The are a number of social networking sites available on the Internet you can tapped into an find potential canvassing recruits. These sites allow you to identify a group of potential people based on a variety of criteria such as age, gender, race, educational background and work experience. This saves countless hours fielding phone calls and interviewing with applicants that just do not fit the ideal mold for the position that you are attempting to fill. The most popular site and the one I’ll walk you through is setting up MySpace.com.
Getting Started on MySpace
Before you start setting up your social site, you’ll want to have your list of ideal canvasser characteristics. If you don’t have one created read May 2008’s issue of Canvassing Insider, or, by clicking on this link for help.
- Once you have your canvasser profile log on to www.Myspace.com
- Click on the “Sign Up” button.
Follow the procedures to create a new account. You want to create this account in your company’s name, for example, XYZ Home Improvement. In addition to the company information you can also upload pictures to give visitors a visual feel for your company, as well as your company logo to establish your brand. A basic page will be all you need to start recruiting here. If you want to get more elaborate with your page you can search the Internet for help. MySpace, and the other social sites, has become so universally popular that there are third party applications and templates available, many for free, that you can use to customize your MySpace presence.
Once you’ve completed the fields and have uploaded images you can begin using the browser to start searching for ideal candidates to meet you employment needs.
Use the site’s browser to fill in the criteria that best matches your ideal canvasser. Once you initiate the search you’ll have an abundance of prospects, based on the specific characteristics you entered, to choose from. MySpace limits the returned results to 3000. This will be more than enough to keep you busy recruiting from your desktop.
You’ll want to have a pre-written recruiting message prepared that you can copy and paste into email messages using MySpace’s email application. You’ll be sending email messages to the prospects you identify you want to contact. In essence, your message is a classified ad and it should coincide with your other recruiting messages; for example, your fliers for “The Ultimate Part-Time Job.” Having a pre-written, pre-typed message prepared in advance will let you quickly replicate your message to prospective candidates.
Then, you wait for responses. When someone you contacted is interested in the job opening you can use the recruiting script that explains the interview process as your response. Simply copy and paste the script into the email inviting them to come in for the next mass interview, including the date and time of the meeting in the email. From here, you follow the remaining recruiting system to complete the hiring process.
Using the social sites as a recruiting tool will require some of your time, though it’s an efficient way of contacting and communicating with hundreds of potential canvassers from the privacy of your desk or home.