Do you need to add Google+ to your social recruiting efforts right now?
Posted Tuesday August 23rd, 2011

So you've finally got the hang of the trifecta of social media for recruiting:  LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter - and now Google's come along with Google+, and the blogosphere is all abuzz.  

The question is, does the average recruiter need to add Google+ to their repertoire?

The short answer is:  Probably not right now, and probably not in the next 3-6 months.  Sure, if you specialize in recruiting early-adopter techno-geeks who find Facebook too trendy and LinkedIn too boring for their tastes, then you might want to get on the bandwagon.  (And in fact, if you haven't already received an invitation or signed up, you may not be able to access Google+ yet - the site says that they aren't currently accepting new signups.)

I don't pretend to be the world's greatest Google+ expert, but here's what I'm seeing right now:

Why Google+ could be great for recruiting:

• CIRCLES:  Google+ allows you to create 'circles' of people based on their relationship to you. On Facebook, it's hard to separate 'personal' and 'professional' contacts; LinkedIn remains primarily a site for professional relationships.  The 'Circles' concept - in which you assign people to groups you create yourself (such as 'Candidates' or 'Friends') - means you can keep your contacts organized and your communications targeted.
• HANGOUTS:  Basically, this feature allows you to create a video chat room for up to 10 people.  As Skype increases the prevalence of video interviewing, this may become a more valuable feature in the long term.  I can also see this having value for screening meetings.
• TAKEOUT:  You can extract all your data from Google+ (and from other Google products).  In other words, once you've created a circle with a whole bunch of great candidates, you can export that data into other formats and actually do stuff with it - try doing that with LinkedIn or Facebook.

Why Google+ isn't great for recruiting yet:

• LACK OF CRITICAL MASS:  There simply aren't enough people on Google+ yet.  You simply won't be able to get the reach you need right now.
• SEARCH SEEMS LIMITED:  You can search by name, but not by job title or function yet.  So while Google+ may be great once you've already established a relationship with a candidate and assigned them to a circle, it's not going to help you find passive candidates the way LinkedIn can.

The other big question yet to be answered is:  How desperate are people, really, for an alternative to what they're using now? The biggest complaint from most people is that social media channels are already taking up too much of their time - it's unclear whether they'll be interested in either adding Google+ or migrating to Google+ in the next year.  

The bottom line:  Keep your eye on Google+, but it's unlikely to transform social media for recruiting any time soon.

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