Published Articles
Social media further enhance innovative recruitment in oil and gas
by Bonnie Browning
for published by Energy International
Coming as no real surprise, recruitment of oil industry personnel, especially skilled professionals, remains an ongoing challenge. According to published reports, not only is recruitment of talented graduates more competitive but attracting students to the industry in the first place – coupled with the lack of experienced professionals through most of the last decade – has spurred new hiring approaches to keep the global E&P spigot flowing.
Meanwhile, the global recession (beginning as the previous decade ended) has had an apparently contradictory effect on talent, as discussed in a 2010 Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) report. Experienced professionals are opting to retire later than planned and companies are hiring fewer new graduates due to decreased company earnings; the talent pool is expanding for a somewhat abnormal reason. Thus, an even more competitive recruitment landscape has come into play, with uniquely ‘non-brain drain' causes.
Imagine where this quixotic talent pool scenario puts company recruiters. Proactively, more companies are working smarter in innovative ways that often use technology as an invaluable enabler. Take a look at how the ‘best and brightest' are being consistently landed by companies working ahead of the curve.
Right person for right jobThroughout the industry's hiring market vagaries, the task usually focuses on a starkly simple but complex objective: finding the right person for the right job. Thus, achieving the best results through a particular approach or methodology is literally transferable to any geographic region, whether in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia or Latin America. In other words, recruitment concepts pioneered in the U.S., for example, are not applicable only in the U.S.
In fact, a talked-about recruitment methodology, commonly referred as the first ‘scientific' approach to oil and gas recruiting, has been proven to successfully overlay any location throughout the world. One day, the recruiter may be assembling a project team for Tunisia and, the next day, finding a project manager as part of a Brazilian company's upcoming major capital expenditures. This leading edge methodology is based on the concept that hiring high-dollar professionals should avoid the time-worn rut of plowing through resumes, subjectively narrowing possibilities, making an educated guess about finalists and, in turn, hiring who's ‘probably' best. Re-inventing the hiring process, the compactly named Q4S is a Project Management approach to hiring, structured around four stages: Q-Staging, Q-Solution, Q-Service and Q-Stats.
Conducted on a unique step-by-step basis that removes the ad hoc factor from candidate selection, the entire process is built on a worldwide searchable technology/database that enables recruiters to reach any potential candidate anywhere 24/7 i.e., working via a global virtual office. Meanwhile, a recent technological tie-in has dramatically revolutionized the very idea of reaching individuals: Social Media, which have become the globally accepted way to receive and exchange information about recruitment and career opportunities through unparalleled connectivity.
Social networks become business toolRemember when social networks were nothing but social? How quickly times change, with a growing number of oil and gas companies worldwide using Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin as their primary business connection tools. By employing social media, also known as social networking, oil and gas recruitment sourcing works in various ways including ‘Information finding you,' presenting ‘word of mouth' opportunities online, and developing opportunities both for passive and active candidates (as well as referrals) and gradually building an audience.
For Facebook and Linkedin sourcing, companies should take the following approach: Firstly post the position with a link back to the hosted job posting and secondly include sections on who we are, what we're looking for and what we offer. Or, to make the process work more seamlessly, companies can use the recruiter's Facebook and Linkedin accounts and just have their own social network and candidates add the recruiter. In a variation on those two social networks, when Twitter sourcing, first post the position's title and location with a link back to the hosted job posting. Then, since there are no sections as with Facebook and Linkedin, companies should have their social network and candidates ‘follow' the recruiter.
With the rapid integration of social media's into the 24/7 fabric of recruitment, this ‘new' mode is already becoming ingrained in the standardized hiring process rather than iffy experimentation. Not only are social media used for targeting and finding specific candidates but are also Integral to the company's and recruiter's branding. Additionally, and just as important, is that active use of social media creates a general buzz regarding where candidates are enticed to come or at least discuss career opportunities. Even when those targeted may decide a job is not right for them, they may consider it a worthwhile opportunity to refer to someone within their network.
And, as a veteran recruiter notes: "That's where the magic happens." When company recruiters can insert job opportunities into individuals' personal networks, into their personal groups, e.g., oil and gas or production engineer, others may see the postings and cross-refer to even more friends or business acquaintances. The value-add is that realistically no company or recruiter on a national or global basis can capture the rapt attention that trusted people within personal networks can.
Thus, it is through people-to-people electronic exchange, those who are on each other's networks (as trusted friends or acquaintances), who make the real difference. The recruiter's role is the facilitator, the one who, through using systematized practices and technologyenabled strategies, figuratively lights the fuse.
Technology the big enablerWithin today's recruitment innovation and social networking, the key to companies finding and hiring the top-tier professionals is personalizing communications. For example, while an automated call technically qualifies as using technology, it generally accomplishes nothing because it only generates a hang-up. Yet, if companies and their recruiters create a personalized network chain continually feeding itself, the entire picture changes.
Ultimately, the new recruitment paradigm is about leveraging innovative hiring methodology, then pushing information among people in social networks who trust each other – to find, refer and hire the ‘best and brightest.'