How  Personalized  Search  and  the  Absence  of  Privacy  will    

Help  and  Hinder  Online  Recrui<ng  Now  and  in  the  Future    

by:  Jim  Stroud  Director,  Sourcing  &  Social  Strategy  Bernard  Hodes  Group    

for:  SourceCon  2012  

v2.8.12  

I  control  the  newspapers.  So,  I  control  what  you  

learn,  think  and  know.  Bow  down  and  worship  me.    

2  days  ago…  

My  name  is  “internet”  and  now  Informa<on  is  free.    

Yesterday…  

me!  Today,  its  all  about…  

Social  signals  are  becoming  more  and  more  relevant  when  ranking  personalized  search  results.    

Loca<on  is  a  key  factor  as  well.    

Check  out  what  I  no<ced  in  October  2011  

Page  One  in  Ireland  

Page  One  in  GA  

•  Four  Links  were  not  featured  on  both  pages  

•  Four  Related  searches  were  not  featured.  

•  Only  one  had  an  adver<sement  •  News,  images,  et  cetera  were  

arranged  differently  

If  you  look  up  the  same  keyword  in  different  loca<ons,  you  get  different  results.  

October  2011  

Two   links   based   on   the  recommenda<on   of   my  connec<ons.   Also,   two   less  l i n k s   f r o m   p e o p l e  compe<ng   for   that   SEO  posi<on.  

October  2011  

The  more  my   friends   plus   one   a  page   that   I   have   “+1’d,”   the  higher   it   seemed   to   rise   in   my  search  results.    

October  2011  

Ini<ally  you  had  to  opt  in.  But  now  out  to  the  masses.    

Google  has  been  experimen<ng  with  this  since  2009.  

Personalized  search  results  at  the  top.  

Turn  personalized  search  on  /  off  

Icon  for  personalized  results  

Search  results  liked  by  your  friends  get  special  treatment  by  Bing.  

Since  February    2011  

Is  this  popular  news  or  what  Yahoo  wants  me  to  see?  

Since  2008  

…boas<ng  that  click-­‐through  rates  have  now  risen  more  than  270  per  cent  on  the  "Today"  news  module  at  the  heart  of  the  Yahoo!  home  page.  Known  as  CORE  –  short  for  Content  Op<miza<on  and  Relevance  Engine  –  the  system  doesn't  replace  human  editors.  It  works  alongside  them,  making  many  but  not  all  the  decisions…    Source:  bit.ly/r5SEBL   The  system  knows  that  women  generally  favor  stories  about  Brad  Pig,  

but  aher  some  real-­‐<me  analysis,  it  can  quickly  realize  that  men  are  far  more  like  to  click  on  a  Brad  Pig  story  that  involves  a  sports  movie.  

“With  my  browser  logged  out  of  Facebook,  whenever  I  visit  any  page  with  a  Facebook  like  bu=on,  or  share  bu=on,  or  any  other  widget,  the  informa>on,  including  my  account  ID,  is  s>ll  being  sent  to  Facebook.  The  only  solu>on  to  Facebook  not  knowing  who  you  are  is  to  delete  all  Facebook  cookies.”    Source:    bit.ly/pBK2oR    |  Also  check  out:  hgp://usat.ly/xvMlaK  

By   simply   connec<ng   with   a   passive  candidate  online  I  get  exposed  to  their  social  clusters   through   their   social   channels   and  search  channels.        •  Imagine   that   I   connect   with   Paul   via  

Google   Plus   and   Paul   gives   a   job  descrip<on  or  some  other  content  about  my   company   a   “plus   one?”   Later   that  day,  Paul’s  friend  Ryan  does  a  search  for  a   job   and   sees   my   content   high   in   the  search  results  because  Paul  gave  it  a  plus  one.      

•  Imagine   gelng   your   employees   to  tweet,   like   or   plus   one   content   about  how  great  it  is  to  work  at  your  company.  When   their   friends   look   for   a   new   job,  links  to  your  content  will  be  higher  in  the  search   results.   How   is   that   for   a  compe<<ve  edge?  

