Help us recruit your next teammate to King County
Have you noticed some of the new outreach and marketing being done to attract candidates to King County? There is a small, creative team within the Department of Human Resources’ Talent Acquisition team who are creating tools to support centralized outreach and marketing. Some of those tools include social media blocks that we released for Mental Health Awareness Month, which you may have seen online.
The team’s efforts were designed to bring visibility and voice to county-wide recruitment with coordinated messaging at no cost to departments. Examples include advertising on El Rey radio in February and a yearlong marketing campaign at the ShoWare Center. The team also created the billboard below that ran for the month of February and is running again in 10 locations for the month of July. All of these efforts are meant to keep King County in the conversation for people looking for their first or next career opportunity.
Recruiters are using social media blocks developed by the team to increase our outreach and marketing using a visual image/story as part of job postings on LinkedIn. The team has built over 180 unique images for recruiters to choose from along with creating a user guide on how to post jobs (you can even set them up in advance to launch on a specific date). To assess the effectiveness of this program, the team developed an eight-week contest where 30 recruiters opted to participate by posting on LinkedIn with the tools and we saw dramatic results. The contest resulted in an over 130% increase of applicants with 748 identifying LinkedIn as their source for finding and applying for a job at King County.
What can employees and hiring managers do to support the outreach and marketing work?
We are currently working on a method to make the images available to employees outside of the recruiter role. In the meantime, you can work with your recruitment team by going to LinkedIn to “like” or “repost” their recruitment post. This simple task of “echoing” their post creates an added ripple and expands the networking effort to your network (and often beyond) – exponentially increasing the visibility and reach.
We know that best practice in recruiting using social media is to include personal stories and to use images to attract the viewers to stay longer. Check in with your department’s HR to learn more about their recruitment efforts. We encourage you to include #IworkforKingCounty and #GoPublic, and to add a personal note where you can when posting. Thanks for living the “We are one team” value!
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Are you one of our 38,000 LinkedIn followers?
More than 38,000 King County employees, residents, and job seekers are getting up-to-date news and information, job opportunities, trainings, employee spotlights, and more by following King County on LinkedIn. Are you one of them?
To follow King County on LinkedIn, go to the King County company page and click “follow” (you will need to create a LinkedIn account if you do not have one).
You can also get employee news and information by following us on these platforms:
- Twitter @kcemployees
- WordPress Blog www.kcemployees.com
- YouTube King County Employees.
Accessing Employee News is an acceptable use of IT assets.
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Tech Tip: Multi-factor Authentication
What is it?
Multi-factor Authentication (MFA) is the process of verifying that you are who you claim to be when logging in to a device or an account. If you’re reading this from your work computer, you probably logged in to your computer – that’s single-factor authentication. But single-factor authentication is no longer enough to keep your accounts secure. Learn more below about the various ways you can digitally-authenticate your identity.
Understanding the types of identity claim factors:
- Something you own. This is using a mobile phone or device that you have in your possession to prove your identity. Typically, the device provides a code via an application, text message, email, or voice call. You then enter this code, and for successful authentication, your code must match what is expected by the service you’re attempting to log in to.
- Something you know. This is something you’ve memorized or stored somewhere, such as a PIN. You must supply the correct PIN to log in to your device or service.
- Something you are. This factor is something about your physical body that cannot be altered, such as your fingerprint or retina. Biometric scanners or readers are used to confirm you’re physically the person that you’re claiming to be.
Why do I need it?
In our digitally-driven world, passwords are no longer enough to keep your information safe. These days, it takes minimal effort for hackers to break into, or social engineer their way into, accounts that are only protected by passwords. Adding an extra step to access your accounts, such as entering an authentication code, means that hackers would also need to have your phone to break in.
Create an additional layer of security and make it harder for criminals to access your data by using two-factor or multi-factor authentication. Consult your IT or Security department to see if they have a preferred method of multi-factor authentication.
