A few years ago, I penned a post that explored some examples of government using social media for recruitment. Those examples (State, Coast Guard, UK Training and Development and State of Missouri) are still worth a look, but I thought it might be time to see what’s happening roughly four years later.
To be honest, performing a Google search for “find a government job” or “government social media and recruitment” didn’t turn up much. I’m sure there are examples (and I’d like to hear how your agency is using social tools to identify and vet candidates in the comments below), but it doesn’t seem to be a standard practice just yet.
In case you’re looking for inspiration, here are a handful that I found:
1. Internal Revenue Service: If I had to summarize the IRS approach it might boil down to two words: be everywhere. You can see what I’m talking about by going to their careers page (which might be the best in government, bar none). They have an active Facebook page where they post jobs and interact with seekers. They also repurpose their job posts using @RecruitmentIRS on Twitter. Perhaps one of my favorite features include the video playlist they’ve shared on YouTube, highlighting their employees and the type of work they perform. Of course, they’ve maintained a blog with regular content here on GovLoop and have a company page on LinkedIn. Last but not least, IRS was one of the first (and continues to be one of the only) agencies to build an island in Second Life for the express purpose of recruitment. You can hear them talk about their approach in this webinar entitled “Using Social Media for Recruitment.”
2. U.S. Office of Personnel Management: The agency that actually supports all of the other agencies in hiring got it right this past fall when they used Facebook as a communications hub during the open application period for the Presidential Management Fellows (PMF) program. I appreciate this specific application of a social tool for recruitment – it’s like setting up several booths on college campuses simultaneously to answer questions where they students spend their time. More than just pushing information, I see that some of their team members were responding to questions as late as 8:30 p.m. ET on more than one evening. That’s customer service – and that kind of commitment ought to impress a few folks who are thinking about a government career.
3. Intelligence Community Virtual Career Fair: Who has money to travel with tightened budgets? In lieu of that option, the Intel folks are turning to an online event to connect with prospects. In its fourth year, the event will be hosted on Tuesday, February 26 from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Participants can visit virtual booths, engage in live chats with recruiters, and browse open vacancies, cutting through the clutter of other job sites. Participants who can’t attend live will also have access to an on demand version for a couple weeks afterward. In case you’re wondering about the platform, it looks like they’re using INXPO. If you like this idea and want to see another example, GovLoop is hosting a similar virtual career fair two days later on February 28 (we use On24 as our platform).
4. Jobs.MO.Gov: In my previous post, I highlighted how the State of Missouri used Second Life to hire a cat with a bow tie (no joke). This time around, I wanted to show something far simpler: their Jobs.MO.gov blog. It’s a no frills, practical tool with one goal: post jobs and give people tips to get them. That one page looks less like a blog, but it seems like Blogger is the platform underneath several posts that assist job candidates with the “5 ‘Nevers’ of Interviewing” and provide information on resumes (including a pocket resume), interest profilers, the job market in Missouri and more. It’s not completely a blog as we know it and it’s not recruiting necessarily for MO government jobs…and it’s not completely social! So why am I sharing it? I hope that an agency is inspired to set up a blog that does all of those things for prospective job seekers! In order to end this example on a more positive note, they do have a very fun Facebook page and a solid YouTube channel that highlights interviews with careers experts. As citizens, I’ll bet Missourians find them helpful.
5. Your Agency! The four above are all I could find using a variety of search terms, so I’d like to hear from you:
How / Is your organization using social media tools effectively for recruitment?
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