In situation you don't follow the recruiting blogosphere , there's been quite a whole lot of blog talk spinning around the past couple of days. Why all the chatter? In a recent ERE article on the Best (and Worst) in Recruiting, Dr. John Sullivan listed blogs in his What and Who Needs "Rethinking" category. Ouch. He writes: Blogs in recruiting. It was fun when they were only a couple of of them, but if they don't differentiate and add real tools and solutions, they too will fade like other fads. Jason Davis and Michael Specht, amongst others, have offered their opinions on Dr. John's statement. The recruiting community is abuzz,
Office Standard 2010! Hold on tight,
Purchase Office 2010! Here's my take ... Blogging,
Microsoft Office Pro 2007, as a tool, might be a fad, but the trends it represents – transparency in recruiting, better connecting with and listening to applicants, growing a spirit of community amongst recruiters and jobseekers – are not fads. Blogs are an easy step-one toward accomplishing these goals, and yes, I agree that recruiters and companies need to take those plans to the next level, but the momentum blogs have created most definitely will not diminish in the year ahead. For Microsoft, blogs (and not just the recruiting blogs) have allowed us to get to know our customers and, in turn, have encouraged our customers to learn a little bit more about us. They’ve been the vehicles that have allowed individual employees to step outside the shadow of the mother ship, and they certainly highlight the outstanding people, innovations,
Office Pro, and passion that seep through our hallways. On the recruiting side, blogs have allowed us put real faces to our recruiting department. You can ask questions, and we’ll answer. You can complain, and we’ll answer. You can even praise us (we like that!), and we’ll always answer. But most importantly,
Windows 7 Home Premium Product Key, we have opened a direct line of communication that has been tremendously impactful to our recruiting business. I recently read this comment on Dylan Bennett's weblog, and it really sums up what I think, too: When I thought of "Microsoft" three years ago, I thought of one entity. When I think of it now, I think of it as a sum of all of the people who work there. That's a pretty impressive change to effect when your company has tens of thousands of employees. Blogs have been amazing tools in helping us open up and connect on deeper level. Yay for blogs! ;-) (I think I just threw up a little in my mouth.) With that, I can't say I entirely disagree with Dr. John though. If in a year for now, all the recruiters are still out there only buzzing about blogs, we won't have evovled. Blogs represent the vast and growing online community. How do we continue to tap into those communities? Is the answer in forums? Chats? Webcasts? Does it involve better engaging with the community on their blogs and newsgroups? What do you think? How can recruiters take this online connection to the next level? What would you like to see from Microsoft? gretchen P.S. All this weblog talk got me writing my 2005 for JobsBlog review a little early this year. I want to be able to back up my claims with evidence. (Check out last year's entry as a FYI.) So stay tuned!