Recently, the Recruiting Animal had a LinkedIn specialist on his online radio show. Neal Schaffer spent the hour analyzing various LinkedIn profiles that were sent by courageous volunteers through Twitter.

This got me thinking. Who do you think is looking for YOUR profile?

There are recruiters out there who conduct searches through search engines like Bing and Google, to find their candidates. They can even key in search commands to search LinkedIn beyond their own networks. When you come up in one of these searches, it is the information that you have on your profile, is it going to sell your capabilities in the most effective way?

Continue reading "Who Is Looking For Your LinkedIn Profile?" »

Posted by Candice Arnold on January 21, 2010 at 11:28 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Networking for job search is under-rated. For some of us (like me) there is nothing I like less than "bothering" a former co-worker, friend, relative or business associate to let them know that I am out of work and/or looking for a job. There are, of course, many people who don't have a problem with this.

There are a number of ways you can leverage your network without calling people as the first step (although this is not a bad way to start). Business social networks have been covered in a number of previous posts (quick links are listed below), so I won't cover that topic again in this post. I will, however, provide some basic Networking concepts and methods. But first some quick links to business social networks:

Continue reading "Job Search Marketing Toolkit - Networking" »

Posted by Candice Arnold on December 2, 2009 at 12:14 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Lately I have noticed a flurry of LinkedIn invitation activity. What bothers me is not the amount of invitations being sent or received but how users are going about the invitation process. So I've put together this brief blurb on LinkedIn invitation etiquette.

I do not mind receiving invitations from people I have never met (even though LinkedIn says you should really only accept invites from people you know.) If I feel that a connection would be mutually beneficial, in most cases I will accept. However, what irks me is when I receive inmail from someone I have never met requesting that I send them an invitation. I know you only receive a certain number of invitations from LinkedIn and it is NOT OK to request that I use one of mine to connect with you if:

• I've never met you before,
• have no clue who you are, and
• you have already used all your invitations.

This is just poor form and will promptly get your message deleted.

Continue reading "LinkedIn Invitation Etiquette" »

Posted by Candice Arnold on November 9, 2009 at 9:26 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Hey, job seekers: Raise your hand if you love networking.

I thought so.

And why don't you get a thrill out of talking to friends and family about your job search?

For many folks, it's a problem of how to start. There's really no way to ask, "Know anyone who's hiring?" without feeling awkward.

To fix that, here are two ways to open your next networking conversation that are proven to produce job leads -- and won't make you feel self-conscious ...

Continue reading "Two Networking Conversation Starters" »

Posted by Candice Arnold on October 23, 2009 at 1:17 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

What is a ride-along? Why is it important?

A ride-along is just what it sounds like: You spend a day with a medical sales rep who's in the field you're thinking you'd like to sell into, and see how a typical day goes. A ride-along can be one of your greatest opportunities to differentiate yourself from another candidate. It sets you apart as a go-getter. It gives you critical on-the-job information that helps you in your job search. Among other things, it helps you answer the question, "How do you see yourself in this job?"

Continue reading "Job Shadowing, Medical Sales Style" »

Posted by Candice Arnold on October 12, 2009 at 11:20 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

[A] guy I sort of know is a recruiter and sends me an email asking why his job post tweets are getting little traffic and worse why his follower numbers are decreasing.

Going back to a comment I made earlier this spring in a few different chats, in my opinion recruiters (and lots of other folks) make a mistake with Twitter, Facebook and other sites by not contributing to a community or group before making a withdrawal.

My opinion is that one needs to invest in a group by offering advice, links and other information that can be useful to others and do this over a period of time before asking for something. Call it being a good citizen or netizen.

Continue reading "Social Media Capital: Are You Running A Surplus Or A Deficit?" »

Posted by Candice Arnold on August 26, 2009 at 8:36 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

As with most things in life, job search is a "two way street". The concept of networking lives by this and Executive Recruiters and Headhunters do as well. This works in different ways. In some cases, the recruiter may be looking for a candidate with credentials that are different than yours (and you may know someone) or you know the recruiter because you used them to hire people in your last role. Whatever the case, leverage recruiters the same way you would leverage your friends and business acquaintances to enhance your job search.

A Team Recruiting - This firm specializes in recruiting for Accounting and Finance professionals in the New York Metro area and other major US Metro markets. They do the full range from Temporary, Temp to Hire, Part Time, Full Time, etc. They list 4 job categories from which you can click (CFO, Controller, Bookkeeper and Accounting Clerk). Clicking on these brings up a forms page where you can fill in your personal details, register and upload a resume.
A-List Associates - Their tag line is "Your #1 Source for Top Executive Assistants and Administrative Support". There are tabs at the top for "About Us", "Services", "Positions" and more. Click on Positions to link to the Open Positions page. You can see the job description, salary, location and can apply directly for the job. You can also click on "Contact Us" where you can submit your resume through their web form, call them, fax your resume or send via Snail Mail.
Anson McCade - Anson McCade is an IT and Finance recruitment firm, based in London, UK. Their main site has information on the firm, Interviews tips, Resources and Contacts (all on the left hand side of the screen). Candidate information is on the right hand side and includes All vacancies, vacancies by functiona and a search all function. There were 269 job opportunities when I checked the site. You can register your resume or contact them directly via email or telephone.
Horton International - This firm is a global executive search firm with several offices in the North East US as well as offices in Asia Pacific and Europe. Their main page has tabs at the top for their international non-US offices, Submit your resume, FAQs and Contact information. You can contact them via email or phone and also have the ability to submit your resume using their online web form. I did not see a link for current job opportunities.
Jay Gaines & Company - This firm has a broad range of functional areas it covers: General management, Information technology, Finance Capital markets, Risk, Investment management, Operations and more. Click on select past engagements to see the types of positions covered by this firm. Click Contact Us to forward your resume via email or call.

Good luck in your search.

Article by Career Alley

Courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates seeking entry-level jobs and other career opportunities, and posted on Confessions of an Executive Restaurant Recruiter.

Posted by Candice Arnold on July 7, 2009 at 11:18 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

I know a number of people are going to disagree with me on this but read on and then tell me what you think.

LinkedIn is a professional networking site.

Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and the rest are social networking sites.

Sure LinkedIn has some of the features of other sites like:

• Events
• Groups
• Applications
• A photo

Continue reading "LinkedIn Is Not A Social Networking Site" »

Posted by Candice Arnold on June 26, 2009 at 6:26 AM | Leave a Comment (1)

The New Paradigm for Building the Candidate Pipeline

Traditionally, most companies start the talent acquisition process by opening a job requisition. Corporate recruiters and HR professionals work diligently with hiring managers to define job requisitions and post these openings to job boards as well as the company's own online career site.

With rising unemployment numbers, more job seekers are heading online to search for employment, but unfortunately candidates are hitting a dead end because of the drastic reduction in open jobs (requisitions) that are available on corporate Web sites, and without any alternative method besides applying for a particular job, both candidates and hiring companies are losing out on an opportunity during this recession. In fact, according to the most recent National Online Recruitment Audience Survey (NORAS) the number of online job seekers has risen 50% over the last 12 months. However, as the economy continues to falter, hiring at many organizations is increasingly selective and anticipatory, forcing a ground-breaking paradigm shift in building the candidate pipeline.

As any historian will tell you, it's only a matter of time until the economy begins to rebound and there will be a return in hiring. When the market comes back to life it might be too late for those companies that didn't use the down time to cultivate prospect relationships, as the noise in the recruiting market will reverberate loudly making it harder than ever to market specific jobs to matching prospects.

Continue reading "It's Time to Get Req-less" »

Posted by Candice Arnold on June 25, 2009 at 7:45 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Network, Network, Network - the most important three words in job search. I don't really know the real statistics on the percentage of jobs filled through networking. And, although you will see various percentages published all over the Internet, I'm not sure that anyone really knows the percentage of jobs filled through contacts versus any other source. Is Networking the most important source? Probably.

Today I will list a few links from my network and provide additional comments links to remind you what you should be doing with your network. Thanks to a reader for providing the following two links:

Verizon - We all know this company, and their career site leads with a basic search box. They have tabs at the top for Careers, Search Jobs, Resume Account, Events, College and more. The Events link provides a list of recruiting events in your area while the College link provides information on internships and Development programs. You can create an account and load your resume. The Search Jobs link is a basic search where you can search by location and Job Title. There were 198 job opportunities when I checked the site.

Continue reading "Job Leads and Links from Friends - Did You Network Today?" »

Posted by Candice Arnold on June 10, 2009 at 10:27 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Last year at this time I was telling a Minnesota IT Consultant friend of mine, "You have to start networking again. This market is starting to change, starting to slow and you need to be ahead of the curve."

My friend is very talented and well connected but lazy when it comes to staying in touch with people. He always has been, but he's also always had been able to get a new gig within 2 weeks of the previous one ending. With the market being good, he would treat the 2 weeks as a vacation or a chance to do other things.

We knew his contract was coming to a close at the end of November, after a 16 month run.

He kept saying, "Dude, I do not have the time or energy. I do not have time to attend industry events and my LinkedIn profile looks fine."

Continue reading "Not Enough Time To Network Becomes A $48,000 Mistake" »

Posted by Candice Arnold on May 12, 2009 at 12:03 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Ok, for some of us, the thought of networking is just plain icky, not to mention scary. To be honest, that was how I felt, especially when I was still new to my field and did not have any work experience. I thought networking was just another work for "sucking up." And then I realized, networking is just a means of gathering and sharing information. It doesn't need to be icky. As a college student, if you have questions about an assignment, about a new concept that's been presented in class, or about an upcoming exam, I hope you feel comfortable approaching your instructor with your questions. You'd probably call or email, or you might seek out your instructor before/after class, or during his or her office hours. Likewise, if you have questions about a particular occupation or about working for a specific organization, it makes perfect sense, and is absolutely acceptable, to seek out professionals who can answer those questions during an informational interview.

Continue reading "Networking is icky! ... or maybe not" »

Posted by Candice Arnold on March 31, 2009 at 6:14 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Are you still using the big job boards to find potential employees? How is that working for you?

While some passive job seekers have anonymous CVs and resumes uploaded on Internet job sites the majority of talented people passively seeking a better job do not.
In addition to purchasing geographically targeted web banners and buttons social media websites provide a great platform for reaching these candidates. Let's take a look at a few:

Facebook

Facebook has a section for jobs listings and give users the option of sending job ads it to friends or posting them to your Facebook profile.

