I am supposed to be presenting on this topic at the Radical North recruiting unconference in Toronto right now. Instead, due to mechanical issues on the plane that would fly me to my first hop, I was delayed such that the whole trip went up in smoke. So I’m now flying back to Dallas and have decided to write up what I would have presented. I’m pouting a bit, so if it comes across that way, you know why. I spoke on this topic over the summer at the People Report Workforce Symposium, and at TalentNet Live 2010.
Foursquare, Gowalla, Facebook Places, and other geo location social services allow you to create places to check into if they do not already exist in the system. My idea was that there is nothing preventing me from creating a new place to check in and making it a job opening.
Suppose you want to check into a restaurant for lunch on Foursquare. You open the app on your smart phone and look for it to appear in nearby places. Suppose that, among the nearby places that appear, you notice this: “Now Hiring Business Analysts at XYZ Corp. in Dallas, Contact craig@fishdogs.com for details”, Suppose that XYZ Corp is the direct competitor of your current employer, and Craig Fisher had strategically created that “place” (the job description) nearby the restaurant closest to your office so that you would see it when you checked in on Foursquare for lunch.
Sneaky, yes. But entirely possible. You can even do this without actually going to the restaurant near where you want to create the listing. You can also add a tip to that listing, or “place” with the full job description and link to an online job application.
It’s marketing 101, but somehow recruiters don’t think about such things for marketing their job openings. Below is the slide presentation I created for TalentNet Live 2010 that shows how to create places from both your phone and your desktop. This is just an example of thinking outside the box to get your jobs more looks by a targeted audience.
If you have questions about this, I’ll be hosting the #TNL Social Recruiting and HR chat Wed., 10/17/2010 from 8-10PM Central with my guests Jason Seiden and Jason Falls. Catch me there, or just send me a note on Twitter @fishdogs.
Hope you find this helpful. Cheers.
P.S., if you haven’t already heard, I am transitioning out of my role as partner with A-List Solutions to take on the role of VP of Business Development for People Report. Here are the details: You Got Wings, kid. Success Stories and Big Changes
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Is there a way to download these so they are available when not online?
Dear anonymous,
Thank you for your comment. It's too bad you chose not to identify yourself. This is a great debate.
There are many places created that don't represent an actual venue. If they are not intrusive, destructive, invasive, or otherwise disruptive, they are rarely flagged for deletion. None of the job openings I have posted have been flagged. Quite the opposite. They are popular and helpful.
Next time you check into your couch, a conference, a ballgame, a concert, or other created place that's not really a venue, ask yourself if you feel like you are cheating, or if anyone really cares.
Cheers, CF
Creating a venue specifically for promotion of a job opening would not be allowed. It does not represent an actual venue and would be flagged for deletion.
I ♥ devious minds like yours when they do good work =)