Podcasting, videocasting, jobcasting: getting there slowly

So, there is a not so new phenomena: job podcasting, in which we hear interviews with representatives of a hiring company. There's also video interviews, sometimes with little mini-documentaries of companies, showing images of corporate campuses and offices. Hail the Googleplex in San Francisco. Anyway, let's refer to this family of items as jobcasts, shall we?

Pundits will extol jobcasts for utilizing a new medium to break out of the old corporate PR propoganda stream; viewers and listeners can really get inside of the company now. I think this is a bit unfounded. From what I've seen so far, a jobcast is about the equivalent of a first round phone interview with HR, and in the best case, inclusive of a tour around the building. I've partaken of various jobcasts, and that's about what I get out of it. Yes, there is value, but no, this is not what we're discussing when we talk about Bi-directional flow of information. This is an improvement in the efficiency of the current job hiring process.

So, there are sites like Career TV and blogs like Jobs In Pods, where companies have little interviews -- usually between their HR representative and a softball throwing interviewer who asks what seem to be pretty scripted, standardized questions. Again, this is better than a job ad on a website, but it really isn't getting a candidate any more information than they would have gotten in a standard corporate interviewing process.

The problem is that Jobcasts don't break into measured and qualified corporate culture information, or prospects for career improvement. They don't expose much beyond the standard corporate message. They don't reciprocate the candidate for his or her CV, psychometric profile, work portfolio, professional references, and performance history against targets. They don't yield what I call a "Corporate CV" (Go ahead, click here if you dare) - the reciprocation required for the Bi Directional flow of information.

Even if you allowed lots of employees (rather than HR representatives) to jobcast, the medium itself -- broadcast videos and podcasts -- would be too exposing for employees to say anything meaningful. Employees would need a safer structure; almost like an accounting standard -- where, for instance, corporate culture could be measured, along with job satisfaction, progression against career goals, etc.

So, we'll keep cracking on, searching for the answer. "Jobcasting" is an incremental improvement.

Comments

[Chris Russell]

Interesting comments Mark. I'm glad you agree that this is all a step in the right direction. My intention with Jobs in Pods is to give the job seeker MORE information about the company that he/she cant currently read online. I agree that sometimes it can sound a little scripted but companies will ALWAYS want to control some of the message, especially in Video. If people want dirt about a company they can go to sites like Jobvent or connect with employees on Facebook.

I do believe our Jobcasts give the job seeker a chance to learn new things about the company. I think it will always be better to hear the actual employer speak as opposed to just reading something. And we are pushing hard for our employer clients to utilize employees and hiring managers in the podcasts. Actually hearing from the person you might report to is very engaging form a candidate perspective. There are little tidbits of information that candidates will pick up on to make a more informed decision about whether or not they want to work for that company.

[Mark Radoff]

Chris-
Thanks for your comments, thanks for reading, and good work in executing on Jobs in Pods - it's definitely moving things along. I'll be watching to see where you take it next, and whether you get those employees chatting more!

[Magda]

Just one little idea:

Maybe even further? How about an interview in Second Life? Imagine, you have to build a city, convince the whole Babies community to give their toys back, buy some houses and land, and then prepare the battleplan and beat Elfs army! All in 30 minutes :) Maybe ;)

Magda the E.