Successful Recruiting:

Posting Jobs, Finding Jobs & the Resources Mystery Shopping Companies Use

As the owner of, Integrity Consultants, a Market Research & Retail Marketing Firm, one of the most

common questions I get is, "How do you recruit?" Integrity Consultants has assisted many clients and

fellow industry service providers over the last four years with scheduling, recruiting and project

management. In that time, I've learned some things that I'd like to share with you.

It's important to remember that one of the qualities that make a good scheduler, recruiter or coordinator is

his or her ability to build relationships. Working on multiple projects for multiple companies, I've also

gained the insight of how much more marketable and successful a scheduler can be if he or she has the

ability to route mystery shoppers, brand ambassadors, merchandisers, in-store product demonstrators, and

other contractors on a national level in conjunction with other projects. As a scheduler, you can bundle

assignments for multiple companies, saving contractors from excessive drive time caused by multiple

trips, reduce overall travel expenses, and also help contractors increase their efficiency and profitability.

The end result of effectively using your routing skills can include: higher overall pay for contractors, a

greater ability to meet client deadlines, and overall better time management for both the contractor and

scheduler. You can also help preserve the budgets of multiple clients by working with companies and

spreading expenses like bonuses and travel allowances across multiple companies and projects.

At this time, my recommendation in regards to software for mapping, trip planning and routing is

Microsoft Streets & Trips, which we will discuss in greater detail in a future article. It costs around $50

and allows you to effectively layer data and route with multiple features, like optimizing fuel efficiency

and avoiding tolls where possible. A contractor might import all the assignments they are considering

doing, and then have one type or color of pushpin for Integrity Consultants assignments and other

pushpins for other companies, or one color/type of pushpin for banking & financial services shops and

another for their video shops. He or she might use one pushpin for Monday's jobs and another for

Tuesday's jobs, or one pushpin for jobs being done under alias "A" and another pushpin for jobs being

done with alias "B." Just customize your map to meet your situation, preferences and needs. As a

scheduler, you might have one pushpin per company that you are scheduling for, or one pushpin per client

or project. A scheduler might use one pushpin for the project or client with yet another pushpin for his/her

registered shoppers. This allows you to see at a glance what you need to fill and where your talent is. It

saves time on both ends with routing and calculating travel allowances, when applicable. It also facilitate

the "bundling" of shops across multiple companies and projects which leads to the budget saving

technique of spreading those costs across multiple companies and clients. We'll get into this more later,

and remember that we will be presenting a live tutorial on exactly how to do these things at both the Reno

& Las Vegas Independent Mystery Shoppers Conference (IMSC) coming up in September & October.

Beyond that, the questions I hear are most related to recruiting resources. There are a few resources that

are a "staple" among mystery shopping companies and schedulers. These include: ShadowShopper,

Volition, Mystery Shopping Solutions, Yahoo Groups, Market Research Pros, which is available on

XING and Facebook, the MSPA Listening Post, and other various groups and forums. Schedulers should

be aware that jobs posted on volition.com are also posted to JobSlinger, and both shoppers and schedulers

should be aware that there is a JobSlinger app on Facebook. This is very handy. For companies using the

Sassie reporting system and shoppers working with companies utilizing the Sassie system, you have

JobSlinger Plus. Finally, companies utilizing the ShopMetrics reporting system have access to the

MSJobBoard, which also has a Facebook app.

Schedulers have also used classified ad sites, and even Craig's List on occasion with varying degrees of

success. You can do a Google search for, "Post a job free" or "Classified ads" and come up with any

number of places to post. You can also get a $50 free ad credit for indeed.com and occasionally, LinkedIn

offers a $50 ad credit. Yahoo HotJobs and Facebook ads are other paid alternatives that may have a free

trial or ad credit available. Jobs posted via Yahoo HotJobs can go to SimplyHired, Indeed, Monster,

LinkedIn, GlassDoor, CareerBuilder, Dice, Taleo, LinkUp and other "Job Search Engines" which include

and/or post to the majority of websites making up the "traditional job board" network. Also worth noting,

if you have an RSS feed of jobs from a job board or website, like we do for the Market Research Pros,

that RSS feed can be submitted to a number of job board search engines.

