I am supposed to be presenting on this topic at the Radical North recruiting unconference in Toronto right now.  Instead, due to mechanical issues on the plane that would fly me to my first hop, I was delayed such that the whole trip went up in smoke.  So I’m now flying back to Dallas and have decided to write up what I would have presented. I’m pouting a bit, so if it comes across that way, you know why.  I spoke on this topic over the summer at the People Report Workforce Symposium, and at TalentNet Live 2010.

Foursquare, Gowalla, Facebook Places, and other geo location social services allow you to create places to check into if they do not already exist in the system.  My idea was that there is nothing preventing me from creating a new place to check in and making it a job opening.

Suppose you want to check into a restaurant for lunch on Foursquare. You open the app on your smart phone and look for it to appear in nearby places.  Suppose that, among the nearby places that appear, you notice this: “Now Hiring Business Analysts at XYZ Corp. in Dallas,  Contact Craig.Fisher@prbbi.com for details”,  Suppose that XYZ Corp is the direct competitor of your current employer, and Craig Fisher had strategically created that “place” (the job description) nearby the restaurant closest to your office so that you would see it when you checked in on Foursquare for lunch.

Sneaky, yes.  But entirely possible.  You can even do this without actually going to the restaurant near where you want to create the listing.  You can also add a tip to that listing, or “place” with the full job description and link to an online job application. 

It’s marketing 101, but somehow recruiters don’t think about such things for marketing their job openings.  Below is the slide presentation I created for TalentNet Live 2010 that shows how to create places from both your phone and your desktop.  This is just an example of thinking outside the box to get your jobs more looks by a targeted audience.

If you have questions about this, I’ll be hosting the #TNL Social Recruiting and HR chat Wed., 10/17/2010 from 8-10PM Central with my guests Jason Seiden and Jason Falls.  Catch me there, or just send me a note on Twitter @fishdogs.

Hope you find this helpful.  Cheers.

P.S., if you haven’t already heard, I am transitioning out of my role as partner with A-List Solutions to take on the role of VP of Business Development for People Report.  Here are the details: You Got Wings, kid. Success Stories and Big Changes

Thanks to Gordon Keith of Sports Radio 1310 The Ticket for posting this funny send up of broadcast news’ obsession with social media.  Are we very far away from this?  I don’t think so.

Fake hostage situation at City Hall from Fox 4 DFW–poking fun at social media obsession.

The cowbell rings constantly here at the offices of People Report on Preston Road in Dallas, Texas.   In my first week here as VP of Business Development, I have seen some really cool things happen.  I am attempting to learn the intricacies of a pretty technical suite of products, getting to know the team, the lay of the land, and the habits of the office.  I am doing all of this while still maintaining A-List Solutions for a couple more weeks until my partner in that company returns from his epic bike ride across the country later this month.

So what have I learned in my time at my new desk?

1) This place has a ton of activity going on!  The team just finished a major upgrade of the user dashboards for the main People Report product, the Human Capital Intelligence Report.   On top of that, we are ramping up for a major fall Best Practices Conference that we host November 1-3.  All this and we are still closing major deals several times a day – hence the cowbell.

2) We drink coffee here, lots of coffee.  And we are picky about it.

3) If we aren’t giving each other a hard time, something is wrong.  It turns out I am one of the few Dallas Cowboys fans in this office.  How can that be?

4) I work with really cool people who make up a very collaborative team.  I am learning so much already, and I understand why the leaders of this company, Joni and Wally Doolin, are so well respected.

I finally found time to update my Linkedin profile today.  If you are not familiar with People Report, here is what it says:

My team powers sales, marketing, social media strategy, and conferences for People Report and its sister company, Black Box Intelligence.

 

People Report provides Human Capital Intelligence for companies to help them analyze and visualize it's workforce strengths across multiple locations.

 

Our Human Capital Intelligence Report allows you to examine labor supply and employee demand, as well as helping you forecast your staffing needs. Insight is also provided into the talent and skill level of your workforce, including identifying your recruiting strengths and weaknesses. All data is benchmarked against your direct competitors and you are provided with performance percentile rankings so you know exactly where you stand in key areas like talent acquisition, talent management, demographics, productivity, and total rewards. Information is presented in easy-to-use dashboards that make comprehension and decision-making easier than ever.

 

Our primary niche is currently the service industry. Most of the major restaurants in the U.S. utilize our service and are People Report members. Check it out: http://www.peoplereport.com/clients.aspx.

 

Black Box Intelligence has a similar service that measures revenue metrics.

Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1978:  I pushed my grandfather's old Toro lawnmower over the last strip of my neighbor's lawn, shut it down, and looked around to check my work.  Satisfied with the neat lines of newly mown grass, I ran up to Mrs. Allen's front door to tell her I was finished.  

She came out and appeared to scrutinize every inch of her yard.  Finally she turned and scowled at me.  I stared back, defiant, but wondering what I had messed up. 

Suddenly Mrs. Allen smiled, gave me a quick hug, handed me ten dollars.  "You got wings, kid." she said.  She always talked that way. 

That was the first lawn gig that took me over and above weekly allowance.  I think I was 10 years old.

I took my success story to all my neighbors and soon had more lawn jobs than I could handle.  It was time for a business model.  I got a partner, and we did it.  I was in sales from that point on.

Dallas, Texas, 2007:  For many years I studied new and better ways to communicate excellent service to more and more potential customers.  I mastered web 2.0 technology and set out to prove that I could create and operate a well known corporate brand quickly, from nothing, using mostly free social media channels and search engine optimization. 

It required more than just providing great service.  It also meant telling a good story.  And it was now possible to do so on a massive scale.  I got a partner (I was very fortunate to meet a great person and skilled business operator, Jeff Lipschultz), and we did it.  Executive search firm, A-List Solutions was born.

We blogged, tweeted, and built huge online customer communities.  We provided excellent service.  Success led to speaking engagements, and even hosting large conferences.

I presented at a human resources conference in June of this year that was hosted by a truly amazing company called People Report.  It was the best conference I had ever attended.  The company and it's technology were wildly well respected by their peers and customers.  I said at the time that People Report would be a great company to work with. 

And now, remarkably, I have that opportunity.  An opportunity that is such a good fit on so many levels, even my business partner, Jeff, had to admit that it couldn't be passed up.  I will be joining as Vice President of Business Development for People Report and their sister company, Black Box Intelligence this month. 

People Report is an amazing company for many reasons, but what I am drawn to the most is the chance to be at the intersection of people & profits – their technology makes HR the difference maker.  And the team at People Report is just amazing too.

I am leaving A-List Solutions in the capable hands of Jeff Lipschultz for day-to-day operations, but will remain to help take care of business for the next couple of weeks, and in an advisory capacity beyond that.  We have built a valuable service that helps great companies to hire talented people.  And that will continue to be something I am very proud of.

My thanks to Jeff for his friendship, counsel, good times, and great success.  He and his family are my family too. 

And thanks to Joni and Wally Doolin, Bill Schaffler, and the great team at People Report for welcoming me now into their family.  I am honored and so excited. 

Stay tuned for the next success story.