Linkedin

Linkedin lists the companies that are in your network, the number of people who have viewed your profile, and the how many times your profile has showed up in search results.

XING

XING's marketplace shows offers that match your profile, let you see who you know at the company and has a button to recommend the job to friends.

Jobshouts

Jobshouts is a newly launched free job board that uses Twitter, the popular micro-blogging tool, to announce new job listings.

These are just a few examples of how social media is changing the search for job candidates as well as the search for jobs. A multi-pronged approach will prove to be the most effective way to attract top talent.

Article by, AG Communications Group

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates seeking entry-level jobs and other career opportunities.

Article originally posted on Boston Technical Recruiter

Posted by Candice Arnold on March 24, 2009 at 1:55 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

In a previous post, I wrote about companies using Facebook and other social networking sites to connect with college students looking for internships, recent college graduates looking for entry level jobs or customers. Many companies, though, don't use these sites effectively and don't get the anticipated results. But some companies, like Valpak, have mastered the art of using social media to attract and engage their target audience.

Eric Hipps, a college recruiter for Valpak, described in a recent interview how Valpak uses Facebook to connect with candidates. "We use the page mainly for promoting our Valpak career opportunities to Gen Y. Any new college student I come in contact with is directed to the [Facebook] site. I also include it in my digital email signature. We have also started to include the link on many of our sales recruiting materials," Hipps said.

By including a link to the Facebook page in email signatures, in Twitter posts, etc., Valpak has been able to generate interest in what it has to offer Gen Y internship and entry-level job seekers. For Hipps, "generating any interest in Valpak and Valpak's career opportunities is a tremendous success, so with that in mind I consider our [Facebook] page a tremendous success." The Valpak Careers home page has video and written testimonials from employees, lists job openings and internship opportunities, and recruiting events.

Although their current methods - such as those distinctive little blue envelopes - are a success, Hipps said, "We are constantly shifting the way we think and promote Valpak."

Valpak is just one example of a company that has successfully used Facebook to attract and engage its target audience. Additional pages, tailored to the needs of consumers, are also on Facebook.

It should be noted that Valpak's Facebook page was built by CollegeRecruiter.com, and anyone who's interested in improving communications with the best internship and entry level job candidates should visit our Fan Page on Facebook.

Posted by Candice Arnold on March 2, 2009 at 6:51 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

I've written about this before, and I am sure I will continue to say it again and again and again..... LinkedIn is NOT like Twitter.

At Twitter we can follow anyone we would like and then it's up to them if they want to follow your conversation.

LinkedIn however is a much more closed network and connections there are by invitation.

Today I hit frustration point though. Most days someone sends me an invitation to connect with them on LinkedIn and that's great as I certainly want to nurture my network there. I share my LinkedIn details on my website, my business card, my social networking profiles, my email addresses. I just have not adorned my LinkedIn profile address on my T-shirt yet!

Continue reading "LinkedIn: A Connection Tip For Nurturing Your Network " »

Posted by Candice Arnold on February 26, 2009 at 10:10 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

A lot has been written about employers using social networking sites as tools to vet entry level job candidates. In his article for ERE, Social Networking and "Fit," Dr. Charles Handler talks about employers who use social networks in a different way. Instead of trolling around looking for any kind of dirt they can dig up on potential employees, some employers seek out and connect with those candidates whose values and habits would make them good cultural fits with the companies.

"The use of social networking to help provide accurate pictures of the culture (also called work values) within an organization" will serve to help recent college graduates and college students to decide which companies they should apply to for entry level jobs or internships.

Although the practice of matching the preferences of candidates with those of potential employers isn't a new concept, it is one that can be extremely helpful when it comes to attracting top talent. "Collective data about an organization's characteristics, values and culture could have major value for those who are thinking about working there," Handler says.

Sites like Climber.com and jiibe.com allow visitors to "complete a culture/work values questionnaire as part of the matching and searching process. In essence, a selection of employers is offered based on how the job seeker answers the questionnaire, in addition to his work history and education. These two sites are job-boards-as-networks in the sense that they bring together companies and candidates with similar qualities in an effort to facilitate hiring and job searching efforts.

"Internet job searching has traditionally provided the job seeker with little control, information or feedback about [his] job application," says Handler, but thanks to new Web technologies like those found at Climber and jiibe, that may become "one of the biggest changes we are going to see" in the world of job searching.

Posted by Candice Arnold on February 11, 2009 at 8:40 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

The other day I received a friend request on Facebook from a name I didn't recognize. When I looked at the photo of the person requesting my friendship I didn't recognize her because she had a Halloween costume on! I was able to view part of her profile but the information available did not reveal enough information about who she was. I could see her name was "Jane Doe" (which I didn't recognize) and I could see that she was from a city in Florida but, I couldn't see her education information or her work history and she didn't personalize her friend request.

So I did not accept her friendship.

I didn't decline the friend request... I sent her a message looking for more information. She did not respond to my message.

It was at that moment that I truly understood the importance of information sharing. If you are going to ask people to be your friend on Facebook or any other social networking site it would be best if you have a photo of yourself without the Halloween costume and at least include a little bit of information about who you are and where you've been so your "friends" can confidently welcome your friendship - especially if you are going to use these sites to help with your job search Add even more value to your friend request and Include a personal message. A simple "Hi my name Jane Doe and I am interested in a career with Sodexo" would be sufficient or "Hi Kerry, remember me? We went to college together in 1988."

What about you?

Do you accept all friend requests even if you don't know who they are?

Courtesy of Sodexo Careers Blog Making every day a better day.

Posted by Candice Arnold on December 26, 2008 at 9:18 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

This I've been having an increasing number of people asking me about using LinkedIn for business development recently.

One of the people I was speaking with was a journalist for the current edition of Marketing Age, the professional magazine for the Marketing Institute and you can find the full article here.

I also noticed that the most listened to of our FREE 'Biz Growth Live' Masterclass programme was the recent episode about LinkedIn which you can access here as a download, streaming audio or podcast.

I thought I would post my five suggested tips from the Marketing Age article to help you get started with LinkedIn which I hope you will find of assistance:

So you've decided you want to start to develop and nurture your network online with the professional social network LinkedIn, here are five steps to getting started:

1. Register To Join - The first step is to register at LinkedIn.com. While there is a paid for option, you can start with a free registration which provided you with a host of features.

2. Create Your Profile - LinkedIn.com provides you with the opportunity to add information about your career history, the professional associations you are a member of, details of your education and even upload a photograph. Take the time to create a comprehensive profile and ensure you include the 'key words' that people might be searching on when looking for someone with your experience.

3. Check Your Privacy Settings - Make sure that you review your privacy settings on LinkedIn.com. However, if you want to make sure that you are found online in the search engines, take the time to set up a public profile i.e. the profile people will see when they are searching for you online.

4. Build Your Network - Once you have established your profile you can then search and connect within LinkedIn for colleagues and contacts that you know. It's recommended that you customise the invitation you send to people inviting them to be part of your network so they understand your reasons for connecting.

5. Nurture Your Network - Just as you would in networking face to face, it's important to develop and nurture your network over time. You can write endorsements and testimonials for people you have worked with, join specific interest groups on LinkedIn and even ask questions and provide answers to areas within your field of expertise or interest.

Why not spend just 15 to 30 minutes each week connecting and developing your network online - you'll be surprised at the connections you will make.

Article by Krishna De and courtesy of Biz Growth News blog

Posted by Candice Arnold on November 3, 2008 at 8:42 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

What's Twitter?

Its Micro- Blogging. The most popular is Twitter among all Micro-blogging service. It is a form of blogging that allows users to write brief text updates (usually 140 characters) and publish them, either to be viewed by anyone or by a restricted group which can be chosen by the user.

One of the biggest values of Twitter is the relationship building/ networking, and connecting. Its a very powerful marketing & community building tool.
The messages on twitter can be sent via text or instant messaging, e-mail, MP3 or the web. Twitter can be used to quickly get out the latest news and really useful information. A new position in the co.; referral programs, employee news etc.
So is it a move away from blogging which is more of a journal type entry - who has the time to read all that? and welcome twittery? I still like to blog so I will keep that..

Continue reading "Recruiting / Sourcing Via Twitter" »

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 25, 2008 at 12:56 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

I've wanted to do this post for a while and luckily I waited for the perfect time, when 4 of the biggest media players (traditional media) have embraced social networking. From a personal branding perspective, I recommend getting a profile on at least one of these if you have very little presence or are a "beginner." I say this because these profiles will rank high and can protect you against any bad press in the future (when it comes to Google). Also, if you are looking to expand your professional network, then these networks will help you find the right people.

BusinessWeek

Business Exchange is BusinessWeek's social network. There are over 3,000 news and blog items so far in this social network. You can read updated news, blogs, and resources about social networking all across this community. There are many familiar faces in this network, such as Anita Campbell, John Jantsch, Bryan Eisenberg and John Battelle.

Personal branding: The main benefit of using this social network is that, like the rest, it ranks high in Google because it's supported by BusinessWeek.com's PageRank of 8. Also, after you setup a profile, all of your actions (alongside your peers) will be syndicated on the main page, such as a blog post or an article you find. Very influential people are on-board already, such as the one's listed above.

Fast Company

FastCompany.com is a free Website that features editorial content with a focus on business ideas and innovation. With more than 95,000 active members, the site is also a meeting place for a global community of forward-thinking business leaders.

Continue reading "Social Networks from Traditional Media Titans and Your Personal Brand" »

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 24, 2008 at 6:47 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Not long ago, I wrote a review of Peggy Klaus' book, "BRAG! The Art of Tooting Your Own Horn Without Blowing It." In it, Klaus talks about taking advantage of every opportunity to network, even on an airplane. Well, Ronald Katz, in his article, Never Stop Recruiting, would obviously agree. Recruiting and networking go hand-in-hand. You never know who you might end up sitting next to on an airplane, so if someone asks you what you do, don't just tell him your job title, engage him with your bragalogue or elevator pitch and see where it leads.