If   your  content   is  not  compelling  and  no  one  wants  to  tweet  it,  like  it  or  plus  one  it  then,  your  search  engine  results  may  fall  into  rela<ve  obscurity.      Are   you   trus<ng   too   much   in   SEO  strategies  to  get  you  no<ced?  What  good  is  SEO  when  the  default  selng  on  search  engines   is   to   rank  results  based  on  what  your  friends  like?      What  will   it  mean  in  the  future,  actually,  what  does   it  mean  now   if  you  are  afraid  of  Facebook  and  Twiger  or,  have  no  <me  to  devote  to  Google  Plus?  

Be  strategic  and  do  it  now.*  

Will  you  give  my  content  a  +1,  a  like  or  a  

tweet?  

Aww…  How  sweet.  

Make  it  easy  for  people  to  share  your  content  with  their  social  network.    

Tweet  your  more  popular  blog  content  more  than  once  and  at  different  <mes  of  the  day  to  increase  retweets.    

Use  Twiger’s  “Who  To  Follow”  link  to  find  influen<al  people  on  Twiger.  Retweets  from  authorita<ve  people  can  help  your  pagerank.    *  This  is  the  new  linkbuilding.      

Links  from  Facebook  Fan  Pages  helps  your  search  

ranking  as  well.    

Use  Google   Plus   to   brand   your   content  and   agract   passive   candidates.     Click  company   logo   to   view   their   Google   Plus  company  page.  Look  for  this  to  become  a  common  prac<ce.      

“The   federal   agency   tasked   with  enforcing   labor   law   has   been   fielding  complaints   from   workers   across   the  country   who   have   been   fired   or  disciplined   for   their   work-­‐related  indiscre<ons   on   Facebook.   Although  the   feds   have   taken   up   the   cases   of   a  number   of   jaded  workers,   others   have  essen<ally  been  told  they  have  no  one  to   blame   for   their  workplace   troubles  but  themselves.”      

Source:  hgp://huff.to/pH5qv3  

Controversy  over  “Facebook  firings”  is  at  an  all  <me  high.    

People  are  star<ng  to  get  it  about  protec<ng  what  they  post  online.  At  least,  when  it  comes  to  upda<ng  their  Facebook  statuses.    

If  candidates  become  more  savvy  about  their  online  privacy,  will  it  become  harder  to  find  them?  

Resumes  are  s<ll  being  indexed  and  on  a  regular  basis.  

This  search  generated:  •  28  results  in  the  past  24  hours  •  9  results  in  the  past  week  •  179  results  in  the  past  month  •  14,800  results  in  the  past  year    

Social   networks,   blogs,  forums,   et   cetera,  typically  have  a  sec<on  for   self-­‐iden<fica<on.  Among   the   criteria  u s e r s   fi l l   o u t   i s  occupa<onal   data   such  as  job  ?tles.    

There   will   always   be   some   candidates   who  are  savvy  about  marke<ng  themselves  online.      

“So   as   long   as   I   have   a   social  strategy   and   a   good   grasp   of  boolean   searching,   I   should   be  golden   now   and   in   the   future.  Right?”      

As   long   as   it   has   taken   for  companies   to   realize   the  need   for  a   social   recrui<ng   strategy,   its  been   an   even   slower   learning  curve   to   acknowledge   the   need  for  a  mobile  recrui<ng  strategy.      

This  is  where  it  gets  tricky.  

Which  is  a  pity  because…  

 About   half   of   Facebook’s   800   million   users  access  the  site  via  their  mobile  phones.    Their  head   of   mobile   products   says   that   Facebook  may   more   of   a   mobile   company   than   one  which  develops  for  the  web.        

Source:  hgp://bit.ly/yzLPkV  

People  are  consuming  content  on  mobile  apps  moreso  than  on  the  web  and  no  signs  of  slowing  down.      

If  your  company  does  not  have  a  mobile  recrui<ng  strategy,  you  are  at  a  disadvantage.      

One  day,  companies  will  say…  “I  get  it!”    When  it  comes  to  finding  people  its  all  social  strategy,  boolean  searches  and  mobile.  Gotcha’!    

Actually,  it  already  has.    

