RecruitFest Wrap Up

RecruitFest was everything I expected, and then some.

It was a really excellent setting in an old hall on the campus of the University of Toronto and a fantastic day.

From the inimitable Bill Boorman sharing his vision for the futures, and John Sumser and Gerry Crispin gracing us all with their insight and wisdom, to Jenny DeVaughn absolutely bringing her A-game to the Social Media discussion, and Jerry Albright telling it like it is, altogether it was a really interesting and fascinating day.

Can third-party recruiting survive without re-invention, will recruiters be prepared for any anticipated uptick in hiring, what does the company of the future look like, and how will that force recruiting and HR to adapt were just some of the intriguing conversations I was lucky enough to be able to participate in.

But for me the real benefit was meeting some fantastic folks for the first time like Chris Havrilla, Jessica Miller-Merrell, Laurie Reuttimann, and Recruiting Animal, just to name a few.

Lots of great conversations, discussion, debates and certainly friendships being formed.  I think the format and framework, in the 'Unconference', informal style was awesome, and certainly the vibe that I expect we will have at HRevolution in November.

To Geoff, Jason, Maren and everyone else involved, well done!

The Hard Sell on the Road to RecruitFest

The hard sell
Originally uploaded by steveboese

On the way to RecruitFest 2009, at about 10PM while I was waiting in the parking lot of the Galleria Mall in Buffalo (a longer story), I got approached by three guys in really cheap suits that handed my this DVD. They wanted my e-mail address, asked if I had a job, etc.b

These guys apparently run some kind of multi-level marketing program or something.

My question to them was, is your target market really random dudes (me) hanging out in mall parking lots at 10PM on a Tuesday?

It reminds me of the old Groucho Marx line, 'I would not want to be a member of a club that would have me'.

Weird and random I know.

Social Networking vs. CB Radio

I am hitting the road later today traveling to Toronto for RecruitFest, meeting with the great folks at Rypple, then on to Ottawa to visit my friends at Halogen Software (and do a live HR Happy Hour show).

I am driving so there will be lots of time in the car, and that pretty much means lots of time 'off the grid' and disconnected from social media and networks.

Too bad I don't have my old CB Radio.I could do some 'old-school' social networking in the car.

For those who don't remember CB's check out the lengthy article on Wiikipedia.

CB Radio culture was celebrated in movies, television, and music.

In many ways the CB Radio was the early form of technology-enabled social networking.  The band served many of the same purposes that social networks like Twitter do today, news, ('the bridge is out on I-77'), inside information, ('Kojak with a Kodak on US46'), and pure socializing, ('Breaker one-two, this is Greasemonkey, anyone have their ears on, come back?').

But are today's social networks, like Facebook and Twitter superior to the classic CB Radio? 

The Tale of the Tape:

Feature	Social Networks	CB Radio	Advantage
Primary users	Pretty much everyone	Long haul truckers	CB Radio
Iconic figures	Robert Scoble, Ev, Jack	Betty Ford, Jackie Gleason	CB Radio
Star power	Hammer, Ashton Kutcher	Burt Reynolds	Push
Theme song	'United Breaks Guitars'	'Convoy'	Social Networks
Business Benefits	Connect with customers, prospects, candidates	Find cheap gas	Social Networks
Signature vehicles	Mini Cooper, Smart Car	Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am, Kenworth 18 Wheeler	CB Radio
'Anti-social' features	Multi-level-marketing	Disregard for traffic regulations	CB Radio
Networks fostered by	Friending, The 'ReTweet', 'Follow Friday'	Keeping each other out of jail, Truck Stop parties	CB Radio
Signal the end was near	Grandma is on Facebook	Cell phone technology	Social Networks

Well, it is clear- CB Radio tops Social Networks!

Time to figure out a new handle, I hope it doesn't wreck my personal brand.

Thanks to Jerry Albright for the original idea to write this post.

RecruitFest 2009

This week I am heading to RecruitFest 2009 in Toronto, Canada.

RecruitFest is a non-traditional event that is about building relationships and with a priority on face-to-face networking. It is focused on about taking your online relationships offline, which is certainly a good thing.

Technology plays such a key role in corporate recruiting today, and one of the main goals I have at RecruitFest is to try and get some insights on what the future holds in recruiting and especially in recruiting technology in these areas:

Candidate Experience

How can technology improve the candidate experience while also serving to support corporate initiatives? Most candidates revile the entire application process.  From arcane and lengthy online application processes, to lack of feedback, to a feeling that there are two different 'expert' answers to every job search question; candidates really are having a terrible time.

Corporate Data Analysis

What should companies be measuring when evaluating their recruiting efforts?  And what are the best technologies and strategies to make these measurements possible? Once you decide that 'Quality of Hire' is what you want to focus on, just what does a 'high quality' hire look like anyway? How much of little responsibility does recruiting have when a new hire does not work out?  And how do you pull all of this information together in a timely and understandable manner.

Impact of Social Recruiting

We all know that social networks and social media are influencing, altering, and perhaps fundamentally changing candidate job search and corporate job marketing. But to what extent is this really true? And is it really true only for the largest organizations with significant resources and massive budgets?  Can these tools and approaches really be utilized by small organizations and one or two person HR shops to try and level the playing field in the competition for the best talent.

While I expect to learn quite a bit at RecruitFest, the main reason I am attending is to meet in person so many great people I have interacted with online this year.  I think that is the real value of attending almost any event, and in particular one like RecruitFest.

I plan on posting from RecruitFest when I can and be sure to follow all the fun on Twitter under the #RecruitFest tag.

Steve's HR Tech: Hitting the Road

In the next few weeks I will be getting out of the ROC (finally) and hitting up a series of events in the coming days, and thought it made sense to summarize them here.

September 23 and 24 - Recruitfest 2009 - Toronto

I am really looking forward to this event.  While I am not myself a recruiter, the tools and technologies that recruiters are adopting are really interesting to me, they are a part of my HR Technology class topics, and the chance to see a live Animal show were all too compelling to pass up.

September 25 - Heading to Ottawa to meet with my friends from Halogen Software.  Regular readers of this blog will remember that Halogen has been a fantastic supporter of my class, and the HR social media space for a long time. I am really looking forward to learning more about their latest product developments. 

In addition, we will do a special 'remote' HR Happy Hour show from the Halogen offices on Sept 25, more details on that show will be posted on the HR Happy Hour site.

September 30 - I am speaking on HR Technology at the WTPF annual professional development event in Washington, DC. The WTPF is a Business Forum for HR Professionals, comprised of Human Resources professionals and thought leaders in the Greater Washington Metropolitan Area.

September 30 - October 2 - The HR Technology Conference in Chicago.  I will be meeting many leaders in the HR Tech space, getting interviews, doing some video blogs, and overall trying to learn and share as much as I can about the future of HR Technology. 

I am talking to some folks about doing another remote HR Happy Hour show from HR Tech, more details to come.

November 6-7 - The HRevolution - Louisville, Kentucky.  The first ever HR Blogging/Social Media Unconference. I am really excited about this event and have been honored to be a small part of the event planning.  This promises to be a great time and I will be leading a session on new and innovative technologies that HR pros can leverage.