Social Networks : Great Places to find Good Talent

Before we proceed further, dear reader, this article assumes you know the ABCs of social networking. If not, do read Social Networking on Wikipedia. Though it may sound like a normal “What is social networking” piece, it’s not.

We, Indians are natural born networkers. We may not realize this, but we’ve been networking all our lives without ever recognizing it as such. Right from our parents (and the Stanford Graduate uncles) to our bosses, the sales guys on the third floor and the hot corporate communications lady, we’re surrounded by people that are networkers and those that inspire networking. Every celebration, festival, occasion, event and get-together (eeps!) brings us closer to our own trusted (?) circle of people. We engage in introductions, small talk, exchanging information, eying prospective mates (mostly for others) and occasionally come by some good talent. There’s a huge (prolonged) flurry in local and international web revenue companies to capture this inherent behavior. Though the pitch may not be the same, the underlying intent is to take our offline social behavior online.

Now, recruiting from your network is always a good thing. Your network connects you with people that you trust, who in turn refer you to the best people that they have known, thereby providing more of an assurance of the right fit than a recruitment agency can.

The Social Network Hiring Landscape

Considering this, we already have a significant presence on social networks like Orkut, LinkedIn and Facebook. Why I haven’t considered veterans like Ryze and MySpace and new players like BigAdda and iBibo, is because though they do bring value, they really don’t solve a problem, yet. Orkut wins because of its simplicity, LinkedIn for its rigidity and Facebook for its relationship enforcement.

So, how different are social networks from profile pages of yesteryears (read Yahoo Profiles and the like). Unlike profile pages, social networks build connectivity between people and their value networks. A person on a social network will always be connected to his friends, peers and acquaintances such that while wanting to connect with someone, one will always have a path of introduction to walk. Orkut does it flimsily, LinkedIn does it with force (and payment) and Facebook does it with relevance.

Value networks not only form people connectivity, they also form credibility. So a person’s value network can always be looked up for information and validation. Also, great talent hangs out with great talent. A great worker’s value network is the best place to find similar people. Knowing which communities / networks the worker belongs to adds insight on what the worker finds important to stay in sync with.

The Actuals

Getting down to hiring from a social network isn’t too hard. Chances are you’re already part of Orkut, Facebook or I’m sure, LinkedIn. It’s easy to join too, if you aren’t on. The first step to good hiring is a complete profile. People aren’t going to be interested in you if you aren’t going to have much to say about yourself, even if you’re CEO.

1. Pull people for your requirements + Push jobs out to your network A complete profile is usually a good method to pull good talent. For all you know, people are searching for either you, your skills or your company. You could also use features like Posts on Orkut Communities, Asking Questions on LinkedIn Answers and Facebook Flyers, Facebook Posted Items and Posts on Facebook Networks.
2. Compare people applying for a job A great utility for any social network is to compare people for a job. In a pre/post interview feedback exercise, ask which social networks the jobseekers belong to. Compare their profiles, networks and participation to get an interesting insight on what they have put on for display (or haven’t).
3. Conduct better interviews Using social networking profiles of jobseekers, you could learn a lot about their personality, their strengths and weaknesses and their ability to make decisions and live by them. Interviews can become stronger and more revealing if a person’s unbiased public profile is studied.
4. Establish credibility + Find Non-Suggested References + Perform Checks Social networks give you access to a person’s past (as long as it’s declared). On networks like LinkedIn, an incomplete profile could spell disaster (here’s what to do to avoid it). Profile completeness shows a clean career path and good relations with previous employers and peers. Having found a good talent, try using tools and search to find out who worked with the jobseeker at companies of interest to you. Get in touch with them (free on Orkut and Facebook, either cumbersome or paid on LinkedIn). In most cases, people are only glad to help. This method of reference checks works better since you might land up getting unprogramed or unbiased responses.
5. Make Orientations Easier In the time takes to get on-board (notice periods at exiting companies), new recruits can familiarize themselves with people in your company by introducing themselves informally through social networks, finding common friends and interests with them, learning about your corporate culture and ethics and in general, self orienting themselves to your company.
6. Keep your enemies closer Not really :), but learning what teams are being formed at your competitors’ sides, the connections that they are making and the people they are hiring always makes for good strategy. You might just find your next trump card hiding in a lowly position at a competitors’.
7. Build on your brand as an employer Though this topic deserves a full story, presence on a social network or networks can do wonders to your brand value as an employer. Having a LinkedIn profile makes you search engine friendly, jobseekers looking for reverse references from employees or more information on an opening just becomes a whole lot easier. Being on more youth friendly social networks casts an impression of a comfortable and energetic work environment. Again, this has to be a conscious focused activity like any brand building activity and silent communities and incomplete profiles could do more damage than good.

The guest author, Alap Ghosh, has 8 years of in-the-middle-of-all-the-action experience in enterprise, portal and mobile products and solutions. Having worked with the top technology and media convergent companies of the country, Alap spends most of his time connecting brands and agencies with technology to create better internet properties and new-age inventory. Connect with Alap by email or on LinkedIn or on Facebook