We are living in an era of social media. From morning to night, most of the people are glued to their smartphones checking Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Instagram, Linkedin, and YouTube everywhere at home, office, while travelling, in public transports and roads anywhere. With the increase of addiction of Internet, social media is emerging as the best mode of communication. With over 460 million internet users, India is the second largest online market, ranked only behind China. By 2021, there will be about 635.8 million internet users in India. The widespread use of social networking in India has been on the rise especially among the new generation youths.

In 2008 and 2012, the world witnessed Obama’s winning strategies using social media.  Not only was Obama the first African American to be elected president, but he was also the first presidential candidate to effectively use social media as a major campaign strategy. In 2008, American voters were sent out voting reminders on Twitter and interacting with people on Facebook was a big deal. Following his footsteps, in 2014, the BJP straight dived head strong into social media conversations. Their constant activities were aimed towards spreading awareness and having a direct connection with the voters. On a daily basis, various competing hash-tags like #NaMoInUdhampur, #KejriwalInVaranasi made debut.  Politics is a favourite topic for discussions among the young and old. The hash-tags are famous on Twitter and Twitter users get pulled into it.

Already, we are witnessing blitz of anti and pro political campaigns on our smartphones for the 2019 general elections. Advertising experts and industry leaders are betting on the overall expenditure of the campaigns worth Rs. 5,000 crore. The ruling Bhartiya Janata Party is already spending quite a bit on advancing ‘Brand Modi’ in terms of achievements of his  government in the last four years, all campaigns undertaken by the BJP and its several ministries and departments have revolved around NaMo. The main opposition Congress is also likely to spend close to Rs 1,500-2,000 crore on mass media and other Rs. 400-500 crore on digital campaign.

We cannot ignore a fact that politics and media share a complex synergistic relationship; media, politics and elections are knotted together and social media platforms have become the essential ground for the discussion of political narratives.

Recently when the Uttar Pradesh unit of the BJP met, there was one session which had a lot of outside states turn up. It was held in Meerut and attended by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Home Minister Rajnath Singh amongst others. The social media session was attended by BJP President Amit Shah. The message is clear:  if social media was the X-factor in 2014 polls, the 2019 it will be their main focus. It seems BJP plans to have a social media coordinator for every single booth in the election. Let’s consider each booth has approximately 2,000 voters which mean that the BJP social media team across the country would run into approximately four and half lakh social media coordinators.

As per the Election Commission records India has 81.5 crore voters, among them exist BJP volunteers and workers who are trained in social media. They all are armed with a Smartphone. What a fantastic strategy.  The 2019 election is few months away and already few lakhs volunteers are working. But, the BJP is looking for many more as they need to penetrate their campaigns in interiors parts of India which is too vast. BJP is on organizing spree of meetings to boost their social media campaigns. After the strategy of page pramukh worked well in Gujarat (one worker to be in charge of each page list of voters) it is decided to have two pramukhs for each page. Since every page has a front and a back.

However, globally some election experts have raised alarm against recent elections in some countries where social media campaigns influenced the election proceedings to such an extent that the democratic process came under threat. There is an alarming worry that outside interests can work to undermine the democratic process in a subtle and sneaky way. In April 2017, Facebook admitted that its platform had been exploited by governments seeking to manipulate public opinion in other countries during the presidential elections in the US and France. Facebook pledged to clamp down on such operations.

Many countries in the world are running election campaigns on social media. Look at the recent example – in the closely-fought election in Malaysia, former Prime Minister Najib Razak who is dogged by corruption allegations was ousted and arrested, and the election results were revoked. Courtiers such as Singapore and Philippines are actively proposing legislation on fake news, while Germany introduced a new law that compels social media networks to remove hate speech. Indonesia has launched a new cyber security agency as part of its efforts to deal with online religious fanaticism, online hate speech, nip terrorist groups and fake news on social media.

It has become big task for the Election Commission of India; they have set a panel to scrutinize the growing use of social media platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook and YouTube. The panel has recommended processes to deal with violations. The nation has seen a rise in religious and ethnic tensions in recent times; few people are killed due to rumours spread on social media about child kidnappings, rapes and cow smuggling. Fake news and paid news are matters of concern and misuse on social media. The Election Commission of India is tightening rules and regulations to plug loopholes in the forthcoming general election.

