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?

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Sandra McCartt on October 27, 2010 at 12:28pm

And for the record. We are working with the SVP of Distribution on these positions so for any of you enterprising types who start calling to see if you can get the job order. We have let them know what we are doing so if the calls start coming in from strange recruiters, we will know and we'll give you credit for trying to go around us. :)

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Kathy Thompson on October 27, 2010 at 1:26pm

I can't wait to read what comes next! Thanks for throwing this out there.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Sandra McCartt on October 27, 2010 at 2:12pm

My suspicion is that we will hear the wind whistle as it blows down the empty canyon. My employer is on board and interested to see what surfaces. There has been a lot of buzz around their company about social media recruiting. They ship all over the US, Canada and some international so they are interested to see if it produces anything or if all this social media is just an excuse to play on the net. But who knows, i may be wrong and i will be delighted to say so if somebody can "show me the candidates".

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Maria DiLisio on October 27, 2010 at 4:07pm

Well Sandra, this intrigued me. I thought I'd take a little bit of time working on it and see what happened.

I won't go into specifics here, and I just started, but I've already gotten a call back from a really nice guy that was a bit too senior. He says he knows a couple of people at the right career level, in the right location that are looking, and will forward them my contact information. I also have an Ops Manager's cell phone number that I will call soon too. Both through classic social media - honest!

Not a bad start for about 20 minutes of time! Of course it's way too soon to tell if this will be successful, but I'll keep you posted and forward you what I get that seems like a fit.

Wish me luck!
Maria (not just whistling...)

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Sandra McCartt on October 27, 2010 at 4:16pm

Way to go girl!!! What do you mean by classic social media? You are right not a bad start. I am almost as interested in the process and the tools used as i am in the filling of the positions. I of course want to fill the positions but if i need to learn social recruiting processes, i'm up for that too.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Maria DiLisio on October 27, 2010 at 4:41pm

By classic social media I mean getting on a site such as LinkedIn, or Facebook and contacting people. :) I'd be happy to let you know what I did process-wise. I'm by no means a power user, but just do the basic searching and add in some Sherlock Holmes'esque investigation tactics to take me steps further. I'm currently in research mode to learn more about Boolean, plug-ins, and search engines. I'm planning to write a blog entry about all that (stay tuned). There is sooo much out there, it boggles the mind.

Sandra McCartt said:

Way to go girl!!! What do you mean by classic social media? You are right not a bad start. I am almost as interested in the process and the tools used as i am in the filling of the positions. I of course want to fill the positions but if i need to learn social recruiting processes, i'm up for that too.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jerry Albright on October 27, 2010 at 4:58pm

Would you split the fee with me if I found someone without using Social Media? Like - if I met someone at the mall tonight wearing a name tag that said "Jim - Staff Level Operations Manager - Wholesale Distribution - Looking for a job in the Lawrenceville, Georgia area".....

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Sandra McCartt on October 27, 2010 at 5:01pm

You bet your bippy i would. But you have to provide the name tag to make sure it's social media or an alternative.

Jerry Albright said:

Would you split the fee with me if I found someone without using Social Media? Like - if I met someone at the mall tonight wearing a name tag that said "Jim - Staff Level Operations Manager - Wholesale Distribution - Looking for a job in the Lawrenceville, Georgia area".....

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Sandra McCartt on October 27, 2010 at 5:16pm

I really meant things like linkedin (i have run that trap but sure may have missed one or two, also posted in linkedin group.) or twitter or facebook. Job has been tweeted and mentioned on facebook but not strong search on either of those.

Maria DiLisio said:

By classic social media I mean getting on a site such as LinkedIn, or Facebook and contacting people. :) I'd be happy to let you know what I did process-wise. I'm by no means a power user, but just do the basic searching and add in some Sherlock Holmes'esque investigation tactics to take me steps further. I'm currently in research mode to learn more about Boolean, plug-ins, and search engines. I'm planning to write a blog entry about all that (stay tuned). There is sooo much out there, it boggles the mind.

Sandra McCartt said:
Way to go girl!!! What do you mean by classic social media? You are right not a bad start. I am almost as interested in the process and the tools used as i am in the filling of the positions. I of course want to fill the positions but if i need to learn social recruiting processes, i'm up for that too.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Peter Ceccarelli on October 27, 2010 at 6:14pm

Sandra McCartt said:

I really meant things like linkedin (i have run that trap but sure may have missed one or two, also posted in linkedin group.) or twitter or facebook. Job has been tweeted and mentioned on facebook but not strong search on either of those.

Maria DiLisio said:
By classic social media I mean getting on a site such as LinkedIn, or Facebook and contacting people. :) I'd be happy to let you know what I did process-wise. I'm by no means a power user, but just do the basic searching and add in some Sherlock Holmes'esque investigation tactics to take me steps further. I'm currently in research mode to learn more about Boolean, plug-ins, and search engines. I'm planning to write a blog entry about all that (stay tuned). There is sooo much out there, it boggles the mind.

Sandra McCartt said:
Way to go girl!!! What do you mean by classic social media? You are right not a bad start. I am almost as interested in the process and the tools used as i am in the filling of the positions. I of course want to fill the positions but if i need to learn social recruiting processes, i'm up for that too.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Peter Ceccarelli on October 27, 2010 at 6:15pm

Keep us ALL posted. I can't wait to hear about the results. If SM is worth its weight, you should have it filled by next Wednesday!!!!!!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Sandra McCartt on October 27, 2010 at 7:41pm

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.