So I created a MySpace page – you can see it here. Go create a page and come be my friend, I only have 2 – Tom and Dave Matthews Band. Tom on the other hand has 87,609,208 friends and DMB has 105,924, and my step-son and little sister are *too cool* to be my friend – bastards.
So what does this have to do with recruiting? Well, I’m no pretender, and I don’t like to spout off my opinions on issues that I don’t really have a deep understanding of. So, after the discussion that ensued from my recent post frowning upon making hiring decisions based on the content of a MySpace page – it seemed really wrong to explore the issue any further without going “inside”.
In case you’re interested, I’ve chronicled my registration and some pearls from the process:
- You go through the typical un/pass set up, but they also ask you for a
nakedpicture right off the bat. Actually, I almost stopped my registration as soon as I saw this and worried that my experience might not live up to all the hype, “Photos may not contain nudity, violent, or offensive material or copyrighted images.” No Copyrighted images??? I’m a blogger – come on. 
You then begin building your profile. They start out asking you about your reasons for using MySpace – your choices are as follows:- Dating
- Serious Relationships
- Friends
Connecting with prospective employers- Networking
- Step three… here is where we have set people up to fail in using MySpace as a window into a prospective candidate. Step three asks for your interests. I will let this picture that captures the COMPLETE list of *interests* that you are asked for when setting up your profile speak for itself:
That about sums up what you hear about MySpace – Swingers; Alternative Lifestyles; Drunks and Druggies. Seriously folks – it isn’t fair to use this for hiring decisions – but that is just my two cents. As I brought up in the previous discussion – this is not called MyResume. It was never created to be a place where you advertised your “Candidate Brand.” Candidates should have rights too and not have recruiters digging for dirt so that companies can seemingly reduce their “risks” and protect themselves from making “bad hires”. Your job as a candidate is to prove that you have the ability to do the job that an employer needs and that is done through your work history and your accomplishments.
Regardless – if you are brave and can get over all the hype – online social networking and sites like MySpace, Facebook, Tagged, Bebo, Bolt, and Friendster can absolutely bolster your online recruitment strategy – check out John Sullivan’s article from ERE.net, Outside-the-Box Recruiting — Using MySpace.com as a Recruiting Tool, here.
Stay tuned for part 2 of my MySpace recruitment marketing adventures. I will begin building my network and let you know what I find. Warning – if you are in the recruitosphere and you have a MySpace page – you better clean it up because I am coming to make you my friend.
PS – I am still so happy apparently I am NOT too old for this – the site’s registered members fall into the core demographic of 16-to-34-year-olds. YES up to age 34…have I mentioned that 30 was a hard birthday for me?
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Fantastic post! Falls right into one of those “Why did I think of that?” categories. You are right that to use this tool as a part of the recruitment process is floored. I will say that the reverse is also true of these sites. Candidates will begin using them and Google to background check a recruiter, potential boss or work mates before joining. Not to mention the typical background check on the company.
You should do the saem detailed guide to the other social networking softwares as well.
How much time do you think I have CH?
I recall a story about Mark Twain where he took the mickey out of the 19th century recruitment ‘recruitment space’ by giving his 3 worst enemies as job references. He got the job too, because the boss knew a live one when he saw one.
I used to recruit in jails for bright young men to offer a college program which involved work release (read access to real live college girls) and a stipend – ie money. I remeber one truly bright guy who had run a particularly charming and funny line of jive on me asking flat out what my creiteria really were. Fortunately I was having a good day and I shot back – “The quality of the lies you tell – what else do I have to go on?”
So this MySpace problem and fear of blogging will be overcome somehow. I suggest what Mark Twain’s boss used. A bit of intelligence and common sense. I guess if you want to run for office or whatever then truly anonymous MySpace type pages and blogs will be manditory. I can hear it now. I never blogged, I just lurked.
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