Thank you to the campus career center staff who attended the Introduction to Come Recommended webinar today! Unfortunately, the presentation did not record correctly. So, we’ve embedded a copy of the PowerPoint below. Additionally, I’d be happy to give a personal presentation to anyone who desires one–no matter if you attended the original webinar or not.
Finally, I wanted to address the fantastic questions asked during the presentation in more detail:
Q: How do you differentiate Come Recommended from other job sites such as Monster or CareerBuilder that also allow potential employees to create an online profile to find jobs?
A: I honestly don’t even consider those sites competitors. They have become behemoths, bogged down by fake or misleading job ads and résumés of unqualified candidates. And although I encourage candidates not to leave combing the job boards out of their search plan, that action alone simply isn’t enough anymore.
That said, a few current differentiators:
- Come Recommended is limited to only those seeking internships and entry-level jobs, and employers who want to hire at these levels. Candidate members must have graduated no longer than one year ago. That means no more competing against people who aren’t truly entry-level but are willing to take those positions because they need a job.
- Everyone in the community must have three recommendations before they are allowed to interact with you, and that includes employers. These recommendations are displayed clearly on every profile.
- Once accepted into the community, candidates have the ability to chat directly with hiring managers through the site. They can initiate a conversation with them, and vice versa. So, if candidates visit an employer’s profile and like what they see, they send a chat request and tell them! (Also note that webcam/video interviewing capabilities are coming soon!)
Q: Do you verify recommendations for students, and what happens to this information? What about the recommendations for the employer? Who recommends them?
A: We assure the legitimacy of recommendations in several ways. First, recommendation requests can only be sent to “paid” e-mail domains–not free accounts such as Gmail or Hotmail. Second, because references must provide their phone numbers, Come Recommended staff performs random checks to assure accuracy. Finally, if a user suspects a reference might not be legitimate, he or she is encouraged to contact us immediately, and we will follow-up. If, indeed, the recommendation has been falsified, the user will be permanently banned from Come Recommended.
Candidates may receive recommendations from current or previous employers, industry professionals, professors/teachers and other non-family members. References need not be registered users of Come Recommended. Once the reference answers the questions in our recommendation process and hits “submit,” the reference’s name, title, organization and e-mail address-along with the questions and answers-are automatically transmitted onto the candidate’s profile page.
The process for employers to access our site is exactly the same. Employers may receive recommendations from current or previous interns or entry-level professionals. Again, references need not be registered users of Come Recommended.
Q: You mentioned several large organizations who’ve already registered. What about smaller and mid-sized employers, regional employers, etc.? To what extent are you reaching out to employers outside the Fortune 500?
A: Come Recommended is a fantastic resource for small and mid-sized organizations–perhaps in some ways even more so than large organizations. Our goal on the employer side is to reduce hiring costs and streamline the entire process, with the hope of encouraging more internship and entry-level hiring.
We reach out to employers–of all sizes–in a number of ways:
- Through our already-existing database (monthly e-newsletter, webinars)
- Sponsors and strategic partnerships
- Viral word-of-mouth campaign (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, flickr and YouTube)
- Media relations campaign
- Attendance at key conferences/events
Q: Is there a password we can use to test out the system?
A: No, not the way we have it set up. You’d actually have to register as an employer or a student. However, I have an administrative account, and I’d be happy to arrange a time to walk you through the site virtually.
Q: Is a student’s photo required?
A: A student does not need to upload a photo–it’s only there as an option if they choose. If they do not upload a photo, a generic “avatar” is put in its place. We chose to have photos as an option because we feel it helps both candidates and employers seem more “real” and personal, rather than just another résumé. But again, students do not have to include one, and many of our current students haven’t.
Q: How soon will the new features be added?
A: As soon as possible! We want to grow the site quickly. In order to do this, we are forming strategic partnerships with organizations that already offer the features we’d like to add-but we also need sponsorships to cover our costs and to keep the features low-cost or free to our members.
Q: Would we just go ahead and link to your from our Web site for our students to get started?
A: Yes, that would be fantastic! You might also want to think about including an announcement in your newsletter if you have one and/or sending information to your school’s student newspaper.
Logo choices for your Web site can be found here. Resize them as necessary. Also, the two sentence description of Come Recommended is as follows: Come Recommended is an exclusive online community connecting the best internship and entry-level candidates with the best employers. Unlike other exclusive recruiting networks, Come Recommended requires both candidates and employers receive three recommendations before accessing the community and its features.
Please let us know how else we can help you get the word out to your students.
Best,
Heather R. Huhman, Founder & President
Come Recommended
