A few weeks ago, Laura Montini of Inc. Magazine reported on the Social Recruiting Strategies Conference that took place in San Francisco earlier in the month.

This is a global conference attended by many of the most progressive technology companies in the world.  The purpose of the conference is to promote the idea of using social media to recruit in today’s talent acquisition marketplace.

The keynote speaker was Brad Cook, the global vice president of talent acquisition at Informatica.  You may not have heard of Informatica, but this company has 3,500 employees and operates in 28 countries around the world.  Informatica is one of the worldwide leaders in cloud-based data storage and management technologies.

Considering his background and place in the technology world, Cook gave some unexpected advice during his keynote address.  Here is an excerpt from the article in Inc. Magazine.

"For me social recruiting doesn't mean social media. With the digital age that we have today, nobody knows each other," Cook said.

He recalled how, when he was in the sales department at Cisco Systems, he'd periodically get calls from recruiters asking, how's your job going? Are you looking for a change?

Now Cook is in charge of finding talent for… a software development business–arguably one of the most difficult areas to recruit in right now due to heavy demand for a particular skill set and strong competition from tech giants like Google and Facebook.  

Cook said the best recruiter he's ever worked with is a woman who doesn't incorporate social media into any part of her job. She makes a point of maintaining all of her candidate relationships via phone. "She knows who their grandkids are, what their dogs' names are. She has all of that stuff," Cook said.

 

"The point of this strategy isn't just to make your candidates feel warm and fuzzy. Maintaining these relationships cuts down on the work you have to do in the long run," Cook said.

"You're going to continue to be busy because you've got to go through 10 people to find one. Wouldn't you rather go through five people to find one?" Cook posed. "When you start building those relationships longer-term you can actually get to that point."

Here’s a surprise:   The most effective social recruiting tool available today is already sitting on your desk!  Also, the most effective social recruiting tactic (picking up that phone and calling candidates) is something most real estate hiring managers (who used to be real estate agents) are already proficient at executing.  Isn’t this how you built your real estate business in the first place?

Cook was later asked what kind of technology investments recruiting organizations should be considering.  His answer was surprisingly simple:

“Of course, there is a very important role for modern technology in the recruiting process, especially once you have a candidate who is interested. Applicants should be able to go to a well-designed and informative career page on your site. “

This is where you will get the highest return for your recruiting technology investment.  Many organizations spin their wheels chasing after the latest social technologies that may reduce workload in the short-term, but are not effective because they result in keeping the candidates at an arms-length away.

Here are some applications for the real estate hiring process from Cook’s keynote address:

Talk to New Candidates on the Phone.   Modern technology (social networks, twitter feeds, drip email campaigns) has its place in the recruiting process, but the most progressive and effective hiring managers pick up the phone and talk to candidates.

Talk to Pipeline Candidates on the Phone.  Many hiring managers view the recruiting process as a one-time event.   It’s an interview and then plug the candidate into a drip email campaign and hope for the best.   Progressive and effective recruiters don’t just rely on this tactic—they also frequently pick up the phone and talk to their post-interview pipeline candidates.

Invest in Your Company’s Career Page and Application Process.   Cook ended his keynote address by suggesting, “If you do nothing else at the end of this (conference), go back and apply to your career site…. you need to know what pain you're putting your candidates through. That's the best way to learn how to fix it.”

This is all good advice from some of the top recruiters in the world.

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Ben Hess. Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle.