WEB 2.0 AND RECRUITING

If you have never used Facebook you might be surprised at the number and size companies using it to run ads and recruit employees.  Here is a partial list of Companies using Facebook as a recruiting tool:

1.  Coca Cola (3,718,991 members)

2.  IBM (17,454 members)

3.  NASA (18,530 members)

4.  University of Alabama (16,142 members)

5.  The Central Intelligence Agency (762 fans)

6.  The National Security Agency (2,233 members)

7.  Ernst & Young accounting firm

8.  San Diego State University

9.  The Charleston Police

10. Alexian Brothers Catholic Monks

11. Troy-based Diversified Industrial Staffing Inc.

12. US Cellular

13. International law firm, Allen and Overy

14. John Holland Construction Company


This is just a small list of companies.  You can literally find thousands of companies on Facebook.  Did you notice how many members or followers there are for some of these companies? Yes, there are over 3.7 million members of the Coca Cola site.  While I don't necessarily think you should do something just because everyone else is doing it, it's hard to ignore these numbers.

Marty Brack
E-mail: mdbrack@crimson.ua.edu
Cell: 205-837-4098

I often see postings on FaceBook that say something to the effect, “Facebook is so addictive.” Have you ever thought that or wondered why that is?

I think one reason that FaceBook is addictive is that people are social by nature and we are curious about other people’s lives. We wonder how life has unfolded for old friends we haven’t seen in a long time. We are curious to know if the high school prom queen still looks as good today as she did 30 years ago, or if the star high school quarterback turned out to be a success or a bust off the field.

When we dig into the profiles of people from yesteryear it is fascinating to see what has happened to their lives. We want to know who went to college, where they went to school, and what they majored in. It is interesting to see who got married and had kids at an early age or who might still be single. We are curious what they look like and are amazed that the ugly duckling from elementary school turned out to be quite beautiful with time. We have to chuckle when we see that the most popular guy on campus is now bald and way overweight. Life certainly throws some punches and it is interesting to see how our friends handle them.

I remember a guy named Tony who was a shy, skinny kid who toted a calculator around in high school. Tony now has a PhD in Physics and is a professor at a distinguished university in California. I remember another Tony who was in the band. He grew up down the street in the modest, blue collar neighborhood with me. After connecting with him on Facebook I discovered he had an MBA from Harvard and was the president of a company in Dallas. Wow. I never would have dreamed anyone from my neighbor would accomplish so much.

Facebook is truly interesting to explore.

Marty Brack
E-mail: mdbrack@crimson.ua.edu
Cell: 205-837-4098

Our IT Department really doesn’t like to give free reign to the internet. Their main concern is to protect our network from viruses and hackers who want to steal or damage our intellectual property. In addition, our Company is concerned about employee productivity. If employees sit around at work connecting with each other on a social network site, then they can’t be doing anything productive, right? These concerns are legitimate and need to be addressed so that you can effectively recruit using web 2.0 tools.

In an attempt to control the risks, our company like many others, forbids access to Facebook and other social networking sites. If you are going to post ads and recruit candidates on Facebook then you will have to explain to your IT Department what you are trying to do. My suggestion is to talk with your IT Department about what you want to do. Involve them up front. You might want to involve your IT department in designing the ad and ask for their assistance in posting it. If they are involved on the front end you will have less worry about explaining what you are doing later on. Also, as you see positive results from this recruiting channel, publish reports to management on your success. When your local management sees that you really are producing good candidates through social networking sites, they will be less likely to question your activities in the future.

Marty Brack
E-mail: mdbrack@crimson.ua.edu
Cell: 205-837-4098