It's simple. It doesn't matter who you are, you will need to become familiar with, and actively engage and grow, your Google+ community. Lucky for you, you've probably already been through this process before with Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, so you shouldn't have too much trouble creating a strategy for your professional network/talent community in this new forum, right?
Right. For the most part. Here is a small guide to Google+ for those involved in the professional staffing services ecosystem -- job seekers, professional networkers, and employers.
Once you get the invite, decide how you will organize your circles. What are circles, you ask? Google+ Circles are a way for you to organize your contacts, privacy, and sharing. It comes with a set of default circle names, but you can create personalized circles as well. Think of them as folders to organize your connections by group. And none of your contacts will be able to see which circle they are in or what circles you have created.
- For job seekers/professional networkers: A good way to keep your professional network separate from your college buddies is to create a circle for each type of person or group you are connected to. I would suggest the following circles to get started: professional networking, current company, previous company, clients, family, and friends (some of these are defaults).
- For employers: Creating circles to organize candidates in a way that makes sense for your social media recruiting strategy is key. You can create circles by the type of position you would consider each candidate for, or by where candidates are in the lifecycle with your company -- current employees, alumni (employees that left the company on good terms), high-potential candidates, etc. Also, don't forget about the customer. Organize your clients by their company name and don't forget when a key person on an account leaves the client or customer company to move them to a client alumni circle. Following confidentiality policies and procedures, you can still maintain a good relationship with this person, especially if he or she moves on to another company, and above all, a company you want to do business with!
Once you have your circles established, just add your connections. Now you can share your blog and relevant articles. For employers, this includes company news and press releases, and for job seekers, maybe even your resume.
Now you just need an invite. That's the hard part. :)
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