Katz was inspired by a recruiter of another nature - a man recruiting to save people's souls. Katz was impressed by the man's fervor and commitment to his cause. The memory of Ted - the man who tried to save his soul - prompted Katz to strike up a conversation on a different flight with a man named Bob who was trying to find a job. Again, Katz was impressed. The man was willing to relocate for the sake of finding a good job even if it meant taking his daughter away from a school and friends she loved.
Katz connected Bob with Mike, an employer with an available job and Katz's friend. Although Bob wasn't a good fit for the position Mike was trying to fill, he was a good fit for a colleague of Mike's who was recruiting for another company. Bob got the job.

This tale is more one of networking at its best than it is a tale about recruiting. Still, if Katz hadn't remembered the zealous recruiting efforts of Ted, he probably would have never started a conversation with Bob and Mike's colleague would have missed out on a quality candidate. I guess the moral of the story is, as a recruiter, great candidates can turn up anywhere - even in the seat next to you on an airplane.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 17, 2008 at 9:28 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

So you have noticed a flurry of people sending you notes to connect on Facebook. But they haven't put anything about themselves when sending you an invitation to connect.

So how do you decide who to accept as a friend on Facebook?

That's a question pondered a few weeks ago when looking through a list of invitations.

I always recommend that when you look to connect on Facebook or LinkedIn where you have the opportunity to customise a message to the person you are connecting with that you personalise the message based on what you know about the person and their interests.

Think about networking offline - if you make a phone call to someone who you don't know, don't you spend a moment or two striking up a conversation that demonstrates how you might be connected or why you want to speak with them?

But that doesn't mean that everyone does the same when inviting you to become a member of their online social network.

When I was recently accepting Facebook friends, I decided that some of my criteria would be if there was no personal photo and instead a brand logo I would not add them - that was based on the fact that as Facebook advises, Facebook profiles are about connecting with people - Groups and Pages are where you promote your business.

Secondly if I could not access their profile or a summary profile about who they are then I usually won't connect.

You see some people see social networking being a numbers game - the more people in the your network the better. I take a different view - learned from several years of writing a news letter for my 'Biz Growth' community. I would much rather have a smaller number of subscribers to my newsletter of people really interested in my articles and podcasts than a huge unresponsive community.

I also Tweeted the question to my network and asked other people how they make a decision on who to accept as a friend on Facebook.

Here are their responses:

Alex Bellinger (@alexbellinger) said that he is discriminating on Twitter but has given up on Facebook

Becky Cortino (@BeckyCortino) likes to know why someone is on Facebook by reading their profile if she accepts them as a friend on Facebook

Britrock (@britrock) mentions that he uses the rule that if he has received a greeting from the person connecting that is a deciding factor

Megan Fitzgerald (@meganfitzgerald) is more likely to accept someone as a friend if they have mutual friends - but if there are no mutual friends and no profile she probably won't connect with the person

Luke Harvey- Palmer (@lukefrombuzzle) and Cheryl Antier (@Cheryl_Antier) liked my criteria

So what are your thoughts on who to friend on Facebook? What do you do when connecting with someone for the first time in an online social network? I'd certainly appreciate your insights.

Article by Krishna De and courtesy of Biz Growth News blog

Posted by Candice Arnold on August 6, 2008 at 1:43 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Are you in The Tribe or any tribe for that matter? The tribe might be a channel on Jaiku, a group on Twitter, a group on LinkedIn, your local chamber of commerce, of even a fan page on Facebook.

What encourages us to become a member of a group or even a paid for member of a membership community?

Here are three things that I have noticed takes place when building a community:

1. Leadership Brand - Very often we join a community due to the person who is leading the group has a personal brand and reputation for something we are passionate in and want to know more about. They are likely to share with their community a compelling vision of what future success will be and have values that we can connect with at a personal level.

2. Connecting With Like-minded People - Sometimes it's others in our network that we respect. People who are connectors and share with us information and ideas that they know will resonate with our personal or business interests.

3. An Irresistible Offer - And if the community is one that creates buzz whether it's a free or a paid for community there is often a limited time in which to make a decision to join - you have to be decisive to take action - but those that create the most buzz have an irresistible offer and reward the early adopters and people that take action.

An example of those three points in action is the launch of a new community by Seth Godin which he announced yesterday to accompany the launch of his new book 'Tribes, We Need You To Lead Us':

• Leadership Brand - Seth has a remarkable reputation and following with people interested in marketing strategies. He announced his invitation to join him in a membership community to people who respect and follow him - he only made the announcement on his blog
• Connecting With Like-minded People - Tina Cook who is in my network in a special group on Facebook shared the details with her friends as she knew it would be of interest. I had missed the article in my RSS feeds as I was in meetings all day, but I quickly saw and took notice of Tina's message
• An Irresistible Offer - Seth encouraged people to take action with invoking a date when the doors to his new membership site would close. He also has a small barrier to entry to ensure only those people who really do want to be part of the community will take action - pre-ordering his new book 'Tribes, We Need You To Lead Us'.

Here is what Seth shares on his blog about the creation of the Tribe online community:

I'd like to invite you to join a members-only tribe. A tribe for marketers, for leaders, for those focused on building communities or creating products or spreading ideas.

2. You have to be committed enough to pre-order my book, sight unseen (in some places for less than $14), months in advance. It's not about selling more books, of course, it's about creating a small hurdle to get the right people in the door.

If you are looking at establishing a new membership community or social network, study, learn and apply Seth's approach - what can you learn and apply to support your success?

And if you want to become a member of Seth's Tribe, all you need do is order a copy of 'Tribes, We Need You To Lead Us' on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, CEO Read, Borders or any bookstore that will give you an electronic receipt.

Yes it's even listed in Amazon.co.uk for those of us in Europe HERE.

And if you join Seth's Tribe, I look forward to seeing you there - creating the structure of a community, membership programme or social network is only the beginning - I am looking forward to what we can learn from Seth and each other in relation to engagement, creating brand ambassadors and sharing knowledge across the community.

Article by Krishna De and courtesy of Biz Growth News blog

Posted by Candice Arnold on July 31, 2008 at 1:18 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Are you in The Tribe or any tribe for that matter? The tribe might be a channel on Jaiku, a group on Twitter, a group on LinkedIn, your local chamber of commerce, of even a fan page on Facebook.

What encourages us to become a member of a group or even a paid for member of a membership community?

Here are three things that I have noticed takes place when building a community:

1. Leadership Brand - Very often we join a community due to the person who is leading the group has a personal brand and reputation for something we are passionate in and want to know more about. They are likely to share with their community a compelling vision of what future success will be and have values that we can connect with at a personal level.

2. Connecting With Like-minded People - Sometimes it's others in our network that we respect. People who are connectors and share with us information and ideas that they know will resonate with our personal or business interests.

3. An Irresistible Offer - And if the community is one that creates buzz whether it's a free or a paid for community there is often a limited time in which to make a decision to join - you have to be decisive to take action - but those that create the most buzz have an irresistible offer and reward the early adopters and people that take action.

An example of those three points in action is the launch of a new community by Seth Godin which he announced yesterday to accompany the launch of his new book 'Tribes, We Need You To Lead Us':

• Leadership Brand - Seth has a remarkable reputation and following with people interested in marketing strategies. He announced his invitation to join him in a membership community to people who respect and follow him - he only made the announcement on his blog
• Connecting With Like-minded People - Tina Cook who is in my network in a special group on Facebook shared the details with her friends as she knew it would be of interest. I had missed the article in my RSS feeds as I was in meetings all day, but I quickly saw and took notice of Tina's message
• An Irresistible Offer - Seth encouraged people to take action with invoking a date when the doors to his new membership site would close. He also has a small barrier to entry to ensure only those people who really do want to be part of the community will take action - pre-ordering his new book 'Tribes, We Need You To Lead Us'.

Here is what Seth shares on his blog about the creation of the Tribe online community:

I'd like to invite you to join a members-only tribe. A tribe for marketers, for leaders, for those focused on building communities or creating products or spreading ideas.

2. You have to be committed enough to pre-order my book, sight unseen (in some places for less than $14), months in advance. It's not about selling more books, of course, it's about creating a small hurdle to get the right people in the door.

If you are looking at establishing a new membership community or social network, study, learn and apply Seth's approach - what can you learn and apply to support your success?

And if you want to become a member of Seth's Tribe, all you need do is order a copy of 'Tribes, We Need You To Lead Us' on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, CEO Read, Borders or any bookstore that will give you an electronic receipt.

Yes it's even listed in Amazon.co.uk for those of us in Europe HERE.

And if you join Seth's Tribe, I look forward to seeing you there - creating the structure of a community, membership programme or social network is only the beginning - I am looking forward to what we can learn from Seth and each other in relation to engagement, creating brand ambassadors and sharing knowledge across the community.

Article by Krishna De and courtesy of Biz Growth News blog

Posted by Candice Arnold on July 31, 2008 at 1:18 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Are you in The Tribe or any tribe for that matter? The tribe might be a channel on Jaiku, a group on Twitter, a group on LinkedIn, your local chamber of commerce, of even a fan page on Facebook.

What encourages us to become a member of a group or even a paid for member of a membership community?

Here are three things that I have noticed takes place when building a community:

1. Leadership Brand - Very often we join a community due to the person who is leading the group has a personal brand and reputation for something we are passionate in and want to know more about. They are likely to share with their community a compelling vision of what future success will be and have values that we can connect with at a personal level.

2. Connecting With Like-minded People - Sometimes it's others in our network that we respect. People who are connectors and share with us information and ideas that they know will resonate with our personal or business interests.

3. An Irresistible Offer - And if the community is one that creates buzz whether it's a free or a paid for community there is often a limited time in which to make a decision to join - you have to be decisive to take action - but those that create the most buzz have an irresistible offer and reward the early adopters and people that take action.

An example of those three points in action is the launch of a new community by Seth Godin which he announced yesterday to accompany the launch of his new book 'Tribes, We Need You To Lead Us':

• Leadership Brand - Seth has a remarkable reputation and following with people interested in marketing strategies. He announced his invitation to join him in a membership community to people who respect and follow him - he only made the announcement on his blog
• Connecting With Like-minded People - Tina Cook who is in my network in a special group on Facebook shared the details with her friends as she knew it would be of interest. I had missed the article in my RSS feeds as I was in meetings all day, but I quickly saw and took notice of Tina's message
• An Irresistible Offer - Seth encouraged people to take action with invoking a date when the doors to his new membership site would close. He also has a small barrier to entry to ensure only those people who really do want to be part of the community will take action - pre-ordering his new book 'Tribes, We Need You To Lead Us'.

