Googling for talent

In the information age we read every day about new and exciting ways to use the Internet. One such use is searching for staff online.

The concept of online recruiting is not new,job boards are now well established and popular tools for jobseekers and recruiters alike—but is their time limited?

Google is rapidly becoming the recruitment search engine of choice. 'Googling' for talent. involves recruiters reviewing specialist chat and blog sites looking for key words relating to specific skills and experience. The googler then either joins in the forum or uses the site’s own resume function to gather the details of those looking for a change of roles. For example, if a Desktop Publishing (DTP) designer is needed with skills in Adobe InDesign and Photoshop, but who also has a working knowledge of, say, the luxury car industry, the googler would frequent magazine design and DTP discussion groups and blog sites, searching the postings for mention of top end car names. They would then read the contributors recent submissions to verify their history and expertise, and submit a request for resumes tailored to the specific target.

If this all seems like a lot of work, it is. The amount of information posted by industry professionals is colossal, and grows every day. Searching through this sheer volume of data for specific software and skill references is like searching for a needle in a haystack, but the rewards can be well worth it.

The skills required to google talent are minimal, but the time commitment can be considerable. It seems like only a matter of time before specialised tracking software will be developed that searches out individual sector forums, detects key words and automatically identifies potential candidates. Any ethical qualms readers may have about harvesting information from sites not specially designed for that purpose can be assuaged by the fact that Google themselves collect information from everybody who uses their search engine for the purpose of tailoring advertising content to particular users. Googling for talent isn’t for everybody. For the vast majority of recruitment scenarios the tried and tested methods will work perfectly well, and for a fraction of the time and effort. However, for specialist talent acquisition, and for singling out the one perfect candidate for a certain role, it just may be worth the effort.