Social Media Recruiting with Snapvine

Posted by Jim Stroud

September 22, 2008

For those who are unaware, I do have a 9-to-5, I am the Social Media Development Manager for EnglishCafe. I love my job so much that if it were a woman, I’d be french-kissing it. (Hope that image is not too disturbing for you.) Well, in my regular gig, I explore a LOT of online tools in search of widgets that can be either integrated or emulated on our site. When I was experimenting with one today, I had a “duh” moment and realized that some of the tools I have been playing with could be used for Recruiting purposes. So I thought, yeah, why not share them with you guys. So I will…

The first tool (of many that I will begin sharing with you) is SNAPVINE. Snapvine is VERY, VERY cool widget that lets you leave an audio comment on a blog or website. Check out this one for example…

Make on Snapvine | Copy This

What I like about Snapvine is:

Sooooo easy to use.
It gets more attention than a regular text comment on a blog
Gives you a closer connection with whomever is listening to your comment because they hear a human being and can pick up on the sincerity of your words.

I have been using Snapvine A LOT on EnglishCafe because it helps people learn English. After all, they can read a comment I left on their blog and then hear me reciting what I just wrote. Okay, that makes perfect sense to you I am sure, but what does that have to do with recruiting? Simple…

Consider this scenario:

Let’s say that you are looking for geeks proficient in “Ruby on Rails.”
You do a quick search for blogs that focus on Ruby on Rails experts.
You find a blog that seems cool and judging by the posts and the number of comments that are written on it, this blog is a haven for Ruby on Rails people.
You read a few comments and then decide to leave a voice comment with your input. (PLEASE contribute something to the conversation, THEN introduce yourself as a recruiter looking for people such as the one who is writing the blog.)
Best case scenario: The Blogger hears your comment and does not delete it as spam. (Again, your comment is not a blatant sales pitch.) Other people reading the blog post you were on, see your audio comment and are compelled to listen (curiosity is a powerful thing). They decide to write you back because of what you said and/or because you are a recruiter.

Now, how many Recruiters use Snapvine to leave audio comments on the blogs of passive candidates? I will go out on a limb and say… NONE! Now, how many of you are going to start this practice after reading this blog post? I am going to go out on another limb and say… a few. Why? Simply because its new and you don’t know the ROI (eventhough its a FREE tool) and you don’t have the time and it seems so complicated and… (insert excuse here).

Listen people, take a chance and do something different. Snapvine is EASY, EASY, EASY to use. Here is a video proving that fact.

How to leave audio comments with Snapvine from englishcafe on Vimeo.

I would be so curious as to how many early-adopters are there out there that will use this tool going forward? If you would, leave me a comment below and tell me about your experiences. The rest of you, sigh… stand on the sidelines and watch.
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Happy Hunting!

-Jim

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