Here is what Seth shares on his blog about the creation of the Tribe online community:

I'd like to invite you to join a members-only tribe. A tribe for marketers, for leaders, for those focused on building communities or creating products or spreading ideas.

2. You have to be committed enough to pre-order my book, sight unseen (in some places for less than $14), months in advance. It's not about selling more books, of course, it's about creating a small hurdle to get the right people in the door.

If you are looking at establishing a new membership community or social network, study, learn and apply Seth's approach - what can you learn and apply to support your success?

And if you want to become a member of Seth's Tribe, all you need do is order a copy of 'Tribes, We Need You To Lead Us' on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, CEO Read, Borders or any bookstore that will give you an electronic receipt.

Yes it's even listed in Amazon.co.uk for those of us in Europe HERE.

And if you join Seth's Tribe, I look forward to seeing you there - creating the structure of a community, membership programme or social network is only the beginning - I am looking forward to what we can learn from Seth and each other in relation to engagement, creating brand ambassadors and sharing knowledge across the community.

Article by Krishna De and courtesy of Biz Growth News blog

Posted by Candice Arnold on July 31, 2008 at 1:18 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

For everyone out there who wonders if I am always on the internet looking for all things Sodexo. Let me assure you I am!

OK... well not all day every day - I do have other responsibilities and deadlines - but I do spend part of every day online looking for Sodexo related news. It's part of my job to know about Sodexo and to share what I find here. And, it's the best part of my job.

Next Thursday, I will be in Atlanta at the 2008 I-CHRIE Annual Conference participating on a panel called, Technology in the Hospitality Industry: What vehicles is industry using to stay connected with Generation Y? Because I am not a recruiter, I will focus my contribution to this panel on Sodexo Careers social networking tools. To prepare for the panel discussion, I have been spending a little more time than usual on social networking sites and the Internet in general this week and was I extremely happy to discover a new Sodexo Facebook page - the Sodexo INTERNS page.

Sodexo's Future Leaders Internship Program is a ten week paid summer internship program that runs from June 2nd through August 8th. This program is designed to offer students the opportunity to gain management training and experience while working in the contract services industry. August 8th is just around the corner and I hope all of our interns are having fun and learning a lot before it's time to either return back to school or start their careers - hopefully with Sodexo!

If you missed it, one of our Future Leader Interns, Natalia Valderrama was a guest blogger last month after attending Sodexo's STOP Hunger Foundation dinner here D.C. - you can read Natalia's post here.

While you're at it, take a look at our Intern video on You Tube.

But first if you are an intern, would like more information about our great group of Sodexo interns, or are just plain curious, check out the Sodexo INTERNS Facebook page.

Courtesy of Sodexo Careers Blog Making every day a better day.

Posted by Candice Arnold on July 28, 2008 at 1:52 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

If you are an avid user of Twitter, you might have found yourself showing less friends last week due to a data base error.

I 'lost' a couple of hundred of friends who had been following me and also found some people who I had been following disappeared. I am still not convinced I have managed to remember all of the key people that I followed and it was a timely reminder that when we join a social network that it's not good business practice just to rely on the online data base of the online network to be the primary place for business contacts.

One action I took last week was to make sure that I had another way to access the Twitter feeds for key people in my network and I did this in FriendFeed.com.

FriendFeed is an free online service for you to keep up to date with the online activity of friends from updates they make on their blog, Twitter, YouTube - in fact over 40 different services are supported.

So when I realised that I had 'lost' some of the people I was following in Twitter, I made sure that I had 'subscribed' to their feed in FriendFeed.com.

But what is all your friends are not using FriendFeed.com? After all, we know how many of us struggle to keep up to date with being an active member in one or two social networks.

Well you can create 'imaginary friends' in FriendFeed.com. For example, as I knew the Twittter name they go by, I created an imaginary friend profile for people I wanted to follow on Twitter but were not using FriendFeed.com. The only time I found this not to work is when someone has their Twitter account set up in a way that you have to request to follow them.

A second feature I really like in FriendFeed.com are the rooms - a place online for a particular subject or group of people. Rooms can be private - for example I have created a private room for my own research, or public - I have a FriendFeed room for the 'Biz Growth Community' where you can add feedback and questions about our 'Biz Growth Live Masterclass' calls. I have also created a FriendFeed room for 'The Podcast Sisters' for listeners of the show and a room for 'Social Media in Ireland' .There's no limit to the number of rooms you can join or create.

A third feature that is really helpful is that there is also a FriendFeed bookmarklet which enables you to share anything from the web - either in a specific feed or in a particular room.

In a recent Podcast Sisters podcast we discussed FriendFeed and you can access the FriendFeed podcast we recorded here.

So if you have not checked out Friend Feed, why not do so today? And if you are using FriendFeed, how have you found it has helped you build your network online or as a productivity or research tool?

Article by Krishna De and courtesy of Biz Growth News blog

Posted by Candice Arnold on July 28, 2008 at 1:09 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

On the heels of the wildly successful Facebook Recruiting Webinar, Hireability has set up two more training webinars on social networking.

July 23rd, at 12:00 CST, I'll be presenting through WebEx on building pools of passive candidates in MySpace. MySpace is the world's largest social networking site, and one of the most trafficked sites on the web. While social media snobs focus on Facebook, MySpace is not so quietly driving hundreds of millions in revenue, building brands and bands, and increasingly being incorporated into multichannel marketing campaigns to great effect.

As an open platform, MySpace allows you to easily customize your site. Don't be fooled by what you see on your 13 year-old son's profile - there's gold in them thar hills.

And I'm going to show you how to get it.

We'll be learning profiles, sourcing, searching, and how to market to and from your MySpace page. And most important, you'll learn how to make more placements from a site that has over 100 million profiles.

To sign up for this webinar, head on over to Hireability for the Social Media Headhunter Series on Recruiting Using MySpace.

Article by Jim Durbin and courtesy of StlRecruiting.com

Posted by Candice Arnold on July 8, 2008 at 10:21 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

We already know social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace are all the rage. Professional networking sites like LinkedIn are rapidly catching on as tools to help students find internships and recent college graduates find entry-level jobs by providing a venue where they can connect with professionals in their industry, in addition to classmates, colleagues and friends.

Mark Stevens, founder and CEO of MSCO, has taken the idea of professional networking one step further with Mark Stevens World. Stevens' "mentorums" are for business professionals in the sales, management and marketing arenas, though I imagine all business professionals are welcome to join.

Recently, I asked Stevens a few questions about Mark Stevens World in an effort to help others understand just what it's all about:

CR: How does Mark Stevens World compare to a site like LinkedIn?

Stevens: Mark Stevens World is much more than a networking site. It is a forum for sharing the most powerful force in the world: ideas. And Mark Stevens and the members of our community can tap into a wealth of free information sources, from blogs to podcasts. It is a real world university posing as a social networking site.

CR: What do you hope to achieve by providing professionals with an industry-focused venue for networking?

Stevens: I more than hope, I know, thanks to member feedback, that we help people grow and succeed. Being a catalyst for that growth is immensely rewarding.

CR: How long has your mentorum community existed, and how would you rate its success?

Stevens: We launched the Mentorum in December 2007 and it has been a runaway success, with people the world over telling us it enriches their careers and their lives in general.

One of the many features of MSCO is the list of favorite forum topics. The number one topic, "When did you last click on an Internet ad?" intrigued me so I asked Stevens why he chose that particular topic.

"Because billions of dollars are being directed to Internet advertising on the 'faith' that it works," he replied. "At MSCO, at Mark Stevens World, we like to challenge conventional wisdom to divine truth."

Social and professional networking sites are pretty much here to stay. Mark Stevens World is just the logical next step in their progression.

Posted by Candice Arnold on June 23, 2008 at 11:08 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

The event is set. May 21st, I'll be hosting a live webinar on Facebook recruiting through hireability. The session is called,

Facebook Recruiting: A Live Demonstration of Hiring Inside Facebook by Jim Durbin, the Social Media Headhunter.
The explosion of Facebook as a social networking tool is challenge and a mystery to recruiters. Unlike LinkedIn Plaxo, Facebook users aren't looking to be contacted in a search for jobs. They certainly don't want to be headhunted, until they're ready. Jim Durbin, a social media expert takes a look at Facebook from the eyes of an experienced staffing professional, and provides live, actionable training on how to use Facebook to increase placements.

In a session that combines sourcing, contacting, and referral generation, Mr. Durbin shows recruiters how to navigate the tricky waters of social networking.

The event is a paid webinar - the cost is $89, and it will be 1:30 p.m. EST/10:30 a.m. PST, and will cover sourcing, filtering, connecting, reference checking, and referrals in Facebook. Most training sessions are full of theory - this webinar will be a walkthrough of screens and search terms on an actual job search.

There'll be Cross-promotion at socialmediaheadhunter and my other recruiting blogs charlotterecruiting.com/">Charlotte, Seattle, and KC Recruiting, as well as the social networks and social media circles. If you announce the event on your blog, be sure to send me an e-mail, and I'll link to you from this PR5 blog.

Article by Jim Durbin and courtesy of StlRecruiting.com

Posted by Candice Arnold on May 9, 2008 at 12:46 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Reprinted courtesy of TheCareerNews.com

NEW YORK, NY -- Let the jobs find you! You do this is by making yourself known to both the world, and recruiters. One way to do this is by joining social networking sites and by making your job history known. The social networking component that has been exploding on the internet over the past few years has really let headhunters and recruiters connect with job seekers in ways they have never been able to before.

Continue reading "Let the jobs and hiring managers find you" »

Posted by Sarah Ennenga on May 7, 2008 at 10:32 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Today's podcast, Networking: Now and Forever, will teach you how to network. Networking is critically important in the business world-and in the rest of the world, too, if you think about it. I have discussed networking ideas in past posts, but today is a real nuts-and-bolts tutorial of what, exactly, to do:

• How to make yourself available to people and provide value to them and become the kind of person other people want in their network. (Here's a quick extra link for how to use networking as a marketing tool.)
• Who to keep in your network...customers, co-workers, and especially former managers.
• How to keep in touch, and what to say when you do.
• Ways to network beyond the traditional, like using LinkedIn.

The information in this podcast, if you apply it, will help set you up for success in healthcare sales, imaging sales, pathology sales, laboratory sales, medical device sales, and pharmaceutical sales.