One of the things that have made me such a successful recruiter and scheduler is my use of technology

and social media. I've spent the last four years diving straight into those confusing and ever-changing

waters. It's a tall order to try to become a media expert for industry peers and also run a market research

and retail marketing firm, mostly because there is no finish line. There's never a point where you feel like

you've really got it all under control, because there's always any number of new apps, websites, and start-

ups, and also because APIs change constantly. These changes alter rankings, visibility, and all kinds of

things related to features and functionality. Online media management is a full-time job in itself, but in

successfully accomplishing both roles, I've learned a lot that can help you save time, become better, more

efficient, schedulers and even help contractors with finding the work they need. That's why I am posting

this here instead of a purely company-based forum, because, for example, if mystery shoppers understand

the media that schedulers use, they know where to look for work, and if schedulers know what media

shoppers are using, they know where their audience is. Sounds simple, right?

Well, sometimes it is, but those online venues change just as quickly as online apps and start-ups. A good

example of this is Brightfuse, the "talent community" from CareerBuilder. There was a very successful

branch of Market Research Pros on Brightfuse for two years, until CareerBuilder decided to close

Brightfuse in order to focus on job postings and other tasks. TwebaListings was a commonly used for

promoting jobs via twitter, again, there is nothing current since 2009, and it appears to have "gone with

the wind." The bottom line is that there's always a new "something" to try, and you never know for sure

how long that "something" is going to be around.

Most people will stick with what they are using, even if it's not really working, because they don't have

time for the social media time funnel, so they certainly don't have time to try something and find out it

wasn't a good fit for their needs. On that note, because I build and manage social media and online

marketing programs for companies in my industry, like ShadowShopper, for example, I am already doing

this research, and I would like to share some free resources with you that I have found helpful when it

comes to contractor recruitment.

We have used MarketPlace, an app on Facebook, which is an app by Oodle.com (Oodle Marketplace.) It

seems that either the app is no longer operational or is under maintenance, so I recommend that you begin

from the other end of this spectrum. Go to oodle.com and connect your Facebook and Twitter accounts.

You can change your settings to allow for a post on Oodle to also go to your connected social media

accounts, or you can disable that feature. We do use hash tag TweetMyJob (#tweetmyjob) when posting

jobs on Twitter, and also the Local Buzz network for Twitter at: http://localbuzznetwork.com/. Also

highly recommended is utilizing Linkedin; you can join groups and follow companies, schedulers and

shoppers.

GooglePlus (Google+ or G+) is also a good option. You can create circles very similar to the way that

lists and groups are created on Facebook. You might have a G+ circle for mystery shopping, one for

family, one for silly stuff, one for companies, one for shoppers, etc. Pinterest is also an option that we've

found promising. Integrity Consultants has a mystery shopping pin-board where we include industry

resources and organizations, like NARMS, MSPA, and IASE, job postings (rotating out the old ones), and

news about our company. You can even make YouTube videos explaining the job type and requirements

and then post those videos, which get great visibility in general. So far, we're getting good results with

this combination of resources.

So then the question becomes, "How in the heck do I manage all of that?" The answer to this is simple,

you don't. Let technology do the work for you, and get yourself on a schedule. There are many online

venues that allow you to combine your accounts across social media. Explore your features, and use this

functionality. If you can post to Facebook, FourSquare, Myspace, Mixi, LinkedIn, Twitter, and a

Wordpress Blog or RSS stream all at the same time, why wouldn't you? Using tools like CoTweet,

TweetDeck or HootSuite will not only help you with "joining accounts" but also with scheduling of posts,

tweets and status updates. Beyond that, organize yourself; post to resources 1-10 every other Monday and

resources 11-20 every other Friday.

Doing this, you'll find that you are putting out regular postings that your audience will not only come to

expect, but will log-in or visit specifically to look for, and you are more likely to receive a steady stream

of new recruits, as opposed to short, inconsistent, and often overwhelming bursts.

Furthermore, you'll build your audience, and save time, by being courteous. Don't fight to keep your post

on the front page. Don't "spam" or drive away your target audience by bombarding them on a daily or

even weekly basis with the same thing. If you can update a post, do so, and then "share" or "bookmark" it.

I'm of the opinion that social bookmarking sites can also be a useful tool when it comes to recruiting if

used properly.

Remember that all posts on public social media venues are indexed by Google. I've not seen any evidence

in my practical application of these tools, tips and techniques that multiple and/or frequent postings of the

same type, on the same website, improve rankings or visibility, and they are much more likely to decrease

your relevance, result in spam complaints, and alienate your target audience. Consistency really is key.

Well, there you have it for today. I always tell my shoppers, auditors, and brand ambassadors that we

work very hard to utilize social media and online venues as part of our overall effort to be there when you

need us, where you need us. This, and the basic responsibility for courtesy and etiquette that come with

utilizing these resources properly, is what I call "Social Integrity." May you all experience it and benefit

from it.

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