xScion Solutions, LLC

For the past few months we have been on a mission to develop our talent community, primarily through social media outreach. We have sent e-mails out to people in our Applicant Tracking System with requests to join our group on LinkedIn, follow us on Twitter, ‘Like’ us on Facebook. This is downright exhausting for people to visit us on three websites; so we narrowed the field. We targeted LinkedIn as our medium to post articles, update our group with interesting discussions, and reach out to past employees and friends for referrals. When this approach brought us a whopping two new people to our group, I decided it was time to get personal. I tabled the mass e-mail and started reaching out to my connections on LinkedIn who had some relevance to xScion, past/current/prospective employees, friends etc. I sent each connection a personalized note along with the invitation to join my company’s LinkedIn group. My personalized efforts doubled the number of members I recruited to the group, but when that number is only four new members, it hardly seems worth it.

All this time spent on attempting to build a following with little success left me questioning whether it was my efforts that were failing or was it possible that social media was slowly becoming obsolete? I stumbled upon this article, which is what inspired me to write this post. Mr. Reimgold focuses on Google+ and the fact that the website is a ghost town, completely dead; it just came too late in the game. No one wants to log onto another website, build another profile, add people to circles. I took his ideas and applied them to my experience with recruiting member to my company’s LinkedIn group. It might be that people have little interest in following another group and connecting with more people. We are on social media overload, which is perhaps causing a slowdown in the use of these websites. Of course social media will always serve a purpose in some industries, but the creation of new networking websites needs to come to a halt because if Google can’t make it work it doesn’t bode well for other companies.

Most of the time, we tend to get anxious about interviews that don’t end up being a big deal. The majority of employers seem to ask level-headed, practical questions that can be answered in a straightforward manner. But that’s not always the case, and Google wants to prove that point. We’ve come across this list of “15 Google Interview Questions That Will Make You Feel Stupid.” Here are some highlights.  (more…)

Ever wonder where Facebook or Google employees got their education or how much all these people working for high-profile tech companies are getting paid? You can find that out from this great infographic, but it also goes deeper. Turns out, there is a lot of headhunting going on in Silicon Valley, as the major players fight to keep their employees satisfied and content where they are. Take a look at the bonus being offered, as well as the trends in companies that are snatching up the best employees and those who are losing their prized workers. The average salaries and bonuses are also listed, so don’t be surprised if this informative page causes you to second guess your career path. Click the graphic to see it full-size.  (more…)