For links to other podcasts by Peggy, click here.

By: Peggy McKee - the medical sales recruiter

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching entry-level jobs and other career opportunities.

Posted by Lisa Colbert, CollegeRecruiter.com on April 17, 2008 at 2:42 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

1. The Candidate did not adopt a committed, passionate, "failure is not an option" attitude about finding a job. Many job seekers think that just because they have a new degree, or military training, or some other advantage, that it's going to be easy to find a job. They have absolutely no idea how many interviews and interview cycles are typically required to find a job. They have no idea of the massive number of cold calls it takes to get an interview. Surprised and unprepared to make that commitment, candidates will often quickly grow frustrated with initial rejections.



2. The Candidate had no "system" for finding a job. Without a system, the candidate's focus wanders. We see them abandon their search as they wait for one opportunity to complete its cycle. They are hung up on the "result" and quit executing. Your search should run like a well-oiled machine that schedules and executes effective interviews with targeted companies. Consistently performing in that process will result in job offers. By developing a "system," you don't have to worry about the results.



3. The Candidate was unrealistic - about her value in the market, her skills vs. other candidates, and the average duration of a job search. Do not harbor preconceptions. You are not really going to know your value and the opportunities available for you until you start to manage the job search process and go on interviews. Be skeptical of "salary surveys," there is too much market fluctuation and geographic variance for them to be accurate. It is going to take a lot longer than you think, and there are going to be many disappointments along the way.



4. The Candidate thought finding a job will be quick and easy. I've seen recruiting information from some schools that suggest their degree/training will make your job search short and sweet. It won't be. You might get lucky and find a good job quickly, but don't count on it. Instead, expect a long hard road full of potholes and roadblocks. Plan on your search, to find a good job, to take three or four times longer than you probably think today. You will almost certainly become discouraged, maybe very discouraged. That is part of the deal and you need to be prepared mentally for these pressures. It requires that you focus on the "system" and not worry about the result. You will find a good job, but you are going to have to work at it. The only goal is to find that good job sooner, rather than later or not at all.



5. The Candidate did not realize that face-to-face interviews are the only things that really matter. Face-to-face interviews are the only way you can really get a job. Securing face-to-face interviews and performing well are the most important activities, the only ones that really matter, in your job search campaign. There are all kinds of things you can do to secure face-to-face interviews, however a recent study found that 85% of students polled thought they could get an interview by sending a resume. Simply sending a resume will rarely land you an interview. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of others are sending a resume; you're just one of them.



6. The Candidate thought that the most qualified candidate is always hired. Lack of qualifications certainly keeps some candidates from being hired. However, most employers only reject out-of-hand those candidates who do not have their minimum qualifications. For every good job, there will be many candidates who are sufficiently qualified. The candidate hired will be the one who interviewed well. You need a foolproof, specific, scripted interview presentation that will insure success 95% of the time. It may not guarantee you the job, but it will guarantee that you interview well, and that will eventually lead to a good job.



7. The Candidate blows the interview. In our experience, this almost always happens because the Candidate did not prepare well for the interview, did not sell himself strongly, or did not ask for the job. We've seen all types of candidates fail to execute these basic interview functions, but new graduates fail more often. They neglect to dress properly, or can't clearly communicate their talents and experiences. Many are too intimidated to even ask for the job. The techniques of preparation and execution are simple, but it takes awareness, focus, and practice to hone the skills.



8. The Candidate had the wrong attitude. Wake up! You're not some valuable commodity over which companies will fight. The employer is not going to try to convince you to hire on - unless it is a bad job. Lose the "what can you do for me?" attitude. Replace it with "Listen to what I can do for you." The right interviewing script will make the prospective employer want to hire you. If you give them good enough reasons to hire you, they will give you good enough reasons to go to work there. Remember, you have absolutely nothing until you have an offer.



9. The Candidate believed that a well-designed resume, sent over the Internet enough times, would result in a job offer. Not only new graduates make this mistake. There are 56,000,000 resumes on the Internet and barely 2% of them are ever selected for an interview. Undoubtedly, you do need a well-written resume, but expecting it to secure you a job is a pipe dream.

By: Tony Beshara, America's #1 Recruiter - Ask for personal advice from Tony, the #1 recruiter according to the industry's leading journal, The Fordyce Letter.

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching entry-level jobs and other career opportunities.

Posted by Lisa Colbert, CollegeRecruiter.com on April 8, 2008 at 8:20 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Social media has begun to improve companies' ability to enhance employee communication, say experts at Watson Wyatt Worldwide, a leading global consulting firm.

"When properly rolled out, social media and Enterprise 2.0 tools can help companies meet their No. 1 internal communication goal -- engaging employees," said Michael Rudnick, global intranet and portal leader at Watson Wyatt. "Instead of simply mass e-mailing information or posting to an intranet in hopes employees will see it, social media tools help employees actively participate in creating and sharing information. This shift to employee-generated content has resulted in employees' becoming more engaged online."

Continue reading "Social Media: The Next Frontier in Employee Communication" »

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on March 19, 2008 at 8:39 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Reprinted courtesy of TheCareerNews.com

CLEVELAND, OH -- Based on the concept of it's not just who you know but who knows you, getting to after-hours job networking groups have proven to really be effective. Here are some valuable tips to make networking... work for you!

Continue reading "Job Search Networking Groups Prove Effective" »

Posted by Sarah Ennenga on March 18, 2008 at 10:29 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

I just came across a recruiter who participates in 90 social networks. I thought to myself "Am I missing something?" So I accepted an invitation from Hi5. I briefly investigated the interface and found it to be identical to Facebook. The kinds of questions that the background asks are very telling of the kind of site you are entering. I also received an inappropriate email before I even had a chance to look around.

Facebook and Myspace are about the same in terms of their professional orientation. Both are geared much more towards the personal lives of people rather then the work related. LinkedIn on the other hand is strictly professional although lately it has been copying some features from Facebook such as "what are you doing now" feature.

People who switch from LinkedIn to Facebook are making a horrific mistake. Both sites have their uses but the search function on Facebook is very underdeveloped, even more so then LinkedIn. Thee two sites are vastly different in purpose and cannot be used interchangeably. While you can find good professionals on Facebook and Myspace, it is much easier to do this on LinkedIn.

The beauty of LinkedIn is that it is a professional network and it will lose much if it becomes anything like Facebook or Myspace. So how many social networks are too many? I have MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, Hi5, and RecruitingBlogs. Should I get more? The connections I have on LinkedIn are more then enough in terms of professional links while Facebook lets me keep tabs on friends. I only have so much time in a day when I'm not on the phone to upkeep my networks and even reply to all the LinkedIn invites is becoming an activity I do once or twice a week.

LinkedIn, Facebook, and Myspace are a must to have while everything else is a "nice to have".

By: Gene Leshinsky, The Boston Technical Recruiter

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching entry-level jobs and other career opportunities.

Posted by Lisa Colbert, CollegeRecruiter.com on March 17, 2008 at 9:09 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Our staff at HireAbility frequently interfaces with human resources contacts, corporate recruiters and hiring managers looking to join HireAbility's recruiting network to locate contingency recruiters to fill their open job orders. Our first interaction with most of these corporate recruiters is during the membership application review process. One of the questions on the membership application states "Why would a contingency recruiter work on your job orders instead of working positions from another company?" Amazingly, over half of all Corporate Recruiters applicants are confused by this question. Is there a disconnect between the many corporate recruiters and the community of third party staffing firms that make up the majority of our industry?

Who are you looking for?

When you are looking for a candidate to hire internally, you likely take great measures to ensure you have as much detail on your target before you begin the search. But how often do you list and adhere to a list of criteria to find the best staffing firms to assist you in your candidate searches? You will likely want a more detailed list based on your needs and experience, but here is a short list to get you started. Among other things, you will benefit best from a recruiter or agency that:

• Knows the geography and/or industry in which you have hiring needs
• Is aware of the competitive landscape in your industry where the best candidates are found
• Has a clear, honest, up front communication style and presents him or herself in a professional manner
• Has experience locating and placing the kinds of candidates you are seeking
• Works quickly and with a sense of urgency when needed
• Charges a fee structure commiserate with the level of candidates you need

You are in sales

As an internal or corporate recruiter, you likely already know that to be successful in your position, you must sell potential candidates on why they should join your company. What you may not know is that this same technique can be used to secure the best contingency recruiters as well. Your sales pitch is going to be a little different, but your goal is similar; you are giving someone incentive to do something you need accomplished. But if you think that simply offering a placement fee is all the incentive you need, you might be mistaken.

There are different calibers of recruiters, just as there are different calibers of candidates to be hired. The best recruiters meet all of the above criteria. Most recruiters meet some of the above criteria but not all. And of course some recruiters will meet almost none of the above criteria. All of these different recruiters are working for a placement fee. But some of them will continue to work for you while some of them seemingly disappear. And some of them don't disappear, even though you might wish they did!

If you have a job opening which you are using a staffing firm to fill but you aren't getting anywhere in the candidate search, you must evaluate your actions and communication with the staffing firms in a self-appraising manner. Start with the obvious question: do you have the best possible recruiters that you can afford working on this position? If you aren't sure, then the answer is probably 'no'.

Down to brass tacks

So, what do you need to do to find the best recruiters in your industry? Here are a few tips:

· Prepare your list of screening questions and criteria

· Ask questions rather than dictate your needs when you're speaking to a high level recruiter

· Ask hiring managers and other internal staff members as well as your peers in other companies if they recommend any recruiters or firms in particular

· Utilize recruiting networks such as HireAbility, online chat rooms on ERE and professional networking tools like Linkedin.com. These tools are gathering points for recruiters and staffing firms. Even if you are a passive observer, reading content alone will give you an indication of who truly knows your line of business

Assuming you've spoken to a few recruiters or agencies that you feel are best suited to meet your needs, the most important piece is retaining their interest in working on your jobs. The top-tier of recruiters isn't struggling to find job orders or clients with whom they'll work. Instead, they tend to pick the clients on whom they'll focus their efforts based on the likelihood of success. Here are a few tips on how you can ensure that you remain a priority to those recruiters:

• Tell it; don't just sell it. When you are discussing your hiring needs with a good recruiter, don't forget that you need to sell them on you, your company and your hiring process. Be sure to stress your urgency level, the speed and efficiency of your hiring process and the selling points as to why candidates they present will want to work at your company


• If you choose recruiters to work with based solely on price rather than ability, you will likely end up with a lower echelon of recruiter. These recruiters are good for some job orders, but if you have more difficult positions to fill, you must sweeten the pot to make it appealing. Top performing recruiters don't work for bargain basement fees and they have little incentive to work on a job order when they won't be paid for 60 or 90 days after the candidate has started.


