Like most HR players, Drake International – a global provider of recruitment, talent management and solutions for improving organisational productivity and performance – is firmly plugged into social media.

The firm has heavily subscribed accounts on Facebook and Twitter, where it posts open positions, job-hunting tips, seminars and other services. “We also have a LinkedIn account to connect with various clients, to showcase our service offerings, and provide updates on various seminars, webinars and events we are hosting,” says Guy Wiffen, Hong Kong manager of Drake International and managing consultant at Vertical Talent Hong Kong.

Having recently moved to Hong Kong from Europe, Wiffen is used to other business networking sites such as Xing and Viadeo, besides LinkedIn. However, he notes that these are more popular in some countries than others.

Last year, Drake launched DrakeMobile, a custom-designed mobile application for iPhone, iPad and Blackberry. The free app allows candidates to manually conduct a job search using multiple keywords and industries, or create job alerts with their choice of notification method.

Users can also use it to read articles on the corporate blog, DrakePulse. The blog is geared towards both candidates and clients, providing them with various articles of interest and discussion forums. Users are encouraged to share trends, tools, systems, predictions and other information related to HR and talent management by contributing articles.

Wiffen says the company uses the Drake P3 behavioural assessment system to ensure that candidates are the right fit for both a role and a company. It is an effective psychometric assessment tool for uncovering a candidate’s natural tendencies, communication styles, emotional intelligence, motivational needs, decision-making abilities, energy levels and other characteristics. It is also expedient for on-boarding, team dynamics, performance assessment, succession-planning and staff development.

A user can normally finish the test in about 15 minutes. The testing of candidates and the delivery of a report to the client with a candidate’s résumé is just one element of where Wiffen feels they can deliver more than their competitors.

At the executive level, Drake relies on its Drake Picasso testing system, which helps analyse critical traits such as leadership style, reasoning skills, team dynamics and conflict-resolution abilities.

In addition to viewing candidates’ profiles on social media, Wiffen also does a quick Google search to view how they present themselves online.

“It is important to not only see how conscious they are of their posts from a social media perspective, but also how security conscious they are of people having access to their opinions and private photos,” he says.

Wiffen recognises that people will inevitably use social media to post negative things. He says that what is most important, though, is that, as a company, Drake International addresses any issue raised through the same forum.

Wiffen would rather not delete any negative posts, unless these are false or full of bad language. “Instead, posts should be responded to in the public forum, thanking the person for his or her very valuable feedback on our service, and noting that whatever issue they encountered is being addressed,” he says.