Today, individuals and organizations need to have digital presence; having a digital presence simply means that you occupy space online. Few years’ back digital presence meant an organization having its own website. Today most of the individual have digital presence because of boom in social media. Connectivity is the mantra. The question is does your online presence matter? If you run a google search of yourself, do you see anything written about you? If yes, what do you see? Is it good? Is it something wicked? Whatever the result be, it is the reputation you have online. Your online reputation is your brand. And your brand is what employers and professional bodies are seeing before you even step into the room for an interview. Today, employers don’t go by what your resume mentions, they check your digital presence and that’s one strong barometer they depend on. That’s the first impression they make about you, even before meeting you.

With the constant and rapid advancement of technology in all industries, online has begun to play an increasingly larger role in the world of business, and it is one of the most vital element that companies look at their current digital presence. Similarly for individuals also, it is a vital element in their professional and personal life. Our world has changed vividly in only a few decades. Organizations and people previously accustomed to face-to-face meetings, pencils, and paper have migrated to predominantly digital communications. Digital presence also portrays an individual’s social intelligence.

Our personal and professional lives are interweaved in the digital world. One must ask himself/herself: what kind of personal or professional brand he/she wants to establish. For establishing the kind of brand, choice of worlds, choice of activities, choice of photographs and choice of acquaintances all need to be given a thought. These are just some of the things one needs to consider while living and working online.

When it comes to social media and your career, one of the most important things you can do is make sure that your online profiles are engaging and specialized, particularly with LinkedIn. The detailing of your job history, your job related skills, your qualifications, your achievements everything needs to be mentioned. And, yes, let them be backed by some endorsements relating to your career accomplishments. Remember, to make sure your name and snaps are consistent across all of your social media profiles. That way, whenever potential employers or professional bodies come into contact with your accounts, you will be more easily identified by them. If possible, include keywords related to your industry, as that may make it more likely that you will come up in search results for recruiters.

If possible, make social media networking part of your daily activity. Follow companies in your industry you are related to on Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook. You will be notified about open positions, company news and other relevant info.  You may also get the opportunity to interact with major players, if you re-tweet or share their posts. Be smart in establishing relationships with the right people, even without having to meet with them directly. That’s the best part of digital relationship! We rarely meet them in person.

Position yourself as a thought leader on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn by helping others make connections through introductions, and sharing content that is insightful and applicable to your industry. People appreciate interacting with contacts who give, rather than just take. Yes, and this is a fact. Digital presence showcases your personality. It is advisable to keep many things under the wrap, be as professional as you can on your social media accounts. The world out there wants pleasant and affable personalities. Employers are always looking for people who’d fit the delineated profiles and fit in their team. So use your imaginations and ideas, your soft skills to be digitally present. Share your view points, share articles, videos, jokes, snaps, your hobbies, interests or other aspects of your personal life. Be choosy about what part of your private life needs to be public.

Don’t put false things to boost your presence, show the real you. You get easily caught if you’re put false things about you.  Bragging makes you seem less impressive, not more impressive. If you are doing something worth bragging about, others will brag for you. When people aren’t ‘real’ the world ignores them. So post the ‘true’ you.

We are living in a digital world, and my dear friends, no matter how you look at it, every day more and more people around the globe are becoming better connected to the internet. So don’t try to escape it.

Talent acquisition is the process of finding and acquiring skilled human labor for organizational needs. An organization needs to be ever ready to meet any labor requirement at various levels. From the context of the HR profession, talent acquisition usually refers to the talent acquisition department or a team within the Human Resources department. The talent acquisition team is responsible for planning, sourcing, assessing, hiring and on-boarding candidates to fill roles that are required to meet company goals and fill project requirements.

At P&G, they receive a million of applications every year. Applicants are made to take several assessments before being invited to meet with P&G’s selection experts. Among the first steps in the selection process is the Adaptive Reasoning Test (ART). This cognitive ability test represents some of the most significant advancements made in cognitive testing in decades, and every candidate regardless of the role they are applying for, takes it. For P&G talent acquisition is not only filling positions, but also utilization of the candidates and their skills that come out of a rigorous recruiting process as a means to fill similar positions in the future also.

Talent acquisition is an exclusive function and it is comparatively a new development. In many companies, recruiting is still a vague process. And, recruitment in many companies is a function of an HR generalist. A separate designation of talent acquisition is created because it is required to meet the advanced and unique functions. Modern talent acquisition is a strategic function of an organization, encompassing talent procurement, but it also looks at workforce planning functions such as organizational talent forecasting, talent pipelining, and strategic talent assessment and development.

High-performing companies build unique and powerful ways to source and access top employees. One innovative tactic is the use of social networks to build talent “communities” supported by full-time employees, retired workers, independent contractors, and everyone in between. AT&T’s talent acquisition department, for example, attracts potential team members by providing a forum to talk about mobile computing and telecommunications in a fun and exciting way.

