Kevin Wheeler, who will be returning to St Louis in December, has a column up about the use of blogs to recruit candidates. He correctly notes that most recruiting and staffing blogs are aimed at other recruiters and HR folks, and not candidates.
I think this is a big blind spot in the industry, but understand it. Recruiting is almost always local. If you want a candidate blog, you need a local blog, and the local line recruiter is swamped with too many job orders. The time and effort to create a local recruiting blog, while I believe it will pay off in terms of placements or hires, is not yet regarded as the best use of time.
That will change, and events like the Recruiting Roadshow as well as blogs like the one you are reading will make a difference, but for the moment, the problem is one of education.
I like recruiting blogs because they helped me think about how I performed in my business. When I was a recruiter, writing a blog was my way of analyzing what I did and how I did it. It made me a better recruiter (and salesperson) because I was forced to come up with content regularly, and so I wrote what I knew. Many companies talk about this, but few actually have the focus to make it happen. Locally, we can point to EliteItServices and Mike Tiffany of Chameleon IS. Rehabcare just launched their Campus Relations Blog for occupational and physical therapists. This blog's sponsor over the last month, COMSYS, is consciously looking to improve their ability to speak to candidates as well.
In the end, it comes down to money. If you start a blog, will it make you more money or save you more time than your current business practices. Considering a placement averages $10-$20,000, either in fees for the third party firm or in savings for an employer, it shouldn't be too difficult to make a case in terms of ROI.
