reflect your capabilities.

Thanks to all for your comments. They are noted and appreciated.

Mark