This week’s newsletter is brought to you by Zoho.
Thank you to my long-time supporters and a BIG welcome to the new subscribers. I appreciate you all being here. I am pleasantly surprised by all the attention this newsletter is getting. I hope to make it worth your time to read it each week. If you would, take this 1-minute survey to help me do that. I truly want to make this newsletter something you look forward to reading each week. Okay, on with the show…
In today’s edition:
- And the winner is…
- Don’t call it a comeback! I’ve been here for years.
- Are you recruiting in the Meh-taverse?
- This week’s comic deserves an award
Thanks to everyone (I say thank you a lot! I’m just grateful) who entered the “Make me a Comic Strip Character in The Recruiting Life” contest. There were 355 entries! Wow. I am definitely going to do this contest again in the future. For now though, the winner is…
Jennifer Rahim
Jennifer, I will be in contact with you soon to discuss the details. For now, you have the bragging rights of being the winner! Yay, you!!!
After a long hiatus, I am returning to my podcast. Do I still have what it takes to make an engaging podcast? Tune in to find out. 2 episodes have already dropped.
ChatGPT will never replace recruiters. This is why.
ChatGPT has taken the world by storm, captivating people with its abilities and leaving many wondering about its impact on their careers. From screening resumes and candidates to ideating interview questions, and customizing job descriptions, ChatGPT can accomplish several routine recruitment tasks in mere seconds. This raises concerns for recruiters who worry that ChatGPT may eventually replace them. However, the answer is clear: ChatGPT will never replace recruiters. I explain why in this podcast.
Don’t Let Your Recruiting Talent Go To Waste During a Recession
Jim Stroud discusses the short -term, and long-term, unintended consequences of massive layoffs. He also cautions company to be slow to layoff their recruiters and instead, leverage them for a lasting business advantage. Four strategies are discussed in this podcast. The fifth strategy is available on JimStroud.com under the title, “Don’t Let Your Recruiting Talent Go to Waste During a Recession.” Tune in for the details.
The Jim Stroud Podcast is also available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora and on your favorite podcast platform. Courtesy of Evergreen podcasts.
Imagine spending billions of dollars into a project only for it to die on the vine in front of your eyes. I cannot imagine that feeling, truly, because I don’t have a billion dollars. But it has to suck. Consider these quotes.
- “In an open letter, Altimeter Capital’s CEO and founder recommended the tech giant cut its metaverse investments from $10 billion–$15 billion a year to $5 billion.”
- “Quarterly profits decreased 8 percent, to $10.3 billion, from a year earlier. Shares of Meta’s stock plunged about 22 percent in after-hours trading.”
- “The social media giant reported its second consecutive quarter of lower revenues this week, prompting some anxious investors to urge Meta to refocus on its more reliable core businesses — ads and paid messaging. However, Mark Zuckerberg is continuing to pour billions into his metaverse dream, arguing that it’s the future of computing.”
At some point, one has to ask oneself, is it worth it? From the outside view, looking in, the Metaverse is an albatross. From the inside, it looks worse. Check out this quote from Tweaktown…
The leaked internal documents on Horizon Worlds were obtained by The Wall Street Journal and revealed that Meta put forward a goal of getting as many as 500,000 monthly active users within its metaverse by the end of 2022. However, that goal has fallen incredibly short, with the company now reining back its goal to just 280,000 monthly active users. The only problem is that Horizon Worlds is still yet to hit 200,000 active users, with one of the documents even describing the experience within Meta’s metaverse as an “empty world”.
I’m not a gamer so, I was not all that excited about the metaverse to begin with. And yes, I know, the metaverse is far more than gaming. But that’s how I tend to see it; eventhough I know its a next-generation internet where people can share virtual worlds and experiences across different software and hardware platforms. I get that. I saw the movie. Still, to me, the metaverse was/is the meh-taverse, if I’m being honest. However, I did find it intriguing as a potential talent pool. I guess that’s just the Sourcer in me. Its somewhat interesting to think that I might find a hire or market to passive candidates that other recruiters are overlooking. I can imagine a lot of possibilities and as I do, I have an overwhelming sense of déjà vu, also known as, Second Life.
Once Upon a Time, Second Life was the tech flavor of the month, and companies were drawn to its potential as a source of untapped talent. In 2007, CNN reported that companies such as Starwood, Reuters, Nissan Motors, and OgilvyInteractive’s Digital Innovation unit had hired people directly from Second Life to execute projects for business development. Fortune also reported that people could be interviewed and hired all within Second Life, often for jobs possible only in virtual reality. In the same year, NPR reported that the Vancouver Police Department was recruiting in Second Life for tech-savvy talent. In 2011, a study was conducted to explore the trend of Second Life job fairs and evaluate the employers’ perspective on the advantages and challenges of using it for human resource recruitment. The study found that Second Life could be used for interviewing and recruiting people in real life. The study also found that Second Life job fairs could provide a better understanding of virtual job fairs from the perspective of recruiters. But wait, that’s not all! The US Army opened a virtual recruiting center in Second Life in 2009, and the State of Missouri had been recruiting in Second Life even longer. In 2007, some companies started using Second Life for recruitment, and Fortune reported that the most radical dotcom 2.0 recruitment wave was happening in virtual reality thanks to Second Life.
So, with all of this early momentum, why didn’t recruiting in Second Life take off? Well, as I see it, there were a few reasons…
- Second Life’s user base was not as large as other social media platforms like LinkedIn, making it less attractive for companies to invest time and resources in recruiting on the platform.
- The virtual nature of Second Life made it difficult to assess a candidate’s real-world skills and qualifications, which could be a significant drawback for companies looking to fill specific job roles.
- Second Life’s popularity waned over time, with fewer people using the platform as social media and other digital platforms continued to evolve.
Overall, Second Life may have been an innovative approach to recruiting at the time, the platform’s limitations and declining popularity likely contributed to its lack of widespread adoption in the recruiting industry. I see history repeating itself in the Metaverse. Although, I could be wrong. Zuckeberg and others certainly sees its potential. To be fair, the world of work is vastly different from what it was in the early 2000’s. Working remote is the norm and online assessment tools are growing in popularity. If the Metaverse is going to be a success, its positioned inside of a perfect storm. The fact that its floundering signals to me that it is likely a fad that will fade away like the Zune. Things change, and sometimes, faster than we thought. Don’t blink on what’s happening now or tomorrow will surprise you.
I’m curious. Are you recruiting in the metaverse? How is that working out for you? Leave a comment. I would love to hear from you.
This week’s newsletter is brought to you by Perfect.
How did I do? Click here and rate this comic. Thank you in advance!
Thank you sponsors!
Please show my sponsors some love by checking out their products and services. They help make this newsletter possible.
- Recognize – Recognize fosters a culture of employee recognition and all-for-one mentality. Features rewards, nominations, anniversaries, and peer recognition with enterprise configurations and security. Microsoft & HRIS integrated.
- ClickUp – Turn TBD into EOD with the world’s most powerful productivity tool. With ClickUp, you can: Automate sprints and routine tasks, streamline communication in one workspace, recover cash spent on multiple work apps! Sign up and switch to ClickUp in minutes!
- Get One Free Month of Skillshare – Explore thousands of hands-on creative classes with one inspiring membership.
Until next time, see you in the funny papers.
Jim Stroud
P.S. May I be of assistance?
Here are a few ways I can help:
- I can produce videos that attract clients to your HR product or service.
- I can produce a podcast, webinar or livestream promoting your HR product or service.
- I can ghostwrite blog posts that will bring attention to your HR product or service
- Let’s brainstorm on how to generate demand for your HR product or service. Operators are standing by.
