Employers, incl. IRS, turning to YouTube to find Job Applicants


By: Kate Tummarello
Special to The Washington Examiner
July 9, 2010

The current high levels of unemployment leave many frantically searching through online and print classified ads. When this yields few desirable results, there’s always–YouTube?

That’s right, YouTube, the video hosting website best known for containing viral videos and illegally uploaded copyrighted content, is now being used by employers to get the word out about job openings. Employers using this increasingly popular approach range from private temporary staffing agencies to the Internal Revenue Services.

The IRS’s YouTube channel has uploaded five of these videos, titled “Working at the IRS,” since the beginning of June, all of which focus on the qualifications held and experiences had by individuals in these positions. Although nightmares and angry blog posts seem like more appropriate places for the IRS, the five recruitment videos on YouTube have collectively received over 4,500 views.

The IRS is only the most recent government organization to jump on this social media bandwagon. Back in March, Washington state’s Department of Corrections uploaded similar videos describing the positions of corrections officer and nurse, providing a link to the department’s job website in the video’s description.

Similarly, private firms have been utilizing YouTube to advertise openings. Financial advising firm Deloitte has a YouTube channel dedicated entirely to recruitment, YourFutureAtDeloitte, which features videos explaining the opportunities and experiences available. Collectively, YourFutureAtDeloitte’s 29 videos have been viewed over 40,000 times.

Along the same lines, Frontline Source Group, a temporary staffing agency, has been uploading these videos since late 2007. Its most popular video, uploaded just this past March has been viewed over 42,000 times.

Frontline Source Group’s President and CEO, Bill Kasko acknowledges the positive attention the YouTube campaign has brought to the company, especially evident on other social media outlets like Twitter and Facebook, where they now have 16,000 fans. “If you are looking to find new talent you have to utilize the resources that are out there,” said Kasko, despite the fact that many had initial doubts and few other staffing agencies have since followed suit,. “We’re like the George Costanza of staffing agencies,” Kasko explained, “we do the opposite of everyone else”

Kasko is resoundingly confident that “social media is here to stay,” and said that outreach campaigns like theirs are “the way of the future.” “If the IRS gets it, I’m impressed,” Kasko said.

While YouTube does not currently have an interface that allows for simple browsing of these videos, it seems likely that some changes will have to be made as more employers catch on to this rising trend.

Read more at the Washington Examiner: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com

See more videos from Frontline Source Group : https://www.frontlinesourcegroup.com


Tagged Blog
Published on Jul 18, 2010