-By Ramiya Bhas
Imagine these six lines being a part of your resume! Crazy, huh, especially since it says nothing about the individual’s work experience at all? To top it all, it actually reads like a movie review! That’s exactly what this is. If you read the blog attentively, what else does it convey about the blogger besides the fact that he/she is an avid Shrek fan? Think hard! An HR manager who read the above excerpt of the blog says that the blogger is highly opinionated, focussed and goal-oriented. There are certain aspects that reflect the personality traits of the blogger and impressed by the blogger’s style of expressing his/her opinion on the film director’s lack of spark in his current offering in comparison to his prequels, he feels that the blogger’s qualities aptly complement a marketing executive’s profile. Sounds weird? But that’s exactly what several HR managers are doing! ‘Hiring by the blog’ is a practice that looks set to be the newest hiring trend.
Blogs: a helper’s hand?
“We actually recruited an individual after reading her blog. When we met the candidate, we found that she was shy, and were not sure whether she would thrive in an advertising agency. However, reading her blog made us realise that she could express herself as long as the communication was written rather than oral. She turned out to be an excellent search executive,” says C Vasudevan, Manager–HR and Administration, Communicate 2.
“Though this practice is still in its nascent stage, corporate recruiters are surfing blogs to unearth candidates, expanding their talent pool and gaining insights that they can’t get from resumes and interviews,” claims Sapna Agarwal, Director HR (Recruitment) GlobalLogic. Some feel that traditional recruitment techniques are still going to be popular for now. “The implementation of this trend in India would take a few more years. This is because the overall awareness on the usage of such a tool has not caught the attention of the prospective candidate, wherein he/she maintains an individual blog that highlights his/her career aspirations and thereby allowing the recruiter to gain clear visibility on the candidate’s job interest,” explains Deepak Deshpande, Head - HR, Lionbridge India.
Agarwal adds, “Blogs also help employers probe further into the qualifications of potential hires. I spend one to two hours a week searching through blogs for new talent or additional information about the candidates I have interviewed. If I am impressed by the points the blogger is making and the way he/she is making them, the potential hire will jump up a few notches in my opinion.”
Blogs: a good idea?
Recruiters no longer believe in just getting personal references for their new candidates. They prefer to get up, close and personal, to get a sneak peek at the recruits’ personality. “If the candidate has written a blog, it helps to know the mental make-up of the person. A blog can be an effective tool to let me gauge into someone’s attitude quite easily,” explains Agarwal. She adds, “An HR manager can use a blog to understand the likes and dislikes of the candidate, as it allows them to structure the right environment for the candidate, like if the candidate is an introvert, they would never be happy with a job profile where they are required to meet strangers everyday!”
Blogs: do we, don’t we?
Now that HR managers feel that blogging for new recruits helps, does this mean organisations in India should start reading blogs? Deshpande thinks so. “Agencies and firms would continue using the traditional methods of recruitment and simultaneously adopt the recruitment through blogging model as it holds immense potential. There are some issues that are rarely addressed during an interview, like, ‘How passionate the candidate is about his/her present job profile, how innovative the candidate is, how the candidate deals with criticism, how the candidate convinces others, etc’. The recruiter will rarely get an insight in his/her short interview with the candidate, but blogging on the other hand could provide useful insights on this,” he says.
Agarwal on the other hand feels differently. She says, “There are various aspects about blogs which can lead to dire consequences. As a company and as an HR professional, one should be very specific of the blog and the content that the blogger has used and also the consistency of blogging. Many people try to live a life through their blogs that is not normally possible in their work or in professional life. A blogger may sound too strong online, but you might find him/her extra humble and down-to-earth in real life. The blog persona may be just that: a persona, not the real person,” she adds.
It’s just too early to decide if blogs will be the next recruitment tool. While companies agree that they are helpful, not all agree that candidates can be hired based just on their blogs. But most contend that a blog does give a unique perspective of a candidates’ personality that otherwise would have been difficult to assess. So if you’re in the market for a job, well, blog away!
(this article appeared in Times Ascent-By Ramiya Bhas )
