A handshake. It seems so simple. So cordial. So harmless. Unless it is a job posted to Handshake. Maybe. Sometimes. Allow me to explain.

Today’s Community Digest e-newsletter from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) included a question from Shannon Schwaebler, Director of Career Services at Northeastern State University. She asked if her fellow subscribers, “would be open to sharing their policies for approving employer accounts through Handshake. We were forwarded this Inside Higher Ed article and want to make sure we have adequate policies in place to avoid this happening. We currently have processes we go through for 3rd party recruiters, utilize the trust score, etc. but are curious if anyone has written out processes they are proud of that we could take a look at. Our office wants to make sure there aren’t things we aren’t considering through the process that could be dangerous to our students.”

Hmmmm. What’s this article that Shannon references? Well, I bet that most of the subscribers didn’t open the e-newsletter at all and most of those who did only skimmed it and so missed a nugget that could potentially upend a key way that students and recent graduates of one-, two-, and four-year colleges find part-time, seasonal, internship, and entry-level jobs. Perhaps a little context would be of benefit here. Continue Reading

Almost since job boards existed, they’ve partnered together to share job content. One job board may have an excess number of candidate traffic in one area while a second may have an excess number of job posting ads in the same area. A real win-win can be created if the first sends its candidates to the second in return for a share of the revenue the second receives from its employer customer.

Unfortunately for the publisher — the site with excess candidate traffic — these backfill deals often took on the form of API calls, meaning that all of the jobs from the advertiser — the site with excess demand from employers — appeared at the bottom of the publisher’s search results. The publisher may have five jobs that match the interests of the candidate but their search results page would end up showing those five jobs plus hundreds of others from the advertiser.

Even worse was that the advertiser’s brand was typically adjacent to the jobs and the candidate would be sent to the advertiser’s site to register and, perhaps, apply to the job. To the candidate, the experience was searching for a job on the first job board, finding a potential match on the search results page, clicking, and going to a second job board. That created, at best, confusion for many job seekers. Were they at the employer’s site? Why were they being asked to register again? Was registering the same as applying? Continue Reading

Nurses. Year-after-year, we hear from hospitals, doctors’ offices, and other organizations how frustrated they are in trying to hire nurses, whether they are entry-level, recent graduates or have years of experience.

Before I dig into some suggestions for how any organization can hire more nurses, let’s first examine whether the underlying premise of a shortage is even true. Well, it’s true. “Currently there are nearly three million jobs for registered nurses, and there are more than 2.9 million licensed RNs, which doesn’t seem like a significant shortage,” said Joe Dunmire, executive director of Qualivis. “But 21 percent of licensed RNs are not engaged in patient care, which makes the actual deficit nearly 700,000.” To make that worse, Qualivis expects that there will be more than a million RN vacancies by 2024, which is more than twice the deficit of the last major nursing shortage.

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Some employers offer tuition reimbursement or even scholarships that help their employees pay for school. For all the students who work part-time to help pay their tuition, this kind of additional assistance can be the difference between staying in school or dropping out. And for employees who are intimidated by the decision to balance work with school, it could help to ask your employer what kind of support they offer that would allow you to further your education. We connected with Jason Bilotti, Owner-Operator of West Paces Ferry Chick-fil-A in Atlanta. Chick-fil-A awards scholarships to thousands of employees, this year totaling $14.5 million, to help them further their education. Bilotti shares here about why he thinks it’s so important for employees at the retail level to further their education.

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Let’s talk about the issues that 40+ year olds are facing in the job market today. Almost 20% of all college and university students — about four million — are over the age of 35. So why do we automatically think of a bunch of 20 something’s when we hear “recent graduates”? This is also often the image that comes to mind for talent acquisition teams and is used to discriminate against older candidates. Jo Weech, Founder and Principal Consultant at Exemplary Consultants, explains the major problems that this misconception creates.

Exemplary Consultants provides business management consulting to small businesses and start-ups. Weech got involved in the process because she truly believes that work can be better for every person on the planet. She published an article back in July that got a ton of traffic, likes, and comments. Steven Rothberg, President and Founder of College Recruiter, had a conversation with her about some of her experiences, where the article came from, and some of the lessons that came from it. The lessons learned are not only useful for job seekers, but for those in talent acquisition as well. Continue Reading

If you’re studying or thinking about studying Criminal Justice, we are excited to have some great career advice for you, via FBI’s Recruitment and Selection Unit. They answered our questions about what is available for Criminal Justice students, and not surprisingly, your options go beyond what you see on TV. We asked about misconceptions around the field, career opportunities, what kinds of skills this degree will give you, where you might have to grow, and what makes a Criminal Justice degree worth it. Continue Reading

College students and recent graduates are naturally curious as to which companies hire the most graduates for entry-level jobs and other career opportunities.

The thinking often goes that the more people these companies hire, the more likely it is that they’ll hire you. That may be true, but it also means that these companies tend to receive a large number of well-qualified applications, so apply to these organizations if their roles align with your competencies, interests, and values, but don’t apply if your primary interest is simply to be hired and receive a paycheck. As is the case with all employers, these companies want to hire not just candidates who are qualified, but also candidates who are the most qualified and the most likely to stay with them year after year after year. Continue Reading

The workforce has been evolving due to the integration of technology in our society today. “Sometimes all you need is a cell phone and a laptop and you can do many kinds of work remotely,” states Jo Weech, CEO and Principal Consultant of Exemplary Consultants. Weech provides business management consulting to small businesses and start-ups. Here, she offers insight into what the gig economy is and how students and recent graduates can take advantage of the opportunities that come along with it.

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If your organization has built or is building an Affirmation Action Plan, Tamara Seiler has great insight for government contractors to comply with requirements and compete for government funding, as well as leverage the data you are required to collect to improve your recruitment efforts. Seiler is Director of Compliance and Marketing Strategy at HudsonMann, and she is very familiar with challenges and trends related to affirmative action.  Continue Reading