• Responsiveness and feedback are essential. The 'A' list of recruiters requires feedback from you for candidates that are off the mark, not just the candidates that are the right fit. Failure to give feedback on submittals is the number one reason that recruiters stop working on behalf of any given client. These recruiters need to know how far off target they are in order to better hone their aim. Be sure your feedback is detailed and specific. If you've given this level of feedback repeatedly and you still aren't getting candidates that are a fit, it's time to evaluate whether you are truly working with an 'A list' recruiter or if there is some other problem or issue in your expectations or hiring process.


• Follow up with your best recruiters on a regular basis. You need not wait until they send you a candidate for you to contact them. In fact, a proactive call from you to your top recruiters asking what you can do to help them is one of your strongest tools to keep outside recruiters motivated to work for you, even if they aren't making placements yet. Your call to them shows that you have a since of urgency and that you value their time and effort. In this call, you can give examples of candidates you've interviewed or any other information that will help them hone in on the ideal candidate.

Summary

The most important lesson to learn is that there are great recruiters and that your goal is to pro actively locate them through any means necessary, sell them on why they should work for you and continue to initiate contact with them on your own throughout your candidate search to keep them in the loop on changes and updates as well as to subtly 'sell' them on working on your job orders, even if they haven't made a placement and subsequent revenue.

By: Andrew Stock at HireAbility: Connects the World's Recruiters and Parses the World's Resumes

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching entry-level jobs and other career opportunities.

Posted by Lisa Colbert, CollegeRecruiter.com on March 4, 2008 at 8:38 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

How many connections do you have on Facebook? Oh like 400... How many do you have on MySpace? Another 500... How about LinkedIn? Huh? What's that?

LinkedIn is the most important networking tool every college student must have. Why? Because on no other social network will you encounter the number of professionals and hiring managers who are open to having conversations and networking with you.

Myspace has long been seen as the popular network and while networking for job opportunities is possible, you don't always want your employer to see your profile. In fact, you most defiantly do not what that to happen. How about Facebook? Same story. It's too personal, too college oriented. Networking and keeping in touch with college friends is nice, but where will that get you after graduation?

LinkedIn is a professional career fair with experts willing and ready to answer any question you may have, recruiters trying to access your college networks, and managers looking out for fresh talent.

You will not find a better pale to search for internships during school. Every single Fortune 500 company is represented on LinkedIn. So why do so few college student know about LinkedIn? Perhaps, because LinkedIn originated as a tightly knit professional network with little concern for the younger people.

Check your Facebook profile, but build your LinkedIn page, you will not regret it!

By: Gene Leshinsky, The Boston Technical Recruiter

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching entry-level jobs and other career opportunities.

Posted by Lisa Colbert, CollegeRecruiter.com on February 26, 2008 at 7:28 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Reprinted courtesy of TheCareerNews.com
Abridged: CareerJournal.com

MENLO PARK, CA -- Corporate recruiters have long surfed the Web to vet potential hires, but now they're also surfing blogs to unearth job candidates, expanding their talent pool and gaining insights they say they can't get from resumes and interviews. Most blog-related recruits are professionals in technology and media because jobs in these fields often require knowledge of the blogosphere. In addition, recruiters say they check candidates' blogs about non-career related topics for evidence of writing skills and clues to how well rounded they are.

Continue reading "Blogging is good for recruiters" »

Posted by Sarah Ennenga on February 25, 2008 at 12:16 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

In the late 90's, the staffing industry witnessed a proliferation of job boards available on the internet. Since that time, this once nifty tool has turned into the crutch on which much of the staffing industry places their weight. Of course, there were (and still are) staffing professionals that shun the job boards in favor of what I'll call "old school' recruiting. As time and innovation have progressed, there has become a divide between these two groups.

A lot of the new folks in the industry don't know what it's like to really recruit; as in 'headhunting' (yes, this kind of recruiting works fine for corporate recruiters too!). This is what our industry was before the internet. These days, most recruiters are really sourcers, leaning entirely on sourcing job boards and databases for resumes. And the old school folks may not use job boards and may have no idea that Infogist, Zoominfo, Linkedin and a plethora of other tools out there even exist. In fact, I've heard many people tell me that using all this new fangled techno stuff is a waste of time that could have been spent cold calling someone.

I'm not faulting either of these groups necessarily. Both methods of runnning a recruiting desk have shown to be successful. But in my personal quest to improve our industry, I feel obligated to expose as many people as possible on the ideas, training and tools we have available to elevate us as an industry. As we've all heard, a high tide raises all boats.

So, I'm proposing a middle ground between the two extremes. The middle ground is this: If you live and breath job boards only, start looking into other methods of recruiting. It's a small difference between what a $70k per year earner and a $200k earner do in a given year. My advise would be to sign up for an account with AccordingtoDanny and learn some of the small things you can do to really make a difference in your daily activities. Or pick up some of the products from billradin.com and read at your leisure on some of the same 'old school' ideas. Note: as the Director of Marketing for HireAbility, I can get you a discount on either of these as well as many other common training tools you may be considering. Trust me when I tell you that I've seen a few simple 'old school' ideas result in a recruiter earning triple the revenue. And yes, you'll have to work a little harder for it, but you'll retire 10 years sooner, too!

If you are the 'old school' recruiter who thinks using the internet as a crutch creates weak recruiters, I can assure you that this isn't always the case. With Zoominfo, for instance, you can locate high level contacts who are 100% passive and 100% cold calls. You specify the job title and industry (or more info if you have it) and they tell you the person in that job and their contact info. It's the ultimate tool for tracking down hard to find contacts.

Or perhaps Infogist is right for you. Imagine a single software tool (so you only have to go through the learning curve for one thing, not several) that can search almost every available database of candidates and bring them to your desk. The candidates are passive as well as active and can come from 1400+ different locations, so there's a great chance you'll be the only recruiter talking to them.

And you can't overlook the online networking tools on the market. Linkedin has over 10 million registered users. Look me up and you'll see all the people I know and who they know, etc. It's like a huge virtual cocktail party except you don't have to print and bring business cards. Can you imagine 10 million business professionals at the same cocktail party carrying lists of every person they know? How could you not go to that party? I could go on and on, but trust me when I tell you that there are some really great tools just waiting to be had. Feel free to contact me for more information on any of these tools, or register an account with HireAbility to recieve free trials and member discounts on many of the ones I mentioned above.

I call on all the 'old school' recruiters whom I admire so much to reach out and learn some of the new tricks. And if you're in a position to do so, learn from some of the new folks out there. And for all of you who source job boards for candidates, do yourself a favor and check out some of the resources above for learning the art of direct recruiting. It'll make you feel better about what you do, you'll make more money and most importantly: you'll have a lot more fun!

By: Andrew Stock of Hireability.
HireAbility Connects the World's Recruiters and Parses the World's Resumes

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching entry-level jobs and other career opportunities.

Posted by Lisa Colbert, CollegeRecruiter.com on February 21, 2008 at 9:30 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Spreading the joy is always a fun. Even before the invention of the printing press by Gutenberg in 1447, weddings in the United Kingdom were commonly proclaimed by a town crier and then came the newspapers announcements.

Every Sunday, the New York Times' Sunday Style section lists at least 3-4 pages of people who were married or engaged or going to be. It has its own wedding/celebrations page.

Cha- ching!

National papers like this have an entire section for online wedding directory and in print on Sundays (or check out Wednesday's Washington Post).

How is this important to sourcing? Here's a small list of selected details I picked from last Sunday's New York Times (I left out their names):

Account Director at Hawkins International
Sales Director at Quickcomm
VP Marketing FibroGen
VP Media buying JP Morgan
Sr. VP for Finance
Project Manager with AIG
Search Analyst at the American Institutes
Sales Associate Goldman Sachs
Director Private banking Citi Group
MD and Counsel for AIG
Marketing Manager for American Express
Senior Analyst at Fortress Investment Group
Consultant in the Health care for Navigant Consulting

Each list announcement has the bride's and groom's name, what they do, the company they work for, and where the live. What more you could ask for? All you have to find is their E-mail address or phone number which is so easy.

Cha- Ching, again!

If you're doing a Google Search, you'll get thousands of results for a Financial Analyst in New York or New Jersey. Marriage Announcements, not bad at all! All you have do is to find people who are celebrating, and maybe you can add more joy with a new job.

So now the question is: how ethical is it to reach out to these passive candidates?

P.S.: It's a goldmine if you are looking for people working in law firms.

So won't you check you local newspapers for wedding announcement this week? Stay tuned...

By: Rithesh Nair- Recruiting and Sourcing Secrets

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching entry-level jobs and other career opportunities.

Posted by Lisa Colbert, CollegeRecruiter.com on February 5, 2008 at 12:30 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Reprinted courtesy of TheCareerNews.com

CLEVELAND, OH -- Reporter Marcia Pledger dishes out advice on office manners. Question: What is the best way to leverage my network of acquaintances and former co-workers to gain referrals and job tips without appearing self-serving?

Continue reading "Best ways to network for a job" »

Posted by Sarah Ennenga on December 28, 2007 at 6:45 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Reprinted courtesy of TheCareerNews.com

CHICAGO, IL -- More companies are taking the high road when employees turn in their badges. Instead of dismissing departing talent as disloyal, firms are reaching out with a variety of programs and services. There's recognition that these "alumni" play important roles in their former employers' success. Some become clients or business referral sources. Others return to work for their old firms.

Continue reading "Former employees stay connected" »

Posted by Sarah Ennenga on December 28, 2007 at 10:58 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Networking is by far one of the most powerful tools you can use to further your career and extend the reach of your job search. The trick with successful networking is to keep doing it, whether you're currently seeking a new opportunity or not according to John Henning, VP of Business Development for Granite Solutions Groupe (GSG). After all, It's often the seeds you plant today that will yield fruit in the future, so start networking now and don't ever stop.

Now this doesn't mean that you have to be psycho about it and attend every single mixer, seminar, user group and conference in the world and spend copious amounts of time online maintaining your social networking profiles. Just find things that you're interested in and be consistent with your involvement in them.

