I’m Janelle Setzer – one of Alstin’s newest team members, and I look forward to working in the recruitment advertising industry from an agency perspective.  I worked in this field before coming onboard, but from the sales point of view. I sold recruitment advertising to both agencies and clients.

Upon my arrival at Alstin, I began reading more about recruitment advertising/employment branding agencies, strategies, sites, trends, etc. and I came across an article on ERE.net which talks about the 10 Predictions for 2012: The Top Trends in Talent Management and Recruiting. It’s a good article and gives some solid  insights on what’s to come in 2012, but what I focused on was this trend: 2011 was The Year Of Social Media and 2012 Will Be “The Year of the Mobile Platform”.

It already amazes me to think a website designed just eight years ago for the sole purpose of social networking is now one of the top Social Media Recruitment tools.  Facebook caught on quickly among college students when it first came out, I know because I was one of them.  I thought it was great, being able to talk to my friends who went to other universities, check out their pictures, meet more people at my school, etc.  Little did I know that years later I’d be selling and placing recruitment ads on that very same site.

I agree that 2011 was the Year of Social Media. In a PRNewswire article they found 1 in 3 used social media when looking for a job compared to 1 in 5 in 2010. I can say that when I was looking for a job my main resources were LinkedIn and Twitter, and the occasional job board.  Again, when Twitter first came out I never thought I’d be using it to follow companies and find out about career opportunities or upcoming events, but hey things always change!

If 2012 is the Year of the Mobile Platform, I am excited to tap into this strategy for Alstin’s clients and I will be watching how companies develop new approaches to set themselves apart on this platform.

From what I can tell, mobile offers a great way to keep up with the job seeker who’s on the go. I feel, and many of us would agree, looking for a job is a job in itself. I think it’s a positive trend for 2012 and I like where this year is headed.