alstin communications

“Over 75 million professionals use LinkedIn to exchange information, ideas and opportunities.” At least that’s what LinkedIn’s home page says, and I bet you are one of that 75 million.

LinkedIn has become an essential tool for most recruiters and professionals alike. Taking a quick look at my connections, within my network there are certainly people I’ve never actually met, directly worked with or am even likely to reconnect with. However, I have taken care when selecting those who fall within that “little league” of my connections. I know them (or of them) on some level.

When I came across the story of “Robin Sage” this summer – a character created by Thomas Ryan, a 20 year security veteran and founder of the company Provide Security - I was pretty amazed by how far this ruse played out on social media, including LinkedIn, went.

"Robin Sage"

For starters, here she is folks. As a person in the marketing world who has given hours of her life searching stock images for just the right picture, I have got to give it to Ryan, he picked the right one for the profile shot. (He created similar phoney profiles on Facebook and Twitter too.)

There’s a great interview with Ryan by ComputerWorld on his experiment to see how many people in the information security, military and intelligence fields would willingly connect and share personal information with a stranger claiming to be an expert in security/computer hacking for the Naval Network Warfare Command. Although his biggest drivers were “all the talk about cyberwarfare and cyberespionage – and what’s real and what’s not real” his findings demonstrate how getting a little too comfortable with these tools can really backfire.

Putting a magnifying glass on her profile – a 25 year old with 10 years of professional security experience? – would (should!) have resulted in a red alert. Some people who Robin Sage attempted to connect with did do a little research – calling the phone number provided on the profile, or asking her to email them directly from her military account. Yet, still others – all told 206 on LinkedIn, 226 on Facebook and 204 on Twitter – were more than happy to accept her invite.

She even got this message:

“If I can ever be of assistance with job opportunities here at Lockheed Martin, don’t hesitate to contact me, as I’m at your service,”

At your service?!! In the midst of several additional offers to apply for jobs with other organizations, there were also invites to speak at a private-sector security conference in Miami, and to review an important technical paper by a NASA researcher. Oh yea, and more than one request for dinner.

What’s your take? The old adage not to judge a book by it’s cover never gets old, that’s for sure. If you’re using LinkedIn to recruit, are you also always making a point to use Google, or other tried and true approaches, to see if things match up? We’d like to hear some of your “Sage” advice too.

The other day I was in Jake’s, my favorite new sandwich shop, and in the next booth over were four young people having lunch. For the next ten minutes I watched as they texted furiously into their phones, their shoulders hunched and eyes narrowed, not pretending for a moment that the people they went to lunch with (or the outside world) existed. I thought a lot of things that day, namely:

• How will they ever learn to have a one-on one conversation with another person?
• How will they interview for a job?
• What’s so important that they need to text right now?
• Would they notice if I stole a french fry?

I find it so ironic that as a new world of communication tools have developed, we seem to be getting really, really bad at communicating with one another. That day at Jake’s also got me thinking about human resources and communications. The advances I’ve seen in just the last few years are incredible: robust Talent Acquisition Systems, mobile apps, social networking tools like Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, LinkedIn, etc., virtual events, recruiting blogs and so much more.

But maybe we all need to relax, take a breath and step back so we can see the whole canvas.

When it comes to employer marketing and communications, my advice to recruiters is to maybe focus more on WHAT you want to communicate, and less on HOW you’ll communicate that message.

Start here: What is it that you want to say, both to your employees and candidates? I know it sound head-smackingly obvious, but so many organizations blow over this process with little thought, or simply insert glib clichés (“employer of choice,” “best practices,” “Six Sigma,” “dedicated to premier quality and service,” “industry leader,” etc.)–and it always comes back to haunt them.

Don’t get me wrong, this doesn’t mean there has to be nine months of navel-gazing, 40 different employee surveys, and hundreds of meetings with management. It does mean however, that before you embrace the next great HR trend or recruitment application, you spend some time thinking about what makes you desirable (or not) as an employer, what type of people you want working for you, and what your organization’s culture is truly like. Note: You need to be honest here. For example, some companies like to proclaim that they’re “family-friendly,” which sounds nice, but if EVERYONE, from management to employees to customers knows you’re not (unless by a family you mean a dysfunctional unit with lots of animosity and hostility), you’re doomed. Try to push this false image on your audience and you’ll waste time, money, and energy while losing credibility.

Another example: many HR Departments today say their goal is to deliver a great candidate experience. Okay. But can you clearly explain what that means?  How will you show it to the next candidate who applies? How will you measure it? To do it right, you’ll have to get into thornier questions like: How can we possibly deliver a great candidate experience when we’re understaffed now and we get 5000 applications a month?

It’s the same with recruitment communications. Who cares if with two taps on your mighty iPhone you can post a job in 16 different places if all that appears is a boilerplated, outdated job description? What’s the point of a creating a Facebook careers page if after the first month no one in your organization cares about updating it or communicating with candidates?

