Everyone who knows me knows I love analogies. I also love comparing job functions across different industries. While I worked in the PR world, I saw so many similarities between PR and recruiting that it really made me think about how we, as research, sourcing, and recruiting professionals, need to understand public relations better than many of us do. I recently read an article by Todd Defren on his blog, PR Squared, entitled “What PR Cannot Do For Clients“. After reading through his article, I thought “This is exactly the relationship between researchers/sourcers and recruiters, and even on to hiring managers!” An excerpt from Todd’s article:

“Public Relations is not Sales.  PR can absolutely help guide the prospect toward a purchase decision, in a measurable way.  PR can surround the prospect with thoughtful, candid, compelling conversations and content and references until they think, “Wow, okay, I’ve got to check these guys out.”…But when the prospect gets to the website or picks up the phone or shoots over an email: PR’s work is done.”

Let’s change just a couple of words, and apply this statement to the role of research and/or sourcing:

“Internet Research / Sourcing is not Recruiting. Sourcers can absolutely help guide the prospect toward a job opportunity, in a measurable way.  Sourcers can initiate the relationship and provide the prospect with interesting and compelling high-level information about a job until they think, “Wow, okay, I’ve got to check these guys out.” But when the prospect gets to the website or picks up the phone [to interview with a recruiter] or shoots over an email: the sourcer’s work is done.”

The last sentence of the article strikes me: “PR can set you up for success.  It cannot make you a success.” This is no different from sourcing – a good sourcer will set you up with people to speak with and to present your opportunities to, but it’s up to you as the recruiter to intrigue them to the point where they would be willing to interview for and eventually accept your position. Once your sourcer has brought you what you’ve asked for in basic qualifications, their work is complete. Placing blame back on research for failure in a part of the recruiting process that is beyond the scope of research is simply unfair. That’s like blaming the butcher when the chef at the restaurant undercooks your steak. Sure, the butcher was involved by providing the meat to the restaurant, but it’s the chef’s ultimate responsibility to ensure that your order is correct, not the butcher.

I’ve never understood metrics that hold sourcing responsible throughout the entire hiring process, because of these facts. You cannot measure someone’s success in a process in which they are not involved. I appreciate Todd writing this brief, yet thought-provoking article and jogging my brain as to how this also holds true to my own job function. Please read his article in its entirety here: What PR Cannot Do For Clients.

I think Jason Falls is a rockstar. He lives about 2 hours down the road from me in Louisville, KY, but we’ve only “met” once (I use the term loosely because we were both in attendance at a Cincinnati Social Media Breakfast meeting last year, but we didn’t get to have a conversation). His blog is always chock-full of great content, thoughtful ideas, and blunt honesty. About a week ago, Jason discussed a topic that I too have been thinking a lot  about lately – the idea that so many things today are “free”, or so we think, and how long that can possibly last. After all, businesses are in existence to make money for themselves, not to provide us with cool free stuff.

Jason’s inspiration for the post was a conversation with a friend who said, “I love my DVR. I haven’t watched a commercial in months.” When asked how long he expects to still be watching his favorite shows, the friend looked puzzled. Jason’s reply:

“The avoidance of those commercials means those shows will eventually be cancelled. You’re killing your own chances of being able to watch them by watching just them.”

Nothing is ever truly free. Henry A. Wallace, the US Vice President from 1941 – 1945, wrote an article originally published by The Atlantic Monthly in which he suggested a post-WWII worldwide economic regime offering ‘minimum standards of food, clothing and shelter’. While this sounds well and good, an observant journalist named Paul Mallon wrote a response to the article which was published in several US papers:

“Mr. Wallace neglects the fact that such a thing as a ‘free’ lunch never existed. Until man acquires the power of creation, someone will always have to pay for a free lunch.”

Think about the unconferences, podcamps, social media breakfasts, and other various gatherings we attend today where we’re not charged. Someone has to provide the meeting facilities, the equipment, and the ‘free lunch’. In exchange, we owe it to these people and companies to hear what they have to offer. But oftentimes, we brush it off as just another sales pitch. Continuing with this entitlement attitude will cause these fantastic free events to no longer be available to us, and then we’re going to have to *gasp* start paying for stuff.