SEO  is  dying.  (Google  is  killing  it.)      The   more   quality   content   you   create  and   the  more   people   that   engage  with  you,   the   more   prominent   your   profile  will   become.  Hmm…  How  many   people  have   these   gurus   in   circles   named  “marke<ng?”  

TREND:  Being  veged  by  the  masses.  

Who  you  say  you  are  is  not  enough  anymore.  It  also  magers  how  people  see  you  online.    

People   are   lis<ng   me   under  Recruiter,   Career   and   HR.   How  does   that   affect   Twiger’s   search  algorithm?  I  come  up  #9  on  a  user  search   of   “Recruiter.”   (At   this  wri<ng.)      See:  hgp://bit.ly/wHvPbG  

The  masses  are  determining  how  I  am  being  classified.    

Source:  hgp://bit.ly/xdayg7    

Too  much  for  some  candidates?  

Another  sign    of  a  mass  velng    trend?  R/GA  experiments.    

[X]  Mobile  is  being  overlooked  by  too  many  companies  

[X]  Mass  recommenda<ons  are  an  increasing  factor  in  search  engine  ranking    

[X]  Social  Strategies  are  crucial  

What  else  can  you  expect  from  the  future?  

[X]  Boolean  Searches  aren’t  going  away  any<me  soon.    

I  told  you:  

Job  descrip<ons  become  more  flexible.  

Jobseekers  will  have  more  op<ons  on  how  they  consume  content  about  prospec<ve  employers.    

"For   the   third   week   in   a   row,  customers  are  purchasing  well  over  1  million  Kindle  devices  per  week…"  

Source:  hgp://cnnmon.ie/tWoKI8  

Its  easy  to  produce  and  distribute  content  on  tablet  devices.    

1  in  3  Online  Consumers  to  Use  a  Tablet  by  2014    

Source:  hgp://rww.to/tN0Kjy    

Source:  hgp://bit.ly/p3xoNA  

Smartphones  and  Tablets  Drive  Nearly  7  Percent  of  Total  U.S.  Digital  Traffic  

Job  Lis<ngs  become  more    flexible  to  include  mul<-­‐media  (pics  and  audio).  

Video  job  descrip<ons  become  the  norm.  

Op<mized  for  viewing  on  mobile  phones.  

Sourcing  people  by  their  check-­‐ins  at  events  becomes  easier  and  commonplace.    

This  will  help  you  find  people  that  choose  to  check  in.      

I  think  that  there  will  be    some  challenges  as  well  

due  to  people  being  protec<ve  over  their  

informa<on.    

As  a  result,  I  expect  to  see  a  few  things  start  to  happen  among  techies  first,  then  everyone  else.    

More  mobile  social  networks  where  communica<ons  stays  on  your  phone.  

Less  likely  chance  of  the  wrong  person  discovering  your  content.    

As  such,  referrals  become  even  more  important.    

More  secret  sites  like  this  are  pending  as  people  fight  for  privacy.    

Using   store   bought   sohware   and  public   data   from   social   networking  sites,   a   college   professor   was   able  to   iden<fy   individuals  on  a  popular  online   da<ng   site   where   members  protect   their   privacy   through  p s e u d on yms .   I n   a   s e c o n d  exper iment ,   they   iden<fied  students   walking   on   campus—based   on   their   profile   photos   on  Facebook.    

Source:  hgp://bit.ly/qrRO7U    

I  think  sourcers  will  uncover  more  clever  ways  to  find  passive  candidates.  

Another  way  to  source  passive  candidates?  Find  photos  online  and  track  candidates  

using  facial  recogni<on  sohware.    

Hmm…  I  think  that’s  all  I  planned  to  say.  

Ready  to  take  on  any  ques<ons!  (  Um…  assuming  you  are  s<ll  awake  and  we  have  <me.  )      

Operators  are  standing  by.  

 Contact  me:    Jim  Stroud  Director,  Sourcing  and  Social  Strategy    Bernard  Hodes  Group    Phone:  404-­‐939-­‐5752    Email:  jstroud@hodes.com  Linkedin:  hgp://www.linkedin.com/in/jimstroud  Twiger:  @jimstroud      

At  least,  for  now.