I've been a bit recalcitrant about saying that local staffing firms "need" to start blogging, because until today, I was of the opinion that local staffing firms "should" be blogging because they could really make a name for themselves and get the advantages of early adoption.
While writing up a proposal this morning, a thought struck me, and that thought has stayed with me, and I thought I should share it with you, because it has entirely changed my view about the urgency of reading recruiting blogs and starting one right now.
The thought was this: The post-Facebook/MySpace generation is graduating college, and has been out for about a year now. This is a group of young people who in very large numbers, grew up used to social networking and consider it a right for them to interface online. They are going to continue to use their social networking sites, and their mobile phones, and ebay, and iTunes, and a host of other services at the office, because it is part of their lifestyle.
There's no getting around it. People use ESPN and Yahoo and Expedia and Orbitz and 80sGames at work now, at least when the cat's away, and there's just no getting around it. Sure, companies can block access to these sites, but they can't do so to everything, especially when businesses ask more of their employees. Creative types don't create from the hours of 9-5. If you keep them at the office, you have t expect them to bring part of their lifestyle to that office. And this has always been the case. Think of telephones. When telephones first came out, there was probably a moratorium on calling home to see if the kids could pull the chicken out of the freezer. Would anyone say that it's a misuse of company resources to do so now? Would a friend leaving a message on your voicemail about meeting up after work be considered a violation of the use of technology in the office?
It's the same thing, with the difference being a matter of acceptance. What's worse? 10 minutes on the phone during lunch, 10 minutes checking an auction, or 10 minutes reading a Facebook entry?
So what does this have to do with blogs? Simple. Blogs are your information portal into how all of this affecting us. Blogs are your new library of information. Blogs are the fastest way for you to learn about new technologies, new trends, information in your industry, and what to expect from candidates, companies, and the competition.
Every recruiter knows that the number one choice for technical hiring managers is that candidate with 3-5 years of experience. The perception is that these candidates are still trainable, but able to contribute, and most of all, don't know their value in salary, which means they are cheaper than people with 10 or more years. The thought, often wrong, is that the best time to capture someone is after their green but before they are too expensive. With college hiring growing at the fastest pace we've seen since the late 90's, the supply of these intermediate employees is going to explode in the next 2-4 years.
And guess what. They read blogs, and respect companies that write them. If you are a staffing firm that has made lots of money doing business the traditional way (posting to job boards, praying for responses, making a lot of phone calls), then you are in for a rude shock. Online employment is changing, and the expectations of the Millennials is changing, which means you have to learn how to recruit this next generation before they explode on the job market.
Reading and writing a blog will not solve your problems, but I truly think that companies that are not involved in social media are going to start feeling a pinch in a very short time. That pinch is going to grow more painful as more and more of the post-Facebook generation enters the workforce, and Gen X and the Babyboomers begin to adapt their employment choices based on the information available online.
The need to blog is now apparent. It's time you got started. The learning curve is steep, but then so is the loss of revenue you're faced with when the job boards dry up and no one uses your inhouse database. Some of you are already there. The rest will be there soon. Are you prepared? My e-mail is up there on the right.