Jason continues on to say in his post:

“What we’ve created is a marketplace that isn’t sustainable…While I’m not one to predict all the good ideas have been had, the disproportionate amount of money that is being poured into technology startups these days makes me shudder to think what the entrepreneurs will do when the investors come calling wanting their money back.”

Hey, I’m with you. I do love Hulu, and I’ll be the first to admit that I love getting a good deal and I’m all about the free stuff. But we need to pay our respects to the companies that provide us with the freebies.

I think back to one of my favorite books as a little girl, Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree. In the book, the little boy always takes from the tree, never giving anything in return, until finally the boy cuts down the tree in order to make a sailboat, and the tree has nothing left to give. Some say that this book is a story about selfless love, but in this sense we are the little boy who continually takes [freebies] and never gives anything in return [purchases]. Eventually, our giving trees [the companies and individuals which provide us with the 'free' stuff] will be merely treestumps, and we’ll be sitting beside those stumps wondering what happened.

Let’s not take too much advantage – support those businesses and people who support you with the freebies, or else they won’t be around for long. Please check out Jason’s entire post here, The Economy of Free Is Stupid.

Admittedly this isn’t anything terribly new, but I would bet money that most of you have never participated in a hashtag chat before! So, what is a hashtag chat?

First off, let’s define a Hashtag: it’s putting the pound (#) sign in front of a word or a phrase in order to track conversation about that word or phrase on Twitter. So for example, some of the most popular hashtags at the writing of this post included #iranelection, #jobs, #journchat, and #bachelorette. This means that a lot of the conversation being had was about the election in Iran, people looking for jobs, folks discussing The Bachelorette, and people participating in the hashtag chat, #journchat. Which leads to the next definition…

A hashtag chat is an organized conversation via Twitter that is followed using a hashtag term. The chats are usually moderated, have either pre-set questions or chat leaders, and usually happen at a pre-determined day and time on a semi-regular basis. Since these conversations happen real time, and in the public Twitter stream, they can be participated in by pretty much anyone who’s interested.

Here is a list of some of the more popular and best organized hashtag chats, as provided on www.wthashtag.com:

• #cmtychat – a weekly discussion about the business of online communities, Fridays from 12-1pm CT, hosted by @sonnygill and @bryanperson
• #journchat – a weekly conversation on Twitter between journalists, bloggers and PR pros, taking place Monday nights from 7-10pm CT
• #smchat – a discussion on the power of social media among active practitioners and strategists, taking place Wednesdays at 12pm CT
• #blogchat – a chat on Sunday nights from 8-9pm CT that was started by @MackCollier to discuss blogs and best practices

There are plenty of other topics, ranging from SEO to K-12 education to healthcare communications and marketing practices, and even cars and the automotive industry. I recommend checking out the organizers who have registered with What The Hashtag here.

I’d also encourage those of you in the recruiting business to check out the #talentnet (or #TNL) hashtag chat run by Craig Fisher and Susan Kang Nam. It’s a hashtag chat specifically for recruiters that takes place the last Wednesday of each month at 9pm Eastern.

Some of you may be wondering why I’m listing this as a “Cool Tool” and the reason is simple: large audiences discussing the same topic. This is like you attending an industry trade event. If you work in a particular industry or function that has a hashtag chat already established, it’s a great opportunity for you to network with these professionals. It’s also a great place to learn about a particular topic you’ve been interested in finding out more about. I’ve also noticed that every time I participate in a hashtag chat – I mean REALLY participate by following the topics and adding value when applicable (there’s a tip) – I typically gain anywhere from 5-15 new followers. And usually the new followers work in some capacity related to the chat.

By the way – if you don’t see a hashtag chat listed in YOUR industry, don’t complain, throw your hands up in the air, and say it doesn’t work for you Why don’t YOU start the chat – that’s the beauty of social media. You don’t have to wait around for someone to create content; you can take the initiative and do it yourself.

