In recent years, Google has become the holy grail of any sourcing strategy. It allows recruiters to search for passive candidates, benchmark against competition, and establish a solid company brand through search engine marketing strategies. Furthermore, it has helped companies accomplish all of these goals with hardly any competition. Google seemed to be in a very comfortable position. Well… as the old adage goes “nothing lasts forever”…and forever seemed to end last month with two major shakeups. First, Google decided to up its ante by announcing Google Wave-a real-time collaboration tool that supports a combination of documents and conversations. Secondly, Microsoft has launched Bing in an effort to squash Google’s strong hold on the search market. Big changes. But what will this mean in today’s world of recruiting? The good news is that this innovation is low cost and provides companies looking to make changes with existing recruitment technology strategies with options.

How can Google Wave and Bing enhance your talent acquisition efforts?

Google Wave

Not only can Google Wave offer ways to improve interview strategies, prescreening, and online career fairs (check out Jeff Schwatzman’s blog on the topic http://community.ere.net/blogs/jeffschwartzman/2009/06/google-wave-for-recruiting-what-are-the-possibilit/), it can also improve onboarding strategies. Strategic onboarding is a combination of forms management, tasks management and socialization. While Google certainly does not compete with onboarding technology from providers such as SilkRoad, Peoplclick, iCIMS, Taleo, Enwisen and KMS, it can enhance onboarding efforts through:

• Forms Management: Google Wave’s drag and drop file sharing can help companies share forms with new hires before day one. The real-time foreign language translator can also help companies reach a geographically diverse talent pool.

• Tasks Management: Through improved workflow, Google Wave can alert hiring managers, IT, and necessary employees of a new hires status and allow these individuals to edit and change and information.

• Socialization: Google Wave fosters connection and interactivity- two staples of any socialization strategy. Through instant communication, new hires can feel engaged throughout their first experience with their new employer.

Bing

Microsoft’s $100 million investment in their new search engine, is already beginning to see results. According to Net Applications, in just one week Bing is already accounting for 6% of the search engine market share. Furthermore, it seems to be gaining more and more attention from both job seekers and employers. The bottom line is that Bing provides more accurate searches and can help recruiters narrow their focus on candidates and candidates narrow their focus on specific job hunting. What are some of the differentiators:

• Stronger Search Filter: Bing provides “guided search” capabilities that can help recruiters go beyond their basic search criteria and find those passive candidates without relying on complicated boolean search string logic.

• XRank: This feature allows companies to understand why certain keywords are ranked high or low

Innovation has certainly been the buzz word of the recruiting industry over the past year. Google and Microsoft are continuing this trend with new advancements in communication and search. While it is still too early to tell if Bing will outshine Google, they are certainly offering a viable option in sourcing and recruiting.

We are excited to launch Bersin & Associates' first Talent Acquisition Newsletter this month! You can sign up here to learn about our latest research findings and receive complimentary reports. http://marketing.bersin.com/TalentAcquisitionAndRetentionAnnouncement.html