Tag Archives: social media

Getting Millennials and Generation X to work together

Some argue that the Internet was the single most important invention of the 20th century.  Businesses have computers for every employee (IT recruiting firms often provide both a desktop and a laptop for their IT recruiters).  It is the backbone that drives today’s businesses and economy.

Millennials grew up using computers.  Because of this, most of the generation has strong typing skills and extensive computer knowledge.  Therefore, anyone born prior is obviously at a disadvantage.

The emergence of social media has compounded this generational gap.  IT recruiting companies are now posting all of their IT jobs on Twitter and Facebook pages.  However, to most Generation X’s, this is still foreign to them…ultimately pushing the generational gap farther apart from a technology perspective.

Therefore, our advice for Generation X is to embrace technology.  Take some classes or try to find someone who can teach you computer basics.  Break free from your comfort zone and create accounts onTwitter and Facebook.  You don’t need to be an expert immediately – simply start using these sights at your own pace.  IT recruiting companies are depending upon these sites more and more.  If you’re not using them, the right IT jobs may pass you by.

And for Millennials, have some patience.  At some point, each of us may be facing the same apprehensions or fears.  Time flies and you never know what new technology is lurking around the corner!

How to network with others without blurring the line between business and personal

As an IT recruiter you are constantly meeting new people and making new connections through email or social media networks.  However, when you begin adding all these people to your networks, these people typically have access to your personal contacts as well.  You want to build business relationships, but where do you draw a line between your work and home life?

Many IT recruiters have chosen to create two profiles:  A work profile and a personal one in order to avoid mixing in with their personal lives with business.  Another option that IT recruiters have chosen is to make their profiles private and only allow a certain group of people to see their whole profile.   This can become annoying and tedious trying to keep both parts of your lives separate.

IT recruiters should keep work connections on certain social networks (such as LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook) separate from personal accounts.  Not only for privacy reasons, but credibility, professional and even safety reasons as well.

Could Facebook be meeting its demise?

As an IT recruiter, I’m always searching for new technologies and websites to help identify new IT professionals.  A few days ago the New York Times wrote an article about a new social media network that may rival Facebook and Twitter.  It’s called Pip.io.  Pip.io was founded by Leo Shimizu and David Chen and began running this past February and now has around 20,000 users.  IT recruiters can use this site just like Twitter and Facebook – to post additional IT jobs to attract talent for IT recruiting companies.  As seen in an interview done by Robert Scoble on YouTube, it appears that they looked at both Twitter and Facebook and created a new network that encompasses aspects of both websites while adding on features they were lacking.  Their intent, as they say, is to create a UI that is simple enough for even your parents.  We all know, most of our parents probably only go on to check e-mails and then shy away from the internet.  Another factor that plays a big role is privacy.  Users of these networks want to be able to be in control of what they share and not have their information leaked to various locations.

Learning from websites such as Twitter and Facebook, many developers have created their own social media networks and are slowly making them available to technical recruiters and the general public.  Could this mean the end for Facebook? Pip.io has made sure to note that his network should be used as an add-on feature and only made to improve your experience with different networks.  Others aim to become an alternative for Facebook and Twitter.  What does this mean for companies that have invested time into these networks? As for those who are looking for IT jobs, this could be a great opportunity for new IT job openings with these websites and, in turn, increase the use of IT staffing agencies.

Check out the NY Times article here.

Check out the interview Robert Scoble had with the creators of Pip.io.