MySpace and Facebook Apps — The Next Conduit for Recruiting?
The recruiting field is a deeply competitive one, as companies work to secure the best qualified candidates for their own positions, or for their clients. As a result, recruiting tends to be very quick in its adoption of new technologies. Monster.com was (and to some extent still remains) one of the leading sites in database driven applications.
Act Now! Activate a FREE three days trial to RecruitingCrossing.com, because you know how important it is to know about all the jobs.
It is perplexing, given how tech savvy the field is in general, that they haven't taken to the latest trends in internet connectivity between people and social sites like Facebook and MySpace. Both allow access to millions of viewers each day, and both let their users make business and casual connections. They've become destination sites for millions of people, with applications and content updated constantly. One would think that the ability to put a job application there would be an instant win.
In practice, the recruiting field is a bit more cautious about these for a number of reasons. The first, and probably largest, is that net-nanny software is keeping these sites from being accessed at work to an increasing degree. Many companies see MySpace and Facebook as productivity sinks, where employees go to lose hours of productive time at a stretch, and they're not far off on that – surveys of time spent on social networking sites indicate that they're costing millions of hours of productivity in the office.
Even so, there are some advocating the push to social networking sites, particularly the use of apps. The first attempt at this was Facebook, and it was something of a failure. Facebook generated an app that had plenty of customization available for individual job sites; it turned out to be harder to use the customization than had otherwise been thought…and worse yet, the user base regarded job hunting on Facebook to be less appealing than playing games, which are the dominant form of application on Facebook and MySpace.
What's happening now is that job sites, like CareerBuilder.com, are focusing on making their own applications rather than customizing existing ones. This is running into technical hurdles – applications on MySpace and Facebook aren't stable platforms yet, and there are other challenges as well, like getting visibility in a social networking space and keeping that visibility long enough to benefit from the effort of getting it in the first place.
So, if you're looking into recruiting on these spaces, here are some criteria for success:
1) You're catching people in a casual environment. Don't expect them to have a resume or CV ready to send your way. Instead, you're looking to capture information about the kinds of jobs they're looking for, and contact info. Don't look at it as a first phase job interview; look at it as a kiosk at a job fair.
2) Remember that kiosk at a job fair analogy? Imagine the job fair is being set up somewhere in Disneyland; it's visible to job seekers if they look for it, and they may stumble across it. But they're going to stumble across it en route to their favorite e-Ticket ride. Plan accordingly – how are you going to get people to use your application in the first place? Thinking of making the submission process entertaining is a new set of goal posts for most recruiting agents.
3) Finally, accept that it's a crowded market. You're not going to have undivided attention. Make the process fast.
That said, there is some received wisdom in this to work from. When you make your process more engaging then you make it more game-like. Games are about interesting decisions made under some kind of time pressure, with an immediate reward loop. Instead of having a job listing application, make the job listing the reward for some simple (and easy to play) game, or tier of games – as the user enters more information, they play different games; each game shows them a different job. The higher their score at the game, the more interesting the job should be, given the information they entered earlier on.
For a typical web app game, the game has to be playable inside of ten minutes, and preferably playable three times in twenty minutes. This is based off of MySpace Apps user metrics, and it should be applicable to any kind of job application app you're making for any of the major social networking spaces.
Finally, be aware of the demographics of people you're getting on these pages. This is not the proper venue to recruit CEOs and bankers, for instance. It's not bad for graphic designers and web page and print page layout people; many use MySpace as their venue for practicing their skills, and they work as online portfolios. It's also important to keep in mind the informality of these spaces in mind. You are not going to see applicants on their best behavior. This can be good if your recruiting goals are suitably aligned. If you're aiming for people who are creative, this is a good place to find them. If you're looking for a good worker who fits in well with the office culture at AT&T, it may not be.
In conclusion, right now apps on MySpace and Facebook are a dormant recruiting opportunity. They won't be for long; be sure your recruiting needs are tailored for the aspects that work for and against you in these environments.
Bethany , Salem, OR
The amount of jobs on EmploymentCrossing is amazing. The site has the highest number of
jobs in the world.
Bryan , Saint Paul, MI
EmploymentCrossing always helped me stay updated with the jobs available in the
market. The daily news on the site was also very informative. I like to read the different archives and the life
style column on EmploymentCrossing.
Derek , Philadelphia, PA
I got a job, thanks to EmploymentCrossing. It is the best service in the world.
Andrew , Columbus, GA
The best part about EmploymentCrossing is the simplicity of the site. It is a very user friendly website.
Jamie , Pueblo West, CO
EmploymentCrossing is a very user friendly website and has a fantastic search engine. I always got quick responses to my search criteria.
To compare RecruitingCrossing with other job sites
Do Not Commit Yourself to One Job Site: Investigate Jobs on 50,000+ Websites Instantly
Assert your independence in a logical way: Discover recruiting jobs from over 50,000 websites on RecruitingCrossing. It is not rational for you to be confined to jobs on one website.
You are focused on living in the present and not the future: Do not wait for the ideal recruiting jobs to come to you; instead, find them right now. Gather facts, apply logic and get results today.
Click below to sign up right now.
Tell us where to send your access instructions:
Total Jobs on RecruitingCrossing
149,121
New Recruiting Jobs This Week
20,222
Jobs on EmploymentCrossing Network Available to Our Members
Healthcare Client Services Associate, Brattleboro VT United States-VT-Brattleboro
Send this job to a friend
See all Bayada Nurses opportunities
Healthcare Client Services Associate, Brattleboro VT
As one of the leading home healt...
A recruiter career is a job where the main duty and responsibility is to accept applications, interview, evaluate, give capability tests, and decide whether an applicant is a good fit for the available positions in the company or agency. They are the ones communicating directly with potential employees for permanent or temporary hiring.
I appreciate the online application of resume and cover letter on EmploymentCrossing. It saves a great deal of time. The site's advance search engine is also fantastic.
Allison , Chicago, IL
The best thing about RecruitingCrossing is that you can upload your resume and also have the option to apply online.
Aaron , Denver, CO
RecruitingCrossing has a search engine that is really fast. It saves a lot of time.
See Every Recruiting Job We Can Find on the Internet!
Unlike other sites, RecruitingCrossing works for you and does not charge employers to post jobs and actually goes out and researches jobs for you. The jobs you see are the jobs we find for you and not the ones employers are paying us to post.
To compare RecruitingCrossing with other job sites
Reason 56: RecruitingCrossing lets you save up to 10 resumes and up to 10 supplementary materials online (even as Word or PDF files) and access them from anywhere there is an Internet connection.
Do Not Commit Yourself to One Job Site: Investigate Jobs on 50,000+ Websites Instantly
Assert your independence in a logical way: Discover recruiting jobs from over 50,000 websites on RecruitingCrossing. It is not rational for you to be confined to jobs on one website.
See all the recruiting jobs on the Internet in one place. Your hard work and ability to get the job done will all pay off when you can view:
Recruiting jobs from every recruiting employer career webpage we can find.
Recruiting jobs from every recruiting firm career page we can find.
Recruiting jobs from every job board we can find.
Recruiting jobs from every newspaper classified ad we can find.
Recruiting jobs from every specialized recruiting publication we can find.
Recruiting jobs from every federal, state and local government career page we can find.
Recruiting jobs from every public interest, nonprofit and other career page we can find.
Tell us where to send your access instructions:
Today at RecruitingCrossing
3,765 - Jobs found in last 24 Hours20,222 - Jobs found in last 7 Days149,121 - Total Jobs Found
Your privacy is guaranteed. We will never give out, lease, or sell your personal information.
RecruitingCrossing - #1 Job Aggregation and Private Job-Opening Research Service — The Most Quality Jobs Anywhere
RecruitingCrossing is the first job consolidation service in the employment industry to seek to include every job that exists and not charge employers to post jobs on its site.
RecruitingCrossing uses sophisticated technology and manual work to comb employer websites and other job boards for jobs and bring them all to its site.
