John S. Wolfe

The Arizona Technology Council held a panel discussion titled “Recruiting and Branding with Social Media” on Aug. 25 at the Jobing.com office on North 22^nd Street. Participants were, from left, Claudia Reilly of Avnet, Andrew Vess of Cox Communications, and DeAnne Russell of St. Joseph’s Hospital.

Why pay to advertise – or pay too much – when social media and technology allow for easy interaction with customers and potential employees?

That question hit every business during the economic downturn; hiring was limited but every company needed to “stay in the game” despite slashed budgets.

This issue was at the center of the “Recruiting and Branding with Social Media” panel discussion on Aug. 25 at Jobing.com, organized by the Arizona Technology Council.

DeAnne Russell, senior recruiter for St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center, said one organization with a magazine sought to charge $500 for a print ad and $75 for a Tweet to solicit for a medical position.

With no funds available, Russell admitted she went to the Twitter account, wrote down its followers, and engaged them directly. For free. And it worked.

Companies have also found employees by connecting with influential contacts – through LinkedIn, Twitter or blogs – and shared a need for a specific individual for an open position. Not only do they get results, the turnaround time can be as little as 24 hours.

This explains why the Arizona Republic careers section on Sunday is now only a few pages.

Claudia Reilly, recruiting manager for Avnet, said she turns to LinkedIn to identify candidates at the professional level.

“You can easily find people in your industry and the caliber of candidates is pretty good,” she said.

Both Russell (@StJosephsJobs) and Reilly use company Twitter accounts to announce openings.

Andrew Vess, talent acquisition manager for Cox Communications, said the company was admittedly slow to engaging in social media but says it plans to do more in 2011. He doesn’t Tweet.

“LinkedIn has been most successful for us,” he said. “Our approach is to show what we do and what it’s like to work here.”

Cox also shifted some of its advertising dollars from traditional media to Google and Facebook ads. He said the ads were effective and a fraction of the cost.

“The old way was ‘post and pray,’” he said. “Now, with cost per click, you only pay for what you use.”

He added that another option is to join LinkedIn groups to find candidates or connect with educators at university pages to help identify skilled individuals.

Russell also uses Twitter to promote the brand. Using TweetLater at SocialOomph, she can take a few hours at the end of the month and schedule all of her Tweets for the next month.

Then, if something newsworthy occurs, she can create a Tweet and send it out. This avoids the chore of setting aside time each day to participate in social media.

Reilly told the 20 business people in the audience to only engage in social media if you are ready to interact.

“In social media, they expect to have conversations,” she said.

Russell, because of the “push” nature of her job Tweets, said she doesn’t have many Twitter conversations.

Another advantage to social media is that information is shared instantaneously, Vess said. Company websites rarely change.

Vess added that it’s important to monitor what your competition is doing.

“If they’re there and you’re not, that’s a red flag,” he said.

Interestingly, Reilly noted that using paid-ad sites like Monster or Jobing.com can include costs that many companies would like to avoid. Russell admitted she likes @TweetMyJobs

Greta Suda, Jobing’s assistant general manager in Phoenix, said the company is aware of the environment and is also looking to innovate.

“We’re evolving, too,” she said. “Now we have a tech service team that can create the apps that companies and organizations can use for their own microsites or Facebook pages.

“We’re not just a job portal anymore,” she said.