Givin’ props to Sodexho for innovative recruiting

Check out the Sodexho Careers blog. Check out the Facebook page, the YouTube page and…if you’re into this sort of thing…the SecondLife career fair. (blog | facebook | youtube | secondlife)

I’m not big on the SecondLife thing but when it comes to Web 2.0, its hard to deny Sodexho is taking steps in the right direction and it's working.

Look at how much more engaging the company's Web 2.0 efforts are than it's existing career site.

Which gives a more accurate representation of the org’s culture and people? The company’s career site or its blog and YouTube page?

It’s blatantly obvious. Which cost more? Again; obvious.

Sodexho VP Talent Acquisition Arie Ball and her team are off to a great start in '08. Hopefully the company will ride this momentum and do big things this year.

Moving forward I would consider the following:

• Put as much energy and resources into social media as you are SecondLife. It may not be as fun to you as exploring a virtual world but there is far more low hanging fruit.
• Consider using MoveableType as the blogging platform. In addition to being a more robust blogging platform, it will serve as a means for easily creating well branded landing pages. These pages can be used to enhance performance and extract more value from search engine and email marketing efforts. Companies often pay between $1,500 and $5,000 for similar landing pages. Over 12 months those charges can add up.
• Get more employees blogging. The blog will grow faster, be more influential and attract and engage more relevant talent. Try to have each department represented. The content contributed by each department will attract passive talent searching the web for similar info.
• Add a phone number to the blog. Why not encourage passive talent to pick up the phone and have a private and confidential phone call with a member of your recruiting team? With phone analytics you can now track where phone calls are coming from, play them back and calculate an ROI.
• Install Google Analytics. It’s easy to do. It will give you an idea of where your traffic is coming from.
• Get a sitemap. It’s technical but important. Keep it updated with Yahoo! Site Explorer and Google Webmaster Tools. (xmlsitemaps.com)
• Pick a good domain name.
• Get an rss feed of your jobs. Indeed seems to have this covered for you. You can get that feed here.
• Publish the jobs feed on the blog. This way blog traffic is always in a position to apply to jobs that you have open.
• Keep embracing diversity and new media. The two are working well together for you.

Ok, that’s it for now. Gotta run. Well done. Please keep it up.

Btw, its freekin freezing in NYC today! 14 degrees!

Comments

[Kerry]

You can bet I will be checking off from this to do list in the next few weeks - thank you so much for the advice!

[Kerry]

I thought the fact that we officially changed our name yesterday would be interesting to you - I've been recreating Facebook, YouTube, the blog, LinkedIn all day! Hope all is well in NY.