An instantly classic movie, at least for my generation, came out in 1993 and wow’ed viewers everywhere with the awesome CGI. This movie was Jurassic Park. I had read the book before seeing the film, so I knew there were parts missing from it that would surely be made into a sequel or two. But there were still some wonderful moments of the movie that I remember to this day. One of those moments has become one of my all-time favorite lines to quote. This is when John Hammond, Dr. Malcolm, Dr. Grant, Dr. Sattler, and others were sitting around a table eating dinner. Dr. Malcolm, played by Jeff Goldblum, says of John Hammond’s park and the idea of cloning dinosaur embryos mixed with frog DNA:

“Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should…”

I have used this quote in so many situations and it always makes people stop and think. And I’ll say it here too, in the case of using social media for business – just because you can use social media, does that mean you should? Just because there are tools available for you to promote a job, or a brand, or a product or service, is that reason, and right, for you to be doing so?

When teams jump head-first into social media because all the rest of the world looks at it with googly-eyes, they are only thinking about the COULD. By holding back, listening, observing, doing due diligence and making sure everyone involved is equipped for success, they are then thinking more about the SHOULD. So consider these things:

• Anyone CAN start a blog. But should YOU?
• Anyone CAN set up a Facebook Fan page. But should YOUR company?
• Anyone CAN tweet on behalf of their business. But are you ready to give up that much official control?
• Anyone CAN decide to implement mobile marketing. But is your audience going to be receptive to it?

The right to do something does not mean that doing it is right. Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. Practice some patience, do your homework, and find out if it’s right for you, your team, and your company first before pressing forward. Otherwise you run the risk of ruining your reputation or your brand image. Look before you leap!

This economy has affected so many of us in staffing. A large number of our friends and co-workers, myself included, have been victims of companies scrambling to find places to cut back on expenses. One of the first places they look to make reductions are the “non-revenue generating” internal positions – and unfortunately recruiting falls into that category during times like this.

It’s sad to me because finding talent, in my opinion, is a business essential – especially when you consider the cost of having a position vacant. Dr. John Sullivan once estimated that it could cost between $7,000 – $50,000 per DAY to have an engineering position vacant, and that in key leadership positions, the cost of vacancies could run into the millions for each week of vacancy.

So why do companies cut positions that are responsible for keeping these astronomical vacancy costs down? Well, in an economy such as what we’re experiencing today, companies look at the fact that they’ve placed a hiring freeze on operations, or the fact that they don’t have budget for the next few quarters to make many new hires, and at the top levels, the decision is made that as there will be little to no hiring made for the remainder of the year, the natural thing to do is to reduce the size of the staffing team.

I think this is very short-sighted mentality.

We are not going to be in this economic situation forever. History dictates this. Geoffrey H. Moore, former director emeritus of the Center for International Business Cycle Research, Columbia University, New York wrote an article back in the 90s examining the various recessions and depressions throughout US history. In his studies, he determined that of the 3 depressions, the average length of time was 24.6 months. His studies also found at the time that we went through 6 sharp recessions – average length of time 12.5 months; and 5 mild recessions – average length of time 9.6 months. Even though this information does not include recent recessions from after 2000, the information still paints a historical picture and lets us know that things will eventually turn around.

Most scholars and analysts have agreed that our present recession began in December of 2007. If that’s the case, we’re due for an upswing and I believe that it’s coming sometime this fall. But when hiring needs resume, who’s going to be there to fill all of the vacant positions, since so many corporations have laid off massive numbers in their staffing teams?

That’s where the agency recruiters come in. For those of you who can hang on through these turbulent times, you will have more work than you can handle when the economy turns the corner. Lots of corporations have been downsizing their staffing teams to bare bones; some completely eliminating them. When hiring resumes – most likely sometime this fall or winter – they’re going to be seriously hurting for people to help fill their needs. That’s where you come in – since there won’t be people in corporate staffing roles, companies are going to look to you for assistance, and you’ll have more work than you know what to do with. So hang on for the next several months and you will be rewarded handsomely.

