#HireFriday: Starting a Movement

You're out there. You know who you are.

You feel guilty.

Because your recruiting process sucks.

Your company -- you -- treat jobseekers and candidates poorly.

You are a recruiter. An HR Manager. An ATS or job board vendor.

A handful of good folks on Twitter have started a grass roots movement. It's called #HireFriday. The idea is that on Fridays, the recruiting community takes action to help jobseekers.

You (like me) might be tempted to simply post an open job with the hashtag #HireFriday on Twitter. But we're asking more of you.

We're asking that you connect with an individual jobseeker and point that person in the right direction. You can do this on Twitter, or onFacebook or LinkedIn. Maybe there is a candidate languishing in your inbox or ATS. On #HireFriday, take action to help a person with their job search. Deliver the bad news, if you must, but tell your candidates where they stand. Remove expired job postings from your website. Offer resume coaching. Share a helpful article. Find Margo Rose on Twitter or her blog -- she has plenty of ideas. She is the brainchild.

Over the past few weeks, I have talked to jobseekers about using social media. And while they're all very interested in how to pimp out a LinkedIn profile, or connect on Twitter, they're more interested in why they're treated so poorly. Hundreds of resumes submitted and not one response. Silence after interviews. Filled positions still accepting resumes. Job boards that sell their contact info to spammers and marginal third-party services.

They're angry.

It's not all our fault. The interwebs delivered way more candidates than we could handle. One recruiter with 35 reqs and 20 hiring managers isn't unusual. But we own fixing the problem.

Let's start small. #HireFriday

Comment by Margo Rose on May 19, 2010 at 7:47am: Thanks so much for your support. When I started HireFriday in the beginning of March, I had no idea it would take off. With people like you in my corner, it is sure to become a hit here and around the world. @Cathyrecruit started HireFriday in the UK, and @LauraVezer launched it in Canada. I'm so grateful for your willingness to help. Your post is incredible.

Hugs and well wishes,

Margo

Comment by William G Morgan on May 19, 2010 at 3:18pm: That is a great idea #HireFriday. I never wait until fridy to do this and do this routinely but that's 52 people you've helped in a year now multiply that by the number of recruiters. Imagine the impact.

Comment by Margo Rose on May 19, 2010 at 5:30pm: I'd sure appreciate your help, please feel free to volunteer and give us a hand getting the word out.

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