WebProNews » Job Recruiting

LinkedIn Launches Set of HR Tools

Chris Crum — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 15:17:46 +0000

LinkedIn has introduced a new set of tools for HR professionals called LinkedIn Talent Advantage. The release reflects LinkedIn’s mentality that the best job candidates aren’t always actively seeking new jobs, although job posting responses on LinkedIn have doubled over the last six months.

Included in the suite, are:

- LinkedIn Recruiter, which helps corporate recruiters source top passive talent, with extended search, full profile viewing, direct messaging and team collaboration tools.

- LinkedIn Jobs Network, which consists of job postings on LinkedIn that deliver precise targeting, candidate match recommendations and viral distribution of job postings throughout the network.

- LinkedIn Talent Direct, which consists of "InMail" campaigns to reach more potential candidates faster and more precisely.

- LinkedIn Employer Advertising, which can be targeted to specific groups of professionals

- And the new LinkedIn Custom Company Profiles, which are rich and extensible company profiles with viewer-aware information that can adapt to the viewer’s location, industry, function, etc. to build an employment brand

"LinkedIn Talent Advantage lets recruiters unlock the power of LinkedIn’s extensive professional network so they can uncover quality passive candidates who are unlikely to be on traditional job boards," says LinkedIn’s Senior Director of Enterprise Marketing Francois Dufour. "Over 900 leading companies already depend on LinkedIn’s recruiting solutions. The hiring market has changed, and the new LinkedIn Talent Advantage is a game-changer for the human resources community."

LinkedIn has developed a reputation as the go-to social network for professional networking. This new package should do nothing except build upon that. With the economy in the shape its in and job cuts announced left and right, tools like this have never been more relevant.

Google’s Got Headcount Under Control. Really?

WebProNews Staff — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 16:30:17 +0000

A Google recruiter dropped a pitch to a Yahoo staffer into our inbox (and we know why, and who the target was); it looks like Google isn’t quite over its hiring binge yet.

The important thing here is that we did in fact correct and I think going forward, you should be comfortable that we are paying a lot of attention to the headcount.

– Google CEO Eric Schmidt on the company’s hiring practices, October 18th earnings call.

Hi Xxx,

My name is Xxx Xxx and I’m an executive recruiter with Google. I wanted to drop you a line with regards to an excellent development opportunity we have here at Google. Your background at Yahoo! is very impressive. I wanted to see if you would be interested in confidentially exploring an executive level Product Management role within our organization.

– excerpt of a misdirected email that landed in a WebProNews inbox.

Wall Street types have been grumbling over Google’s rampant hiring surge. It had an impact on Google’s second quarter numbers, and appeared to have continued into the third quarter.

Schmidt may explain this away as a cyclical issue, where collegians accept positions with Google early in the year and start after graduation. But pitching someone who works for a competitor isn’t the same thing.

In recruiting, it’s widely accepted that the best candidate for a job probably has a job already, and isn’t looking for another one. That’s where recruiting efforts come in, as a way to possibly detach a worthy individual from the soulless tyrant he or she works for today, to come work for the Utopian paradise the recruiter represents.

If anything, the misdirected email demonstrates Google isn’t finished hiring by a long shot, and really no growing company ever is finished. We figured out where the recruiter got his information and who he wanted to reach, and all we can say is, Google recruiter person, you’re really confused.

Google Saw Your Social Networking Profile

WebProNews Staff — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 16:40:16 +0000

The challenge of finding quality job recruits has even hit Google, long a highly coveted destination for technology graduates. Google is even having to do some legwork these days.

Google’s hiring practices used to be exceptionally rigorous for its engineers. Reports of high GPA requirements, multiple interviews, and baffling pop quizzes given by interviewers have become part of Google employment lore, just like its cafeterias.

Those practices have mellowed in the past year. Big names like Microsoft have been recruiting just as hard as Google. With startups like YouTube scoring billion-dollar paydays, some of the best and brightest may be deciding to take a chance at building a company and nailing a Vegas-style payout instead of settling for a salary free food.

It’s nudged Google into lightening up, just a little bit. They haven’t been distracted from their search for someone who might come up with the next Google News.

Part of their search involves plumbing the depths of social networking sites. Jeff Moore gave a talk at Harvard on ‘The Impact of Technology on Job Search’. He recruits for Google, and social networking is on his list of sources to find potential job candidates.

Recruiting is a priority for growing companies. To attract their attention, Moore recommended several tips for young job seekers:

Get out there

Manage your public profile

Don