As well, here is my advice to large corporations: this is the time when you need people building trusting relationships with future candidates. Letting go of your staffing teams during times like this will only come back to hurt you in the long run. Hold on to those people who are good at building relationships – because candidates will remember those people when things get better. I personally feel blessed to be working with an organization that embraces this idea about staffing.

Just keep in mind: this, too, shall pass. Recessions never last forever. There is a light at the end of this dark tunnel. Make smart business decisions – do not be penny-wise and pound foolish. Stay the course and never give up!

*disclaimer: I am not an economic scholar; these are simply my thoughts on the current situation based on my observations and my own personal experiences.

Simple and easy are often viewed as interchangeable words. But to me, they’re quite different. There are some who seem to think that using social media strategically for business is easy. I beg to differ.

When something is said to be simple, that implies that it can be grasped by anyone.

When something is said to be easy, that implies that it can be grasped well by anyone.

Do you see the difference here?

What’s simple is signing yourself or your company up for a Facebook profile, or a Twitter account. What’s simple is claiming social media real estate.

But what’s not EASY – is knowing what to do next.

Any Joe Schmoe can sign up for an account on a social media site. That’s simple. But gleaning value from it? That’s not easy. Crafting a business strategy that involves social media and getting some value out of it is going to be time-consuming, because the very nature of it is social, and it takes time to develop lasting relationships in any social setting. It’s not easy, but the outcome can be quite rewarding.

Just because you have a Twitter account and you update your Facebook profile to let people know “I’m looking for a Java Developer in Colorado” does not mean you know how to use social media for recruitment purposes.

Remember: you can use social media for more than candidate search. There are other important applications, such as marketing, brand/reputation monitoring, and *gasp* learning from others who might actually know something of value. All of these aid in the success of your recruiting efforts, and you should recognize the value associated with them.

So, give them a shot. Try using social media for something other than candidate generation to add value to your recruiting, and to separate yourself from the masses.

Simple thoughts to grasp? I think so. Easy to put into action? Well, that depends on you…

Today marks the day I started my career in Internet Research, seven years ago. I still remember just like it was yesterday – I moved 1,000 miles away from everything I was familiar with to take my new job. I packed up my apartment in Tampa and threw about 2 weeks worth of clothes and other essentials (including my computer) into my Honda Del Sol, and heading up I-75 to Cincinnati on Friday, June 21^st. I arrived in the evening the following day and settled into my brother and sister-in-law’s apartment. A couple of weeks later, my brother and I flew back down to FL to rent a U-Haul to get the rest of my stuff up to Cincinnati. We drove back up and packed everything into a storage unit where it remained until 2 months later. You see, it took every penny that I had just to move to Cincinnati, and my brother and sister-in-law allowed me to live with them until I had saved enough to move out on my own. I crashed on the couch until the end of August, when I finally was able to get my own place.

Now, seven years later, I can reflect upon those first few years in my first “real job” after college with fondness. Going through those years was tough at the time because I struggled to make ends meet. But knowing what I know now, I wouldn’t change those times for anything, because I learned an awful lot about myself and what I was capable of.

I stayed with my first employer for four years before moving on to a position in which I was allowed to work remotely. In that position, Manager of Internet Research for a recruiting franchiser organization, I learned independence, and I learned how to consult with business owners. My role was that of research support as well as database training, social media use, and franchise owner support. I had to learn how to work with business owners, many of whom were fantastic to work with, and some of whom required a great deal of patience on my part.

In 2007, I joined an in-house staffing team as a sourcing strategist, this time with a PR agency. I started the process of learning how the “other side” operates – internal staffing, dealing with clients who were also co-workers and the bureaucracy of corporate hiring. Here, I fell in love with PR and communication, and I learned a great deal about how PR and recruiting are quite similar. I listened to and learned from my co-workers and others in the PR and social media communities. It is here where I learned just how valuable social media is to the recruitment process. Though I never operated as a PR account professional, I picked up many things along the way that have helped me to understand that world, including the value of my “Research Goddess” reputation.

