5 Tips for College Recruiting

ERE.net just published another great article for those engaged in college recruiting. This article was written by Kevin Wheeler, President and Founder of Global Learning Resources, Inc.

Kevin’s article first made the point that college recruiting hasn’t been as easy for employers during this recession as one might expect for a variety of reasons. For example, instead of graduates looking for work like they would in a normal economy, many more have chosen to stay in school for a double major or to go to graduate school while still others have chosen to travel or work abroad.  Kevin then provided employers with the following five excellent suggestions:

1. Focus on brand building and on getting your best employees to engage with students in discussions, webinars, and in ongoing interactive conversations. This builds trust and starts to develop a relationship that can lead to high interest in a job offer.
2. Let managers do the recruiting. If HR is doing more than 50% of your college recruiting, you do not have an effective program. By using HR staff, you are adding expense and reducing the quality of the interaction that the candidate could have with a potential boss. Avoid the temptation of thinking that HR has some “magical” ability to psyche out candidates or do something a hiring manger couldn’t do. It isn’t true! No one knows the job better or can get a sense of whether a student might be a good candidate or not than a manager.
3. Don’t focus your attention so much on the school itself. Developing a relationship with a particular school usually means getting known to the placement office. This may have some limited value, but it is far better to get students to join your Facebook fan club or your Twitter stream.
4. Develop a longer-term approach to recruiting college students. Start your initial contact with a candidate when they are in their freshman year. Build an internship program and invite candidates in to work, even if only for short one- to two-week stints, so you can establish some face-to-face understanding. Follow up with email by offering them research help, mentoring via the Internet, or whatever makes sense and meets both of your needs and abilities. By the time they have entered their third or fourth year of school, both of you will know if there is any commitment in the relationship.
5. Use print, video, and even campus television to drive candidates to your social media and websites. Don’t waste time on campus-based job fairs. The best campus job fairs attract only a few candidates, most of whom have no interest in your firm at all. Create a virtual job fair that you advertise via the print media. Do this job fair every few weeks and keep up the advertising.

Source: 5 Tips for Getting Ready for College Recruiting in 2011 – ERE.net.

Interview by MSNBC’s The Dylan Ratigan Show About the College Job Market

I had the pleasure of being interviewed earlier this afternoon by MSNBC’s Dylan Ratigan about the terrible job market for college students and recent graduates. The topic was essentially that today’s college students searching for internships and recent graduates hunting for entry-level jobs are on the front line of the job wars. They’re facing the worst job market in 35 years. If you’re looking for work, what do you do?

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

If the above video won’t load, try http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/college-grads-on-the-front-line-of-the-job-wars/6h3dmzq .

Career Fields That Offer Good Pay in a Recession

While the economy may still be on the down side, there are areas where job seekers can find employment with good pay.  Consider the following career fields, which could open the door to entry level job opportunities or allow you to create a fresh start.

Healthcare – (Avg. Hourly Earnings: $23.02) – As healthcare workers get older, there will be a need to replace them, which will increase job openings.  Home care aides and physical therapists are expected to be in demand to care for the aging population.

Accounting – (Avg. Hourly Earnings: $32.42) – Someone is always needed to keep a watchful eye on all of the “green”.  There are accountants who can make up to six-figure salaries.

Information Technology – (Avg. Hourly Earnings: $43.35) – With technology continuing to grow, it should be no surprise to see an increase in job opportunities in this field.  For example, job growth is expected to have an increase of 45% by 2018 in designing and securing computer networks.

To learn about other career fields that offer good pay in a recession, see the source below.

Even though you may not find the career opportunity you’re searching for at the moment, there are fields where you can make a good living, even in a recession.

Information provided by Claire Bradley.

Source

http://financialedge.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0710/5-Sectors-With-Recession-Proof-Pay.aspx

Find True Happiness in the Workplace

Have you ever thought about why you’re not as happy on the job as you would like to be?  Sometimes, as workers, we get too caught up in money, recognition, and our personal agendas.  One author believes we need to shift the way we think about our jobs; instead of focusing on personal ambition, he says its important to have a “greater vision” ambition.  This means giving your best effort at work by trying to help your employer reach a certain level of success and being able to accept the results.

Here are some of the “10 Steps To Happiness At Work” you can apply on the job.

Avoid “good” and “bad” labels - When you make a mistake, don’t dwell on it.  If possible, correct it and learn from it.

Let go of grudges – Forgive and forget.  Don’t allow your personal differences with someone to interfere with your responsibilities at work.

Don’t waste time being jealous – Jealousy won’t get you anywhere in life or on the job, but a good attitude and hard work will help you progress in both.