Talent acquisition is swiftly becoming a unique profession, perhaps even distinct from the practice of general recruitment. Talent acquisition professionals are usually skilled not only in sourcing tactics, candidate assessment, and compliance and hiring standards, but also in employment branding practices and corporate hiring initiatives. Talent acquisition as a function has become closely allied with marketing and PR as well as Human Resources. As global organizations need to recruit globally with dissimilar needs and requirements, effective recruiting requires a well thought out corporate messaging around hiring and talent development.

When General Motors decided to ramp up the production of its flagship electric vehicle, the Volt, the company faced a significant talent challenge they faced terrible shortage of engineers and scientists with a background in electronics. They tried to draw talent from Silicon Valley and other technology centers to Detroit which proved ineffective and difficult initially. GM decided to enhance its recruiting process by building talent communities, drawing more and more people with the required skills into its network.

To help build these communities, GM enlisted engineers and technical staff to write about their jobs, highlighting the exciting work; the rewarding, socially important job opportunities at the company; the high quality of life and relatively low cost of living in Detroit’s suburban neighborhoods; and the many cultural attractions and professional sports teams in the city. Slowly, the company built a growing talent network, strengthening it through social media. New facts and insights about the company were shared among wider circles of talent, creating a positive ripple effect and a more robust talent network. This approach helped GM attract the talent needed to meet deadlines, hiring requirements, and project demands.

Talent acquisition professionals often craft the unique company message around the approach the company takes to hiring and the ongoing development of employees. The employment brand therefore encompasses not only the procurement of human capital, but the approach to corporate employee development.

Modern talent acquisition is becoming a unique skill-set. Because talent acquisition professionals many times also handle post-hire talent issues, such as employee retention and career progression, the talent acquisition role is quickly becoming a distinct craft. Some recruitment industry advisors even advocate for a talent department unique from the HR department, because talent acquisition and development is so entangled with a company’s ultimate success and effectiveness.

At Google test scores no longer are used as important parameter. Instead, the company looks at how effectively candidates pick up new information and solve problems, these qualities are better predictors of performance. Also, Google looks at ‘emergent leadership,’ or the ability to step in to help solve a problem, and just as importantly, to step back when it makes sense for someone else to take charge. They prefer candidates who are comfortable with ambiguity, bringing something new to the product mix, and having intellectual humility. This they call ‘Googleyness.’

As a craft, talent acquisition is not new; it is the simple process of recruiting good talent to meet company’s needs. As a profession, however, talent acquisition is quickly evolving into a unique and important job function. In few cases of Strategic Talent Acquisition, clients will recruit today for positions that do not even exist today but are expected to become available in the future. Taking the long term strategic approach to talent acquisition has a huge impact on how an approach is made to a candidate.

It’s a common practice these days: many companies are leveraging on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Glassdoor, Google, and other social networks to build a persuasive employment brand, to find talent, and market their companies to passive job candidates. They aggressively organize referral marketing programs and send their key executives to universities and other critical sources of new talent around the world.

Corporate are using various recruitment strategies for hiring talented candidates. 

Companies have started to treat recruitment function like marketing function: Talented people also like to join corporate which have best HR practices. Corporate need good integrated and communications strategy that attracts candidates and employees besides customers.

Keep the search on: Companies now extend the targets for strategic recruiting. Who are you looking for? Are there new talent pools? Ones you can develop? Perhaps talent you can access (such as freelancers) but not hire? Also consider where you are looking: Search globally as well as across industries and functions. Companies are now going beyond Facebook and Linkedin. Nearly every company uses social networks to post job openings. Innovative companies also leverage social media to build broader and robust talent communities. But, some companies are using networks of people interested in the company’s products or the company itself who might turn into high-quality recruits.

Buying big data from everywhere: Organizations now leverage on big data tools from vendors such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Entelo, Gild, TalentBin, Work4, Identified, and others to identify and source quality candidates around the world. They leverage on new scientific assessments and big data tools to locate and assess high-quality candidates who fit the style and type of workers needed. Corporate apply talent analytics to identify the company’s top sources of talent, understand effective interviewing techniques to determine “the right fit” to improve the quality and efficiency of hiring.

According to PricewaterhouseCooper’s (PWC) 2-14 CEO survey, seventy percent of business leaders are concerned about the availability of key skills. An end-to-end talent strategy provides more precision in finding, keeping, and enhancing the skills needed now and in the future.