Amy Chulik
Blog entries by Amy Chulik 
Want to Connect with Candidates? Get Creative.
June 15, 2009
Facebook may seem like a great place to start connecting with job seekers. And yes, your company profile’s lurking around on the site. But beyond creating an account and waiting for candidates to come find you, you’re not sure quite what to do. You’re almost ready to pull a Heidi Montag and bail on the whole thing. How can you get creative in your social media efforts — and make stronger connections with candidates? Let’s take a look at some ways to start thinking outside of that (status) box.
Dunkin’ Donuts
Dunkin’ Donuts has made huge strides through their social media efforts, and their latest campaign ties their new product offering in with their Facebook fan page with their “Keep it Coolatta” sweepstakes. This new campaign allows users to turn their profile pics into prizes by taking pictures of themselves drinking the Dunkin’ Donuts beverage and showing how they are “keeping it Coolatta.”
While this campaign may target many customers, it is also getting Dunkin’ in touch with candidates who may not have known a lot about them before and who are curious to learn more about the company. Dunkin’ Donuts is smartly gaining a presence — and an interactive one at that — by tapping into potential employees’ social networks on sites like Facebook. Facebook, as is Twitter or YouTube, is a very viral platform in which to communicate an idea — and if it’s a good idea, it will travel fast and reach a lot of users. They’ll send it to their friends, and then they’ll send it to their friends… and — yeah, you get the idea.
Dunkin’ Donuts executive chairman Jon Luther recently got into a discussion with us here at CB about the company’s leadership philosophy (more to come on that soon). One comment that stood out to me was Luther’s assertion that “People are to us the most important part of the equation. I tell people we’re not cloning genes here, we’re building relationships and making sure they’re the most profitable they can be so we can be the best franchiser in the world.”
And sites heavy on user interaction, such as Facebook, allow companies to more easily build those relationships that are hard to come by through the traditional hiring process alone. They also enable employers to more seamlessly integrate their brand into the user experience. Take a look at what Sea World has done, for example.
Think like an employer
Creating a social media campaign is all well and good, but still, you must determine your goals in launching an interactive, viral campaign on a site like Facebook. What are you trying to do — and with whom are you trying to connect? If primarily candidates, take a look at other companies running successful campaigns, and decide how you can focus in on job seekers in particular. Pitching your product or creating a fun game is a good start — but take it up a level. How can you connect with people who may be interested in working for you (and who just may not know it yet)?
A recent BtoB Magazine article lists 5 ways to optimize your Facebook marketing. These ideas, although specific to Facebook, can be applied elsewhere, and they are good starting points in your planning process.
Here are a few (full list here):
- Categories: Branding, Employee Attraction, Innovation, Social Media, Technology
Taking the Bull#*$% out of Work: Cursing and the Workplace
June 2, 2009
Britain’s Got Talent’s Susan Boyle is just the latest in a string of public figures to bring profanity into a place of business. However, not all profanity in the workplace stems from extreme anger or, as in Boyle’s case, apparent stress and exhaustion.
On the contrary, many places of business weave cursing into lighthearted banter or jokes and consider it an accepted part of the job. In fact, in some workplaces, one may feel out of place not to join in on the forbidden-word fun. I came across a recent Chicago Tribune article about cursing in the workplace, and although the article brought up some interesting points, it was the comments that really made for some great debate.
One commenter, “Hoofty,” wrote:
I worked for a company in which the “F-Word” could be used as a noun, adjective and verb all in the same sentence and was done so on a regular basis. And this was in the office!
I didn’t think much about it, until my wife brought up the fact that when I switched jobs, my language had cleaned up 1000%.
I guess the moral of the story is that profanity in the workplace can spill into private life. Question – WHY are they cursing? Out of anger, frustration, or in jest? Does it matter? What kind of example are you setting as a leader? What if you take away the meaning behind the words? Is using “fudge” really any better?
“Hoofty,” among others, brings up the idea that not only can cursing in the workplace environment spill over into one’s personal life, but that using a replacement such as “fudge” or “Nutter Butter” for a profane word or phrase while in the office is conveying the same idea and emotion as the original word (and in my opinion, the latter may simply serve to make workers hungry). So does this really solve the profanity problem in the workplace — if swearing in the workplace is even a problem to begin with?
Many think that profanity has no place in the workplace, and that it leads to toxicity, hurt feelings and hostility, and will lead to bigger issues as a result.
Other commenters, however, say that cursing is the symptom, not the disease — and that it points to a larger issue in the workplace. In their view, employers should be taking stock of their employees. Workers are likely frustrated, angry, experiencing low morale — or all of the above — and cursing is simply the outward expression of those feelings. The problem itself must be solved, they say, and the cursing likely will, too.
Positive effects of workplace profanity
- Categories: Employee Engagement, Employee Retention, Employer Advice
Are Your Workers Among the 30 Percent Burned Out Post-Layoffs?
May 28, 2009
Do you count yourself as a survivor? No, I’m not talking about your obsession with the Beyoncé video (and you should probably keep that to yourself), but about company layoffs. As a leader, if you are a survivor of a layoff, you have a unique perspective on its effects on the employees who remain — after the employee boxes have been packed up, goodbyes have been exchanged (if that’s even an option) and the dust has settled.