Continue reading "Old-Fashioned Insights Provide Keys to Successful Networking in a New Era" »

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on December 19, 2007 at 6:52 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Giving Christmas cards is a good networking technique as it shows you care enough about the other person to wish him or her Happy Holidays. As you send out those cards, make sure to have a personalized message for each person and send those cards early. A good time to send Christmas cards out is early December. That way, you are sure to be able to reach the other person before he/ she goes on holiday. Also, people like to display their Christmas cards and as they display them in their office, your card will act as a reminder for them to keep you in mind.

Article courtesy of WorkBloom, an employment blog incorporating a comprehensive career resources section, including the largest database of professionally written resume and cover letter samples on the Web.

Posted by Sarah Ennenga on December 19, 2007 at 2:57 PM | Leave a Comment (1)

Joann S. Lublin, from The Wall Street Journal, discusses some pretty bad networking mistakes:

• Sending an email to 12,000 contacts telling them that you were fired. Somehow, your old employer got the email and forces you to sign a separation agreement limiting what you can say about your departure. Broadcasting bad news about how you left your old employer is a bad idea. Stay positive and wait until your emotions settle down.
• Avoid name dropping if you don’t know how the other person feels about you.
• Don’t exaggerate your relationship with an acquaintance (knowing the other person doesn’t mean you two are “friends”).
• If you ignored a headhunter while employed, try at least to acknowledge you were wrong before contacting that headhunter back.
• If you contact a person for an “informational interview,” avoid asking for a job at the end of it.

Article courtesy of WorkBloom, an employment blog incorporating a comprehensive career resources section, including the largest database of professionally written resume and cover letter samples on the Web.

Posted by Sarah Ennenga on December 17, 2007 at 5:18 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Reprinted courtesy of TheCareerNews.com

HOUSTON, TX -- The holidays bring more than a seemingly eternal string of parties. With these social outings come a string of fantastic networking opportunities. You can meet a wide array of people in many diverse fields. Even if you don't feel like attending a party, the opportunity is too great to pass up. To get the most out of the occasion, keep these points in mind:

Continue reading "Networking at holiday parties" »

Posted by Sarah Ennenga on December 5, 2007 at 2:11 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

As a therapist, you will come into contact with a variety of other health professionals on a daily basis. In order for you to provide the best patient care, it is imperative that you understand the role and function of these professionals. Student Doctor Network has a great article posted on their website titled Who's Who on the Health Care Team: An Interdisciplinary Approach. The article, written by Sarah M. Lawrence and Michael O'Brien, is a brief review of the different health care professions a patient could expect to encounter while in the hospital or other rehabilitation setting. It provides the educational background and role of different occupations; from Nurse Practitioner to Speech Pathologist to Pharmacist to Clinical Psychologist. This article is in no way inclusive, but rather, is an overview of the major professions.

Continue reading "Who Are You, And What Do You Do?" »

Posted by Sarah Ennenga on November 13, 2007 at 3:55 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

This article from the Wall Street Journal starts with a somewhat unusual title: "If You Want to Stand Out, Join the Crowd." The article discusses how recruiters like to attend professional association meetings or scroll through professional association databases to look for candidates.

If You Want to Stand Out, Join the Crowd, The Wall Street Journal

Article courtesy of WorkBloom, an employment blog incorporating a comprehensive career resources section, including the largest database of professionally written resume and cover letter samples on the Web.

Posted by Sarah Ennenga on November 7, 2007 at 3:23 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Associating with others to exchange and shape ideas for the purpose of advancing your job search and career position is what job search networking is all about.

Since most jobs go unannounced and are often filled before you even knew there was a job, if you are going to conduct a job search, rather than look for a job, start rebuilding old acquaintances and making new ones. You'll find the answer to the cry where are all the jobs? just by going out and making new friends. Here are some "quick tips":

Continue reading "Rob Taub's Quick Tips on Networking" »

Posted by Sarah Ennenga on November 1, 2007 at 6:07 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

John McKee gave his insight regarding why one of his clients lost a job promotion to someone hired externally. His client met with senior management and came out of it confident of his chances. Why wasn't he promoted then?

Continue reading "Career Advancement: The Silent Factor That Is Holding Many People Back " »

Posted by Sarah Ennenga on October 29, 2007 at 6:44 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

These days you can't turn on the TV or read an article online without running across a story on the new uses of social-networks like Facebook and LinkedIn. Employers are now getting savvy in the social-networking arena and are using these sites to gather information on potential candidates that they could not get from the conventional resume or face-to-face interview. This topic was being discussed as early as 2005, when Jessica Mintz wrote an article, Social-Networking Sites Catch the Eye of Employers, on Wall Street Journal Online. A candidate can put all their efforts into creating an impressive resume and putting up a professional appearance at an interview, but if they have information out on the web about their weekend keg parties and shenanigans, employers might see that and cross them off their list.

Continue reading "Social Networking - Just Be Smart About It" »

Posted by Sarah Ennenga on October 25, 2007 at 2:50 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

If you were passing out of Union Station in Toronto this morning, like me, then you would think that Santa was at least a little more creative than you thought as a young child.

One thing you can be sure of in probably every major city is that there will be people begging on the streets.

You see all the people rushing to work, their eyes firmly fixed on the neck of the person in front of them, they have become immune to the call for 'spare me some change?' Once in a while you might see someone stop and drop some money in a cup - but for most what would make them stop - short of the person jumping up and stopping them?

Continue reading "Does Santa Have a Personal Brand?" »

Posted by Sarah Ennenga on October 22, 2007 at 4:19 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Reprinted courtesy of TheCareerNews.com

MILWAUKEE, WI -- I received the following email message recently. Since I am a big proponent of networking, I wanted to quickly outline all the reasons this email was not effective. Example: "Dear Sir. Can yout get me a job in Cleveland? Thx, TJ"

First, TJ didn't bother to run spell check, or even look carefully at his message before hitting send. Second, I don't live anywhere near Cleveland, as TJ would have discovered if he had clicked the link that leads to my bio. Third, chat-style grammar ("thx") doesn't belong in job-related correspondence. And fourth, you would think TJ would make some effort at telling me about him/herself as part of a request for help - ideally, a resume would have been attached to the message.

But here's the real kicker. In today's competitive job market, nobody can get you a job. They can share leads and advice, they can answer specific questions, and they may have suitable opportunities that you can apply for. But nobody can get you a job.

At the risk of offending TJ, the many mistakes reflected in the email message to me don't bode well for his/her employment prospects, if he/she makes similar mistakes when contacting employers. However, having said that, TJ took the time to reach out and expand his/her network. There's a lot to be said for that!

Article by George Blomgren, Tips From An Employer, and reprinted from TheCareerNews.com. Get the latest breaking News, Tips and Tools for your job search, Free!

Posted by Sarah Ennenga on October 19, 2007 at 7:57 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Reprinted courtesy of TheCareerNews.com

NEW YORK, NY -- In recent years, several networking Web sites specifically for business professionals have cropped up, including LinkedIn.com, Execunet.com, Ryze.com and Netshare.com. While you're using phone or email or industry gatherings to network with colleagues and acquaintances, you can also use these sites to connect with people in your field that you don't know well or at all.

The way most work is you set up a profile that offers basic information about yourself, such as where you work and went to school, areas of expertise and professional and personal interests. You can search other people's profiles and contact them by using the sites' messaging systems. You also can ask a member you already know to make a virtual introduction for you. If you join networking sites that cater just to your industry, such as theFeng.org for financial-services professionals, chances are you already know someone who belongs.

Continue reading "Networking with networking web sites" »

Posted by Sarah Ennenga on September 24, 2007 at 9:43 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

The September 17th Non-Squitur comic was so on-the-mark that it hurt. In it the "stuffed animal" was saying to the child, "Shouldn't you be studing for the math test?" The child responded, "Of course not. 'Cuz it's the teaher's job to teach us, so if I haven't learned enough to pass, then it's the teacher who actually fails the test, not me." The final frame says, "Hey, I'm just trying to act like an adult".

Ouch.

As I recruiter I here many people talk about "Generation Why" . . . "Millennials" . . . or whatever term that is being used to decribe those born between 1978 and 2000. I hear some people say they aren't sure this generation has the focus or the commitment to spend the hours necessary to succeed. Of course, this is usually said by someone in my generation - the baby boomers. We know how to work! We don't know how to stop working, however, and for some innane reason we think the world should be like us.

Hold on here - let's look at who we are.

We are those born from 1946 - 1964. Many of us went to Vietnam or did college protests AGAINST the war. We had race riots in the street of L A and Detroit. We went to Woodstock. Wore love beads. Got married when we were 21. And frustrated the hell out of our parents.

We worked. We achieved. We were results driven.

Then something happened. Something I'll call personal RESPONSIBILITY. Somehow many of us found reasons to avoid "taking the blame". We loved "taking the credit", however.

You just saw it with the Senator from Idaho. You saw it with Mark Foley, the Congressman from Florida, who was once known as a crusader against child abuse and exploitation. Foley resigned from Congress on September 29, 2006 after allegations surfaced that he had sent suggestive emails and sexually explicit instant messages to teenaged boys who had formerly served and were at that time serving as Congressional pages. You saw it with our former President who tried to confuse us by trying to learn what the meaning of the word "is" is.

You've seen it with Baby Boomers who are lawyers. They file suit against McDonalds for serving hot coffee. They file suit against tobacco companies because ALTHOUGH THE CIGARETTE PACKAGE SAYS THAT CIGARETTES CAN CAUSE CANCER, they actually DID and people were surprised. (Duh) They protect the guilty and abuse the innocent. They make "logic" a four-letter word.

So here you are, the new generation, getting ready to find a career. Please do us baby boomers a favor. Show us how to take responsibility. Remind us that people who make mistakes can actually admit they made them without checking themselves into a rehab center, making up lies, or simply EMBARRASSING the rest of my generation. Tell us in your interview that you want a mentor who will guide you, support you and be honest with you. Tell us that you will probably make mistakes - but you will own up to them and try not to repeat them.

When I look at what the experts say about your generation this is what I read:

• Positive, future-oriented
• Flexible
• Want meaningful work
• Want ongoing feedback - not just annual reviews
• Technical
• Quick learners
• Ambitions, demanding

Hey, I think this is EXACTLY who most of us are looking for as we look to hire.

