So I need help at my day job and I am sort of at an impasse with finding suitable candidates - (as a recruitment marketer, this is an irony that is NOT lost on me). Interestingly, finding online marketing talent in South Florida has proven harder than I remember it being before I packed up and moved to the Bay Area with Julian. Back then, go to any business happy hour and you found tons of online advertising folks just waiting for next the next opportunity - job hopping was a way of life. Today…not so much.
My local referrals have slimmed a bit, I have screened and interviewed quite a few potential candidates (many came from CollegeRecruiter.com - thanks Steven) - but I have yet to find the right person. Then, it hit me that I hadn’t utilized my LinkedIn network. After feeling a little dumb and $99 later, I had a job posted and emailed out to my network. Within an hour, I had 10 people that I personally knew reply to me. Within the day, I had over 30 replies. I am a notoriously BAD pen pal. Ask my family in Pennsylvania or my friends from College - I am just really bad at replying to email. Yes, I am working on this flaw.
Anyway - to get this type of a response really impressed me. I heard from people that I haven’t heard from since I left Knight Ridder Digital. This was the best get back in touch ploy ever! I do have to admit, and I am starting to get a little complex about this - but YES - many of my contacts wrote just to say, “hey Shannon, have Julian call me - its been FOREVER.” grrrrr
So here is the rub - I have not received one person to interview out of the posting. Had I been looking for a candidate for a higher level job - I think that the referrals would have been much more abundant. But overall, I was truly impressed with the responses from real people that I know and that know me and are in the online space - such a highly targeted audience. So - I agree with a recent post over at GetCareer - build a real LinkedIn network (and although many recruiters would disagree with me - don’t just be a ho) - you might be shocked at how people let you feel the love.
EXCELER8ion is where Julian and Shannon Seery Gude write on Social Media, Interactive Marketing, Technology and Internet Business Topics. 
4 comments ↓
Send me the job description and I’ll post it on my blog. Not that that will do much for you, but it’s free. Also, email Maureen Sharib at Sourcers Unleashed and Barry Geiman at Recruiters and Sourcers Exchange . People post jobs on those newsgroups all the time. Also, Brian Toland has a free recruiting jobs newsletter that is growing by leaps and bounds in terms of distribution. And he’s a nice guy too.
[...] JGo Jason Goldberg sez there’s a mad rush for online advertising sales people. And, Shannon Seery of Exceler8ion confirms it. Back then, go to any business happy hour and you found tons of online advertising folks just waiting for next the next opportunity - job hopping was a way of life. Today…not so much. [...]
Hi Shannon, I just learned about you through LinkedIn.com!! =D I am passionate about internet advertising and am so impressed by your passions and background, too! So, I decided to send you an email to your yahoo mail a/c (which I learned also on the LinkedIn page) to talk about the prospect in the industry~ After that, I decided to explore your blog a bit and found that you are looking for suitable candidates for online advertising! I am a New Grad in May 2006 and am currently looking for job in the advertising/ marketing area. And I so look forward that my first job can land in the internet industry! Please let me know whether you’d like to have a look at my cover letter and resume and I will send them for your review! I look forward to your reply! =) smile~
Dear Prospective Candidate: Thanks for your interest! Please send me your resume and let’s set up a time to speak. The position that I speak of in this post is for an Account Executive with the Recruitment Advertising Agency where I work - you can find the job description here:
http://www.linkedin.com/e/mfOKXfWk7xPmovwkw-018IX7LOddF81SC1hQ/vjb/48777/bjob/
Please note that EXCELER8ion.com is the companion blog to EXCELER8, an online marketing consultancy that I have with my husband. Our blog is our space where we discuss our thoughts about online advertising / recruitment marketing and is not associated with any employer.
Thank you again for your kind words about the blog.
Leave a Comment