Results of a new CareerBuilder survey of more than 4,400 workers nationwide have revealed that workers who have survived layoffs within their organizations are facing new challenges in the forms of increased workloads and heightened stress.
- Categories: Economy, Employee Engagement, Employee Retention, Generational Hiring, Leadership Development
We’ve Changed! Our New Twitter Name: @cbforemployers
May 21, 2009
You may have noticed (if you are following us on Twitter, which you of course are, right? Riiiight?) that our Twitter handle changed yesterday from @thehiringsite to @cbforemployers. We sent out some tweets explaining the change, but I’m writing this post just to fill in those of you who didn’t see the change.
We decided to switch to @cbforemployers because we were already covering employer-related issues, and it made sense to change our name and cover even more ground for our followers. By representing CareerBuilder on behalf of employers, we will still discuss news from The Hiring Site–and all employer-related issues/news/topics on behalf of CareerBuilder as well.
- Categories: Social Media, Technology
CareerBuilder’s Annual Summer Job Forecast: Popsicle-Making, Heated Competition, and Long-Term Gigs
May 12, 2009
Summer jobs can’t all be all Summer Rental-esque boat-racing, resort dancing/noboby-puts-Baby-in-the-cornering, and running off to space camp (don’t we wish), but job seekers have had their share of jobs at which they’ve had the time of their life unusual jobs. And as tradition would have it, summer jobs, a crucial source of income for many, is thriving. This year, however, summer-job seekers are facing a more challenging market, according to CareerBuilder’s Annual Summer Job Forecast.
Nearly a quarter (23 percent) of employers plan to hire seasonal workers for the summer, similar to last year’s Summer Job Forecast findings, but as unemployment is high and more people are clamoring for the same number of summer jobs, the competition for summer jobs will be stiffer than in years past.
“Summer job seekers face a bigger challenge this year than in years past, as the market is flooded with candidates looking for both full and part-time positions,” said Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources for CareerBuilder. “The good news is that many traditional summer jobs are still available, but in this environment, it is essential that job seekers differentiate themselves and demonstrate how their skills can have a positive impact on a business in a short amount of time.”
Summer, extended
You think it’s likely that you’ll fall in love with your lifeguarding job (or, alternately, one of your fellow lifeguards)? Good news: The survey, conducted from February 20 to March 11, 2009 among more than 2,500 employers, found that many who do land summer jobs may have a chance to turn their seasonal roles into year-round stints. More than half (56 percent) of companies reported that they would consider summer recruits for permanent placement within their organizations.
Steady (pay)rollin’
When it comes to summer paychecks, nearly eight in ten (77 percent) of hiring managers will offer the same pay to seasonal workers this year as they did last year, while 9 percent will offer more and 9 percent will offer less.
How much more — and how much less — will summer workers get paid?
- Forty-two percent of companies plan to pay $10 or more per hour
- Thirty percent anticipate paying between $8 and $10 per hour
- Ten percent expect to pay less than $7 per hour
- Six percent plan to pay $20 or more per hour
Where are the jobs?
Comparing the industries surveyed, hospitality and retail have plans to bring the most summer workers on board, at 38 percent and 34 percent respectively. Across all industries, the most popular summer positions being offered include:
- Office support — 26 percent
- Customer service — 18 percent
- Research — 12 percent
- Landscape/maintenance — 11 percent
- Restaurant/food service — 11 percent
- Sales — 10 percent
- Construction/painting — 8 percent
Workers’ most unusual summer gigs:
When asked about the most unusual or memorable summer jobs they’ve ever held, workers shared the following responses:
- Bungee-jumping tower assistant
- Commercial bee herder
- Scouted garage sales for items to resell on eBay
- Murder Mystery dinner actor
- Cleaned gum off of school desks
- Gun fighter at a theme park
- Popsicle maker
- Picked up road kill
- Painted silo tops hanging from a crane
- Waterslide repairman
Let’s just hope the “road kill picker-upper” and “Murder Mystery dinner” aren’t connected in any way. Yikes.
- Categories: Economy, Employee Attraction, Survey Results
Are You Doing Business in One of The Best Cities for College Grads?
May 8, 2009
Yep, it’s that time of year again: College Graduation. Parties, celebrations, awards, a sense of accomplishment — and, oh, figuring out a place to live! Many college graduates-to-be are considering relocation to new cities to find a fresh start, a fresh career, and a fresh place to mount their shiny new college diploma. Only this time, the game is a bit different, as more competition for jobs is coupled with an economy in the midst of a recession — and the stress of stretching those entry-level-job dollars is often immense. The cost of living is high, and upcoming grads need as many resources as they can get to help them decide where their dollars will be best spent in their initial months out of the dorms.
With this in mind, Apartments.com and CBcampus have provided results for the second annual Top Ten Best Cities for Recent College Graduates.
“Given the current economy, new grads looking to relocate are becoming increasingly concerned with the cost of living as they are faced with more competition for jobs than seen in previous years,” said Tammy Kotula, public relations and promotions manager at Apartments.com.
The results were based on three criteria:
- Number of entry-level job openings
- Cost of rent
- Population of young adults
As it’s important for job seekers to understand their best living options, it is also important for employers to know where their city stacks up in the job atmosphere — and be aware of their competition in attracting top job seekers not only to their city, but to their company as well.
So… did your city make the list?
Loading ...