Banish the “if/then” model of happiness – Your success should not be dependent upon accomplishments, but how you feel about your position.

Think about other people - Believe it or not, everything is not centered around you.  Sometimes, it’s important to be a team player on the job for the benefit of others.

So, if you’re not happy at work, determine what your happiness is based on.  Depending on how you view your job will be the basis on whether or not you find true happiness in the workplace.

For more of the “10 Steps To Happiness At Work”, see the link below.

Information provided by Helen Coster and Srikumar Rao.

Source

http://www.forbes.com/2010/07/27/happiness-at-work-srikumar-rao-leadership-careers-advice.html

The Sexy Side of HR

Jessica Miller-Merrill of Blogging 4 Jobs recently contacted me to ask if I would be interested in partnering with her and a few other human resource industry professionals to deliver a panel presentation at the SXSW Interactive conference in March 2011 in Austin, Texas. Her vision was to put together a group of us who could talk about how and why employers should use cell phone text messaging, social media, and other technologies to recruit and retain top talent. I gave her the enthusiastic thumbs up.

Jessica submitted the proposal in July and last week was notified by SXSW that her proposal made it to the second round of consideration. This next round consists of voting from visitors to the SXSW Panel Picker Page and those votes count for 30 percent of the score given to each proposal. In short, if you think that this is a good topic, it is really, really important that you vote for our panel.

Jessica (@blogging4jobs) will moderate The Sexy Side of HR panel and we’ll be joined by Joel Cheesman, Blogger & VP at Jobing.com (@cheezhead) and Carrie Corbin of AT&T Talent Attraction (@thealphafemme).

Please take out two minutes and do the following: Go to the Panel Picker Page, click the link to “Sign In” near the top corner, click “create a new account” (assuming you don’t have one already), complete the simple form, and vote for The Sexy Side of HR panel. It really is that simple. Thanks!!

IRS Uses YouTube for Recruitment. Why Aren’t You?

One of my favorite clients is the Internal Revenue Service, in part because statements like that tend to raise eyebrows amongst my friends and family. “The Internal Revenue Service? Aren’t they the bad guys?” Well, no one enjoys paying taxes but I think that most of us agree that we’re okay paying taxes when they’re well used. And the more you get to know the IRS and the people who work there, the more you’re amazed at how entrepreneurial they actually are.

Case in point: the IRS makes great use of recruitment videos to help communicate to potential employees the wide variety of jobs for which they recruit and the types of people best suited for those jobs. The typical person wouldn’t think of the IRS as a leader in the use of social media but they are. If you want to see an example, play this video of an actual IRS employee explaining what his job is and you’ll see what I mean. These videos are relatively inexpensive to make as the production qualities are good but not over the top and “real” people are used rather than more expensive hired guns.

Expenses College Students Should Avoid

As they get ready to head off to school, most college students are probably looking for ways to save a few extra pennies.  The writer of one article says that students can do without certain expenses that will relieve some financial stress.  There are suggestions that do make sense, but others college students may disagree with.

Take a look at some of these non-expenditures and my thoughts on them.

New textbooks – Yes, new textbooks are expensive, but college students need the right information and materials.  However, if possible, see if you can borrow textbooks from friends.

Printer – I used the computer lab and library for printing while in college.  Remember, these are campus resources, so use them.

Pricey smart phone plan – This definitely is true.  If you’re like me and don’t use your cell phone excessively, then prepaid is the way to go.

Credit card – Before you get a credit card, consider a debit card.  This way, you can’t get in trouble for how much money you spend because that is based on the total amount on the debit card.

Big meal plan – As a college student, you probably won’t be able to afford fast food everyday.  See if your school offers a meal plan, and determine if it works for you.

For more expenses, college students should avoid, see the link below.

College is a financial investment, but it doesn’t have to be as costly as you might think if you’re willing to make some sacrifices.

Information provided by Marc A. Wojno.

Source

http://www.kiplinger.com/features/archives/2009/08/10-things-college-students-do-not-need.html

Best company to work for, SAS, encourages employees to comment on blogs. Does yours?

SAS Institute is a leader in business analytics software and services and the largest independent vendor in the business intelligence market. SAS was recently named as the best company for which to work. Why? One reason might be their remarkably enlightened approach to employee engagement. As this video interview with SAS communicator Karen Lee explains, the company encourages all of its employees to comment on intranet articles regardless of who wrote the article or what roles the author and commenter play in the organization. This open, transparent, and honest approach to internal communications allows for immediate feedback up and down the corporate hierarchy.