Chat and IM use for Recruiters
Posted By: Thomas Shaw, 7:00am Tuesday 24 February 2009
There are several ways you can talk to people in person, on the phone, via e-mail, and instant messaging (IM). What is instant messenger? It's basically like sending a SMS to a person on a mobile phone (and we all know people who love to SMS). So instant messaging is a way to talk to your colleagues, candidates, clients, bosses or whoever you might want to talk to.
Most people use some form of instant messaging when they are online. It's easy enough to log in and see what's going on with your friends and family members; as soon as they go online you will be able to see they're there and say hello to them. The ease of this method of staying in touch is one of the main reasons why it is so popular.
There are many different IM programs you can use such as: AIM, ICQ, MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, Google Talk, Facebook Chat, Skype, etc
In a business environment - I would recommend using Skype and Google Talk. As these programs offer more business productivity tools such as voice, video and document collaboration.
So it's probably not too surprising that more and more recruiters are starting to latch onto this idea and use it in their own day to day dealings with people. After all, if their clients are using these methods to talk to each other, why shouldn't recruiters use them as well to become more accessible to the very people they are trying to sell products to?
There are clear benefits for the candidates or clients too that make this type of internet marketing exercise worth doing. For example, why spend time typing out an email and having to wait for a response, or picking up the phone and being put on hold for several minutes (if not longer), or even writing a letter to the company in question? Why do any of those things when you can type your question in a box and wait for someone at the other end to come back to you with a response? It can be far quicker and easier to get a reply that you want in this way, and it makes a business far more accessible as a result.