Recently, I joined the Talent Attraction team with AT&T. Now working for an incredibly large Fortune 10 company, I am challenged with finding my voice within and being a good representative of an already well-established brand. I am tasked with being an ambassador of AT&T’s brand and reputation through social media channels, and finding and attracting professionals to the company. I am working with a seriously talented team and am enjoying learning this new industry, especially the way mobile marketing plays into our efforts.

Every step along my career path over the last seven years has gotten me closer to what I’m passionate about. I want to stay on the cutting edge of how we communicate and interact with each other, and each of my jobs has given me some knowledge and allowed me to earn experience that translates perfectly into the next position. I cut my teeth on the recruiting industry in my first four years – I learned the fundamentals of what it takes to be successful in a career in research. I learned independence and training skills with the next position. When I went in-house, I learned about the importance of internal communication and tapping into the resources that already exist within your own walls. And now with AT&T, I am learning about where we’re going in the future with communication, and I’m right on top of that wave which is really exciting.

I have thoroughly enjoyed these last seven years and look forward to the coming ones. Some of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned have been:

• “This too shall pass” – we all have to struggle in life in order to appreciate the good times. He who never has to struggle will never fully understand victory.
• Every experience is a learning opportunity – whether good or bad, every situation you encounter in your career is a chance for you to pick up some nuggets of wisdom. Take the time to discover them in your own situations.
• You can’t accomplish anything without the help of others – nothing of significance in this world is accomplished entirely by one person. Embrace those around you and appreciate the help and guidance they can provide to you.
• People serve different purposes in your life – some people come and go quickly, and others stay for awhile. Cherish the time you have with each person – learn from them, discover their talents, and appreciate what they leave you with.
• Don’t be afraid to take a risk – I moved 1,000 miles from my comfort zone, and look where I am today Don’t be afraid to do something that’s uncharacteristic of your normal habits – with great risk comes the potential for great reward.
• ALWAYS follow your heart – don’t do something you don’t love. You’ll never be happy. Find what you’re passionate about and run after it. If you do, you will never ‘work’ a day in your life because you will enjoy what you do.

Thank you to everyone who has been a part of helping me get to where I am today. I am truly grateful for every opportunity, every experience, and every relationship.

This past Saturday, I spent the day in Columbus OH attending PodCamp Ohio. For those who don’t know, PodCamp is a concept that was originally started by Christopher Penn and Chris Brogan (who incidentally graced us with his presence via Skype during one of the sessions!). Basically, a podcamp is a FREE BarCamp-style community UnConference for podcasters and listeners, bloggers and readers, and anyone interested in New Media.

There were approximately 200 attendees to PodCamp Ohio this year which was awesome! We kicked things off around 9am and went until 5:30pm. Presenters signed up ahead of time to conduct sessions ranging in topic from podcasting equipment selection, to keyword research and SEO, to corporate twittering, to finding a job using social media. There were six session timeslots and so many great topics to choose from that attempting to re-cap even from the ones I got to attend wouldn’t do them justice.

The best part is that all of the presenters did so voluntarily – this allows for people to develop their public speaking and presentation skills in a casual environment. There were seasoned presenters as well as first-timers, and much respect from me to those who signed up to present – you all rock!

I was pleased to finally meet Luke Armour, Digital Strategist with Fleishman Hillard. Luke and I have been Twitter buddies for a bit and it was nice to finally put a face to the name. I was able to have the company of Lisa Desatnik and Steve Gerl on the ride up and back, as well. I had some great conversations with Dustin Pyles, Gabe from Digital Disciples, and presenters Alison Bolen from SAS,  Michael Loban who did a phenomenal presentation on finding a job using social media, and Michael McDermott, who I was privileged to catch on camera (see below).

Serious ups to the sponsors who made it possible for our podcamp to happen at no charge to the participants!

