As Published In February 2006

Blog Hunting
By Marta Bright

Recruiters are using blogs to drive job searches.

For those not yet savvy in the ways of blogging, a blog—or Web log—is a Web forum where a person posts commentary in chronological order. Blogs are becoming professional gathering places as well—forums where recruiters can seek out talent, companies can position themselves as great places to work, and job candidates can hawk their mental wares.

Treasure Hunt for Talent

"I've developed a bias for blogger sites," says Jim Durbin, a St. Louis-area recruiter. "I get information from people describing their situations or talking about what's going on in their world. If I see people writing clearly, it demonstrates their potential to be a great employee." Durbin has found that reading blogs works best when he's looking for job candidates who aren't engaged in a job hunt, or for positions that have very specific qualifications.

Durbin admits that although the potential to locate good candidates through individual blogs exists, it has proven to be more of a treasure hunt at this stage. "Blogging makes some people nervous, because they're afraid that employers will be looking for you to say the wrong thing." But Durbin contends that being controversial is often what drives traffic to blogs. He also maintains that intelligent blogging will get you attention. "Through a blog, you gain access to the interests and abilities of millions of people, because the best posts rise to the top, filtered by links and traffic."

The point, according to Durbin, is to get into the blogging fray and use it as a means to participate, learn, and be heard. "As a recruiter, if I do a good job of managing traffic and contributions to my own blog, I benefit, because I have a smart person on hand discussing a specific topic. Maybe that person contacts me, and I can place him or her. Or maybe another recruiter finds that person through my blog and decides that this is the right candidate for a job. Either way, from the job-seeker perspective, blogging is a great way to raise your profile."

Entering the Blogosphere

Other recruiters, such as Jason Davis, founder of Davis Search Group in Toronto and a force behind www.recruiting.com (a recruiting blog community portal), are finding work as blog consultants, hired by companies to develop best practices for performing outreach and recruiting through blogs. "A lot of marketing and human resource activities are reactive, not proactive," says Davis. "Blogs can help firms shift away from being too reactive."

Davis suggests that companies interested in blogging develop Web portals where people can sign up and start using blogs to develop talent pools. "You can create behind-the-scenes newsletters that are pushed out to people," he says. "And if you're talking about what you're hiring for and the types of people you're interested in, you can take it a step further and tell what the interview process is like, maybe including some success stories."

Discussing the overall approach from a content and tone perspective, Davis implores recruiters who are blog contributors to write regularly (two to three times per week), address real issues, be honest and up-front with people, and understand that it's OK to be a little challenging at times. "The candidate wants the real picture, whatever that might be."

No Such Thing as Bad Publicity, Right?

Although blogs are a forum for showcasing one's personality, they are not a place for thoughtless tirades, competitor bashing, and reckless opining. This is especially true for C-level bloggers. "When it comes to positioning yourself through blogs, I always recommend that people develop a manifesto, a thought-leader position, and then get out there and make statements based on those opinions," says Karen Armon, CEO and founder of human resources consultancy Alliance Resources. Armon emphasizes that a blog is really just a formalized way of speaking. "It has a voice and a theme to it," she says. "And if someone is not really honest or doesn't have a solid opinion, it's going to show." Armon also advocates not trying to put anything over on anybody. "Superficiality, dishonesty, and comments that can't be backed up with experience are going to be ferreted out, just as they would if I were sitting down and speaking to somebody directly."