Lindsay Stanton is the President of Digi-Me. Her company “unites” employers and job candidates using video. For today’s labor market, video is a vital ingredient of the hiring and onboarding process including  digital job fairs, 

Author and futurist David Houle visits the show to discuss cognitive dissonance and why it applies to virtually every person in today’s society.  He also discusses “shift” and “adaptability.”

• Talent Acquisition is Really Sales and Marketing (7:27)

• “Ghosting” isn’t just something that happens in dating relationships. (7:10)

• We Give the Client the Power (11:40)

• 1-Minute Video Equals 1.8 Million Words (13:15)

• [Companies] Pay for a Parking Spot on Our Platform (16:15)

• Being Digital is Necessary to Deepen the Talent Pool (21:05)

• Be Water, My Friend (36:34)

• “I Put a Name on What People Were Feeling.” (40:15)

NOTE: Quote times may be +/- 30-60 seconds different for the audio version.

Talent Acquisition is Really Sales and Marketing (7:27)

Digi-Me helps encourage job candidates to apply for jobs through the use of video. Digital video job descriptions engage candidates quickly and keep them interested long enough to click and apply. Digi-Me however doesn’t just use video for job posting but continues to encourage engagement through the onboarding process.   “Much of my job in talent acquisition is really sales and marketing,” Stanton says. Rather than simply posting a job description, today’s employers must tell a story that will engage the candidates so they can see themselves as part of the company’s story.

Georgene Huang created the “largest career community for women.” On FairyGodBoss, women find an alternative to LinkedIn. They are encouraged to have open, candid conversations about real issues they face in the workplace. Because they can post anonymously, members can speak openly about fundamental topics they might otherwise be apprehensive about sharing publicly. Ira questions why, in 2021, we still have gender inequality in the workplace when that is something society has been facing for decades and supposedly solved through legislation like Civil Rights, Title IX, EEO, Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay, and others.

“Ghosting” isn’t just something that happens in dating relationships. (7:10)

Ghosting is something that Stanton and her company are trying to eliminate for employers. Still, it is difficult because many workers are still afraid to “make a move.” A text-based job description just isn’t enough to convert job seekers to job applicants. Video descriptions and digital content prove much more effective in influencing conversions than written legal-jargon job descriptions.

We Give the Client the Power (11:40)

Digi-Me goes far beyond just video creation for both employee and candidate. Digi-Me specializes in helping drive more candidate activity in less time by using highly optimized keywords and SEO, making these jobs rank higher in Google and job board searches, and ultimately getting more job candidate views. Additionally, Digi-Me customizes every aspect of the experience to the individual company. Each client is assigned a personal specialist, who helps build a landing page for the company and create content for the company using their branding information. Digi-Me offers a unique delivery method using a “trackable video player.” She says, “We give the client the power.” They can place the videos on whatever platform they choose, and Digi-Me tracks the views, shares, and applies that the videos generate, offering the client evidence that video works.

1-Minute Video Equals 1.8 Million Words (13:15).

Wolfe delivers the staggering statistic that “one-minute video equals 1.8 million words.” In a society that adheres to the ideology of TL;DR (too long; didn’t read), videos offer a more engaging experience in applying for work.  Candidates also retain at least 70% more of the information presented, allowing them to become more familiar and comfortable with their possible new company.

[Companies] Pay for a Parking Spot on Our Platform (16:15)

Stanton says companies essentially “pay for a parking spot on our platform” as part of their service. As a result, they can rotate jobs out as they need and often do.  She says that depending on the type of experience a company is looking for, the process to have their job opening up and running can take as little as 48 hours or up to seven days for a more highly customized package.

Being Digital is Necessary to Deepen the Talent Pool (21:05)

With the onset of COVID, Digi-Me began hosting Virtual Job Fairs.  This was an idea already in place pre-pandemic.  Stanton says that virtual experience is more engaging and cost-effective than a traditional job fair. “Being digital is necessary to deepen the talent pool.”  She believes that virtual job fairs will stick around for the future, even it morphs into some sort of hybrid model. “It is doubtful that job fairs will go back to the way they were pre-pandemic.”

Be Water, My Friend (36:34)

In this segment with author and futurist David Houle, we shift the focus to cognitive dissonance, the ability to juggle multiple and often opposing thoughts or realities at the same time.  The question then becomes how to make sense of the information and how to respond. One of Houle’s favorite quotes comes from Bruce Lee: “Be water, my friend.” It captures the essence of what we must do to adapt. Much like water takes the shape of whatever container it is poured into, we should use the same life model for personal adaptability. 

“I Put a Name on What People Were Feeling.” (40:15)

Houle believes that people are receptive to his ideas surrounding cognitive dissonance because he “put a name on what people were feeling.”  People don’t like change, as a general rule.  Until 2020, most thought reality was static, but the pandemic proved reality to be mutable. The experiences in 2020 have made millions of human beings very uncomfortable.  Wolfe likens it to reality “pulling the rug out from under” society.  This “shift” will continue to accelerate, and within the next 20 years, what would have taken an entire 12 months to occur will now occur within 3 months. As a society, we are not prepared for things to be moving so quickly.  As a result, we must “become water.”

WHERE TO WATCH OR LISTEN

The Geeks, Geezers & Googlization TV Show is live every Wednesday at 1 PM ET on Facebook, YouTube, Talk 4 TV, and broadcast on W4CY Radio, part of Talk 4 Radio on the Talk 4 Media Network.  The podcast is also available on Talk 4 Podcasting.

Following the broadcast, the replay will be available at the same links for YouTube and Facebook, our podcast website Geeks Geezers Googlization, and on most podcasts including Apple Podcast, iHeart, Spotify, Amazon, Stitcher and more.