This week on GradtoGreat.com, in our Great Grad’s Gallery, we are honoring Megan Soto – a young professional who was recruited on Twitter by a San Francisco based PR agency called Launchsquad. After learning more about Megan, we wanted to know more about LaunchSquad and the partner who discovered Megan on Twitter – Brett Weiner.

Brett manages LaunchSquad’s HR and employee issues and plays an integral role in new business activities. To help job seekers understand what companies are looking for when they take their recruiting efforts to social media sites, Brett agreed to be interviewed for our blog.

Anne:  Thanks so much for taking the time to talk to us. So, what search methods do you use on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to find employees?

Brett: Pretty straight-forward here:

1. On LinkedIn, we look for PR people.
2. On Twitter, it’s more organic. Not necessarily proactive.
3. We don’t use Facebook that often.

Anne:  What are some things you’ve seen that would convince you not to hire someone?

Brett: We realize that the trend is to share as much personal content as possible on the Web and we’re not averse to people having a social life. We are, though, more interested when they put their best foot forward while being themselves, realizing that just because their mom isn’t on Twitter or Facebook, employers often are.

Using discretion with the content they upload and allow others to see is impressive, not just photos but also comments from friends. We’re generally put off by anything that suggests a lack of focus on school, jobs, internships as well as content or activity that doesn’t make this person appear to be a savvy online user.

Anne: Is recruiting through social media outlets going to replace other methods of recruiting you’ve used in the past?

Brett: Not necessarily replace, but definitely make it easier. It’s better for getting a sense of who someone is, where their priorities are, what they’re interested in and, perhaps, what kind of work they do.

Anne: What can recent graduates be doing online that is likely to get them contacted for a job interview?

Brett: There isn’t by any means a succinct outline, but these are some things that impress us:

1. Have a blog that includes a solid, easily accessible resume
2. Comment on other blogs
3. Tweet relevantly and often
4. Show that you can create an online community around yourself and your interests

These all show online leadership and engagement in a space in which we’re deeply entrenched – we’re a technology PR firm so those things are important to us. We realize not all recent grads are going to know about SaaS (software as a service) but showing an enthusiasm to get to know this and other technologies helps – and is relatively easy to do with a blog or Twitter.

Anne: If you decide you want to interview them, how do you contact the potential candidate. Email, phone, tweet…etc?

Brett: However we can. If we can’t find email, we’ll send them a Tweet. Otherwise, we use email for an introduction then move on from there.

Anne: Will you be hiring any interns this summer?

Brett: Yes – maybe 2.

Anne: Are you hiring recent grads this year? If so, what qualities do you look for? Is someone’s major important?

Brett: Sure – we’re looking for smart, fun people with PR experience who do great work with any client. Major isn’t so important as talent. We have people here from all backgrounds, but their commonality comes with passion and drive.

Anne: Thanks so much Brett!

tags job search, PR firm, social media, twitter
posted in Jobs, Networking

posted on Monday, 04/13/2009 @ 2:42 pm
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