June 19, 2011

Building two-way relationships with JobMatcher

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One of the most useful aspects of social networking sites is the ability to build referrals and receive notifications about job leads far faster than a conventional scan of the want ads. The beauty of this arrangement is that it's a two-way street: I'll send job referrals your way if you send referrals to me.

There are many web applications that help prioritize and funnel these recommendations, based on the job skills and work history information on your online profiles. But few of these apps are applicable across more than one social network.

Last month, however, T-Mobile became the first Puget Sound-area company to deploy the Social JobMatcher app on its online careers page. Developed by recruiting agency Bernard Hodes Group, JobMatcher allows job seekers to receive personalized job recommendations based on both their LinkedIn and Facebook profiles. The app also accesses information about everyone in both of these social networks and also makes recommendations for all of your contacts.

While JobMatcher is no substitute for doing your own legwork of reaching out to those in your network and making yourself known to hiring managers, it can help give you an edge in providing referrals for other contacts in your networks. And as all successful job seekers know, the more you help your network, the more your network will help you.

"This is such a dynamic industry, we need to meet candidates where they are," said Michele McNickle, vice president of talent management for T-Mobile. "So we wanted to make it very easy for the most attractive candidates to interact with us."

Once logged into either network, visitors can see immediately along the left side of the screen a list of openings that most closely match the skills in the visitor's profile. Each listing also comes with a four-bar graphic -- much like the signal-strength indicator on a cell phone -- to illustrate the strength of the job-requirement match.

The key feature with this app is that it also includes a list of potential job matches for those in the visitor's networks. With a simple click on the "refer" button, the visitor can send a direct message to those contacts, alerting them about the job lead.

"It's just like the way we shop," McNickle added. "That referral component is very important in helping people narrow down their choices and make decisions."

Since launching with T-Mobile in test mode on May 20, the Social JobMatcher app has been used most heavily on LinkedIn, McNickle said. This is not surprising, considering how LinkedIn is still the most respected and serious of the social nets, in terms of job search functionality. However, she added that a "large portion" of visitors aged 25 to 40 tend to prefer Facebook.

"Your Facebook network is different than your LinkedIn network, so it gives a new dimension you your search," McNickle said. "This really reinforces how important it is to do your due diligence in your online profiles."

Currently, it's still too early to gather trend data to determine whether the app has had any impact on the frequency and quality of T-Mobile's new hires, McNickle said. But she did say that the response has exceeded the telecommunications firm's expectations.

With news swirling about the planned merger with AT&T (expected to be decided in early 2012), McNickle added that T-Mobile is indeed hiring in the area. Of the 2,500 open positions that T-Mobile is currently advertising, 400 are located here in the Puget Sound region. "We've really been growing in our business-to-business sales space," she said. "That function is headquartered here."

This rate of hiring is "business as usual" for the middle of the calendar year, she said, with the majority of local jobs available being in engineering and IT. By September and October, she added, the company expects to see a slow ramp-up in seasonal hiring for the holidays.

To give JobMatcher a test drive, visit the T-Mobile careers page and click on the "Job Recommendations for You" link in the upper right.

Randy Woods writes about job-search tools, networking techniques and other tips to help you land your dream job.

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employee referrals, Facebook, LinkedIn, networking, recruiting, social media

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