Google + is becoming an increasingly popular social networking site, but what opportunities does it present to HR and the recruitment process?
Circles
What sets Google+ apart is its circles. You can use them to separate your social circles and target your posts at the right people. For example, you wouldn’t talk about looking for a new job in front of your boss, nor would you bore your friends with all the day-to-day details of your working life.
The benefit of this for HR is that it separates the personal and the professional profiles of employees, eliminating the age old problem of employee comments on Twitter for example.
Integration
Both a blessing and a curse. If you want to use Google+ for recruitment or company promotion and you’ve already used Google applications or have a Google profile – be cautious. Google+ accesses a lot of information from your Google account so whilst having all your Google apps in one place is convenient – it could cause issues.
Before you sign up for Google+, check your Google profile, Picasa and any other Google apps you may have used in the past. Make sure your profile picture and ‘about’ page is consistent with your online presence and is optimised for your job search. Make sure any photos you uploaded to Picasa (now Google+ Photos) are only shared with people you want to see them.
Sparks
Google+ Sparks allow you to follow your interests. If you’re using Google+ to fill a job, try keyword searches or ‘Sparks’. Setting up Sparks for keywords such as ‘IT Sales London’ will let you easily check if anyone has posted an update / shared an interest with these words in. You can set up more than one Spark too, useful if you’re searching for talent in more than one industry or location.
Company profile
If you want to use Google+ to fill a role, make sure you have a company page set up and post jobs to the page. Anyone with a Google + account will then be able to follow your company, allowing you to see who is potentially interested in working for you.
Have you used Google + for your recruitment process? What has your experience been?