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Social Services on ‘portrait mode’
“King County has a lot of services that can help people. Maybe other employees are veterans or have relatives who are. If they need help or have questions about the program, I’m always open,” Anh Tran says. Following several iterations of what is now known as the Veterans, Seniors & Human Services Levy (VSHSL), veterans and their family members can access housing, connect to mental health counselors, and get help navigating a complex system. King County defines veteran differently than other agencies, allowing Social Service Professionals like Anh to provide lower-barrier services to thousands of veterans and their family members in our community. Read more.
More about the American Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Pasifika Affinity Group
The next American Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Pasifika (AANHP) virtual gathering will take place on Thursday, July 13 from 9:30 to 11 a.m. via Teams.
If you are interested in attending this online event or getting connected to the AANHP community at King County, reach out to the co-Chairs, Helen Potter (hpotter@kingcounty.gov) and Guru Dorje (guru.dorje@kingcounty.gov).
Learn more about King County Affinity groups at www.kingcounty.gov/AffinityGroups.
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Angela Toussaint receives 2022 Individual Contributor Award
DAJD Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Manager Angela Toussaint has been honored with the Individual Contributor Award, one of King County Executive’s Performance Excellence Awards which highlights an individual contributor who does not directly manage staff. The Individual Contributor Award is one of three Leadership Excellence Awards honoring King County leaders who embody the Executive Branch values and drive for results that make King County better for employees and customers, and move King County closer to its True North: Making King County a welcoming community where every person can thrive. View the award announcement and watch the video here.
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Supporting LGBTQ+ Youth Mental Health on Vashon Island
Cross-posted from Cultivating Connections
Young people across King County and the country are facing increasingly difficult mental health challenges. Young people who are in underserved communities, including LGBTQ+ and BIPOC young people, face even steeper challenges.
According to King County’s Healthy Youth Survey, LGBTQ+ young people have an urgent need for mental health supports, with higher rates of suicidal ideation and attempts, and depression. King County is working with community partners to meet LGBTQ+ youth with needed resources, through programs that prioritize culturally relevant supports. Read more.
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Transforming transit for a greener tomorrow
Cross-posted from Metro Matters
Every week, more than one million people use King County Metro‘s buses, on-demand services, paratransit vans, water taxis and other modes to get to where they need to go. Metro serves 37 cities in Washington state, including Seattle, and a county with a population that’s greater than 15 U.S. states.
Metro is proud to be an industry leader in how we deliver our service sustainably. Our transition to a zero-emission fleet powered by renewable energy is part of King County’s holistic approach to combat climate change. We are on track to be one of the first large transit agencies in North America with a 100% zero-emission fleet by 2035. Read more.
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Executive Constantine appoints Marissa Aho as new Director of Climate Office
King County Executive Dow Constantine has appointed Marissa Aho – a highly experienced leader in climate action and resilience planning – to serve as Climate Director, overseeing King County’s work to address climate change and advance its Strategic Climate Action Plan.
“Marissa has an exceptional background to lead King County’s Executive Climate Office, bringing with her nearly a decade of expertise in strategy and policy planning around climate action, environmental justice, resilience, and sustainability,” said Executive Constantine. “We look forward to her leadership as King County continues investing in solutions and taking bold action against the looming climate crisis.” Read more.
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Executive Constantine announces changes to Senior Leadership Team
King County Executive Dow Constantine announced the upcoming departure of Deputy Executive April Putney and the appointments of Shannon Braddock as Deputy Executive and Karan Gill as Chief of Staff.
Shannon, the current Chief of Staff, and Karan, the Deputy Chief of Staff, have decades of experience between them in policy, strategy, and government and community relations in our region.
“I would like to thank April for her service to King County as she prepares to depart next month for an exciting new opportunity outside of government,” Executive Contantine said. Read more.
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White Center Teen Program celebrates 30 years
Cross-posted from King County Parks
The White Center Teen Program will celebrate its 30-year anniversary on June 30. The program, based out of the Log Cabin at Steve Cox Memorial Park, exists to create a space for young people to come together and build friendships in a safe space.
Through discovering new activities and hobbies, teens build community together, practice leadership, and cultivate a sense of belonging. Read more.
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