4 Google+ Features that Recruiters will LOVE

With all the news about Google+, I'd like to share another great blog post on the topic by iCIMS Blogger, Katie Meeker. Check it out below!

Barely 2 weeks old and the buzz of Google+ has already taken over technology blogs, business sites, and my personal Facebook feed (invites anyone?). According to a recent article in PC World, estimates for the social network’s user base run as high as 5 million (not quite the 200 million of Twitter or 750 million of Facebook, but it’s only been 14 days). I recently received my own invitation and can’t stop reading anything and everything about the new social site. Like its social networking cousins, Google+ has the potential to further revolutionize business – from new marketing and advertising techniques to personalized and quick customer service responses. But what effect will Google+ have on the recruiting world?

We already know the benefits of integrated social recruiting, and smart recruiters have already added automated tools into their campaigns (check out my last post on “Recruiting for the Millennial Generation”). From the basic, firsthand knowledge I have of using Google+, here are my predictions for Google+’s potential game-changing role in the recruiting world:

1. Circles:

According to the Google+ Wikipedia page, “Circles” enable users to organize contacts into groups for sharing, across various Google products and services. This system replaces the typical friend’s list function used by sites such as Facebook. There’s no limit to the number of circles you can have – so recruiters can start separating their business contacts by topic and share highly targeted messages or updates based on the circle.

Potential +1 for Circles: Recruiters (and eventually companies) can share jobs to specific Circles (or subsets) of people (without spamming others). The true value will come when recruiters figure out how to best leverage the search capabilities of Google Profiles and grow out their circles. On the flip side, candidates will need to make sure their profiles are Search Engine Optimized in order to be found by those searching.

2. Sparks:

Much like candidates becoming fans of a Facebook company page or following a corporate twitter account, users can add companies of interest to their Sparks Page for real time updates on the given organization. This automated feature acts as a saved search within the Sparks tab of their platform page.

Potential +1 for Sparks: Instead of organizations asking you to fan or follow, they’ll be soliciting for a spot in your sparks. Depending on how this functionality evolves, users could have saved job searches appear in their Sparks interest page.

3. Huddle:

Not only does Google+ already tout a mobile app, but a BBM-like group chat feature called “Huddle”, for communicating quickly and efficiently with circles via instant messaging.

Potential +1 for Huddle: Already texting applicants? Huddling with them might be the future…

4. Hangouts:
Simply stated, “Hangouts” are a place for multi-person video chatting.

Potential +1 for Hangouts: Forget phone interviews and Skype, Hangouts has the potential to be the new video interviewing platform of choice. With the multi-person functionality you can have a candidate, recruiter and hiring manager in 3 different locations all on the same interview.

While these features might seem like “nice-to-have’s” on your list of recruiting essentials, it’s the convenience of one that sets this site apart. If you’re like me, you’re already using Gmail, Google Reader, Google Searches, and Google Profiles – imagine these features integrating seamlessly with social networking.

Oh, and did I mention that a Google+ Business Edition is slated for later this year. My prediction is that it will pick up where Facebook and LinkedIn company pages left off/fell short. While Google+ is late to the game, they’re able to learn from the mistakes of both their failed projects (Buzz, Wave) and the current contenders.

Comment by Suzanne Levison on July 12, 2011 at 4:25pm: Sounds good. Still new to me..

Comment by Ted Fitter on July 12, 2011 at 5:25pm: Look forward to hearing more about recruiter adoption of Google+

Any thoughts on Instant Upload?

Comment by Katie Meeker on July 13, 2011 at 8:41am: Hi Ted, Thanks for your comment!

I for one am a bit leery about the instant upload feature and have struggled to find a positive use for recruiters. When I downloaded the mobile app I was taken a back when it asked if I would like to automatically upload pictures from my phone to my profile. While the instant upload photos do remain private until you decide to share them, I have zero confidence in myself or others to not mistakenly add unwanted photos to a very public place. Whether you're a candidate, recruiter - or really anyone, accidentally sharing private photos to your network could have some embarrassing consequences.

For anyone with the Google+ mobile app that doesn't want their photo's automatically uploaded, here's how you disable:

Once in the Google+ Android app, select "Settings" within the "Menu" screen and uncheck "Instant Upload." Now you have control of which mobile photos make it to your private Google+ album.

Comment by Tracy R. on July 15, 2011 at 9:24am: I am definitely going to be utilizing this tool. I joined the other day and I immediately noticed the benefits of Google +!

Comment by Skip Stein on July 15, 2011 at 9:39am: So far, I'm not impressed. The ability to group (circles) is nice and competes with Facebook functionality. Still the lack of synchronizing with Gmail contacts and android phones is an issue. The contact management features are still crude as they are in Gmail. Little facility to really maintain information on contacts or attributes (company, location, last contact, etc.).

If I were designing + (which obviously I'm not), I would focus on the ability to maintain and manage contacts by properties, location, and other data. Just dropping a contact into one or more 'circles' really provides little functionality unless you have so many circles/properties/locations that itself becomes untenable.

Long way to go and not much better than Gmail contacts. You can group there too and don't have all the desktop real estate taken up by all the pretty 'circles'.

Just MHO.

Cheers,

Skip Stein

Comment by Renae McCalla-Kay on July 26, 2011 at 4:24am: I guess I'm a little behind the curve on this but how do you get an invite/access to this tool? Is it a free tool?

Comment by Keith Plesha on July 26, 2011 at 11:17am: @Renae: Google+ is in a public beta stage, so you would need to be invited by someone who is all ready on there...much the same way gmail was started...invite only!

I'm not buying in yet. I'm using Google+ much like Facebook, for personal communication and not job related whatsoever. It's really an attempt to blend Facebook and Linkedin in my opinion. I like the two separate since there are no gray areas...Facebook, personal and mainly for friends; Linkedin, professional and mainly for work. I don't like blending my home life with work unnecessarily.

Comment by Renae McCalla-Kay on July 29, 2011 at 8:47am: Thanks guys, just need to get an invite to have a look around and see if it's worth the hype!

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