Two months ago Google launched it’s much awaited and highly anticipated social networking platform, Google+, now having spent some serious time exploring this Java built, social networking monster, what is its true potential from a recruitment perspective?
The Social Hiring Potential of Google+ …
Well, before we hone in on specifics let’s just take a quick overview… For those unfamiliar Google+ is basically a mashup of services we already use, messaging, video chat, status updates, news, photo sharing etc. So why is this any different? Well, the Google+ USP focuses on making our social networking experience a whole lot more organised, interactive and integrated into every aspect of daily life (Android and Motorola Mobility will make sure of that).
You see with Google+ you can organise your contacts into circles allowing you to network with each group or ‘Circle’ independently. As they put it: “Share some things with college buddies, others with your parents and almost nothing with your boss”. How and what you present to an audience of Creatives should be different from that of Developers (Web Designers vs Web Developers). It is this audience segmentation that lets you target one person, one circle, a few circles, or everyone with real-time messages, news, jobs, events etc. Something that is not possible on Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook.
Then you have Hangouts, a feature that consists of a virtual room where you can group video chat with your circles, or up to 10 people. In-fact Skype have already proved that video calling can be a useful recruitment tool (video interviewing, overseas interviewing, hiring managers discussing candidates etc.), so for Google to embed this ‘Hangout’ feature, which is also mobile enabled, into their social network is surely a good move (I also sense a few raised eyebrows over at Skype).
Google+ also connects with Google Docs so job descriptions, whitepapers and resumes can be easily kept and shared; Their ‘Sparks’ feature (similar to LinkedIn’s news feed) looks for videos and articles that it thinks you’ll like, this creates a feed of accessible, shareable content without the legwork (ideal for busy HR/Hiring Managers); and ‘Huddle’, a straightforward instant messaging tool, useful for co-ordinating interviews and the like.
Symptoms of a strong social hiring strategy include audience identification, segmentation and engagement (Social Hiring Strategy), Google+ lends itself naturally to the social hiring process and although it is not yet possible to build an employer brand or promote openings at company level (business services come online late 2011), it does highlight some real potential for the social savvy HR Managers, Hiring Managers and Talent Acquisition Specialists amongst us.
Just two months on it is too early to tell whether Google+ will take up mass adoption (The “if you build it they will come” policy doesn’t always ring true, remember Google Buzz, Orkut, Groups or SidiWiki?) But for sure, it has arrived; it has made a good start (fastest growing social network ever) and could throw up some interesting opportunities for those early, social recruitment savvy adopters.