Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by lopamudra on May 22, 2008 at 7:52am

Benefits of Blogging:
Blogging is a creative way of recruitment which used effectively can generate many results.
It provides new ways and means of searching, new technologies, faster connection.
We can easily network with candidates, post adverts etc.
It is free portal which helps us searching candidates across worldwide and be in constant touch with them
E Recruitment is a in thing now and everybody is going net savvy so anybody and everybody can be approached. Hence blogging proves as one of the tools for recruiters to connect with the prospect.
Eg: In Second Life, it is a virtual game played whereas it is a most effective methods used by few recruiters to source candidates, chat with them and interview them.

Permalink Reply by Jennifer Porter on May 22, 2008 at 10:13am

The answer is "buzz." For many years, "buzz" ( the abbreviation for "buzz marketing") was something that took place in a tangible sense. For example, one person telling another about a great restaurant. Or the Wall Street Journal mentioning a great product or service. Blogging has brought the concept of buzz to a virtual level.

If our team posts a blog about the importance of internships, and takes the time to discuss the benefits for employers and students, that blog posting will come up in many search results that include keywords like "internships," "employer," "experience," etc. The more blog postings, the more we appear in search results. This ultimately leads to more clicks which pushes the aforementioned results higher. Again, creating buzz for your service and driving people to you.

We recently received a large volume of inquiries and new clients because of a blog posting. One of our team members posted a blog on a legal forum in a specific geographic area. Within 24-48 hours we had "buzz" among law firms and legal recruiters. This happened for 2 reasons: 1) Our blog (and company) came up in search results that extrapolated keywords from this posting. Various firms & recruiters read about us and gave us a try. 2) These organizations were satisfied with our service and posted our information somewhere else (i.e. their blog) as a great resource for legal recruiting. As you can see, this further supports the virtual buzz concept.

One needs to be careful however. Bad buzz (or in this case, negative blog postings) can hurt an organization as well. To avoid bad buzz, provide the services you promise. Provide the best customer service. No different than a food critic reviewing a restaurant.

Jennifer

Permalink Reply by Joshua Letourneau on May 22, 2008 at 11:16am

Blogging can help a recruiter in their business through the following ways:

1. Increase Recruiter Visibility (Search Engines Love Blogs)
2. Humanize the Recruiter (or ‘Career Partner’)
3. Warm up the Relationship as Blogs are Personal
4. Establish Legitimacy & Authority
5. Show that the Recruiter Cares Enough About their Personal & Professional Brand to Make This Type of Sustained Effort
6. Blogs Convey A Distinct Openness
7. Blogs are Interactive (Comments)
8. People Love to be “Informed” Rather Than “Sold”
9. Allow for more continuous brand impressions (i.e. what used to be known as a ‘Multi-drip’)
10. Blogs are a natural continuation of a 'Micro-Blog' or 'Tweet' - they make a natural and easy to implement landing page (did I also mension 'measurable' through built-in Blog controls?)

Great Recruiters always tell candidates to research the recruiter who calls them, and one of the easiest ways to do this is through a Google search on their name . . . which often leads to a blog as one of the top 3 responses.

Furthermore, a growing number of candidates and clients are so bombarded with recruiting calls that there are not receptive until they know more about us and what we stand for – a blog is a great place to start. Also consider the inherent level of candidate hesitance that accompanies a recessionary period - in a down economy, you have to work harder to build trust . . . and rightfully so.

*** In an initial email to candidates and clients, it’s easy to say, “I imagine you would like to get to know a little more about me before we connect – feel free to Google me or check out my blog below.” 99% of my calls today involve a discussion on one of my blog posts, which is a great way to build rapport!

In my estimation, blogging is no longer a question - it's merely a parity point. We can't afford to not do it! :)

Joshua Letourneau
Mg Director, SSF (Strategic Sourcing Framework)
LG & Assoc Search / Talent Strategy
BLOG: www.lgexec.typepad.com

Permalink Reply by Slouch on May 22, 2008 at 11:17am

I think I need to make a video on this.

Permalink Reply by Arthur Jones on May 22, 2008 at 5:10pm

Blogging enables you to create your Personal Brand, Share Knowledge, Develop Buzz and of course attract clients and candidates to your web pages.

Permalink Reply by Dave Staats on May 28, 2008 at 8:33am

Well...there's plenty of time left ...I'll be interested to see if anyone can find something Joshua might have missed. Which is not necessarily to say that he did...

Permalink Reply by RecruiterGuy on June 12, 2008 at 6:44pm

Exceptional, Josh. Simply great.
Thanks for the post!

Permalink Reply by Achyut Menon on June 15, 2008 at 9:35am

Joshua

I cannot but agree with you. As a niche recruiter, I have been blogging for about 18 months-and yes, it has benefitted me in almost all the points mentioned by you.

--the google-ability thanks to blogging and the linked in profile- has significantly contributed to an increasing readership, better quality of passive candidates seeking more inputs from me.

-- has also attracted interest of international recruiters and prospective clients-and so I have been working on significantly superior assignments.

-Most importantly, it has also an interesting by product- increased professional fees and some exclusive retained search assignments in the last 8-9 months.

Last but not the least, it has improved my reading -kept me abreast !!

Achyut
http://www.optionsindia.com