The truth is that there aren’t easy answers to these questions. In fact, they probably get right to the heart of your company’s culture, operations and focus. Still, it’s the message that really matters, so start with that. The tools to deliver that message will be ready when you are.

Did you ever see the old Twilight Zone episode The Eye of the Beholder? It’s a classic. The episode is set in a hospital and is focused on a woman whose face is completely bandaged. The doctors and nurses talk in hushed voices about this being her 11th procedure to help her look “normal.” You never see their faces either until the dramatic climax. The bandages are removed revealing a very pretty woman, however the medical staff’s reaction is one of horror – and we are ultimately horrified when we get a load of them. The hospital staff is revealed and they all have crazy pig snout noses and very disfigured and disturbing faces.

The episode concludes with these words:

Now the questions that come to mind. Where is this place and when is it? What kind of world where ugliness is the norm and beauty the deviation from that norm? You want an answer? The answer is, it doesn’t make any difference. Because the old saying happens to be true: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, in this year or a hundred years hence, on this planet or wherever there is human life, perhaps out amongst the stars. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. A lesson to be learned— in The Twilight Zone.

So what happens when the eye of the beholder is a recruiter? A beautiful resume doesn’t always land a candidate a job. We all have heard and experienced first hand – whether on a job hunt or in hiring mode – that that an engaging smile, firm handshake and tasteful clothing matter for that critical first impression. However, how much does beauty really matter when a candidate walks through the door?

NEWSWEEK recently surveyed hiring managers and job seekers about the role of beauty in the workplace. The results? Looks matter. Do you agree with these findings? Be sure to let us know.

54% of hiring managers advised spending as much time and money on looking good as perfecting a resume.

Two thirds of business managers said they believe some managers would hesitate before hiring a qualified job candidate who was significantly overweight.

64% of hiring managers said they believe companies should be allowed to hire people based on looks when the job requires an employee to be the “face” of a company at retail stores or in sales.

57% of hiring managers believe the unattractive have it harder at work; while 68% believe that looks impact the way managers rate job performance.

47% of all hiring managers said that they believe some women are penalized for being too good-looking in the office.

Here’s some good employment news for you: Gallup’s Job Creation Index has remained more positive in recent weeks than at any point since the fall of 2008. However, the American people still feel like they are on shaky ground. Check out these numbers:

The availability of jobs plays a key role in how we view the state of the economy and while jobless rates may have declined, so did payrolls in June. Rather than end on deflating news, Gallup further reported, “Even while the average American has become more negative when asked to assess the state of the economy, U.S. workers remain more likely to report that their employers are hiring rather than firing.”  How can we gain our confidence back? If we can hold steady on that trend, we’re on our way.

Memorial Day, a federal holiday celebrated in the United States on the last Monday in May to commemorate the men and women who have given their lives in military service to our country, has gained more significance in recent years for many of us. Our country is now fighting two wars overseas and more than quarter of the military consists of the National Guard and Reserves. Due to the downturn in the economy many of these men and women have returned home to find their employers closed and their jobs gone. In conjunction with Memorial Day, I am writing this blog post with the help of Rick Jones from RecruitMilitary on the benefits of hiring veterans.

Rick Jones is a 24-year Veteran of the US Marine Corps. He retired in 2006 and currently works as the Director of Sales for RecruitMilitary.

RecruitMilitary is a veteran-owned, veteran-operated, and veteran-advised. All of the account executives and search consultants are either veterans or active or former reservists

Theresa Hastings: Does the military have jobs that are compatible with civilian jobs?

Rick Jones: Yes it does. The Department of Defense (DOD) trains thousands of new military members in their specialty (Military Occupational Skill) during their first year of service. This adds up to thousands of skill sets in communications, information technology and many of the healthcare fields, which cross over into the civilian community with little or no training at all.

TH: How does military training transfer into experience for a civilian job?

RJ: After a service member completes their tour of duty, which may range anywhere from 3 to 6 years to over 20, that person has accumulated quite a bit of experience in their specialty and also factor in the conditions in which they have worked, this should qualify them for multiple opportunities in various disciplines. They often deal with deadlines and stressful conditions that could be of importance to our National Security.

TH: In your opinion what will an employer gain by hiring a veteran?

RJ: Employers will get the best of what this country has to offer. Our military members today have some of the best training in the world and do their jobs in conditions that most people couldn’t imagine. They have worked hard protecting us; don’t we owe them a chance at a new career?

I watched this video last week and said aloud to the computer monitor in front of me, “That is awesome.” Admit it, from time to time you Google yourself. Alex Brownstein, who is in the habit of Googling himself “embarassingly frequently,” figured the top five creative directors he wanted to work for probably did too.

For $6, just 15 cents per click, his message got top billing whenever one of the five did a Google search on their name. I already know the power of Google AdWords. A little budget can go a long way toward targeting and connecting my clients jobs to talent. It sure went a long way toward getting this guy his dream job. Way to go!