It appears New Zealand and Australia are leading the way when it comes to one area of social recruiting.  Working with Deloitte New Zealand, we adopted an approach used by celebrities and politicians and applied this to a graduate recruitment context. About 15 months ago we ran our first interactive live streaming video show on our Facebook page. At the time Livestream's unofficial Facebook application was very buggy, so we applied to Ustream and Facebook to embed their application. Over the course of 2010 we ran about 12 live shows in various formats and won some lovely silverware and write-ups for our pioneering attempts to be more "social" in how we engaged with our student community. 

Fast forward to 2011. Lion Nathan National Foods Australia, Ernst and Young Australia and New Zealand, and Deloitte Australia have all launched using the official Livestream Facebook app, which is surprisingly quick to set up and has some nice sharing and community-related features to it. 

I've enjoyed tracking how these employers are experimenting with the technology. It looks like some are trying to be very slick in their production, possibly to the point where it could diminish the level of authenticity and approachability. 

There's been an interesting development within the past week. In light of the recent earthquakes in Christchurch and the postponement of the careers fairs at Lincoln University and the University of Canterbury, GradConnection NZ has put together an awesome initiative.  Using live-streaming, Christchurch students will get the opportunity to watch and chat live with a variety of NZ employers and industry associations (eg  WHK, Westpac, BDO, Audit NZ, PwC, BNZ, KPMG, Ernst & Young, Telecom, Staples Rodway, ANZ, Deloitte, NZICA). GradAID NZ will take place on Facebook on March 24 and 25. There are already virtual career expos out there, but I believe it makes sense embedding a show on the Facebook platform, especially as that's where are a lot of students are. Possibly this hosted foray into live streaming will be the confidence spark for many of the participating employers to roll out their own live streaming initiatives.

This year Deloitte NZ has evolved the live streaming initiative. We've run a couple of live shows where students can hear from career experts, and young leaders and entrepreneurial people. We've shifted the focus from a purely employee branding strategy to one where students can emotionally connect at a broader level with Deloitte's values. 

Before I go, I want to mention that UK-based Bill Boorman is doing some fantastic work with Hard Rock Cafe, and has introduced live streaming to Hard Rock Cafe Firenze (Florence) and their Facebook page. I look forward to seeing their "...live video chats and Q&A sessions with our guests, fans and applicants via Livestream on Facebook..."

If I've missed any other social recruiting examples of live streaming then please let me know.