Want to Recruit in the Future? Here’s How it Works

I recently finished reading I Live in the Future and Here’s How it Works, by Nick Bilton. He is the lead technology writer for the New York Times Bits Blog and a reporter for the paper. The most interesting parts are about the media industry (news, music, magazines, newspapers, etc.), and how it is and will be changing, but I think his insights also apply to what Bullhorn is trying to achieve with our new Bullhorn Reach product.

Bilton’s basic thesis is that people are dramatically changing how they want to consume information. They are no longer satisfied with being part of a demographic for whom information is packaged in a magazine, daily paper, or cable TV schedule. They want their information personalized, and more importantly that personalization will not be based settings that they explicitly configure (filling out those annoying profiles on a web site) but implicit things, like the influence that their friends have on them (e.g., Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Foursquare, etc.). What he means is that in the future the collective filtering you can get by following others or by sharing articles you find interesting with people in your network will be a far more powerful means of organizing information than subscribing to Time magazine or filling out a set of criteria on an Indeed or Monster subscription. He has a great example of a friend’s daughter who borrows his computer to read the news and then sits there reading through her Facebook feed, which contains a mixture of personal updates and links to news articles, blog posts, videos, and other content. To this 18-year-old girl, that is the news. It’s a pretty powerful thesis.

So while today you can see what the most emailed stories are in the NY Times, in the future you’ll see which articles your friends (or your friends’ friends) are emailing about, giving you a more focused lens on the news. I know this is true for me. These days, I get my first cut of industry, national, and international news through links shared by my friends and connections on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Only after that do I turn to the more general news channels. Which brings me to Bullhorn Reach. The recruiting business is all about building relationships, and if Bilton is right that people will filter their information through social channels, then recruiters need to make sure they build a brand in those channels. And that’s going to require more than just blasting out your job openings. You need to become a trusted source of useful information and commentary. Otherwise, no one will be listening. Only after people are paying attention will you have the permission to talk to them about your job opening or the value you can provide them in meeting their staffing needs. That’s why Bullhorn Reach will not only give recruiters the ability to publish their jobs on social networks, but also help them find and share articles that are going to be of interest to candidates and employers. It’s that useful content that is going to help you build your following, help you build your reputation online, and ultimately earn you the opportunity to engage with an employer about their recruiting needs.

This Bullhorn Blog post was written by Phil Costa.