Instant messaging and Recruiting.. is there a synergy?

IM.... I trialled it years ago via Yahoo. added our "corporate IM" address into our ads, inviting people to connect and chat with us this way. My theory being that if it was too hard to call whilst at work, ie physically make a phone call, then people could at least have some kind of conversation.

It didn't really work that well. It was OK, but not the ground breaking HUGE win I was hoping for. Maybe it was too early.. who knows.

Does anyones else use IM in their general recruiting strategy, and if so why or why doesn't it work.

thanks

Dan

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Permalink Reply by Jim Durbin on February 5, 2009 at 7:58am

Dan,

When you're using IM, you have to do it in context with your audience. Is your audience using IM? Are they comfortable chatting with you?

It won't ever be a HUGE Win, but like all the tools, it depends on how you market it. One problem is a lot of people have different clients, so picking one doesn't work as well as picking a unified system like Meebo. Second, you have to catch people who already are on IM, so spending time in groups online matters, which is different than simply leaving a signup on IM.

People have resistance to trying something new - are you driving them to the IM? Are you writing about it on a blog? Do you have a landing page where you describe why IM works and what they can expect?

And once you get them, how do you speak to them? IM has its own language - do you know it?

Just some thoughts. IM works, but only in concert with an overall marketing strategy.

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Permalink Reply by Dan Nuroo on February 5, 2009 at 8:17am

Thanks Jim,

Nice points... I definitely suffered at the time from the assumptions of Gen Ys would be all over it.. at the time got a bit excited and jumped in... too early.. without researching enough. All those points you mentioned, well let's just say, I wish I knew of you 3 years ago when I tried this... all those issues popped up. didn't market it apart from adding it to our adverts. Picked one medium, not something that would cover a few...

My core demographic should be all over this... 20-30 y.o techo's.. so in theory it should be OK. More things to think about though.. would hate to re-launch it in an average manner again.

Thanks again Jim

Dan

Jim Durbin said:

Dan,

When you're using IM, you have to do it in context with your audience. Is your audience using IM? Are they comfortable chatting with you?

It won't ever be a HUGE Win, but like all the tools, it depends on how you market it. One problem is a lot of people have different clients, so picking one doesn't work as well as picking a unified system like Meebo. Second, you have to catch people who already are on IM, so spending time in groups online matters, which is different than simply leaving a signup on IM.

People have resistance to trying something new - are you driving them to the IM? Are you writing about it on a blog? Do you have a landing page where you describe why IM works and what they can expect?

And once you get them, how do you speak to them? IM has its own language - do you know it?

Just some thoughts. IM works, but only in concert with an overall marketing strategy.