• The OSU Center for the Study and Teaching of Writing
• blubrry.com podcasting community
• Doctor Anonymous podcast
• Circle of Seven Productions (book trailers & marketing)
• AssistCoach
• blip.tv
• TechSmith (screen capture & recording software)
• Spaceblue (new media and web design)
• ávitae energy water
• Blue Microphones
• StickerGiant
• Coefficient Media
• EasyPHPwebsites.com
• The iPhone App Show
• Allen Mireles Marketing PR
• Jamie Grove

Well, after some tumultuous travel to get home (you’ll have to ask me about my experience traveling on United Airlines!!) I’ve finally had the opportunity to collect my thoughts and throw together a few clips from my pre-conference workshop on Incorporating Social Media Into Your Recruiting Plan (link to the slides), presented at the Fordyce Forum in Las Vegas.

I enjoyed the content and the networking from the conference. My favorite presenters were Barb Bruno and Jordan Rayboy. I enjoyed Jordan because of his genuine-ness and complete transparency. Jordan and his wife, Jeska, work 100% remotely from their RV. They travel all across the continent and have the luxury of being able to choose their neighbors every day. However, they don’t allow this freedom to distract them from their work. Rather, the two feed off of each other – the travel inspires their work, and work in turn allows for the freedom of travel. Jordan and Jeska are incredibly disciplined with their business; they believe in the concepts of lifestyle recruiting and working to live. I recommend you check out Jordan’s presentation on the post-event page (coming soon!).

Barb Bruno’s session was the last one I was able to attend before having to dash off to the airport, and what a way to wrap up! Her discussion revolved around making slight changes that will produce dramatic results. Barb threw out nugget after nugget of wisdom. Some of my favorites include:

• We are creatures of habit and so often our lives control us vs. us controlling our lives.
• Identify at least one new source for candidates every month.
• You gain control by giving up control. Delegate things that are not the best use of your time. (I personally love this)

The networking was pretty good too. I had the opportunity to meet some really nice people:

• Kristen Durkin of IIPE, a fellow Twitter fan
• Elaine Rigoli, Fordyce Letter editor and totally awesome!
• Marc Francone of ORI Global (who told me I should be a consultant, after attending my workshop )
• Takara Bullock of Optia Partners – she and her husband Gerald traveled all the way from Tokyo for this!
• Lori Fenstermaker, founder of  AutoSearch, a sourcing tool that I’ll be testing out here shortly
• Josh Stomel, co-founder of ResumeBucket, also a tool I’ll be testing out shortly!
• Finally got to meet Mike Gionta too, and found a lot of common ground between us

Many others, too many to name and I don’t want to start hurting feelings I encourage you to check out the other presentations on the Fordyce Forum post-event site and see some of the great things we got to learn over the course of 60 hours. And if you attended, please take the time to fill out the feedback survey. That’s what allows those of us who presented to refine our skills and make adjustments so that we can bring you the best content possible.

Many of you may be coming here for the first time having just watched the #VegasRG live tweet-stream from my Fordyce Forum presentation! I just wrapped up the presentation here in Las Vegas, and wanted to provide a landing place for you to share your thoughts on the hashtag conversation from the last three hours…

As you may have observed from the beginning of this week, I have been tracking my activities here in Vegas using the #VegasRG hashtag. This was a result of observing my boss, Chris Hoyt, do the same thing when he visited DC recently. But the main reason I wanted to do this was to help the folks in the workshop to see firsthand how powerful conversation really is when you use social media appropriately, in this case through a guided discussion. I think I can say “Mission Accomplished!”

As throughout the whole presentation, I encourage your completely honest feedback with your thoughts on this little experiment. If you think it rocked, please let me know by leaving a comment. If you think it totally sucked, I encourage you to leave a comment with some constructive criticism as to how it could have been better.

So, now it’s up to you! Share your thoughts in the comments below; depending on the general consensus, I may make this a regular thing when I give presentations. Thanks once again for participating, and keep watching #VegasRG for the rest of the week for Fordyce Forum updates!