Kony 2012 may be the most ambitious recruitment campaign that I’ve ever seen. Jason Russell’s The Invisible Children has been established to build awareness rapidly about Joseph Kony and to recruit people to help effect his arrest. Here are some observations:

Social media and engaging content
To date the first Kony 2012 video has over 104 million views on YouTube, over 3.2 million likes on their Facebook page, and they’ve received over 3.59 million pledges. Their aim was to recruit people to their cause on an international basis, and they’ve successfully reached their audience through developing engaging and personal content. To differentiate, companies looking to attract the right staff need to effectively identify their target audience and create engaging social media content to best talk to them. It isn’t enough to have a passive message – it has to encourage action.

Advocacy
Initially, people didn’t know Joseph Kony, but they do know Justin Beiber (20+ million Twitter followers) who took to Twitter to put his endorsement on the cause. In business, people aspire to work for companies that have individuals who are strong advocates for the brand; these are people who are the face of companies and who display a passion for their work.

Word of mouth
My colleague in March: ‘Have you seen the Kony video’?
Me: ‘The what??’

My first thought was, is that a new consumer electronics brand or sports shoe brand? By the time my wife and colleagues had mentioned Kony; it was difficult to NOT watch the video. In the recruitment industry; the best jobs and the best people that we hear about are always through word of mouth and referrals.

Empowerment
The best companies in the world offer individuals the promise of being part of something special and to make a difference. Kony makes it clear that their goal cannot be achieved without ‘you’ helping to effect change. People always ask us ‘Why should I come to work for this organisation?’ Kony 2012 reflects that the impetus should come from the individual; i.e. what you can bring to the organisation and how you can contribute.

Compliance
The positive response received from the campaign has been matched in full by negative sentiment and backlash as to financial disclosure and intentions of The Invisible Children. With the current nature of information and its accessibility, companies will be scrutinized from front to back. Prospective employees will do their due diligence and background checking, so be prepared and make sure the house is in-order.

Until next time.

empowerment, Facebook, Hiring, Jason Russell, Justin Beiber, Kony, Kony video, recruitment, Social Media, The Invisible Children, Twitter, YouTube

Social networking sites are more popular than ever and are increasingly important tools for job seekers and employers alike. When you are looking for a job or positioning yourself for career growth, it is important to have an online presence where you can showcase your skills and experience. However, use your common sense and don’t let your social networking get you into trouble! Here are some of my top tips:

DO:

1) Create an online presence

Establishing a company website and/or LinkedIn profile is always a good start.  Have you ever tried Googling yourself? Is the available information supportive of your professional image/reputation? Can your target audience access your profile?

2) Connect

Associate yourself with like-minded individuals or professional groups; this will help build your status in your industry. By joining industry forums you will also gain access to market updates and be able to exchange ideas with industry counterparts.

3) Be professional and consistent

Does your online identity correspond to your CV? What do your Facebook and LinkedIn profiles and pictures say about you? What valuable connections could you make through these sites? Ensure you have applied the appropriate privacy settings to your profiles. You would not want your boss to see embarrassing photographs of you drunk the day before your annual review!

DON’T:

1) Post funny information on your profile

While it might be good for entertainment value, I would advise not putting random, useless information on your online profiles. For example, some real life LinkedIn examples include: ‘Winner at life’ and ‘Going to be unemployed’ as job titles, and “Common sense” as a specialty. Comments like these are certainly not going to get you very far.

2) Forget the fine print

Before posting those scandalous holiday pictures onto Facebook, you may want to consider the following:

“By posting User Content to any part of the Site, you automatically grant, and you represent and warrant that you have the right to grant, to the Company an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to use, copy, publicly perform, publicly display, reformat, translate, excerpt (in whole or in part) and distribute such User Content for any purpose, commercial, advertising, or otherwise, on or in connection with the Site or the promotion thereof, to prepare derivative works of, or incorporate into other works, such User Content, and to grant and authorize sublicenses of the foregoing.”

3) Forget to update

Always remember to update your profiles with any promotion, new qualifications or other important work-related milestones. These are always worth highlighting. But remember, no one needs to know your hangover status.

Facebook, Linkedin, network connections, online presence, Social Media, social networking