I'm glad your generation is here. We baby boomers need a break from ourselves.

Valpak Mark

Posted by Valpak Mark on September 17, 2007 at 1:15 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

After years of being a career coach, I've recently transitioned back into Corporate HR as Director of Talent Management for one of the world's most well-known brands. Who I work for doesn't matter. What I see and hear does.

This time of year we have a few interns floating around the office. They're working in various capacities--PR, marketing, finance--you name it. But my colleagues, my peers, are more grateful to have interns than I have ever seen at any other company. I haven't seen anything like it. Usually corporate clowns like me like interns, but are often too busy to really give out the real work. Unless they k

Here's the thing, being an intern isn't glamourous. You may be pouring coffee, fetching files or typing endless documents. But the reason my colleagues love their interns is that the interns take those tasks and put effort and a smile into them. It makes the managers less busy, they appreciate the positivity and they can build a relationship with the intern. They trust him or her.

Then, they give out the real assignments. The ones that you can use in job interviews as examples of stretch roles. The ones that will help you decide whether this job, thiis field, this profession is for you. You've got an entire summer ahead of you, and a choice in how you approach each day at your internship. Choose wisely!

========
Susan Strayer, SPHR
Author, The Right Job, Right Now
www.susanstrayer.com
========

Posted by Susan Strayer on June 21, 2007 at 9:36 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

If you think the explosion of social networking is relegated to the high school and college crowd, you might be surprised at the results of a recent survey on online social networking. The survey, conducted by the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp – formerly HRI) revealed that 65% of business professionals are clicking and connecting via personal and professional social networking Web sites.

“We expected to see a number of respondents utilizing social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook for personal reasons, but we were intrigued at the high percentage of business professionals that use social networking for professional purposes,” says Jay Jamrog, i4cp’s SVP of Research. “In an age where more and more employees work remotely and people frequently change companies, it makes sense that the business community would turn to the Web to stay connected.”

Continue reading "Think Social Networking is Kid Stuff? Think Again." »

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on May 29, 2007 at 5:51 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Don’t think of graduation as an ending. Think of it as the beginning of your long-term career project. That is the advice of career expert, Robert Graber, founder of WallStJobs.com. “It is axiomatic that successful careers are built on effective networking and there is no better time to start building that network then when you still have a fresh connection with your school,” he said.

Continue reading "Just Graduated? Start Cultivating Your Alumni Network Now to Advance Your Career Later" »

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on May 8, 2007 at 5:46 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Many people think that networking during a job search means calling everyone you know and asking them for a job. They associate networking with being pushy, overbearing, and an overall pest. People often shy away from networking because they don’t want to be labeled as this type of person. But research shows that 70-80percent of all jobs are filled through networking. How can this be so, if networkers are such an annoying, self-serving lot?

Continue reading "Seven Rules for Networking Success" »

Posted by Shawn Augustson, CollegeRecruiter.com on February 21, 2007 at 7:09 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

This is the third of three posts on relationships that start in college. The first part was an introduction to the idea, the second part was a listing of who I could/should have lasting relationships with, and now we’ll talk about a system to actually manage those relationships.

This issue of lasting relationships really hit me about a year ago when I was laid off as general manager of an IT company. One of the places that I went to look for referrals and leads was back to my university. I had not maintained strong working relationships with anyone from school and I regretted it. Even though I did get significant help from a couple of professors, if I were to have maintained relationships since the time I left school it would have been different.

Continue reading "How To Manage Long-Term Relationships" »

Posted by JibberJobber.com on February 1, 2007 at 7:46 AM | Leave a Comment (1)

Last week I had a post talking about college relationships that should last. Today I want to take one question and go into more detail: Who do I try and keep track of?

I think the reason this seems like common sense (but wasn't for me) is because I was asking "who will be valuable to me in 5 or 10 years?" I could pick through roommates, classmates, professors and immediately judge who I thought would bring value to me down the road.

And I would have been wrong.

Continue reading "Who should I maintain a relationship with?" »

Posted by JibberJobber.com on January 30, 2007 at 9:11 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

I went to two different universities and spent about 7 years rubbing shoulders with fellow students. We all had different majors and interests, and some of us were marked to be successful while others, well, you know what I mean. We saw each other so often that there was no concern about losing touch.

Fast forward a few years later and I am embarrassed to say that if I needed to, I can only reach out to a few of those contacts.

Continue reading "College Relationships That Should Last" »

Posted by JibberJobber.com on January 25, 2007 at 5:46 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Ariel reminded me of what I already suspected (and she got it straight from the expert's (Crispin) mouth):

Employee Referrals are 54 Times as Likely to Result in a Job than All the Job Boards Combined

Wow.

So, job-seeker, how much energy are you pouring in to your network?

Dennis
WirelessJobs.com

Great posts on networking Here, Here, Here, and Here.

Posted by Dennis Smith, T-Mobile Recruiting on December 4, 2006 at 12:09 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Experts advise that even if a job transfer makes economic and career sense, young employees should consider whether it will make social sense as well.

Ok, I'm about to say something here that's going to sound reallly stupid....

"It's not all about the money."

Dennis
WirelessJobs.com

read more digg story

Posted by Dennis Smith, T-Mobile Recruiting on September 26, 2006 at 5:43 PM | Leave a Comment (1)

Write 'em down, chew 'em up, and swallow 'em. Scott Ginsberg offers up 51 Thoughts on Networking.

You can read all 51 here. Check out his top 10 here:

Continue reading "Job Seekers: Networking is a 4 Letter Word" »

Posted by Dennis Smith, T-Mobile Recruiting on September 1, 2006 at 8:54 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Creating Passionate Users posted the Characteristics of a Good Lover/Marketer ;an interesting post that I think is a perfect segue to blogging (specifically, what makes a blog popular).

If you are a job seeker that is blogging or considering blogging your job search, here's a few ideas to consider, courtesy of Kathy Sierra:

Continue reading "Characteristics of a Good Blogger" »

Posted by Dennis Smith, T-Mobile Recruiting on August 29, 2006 at 3:41 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

1. A compelling story
One’s story is not typically compelling the first time told. Practice. Seek advice. If you only have one shot at a great first impression, it must be compelling. Leave me wanting more.

2. A well-crafted resume
I’m not suggesting job seekers are unable to do this on their own. But, we’re talking about one’s livelihood, right. Don’t leave this one to chance.

3. A potent network
Do not wait until unemployment rears its ugly head to start reviving your network. Dive in today and begin networking like your job depends on it. Why? Because your next job depends on it.

4. Good counsel
In the process of building your network, find a well-respected recruiter experienced in your target industry. Kindly offer up a Venti Non-Fat Latte’ for 30 minutes of their time - then make sure you don’t waste it. Show up with ten thoughtful questions targeted at helping you develop a strategy for landing your next gig.

5. Perspective
Don’t leave home without it.

Dennis Smith
T-Mobile Recruiting
WirelessJobs.com

Posted by Dennis Smith, T-Mobile Recruiting on August 25, 2006 at 6:33 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

In an interview years ago David Brinkley asked advice columnist Ann Landers what question she most frequently received from readers. Her answer:

"What's wrong with me?"

I think Lander's answer strikes a chord with the feelings of many a job-seeker.

Continue reading "Encouragement for the Beaten-Down Job Seeker" »

Posted by Dennis Smith, T-Mobile Recruiting on August 22, 2006 at 10:34 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Participated in an HR.com webinars on “Strategies for Sourcing the BEST Sales and Business Development Candidates” – and something that was stressed in the presentation was that it’s pretty difficult to sell a salesperson – especially when you’re trying to discuss an employment opportunity with a successful and seasoned sale pro.

Listening to this webinars as I was reading my morning e-mails, I was reminded of some sales training that I received about 10 years. Sales people could be classified in one of two types of roles: one of hunter, the other as a farmer.

Continue reading "Are you a Hunter – or a Farmer?" »

Posted by Strategi LLC - Contract Recruiter Williams-Sonoma on July 27, 2006 at 3:48 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

When you participate in an interview and an employer notices a gap in your resume, the interviewer is going to ask what you have been doing or what you have accomplished during that time period. Employers want to hear that in the interim between jobs your time was put to good use. Were you productive with your time by volunteering your services? Employers are impressed to hear that when you were out of work you were trying to better yourself and stay up-to-date with the latest happenings in your industry. Always take the initiative to stay fresh, learn new skills, get more experience and keep busy during a break in your career.

It is important to stay active and engaged during your job search. Here are some tips to stay fresh when you’re out of work:

Continue reading "Six Ways to Avoid the Dreaded Resume Gap" »

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on July 18, 2006 at 7:41 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Over on MSN Careers there was an interesting article today called "Top 10 Reasons Why You're Not Finding a Job"

So here's the reasons... but you really need to read the details to do it full justice so don't just look at these headline:

Continue reading "Get a job, slob" »

Posted by Shally Steckerl, Chief CyberSleuth with JobMachine on May 22, 2006 at 2:50 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

1. Coping strategies for how to deal with a job loss: The very first thing to do is to recognize that next to death of a spouse, death of a parent and death of a child coupled with divorce, the fourth most emotional thing that people do is look for a job. Just recognizing that losing a job, coupled with having to look for a job, is going to be an emotional strain is a step in the right direction. This is especially true for people who have been employed in their present job for five or six years or more. Psychologists agree that of all of these unfortunate life events, the loss of a job and the loss of a spouse seem to have the longest recovery periods.

In the present and future economy people are going to have to change jobs every two and a half to three years. It's no use to "curse the darkness." This is a reality.

The second thing to do is to recognize that you don't have control over what happens to you but you do have control over how you react to it. The issue isn't to deny the feelings but to recognize them, acknowledge them and get over them as quickly as possible. Too many times a long grieving period incapacitates a person's ability to get on with their life and look for a new job. Life isn't fair.... get over it... and get on with it.

The third thing a person might do is to express their feelings in absolute detail. A person should sit down and write out their feelings so that they can see them. Write to their heart’s content. Write until they're physically and emotionally tired of writing. Then read what they've written out loud as many times as they need to until they're downright tired of it. Some people even record what they have written down on an audio tape and listen to it over and over in the same way.

Continue reading "Moving forward after losing a job" »

Posted by The Job Search Solution on May 22, 2006 at 8:19 AM | Leave a Comment (1)