My most recent inspiration comes from Mr. Scott's most recent entry on his blog, WebInkNow. "Lindsey shows how to market to millennials and how to get a first job" lets us look at social media recruiting strategy from the candidate's perspective and, even more specifically, from the perspective of millennials who might be seeking their first job or looking to transition into their second job since receiving their undergraduate degree.
In this post, Mr. Scott showcases one young woman's mastery over her personal and professional brand. Take a minute to read it and consider the advice that Mr. Scott gives to Ms. Kirchoff, a Tufts University senior, in the accompanying video.
While the particular tactics that Ms. Kirchoff is using might not be suited for every profession, the essence of what she is managing is essential for any would-be candidate that is eager to capitalize on unknown opportunities. Consider the following:
- It is a recruiter's job to find well-qualified candidates.
- The job of recruiting is a constant exercise in pipelining candidates that fit the current talent demands.
- Good recruiters are employing an aggressive social media recruiting strategy to expand their reach into targeted talent communities.
- Exceptional recruiters are leveraging outreach not just to pipeline "nice fit" candidates to satisfy submittal metrics. They are engaging with the community in order to develop a trusted network that they participate in and that they can assist by finding them opportunities across the entire ecosystem, not just within their organization.
- The speed with which the exceptional is being demanded as the status quo is accelerating.
This adds up to one thing. If you want to work for the best, you need to do two things. One: Care and manage your online professional identity. And two: Make it easy for exceptional recruiters to find you and engage you in your effort to identify opportunities.
I recently participated in a Philadelphia Inquirer article about the difficulty that new graduates face in current economic times. In a climate with unemployment of more than 8 percent, employers can be a little more choosy about who they employ, and they can get a lot more for their money by hiring someone with a handful of years of experience. Millennials must keep this in mind and do everything they can to communicate their abilities to the recruiters that are looking for them.
