Why Social Recruiting needs to fail

I was going through some old folders on my laptop the other day and I happened to come across my very first digital recruitment media plan which I wrote for a client way back in 1999. Even though a lot has
happened in the last 11 years I still remember this particular project
fondly. This might seem quite strange when I tell you that it was an
abject failure from both mine and the client's point of view!

The client needed to recruit four permanent software engineers and was keen to try something a bit different. The Internet seemed the perfect solution and we enthusiastically recommended a campaign
microsite and online "traffic driving campaign". After five weeks the
client had received two applications both of which were unsuitable.

Once everyone had got past the initial and somewhat hysterical "the internet doesn't work" reaction, we were able to unpick what had gone wrong with the campaign. Rather than give up on digital the client
worked with us to adapt the site and the media plan. After some
considerable effort and a bit more trial and error, results improved
and some (but not all) of the roles were filled. However more
importantly the learnings the client took from these early mistakes
went on to form the backbone of their overall online recruitment
strategy. A strategy which was to save them hundred's of thousands of
pounds over the next few years.

The reason we persevered, despite a very disappointing start, was because everyone involved realised that enormous growth of the Internet was going to change everything and the client wanted to be surfing this
wave of change.

The current situation with social recruiting is very similar. The uptake and growth of social media is off the scale but there are currently very few good case studies to show us exactly how it will
work for recruitment. I'm hoping the reason for this is that there is
more failure out there than there is success at the moment. Only by
failing a few times do you get the chance to create and refine a
strategy for long term success. Many will give up after the first set
back, history is telling us that those who stick with it may well be
reaping the benefits for years to come

Comment by Alasdair Murray on March 11, 2010 at 10:46am: To be fair though, Edison was trying to invent something, not recruit staff. I imagine he'd have struggled pre inventing the phonograph, motion picture camera, and long-lasting, practical electric light bulb, and been inundated post.

Comment by Travis Furlow on March 11, 2010 at 10:59am: Matt, I really enjoyed the post! I wanted to throw this comment out and see how others felt... our team is working through a "re-branding" and the marketing/PR consultants we have engaged brought up a great point; social media (from a recruiting perspective and a business development perspective) have enabled droves of people to access the "foot in the door", but if we (as professionals) don't engage, follow up, build relationships and deal with people as people, then we are going to be at a loss.

Again, very thought provoking post...I'll look forward to reading more. Travis

Comment by Kent Sims on March 16, 2010 at 2:24pm: I think 1 of the top "failures" that recruiters will run into when trying to utilize SM as their primary tool for recruiting is that it can not ONLY be used for recruiting. In my opinion...a recruiter must use social media tools for personal and professional reasons in order to accomplish several goals. Most of all it is vital to gain credibility among your peers you are connected to within these SM tools. If you don't have a credible network that wants to hear what you have to say - you are destined for failure. On the other hand, if you have a network of peers and professionals that knows you are a "go to" guy (or gal) for things in your industry...they will not only respond when you reach out to them, but they too will begin to reach out to you when they have a need.