Being the most-widely used graduate recruitment site for the last four years, Milkround always has an eye on new ventures and opportunities to give students and graduates career confidence. In the past year, social media has become one of our main focuses, both from a client and candidate perspective.

A candidate survey in April revealed less than a third of respondents would use social media tools to promote themselves to new employers but four out of five would be more pro-active if they had guidance on how to use social media tools when searching for jobs. To raise awareness of how social media can be effective to land a job, Milkround took to the road to give presentations face-to-face with students. Throughout the spring and summer term, our ‘How to use social media in a job hunt’ presentation toured universities with great success: we will continue to spread our knowledge into 2012 and beyond.

As we were engaging with candidates on social media, we also felt that we wanted to be involved on the client side. This is where the SoMe (Social Media) Graduate Recruitment Awards & Conference come in. This is not only a great opportunity to show our support to companies who have embraced social recruiting, but also a unique chance to hear Milkround user views on social recruiting. At Milkround we are embracing social media because we see the opportunities it gives to both our candidates and clients.

We are excited about the prospects of being involved with SoMe, and to work closely with Mike Roberts. We see much potential in this area, and you’ll hear a first-hand account from future candidates with the help of AIA at the conference. Our contribution to the conference will educate graduate recruiters about what the candidates actually are looking for and how they are using social media. We can stop making assumptions about Generation Y, and focus on the knowledge we have to help them in a challenging job market.

Because the current students and graduates are of the Gen Y, it is often assumed they know and understand every aspect of social media. The reality is they can also feel lost in the circus of technology: many considered Gen Y, and even the future Gen Z, have not been taught the elements of social recruiting. Milkround is excited to be a part of building the bridge between Gen Y and recruiters by presenting our findings and finally voicing our candidates’ opinions.

We’re thoroughly looking forward to the conference on January12^th, and to see what the future of social media and social recruiting holds for us.

You can find out more about the conference here.

Last week Anne-Lise and Rhiannon, represented Milkround at the National Online Recruitment Awards (otherwise known as The NORAs.) Now in it’s 11th year the evening celebrates the talent of the recruitment industry – in particular recognising innovation.  It was a packed event and it was great to see examples of some of the best campaigns in 2011.

Stephen O’Donnell, chairman of the NORAs said: “I am delighted at the level of enthusiasm for the awards, and the outstanding developments being made by our Finalists and Winners.”

Congratulations to everyone that won, a special mention to G4S, Innocent Drinks and Army jobs.  Also thanks to Stephen O’Donnell for organising another successful night.