Entry-level job seekers and employees can learn from Katherine Manuel, a seasoned expert in innovation, to become a more employable candidate or a more valuable employee. Manuel is Senior Vice President of Innovation at Thomson Reuters and she has passionate advice for entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs to break down hurdles and drive new business. If you are looking for innovative jobs or want to contribute more creatively to your organization, our interview with Manuel provides insight into the importance of being an intrapreneur.

(Interview has been edited slightly for length and flow.)

What are the qualities and competencies of an intrapreneur? 

Katherine Manuel: One of the most important things that I look for are people that ask great questions. I do a lot of mentoring at the company for people that are just starting out in their careers. And it’s amazing that what differentiates people is not necessarily their wealth of experience, but it’s really the way that they ask the questions and what questions they ask. It’s showing that they understand what a business ecosystem looks like, where customers come in, where products meet their needs, and where services around those products can really increase the value of a product. Even just understanding how they best think about their career and what their long-term goals are, even if they don’t have it all mapped out, which I’d never recommend people do. It’s the thoughtfulness of the questions that they ask less than having a mastery of a topic. Continue Reading

Over the past couple of years, those of us who make our living in the job board world have grown from being aware of the existence of programmatic ad buying, to understanding the opportunities and threats it poses. We grew to either be terrified by it or embrace it, or some combination of the two. At College Recruiter, we made the decision early on to embrace programmatic job ad buying because we saw that the opportunity it presented to our employer customers (and therefore us) far outweighed the threat that it posed.

Since 1991, when I founded the organization that became College Recruiter, I’ve often been accused of chasing after every shiny new thing. That’s not fair. I do chase after shiny new things, but not always. And sometimes they chase after me. Also, the accusation can be interpreted as a negative character trait. That’s also not fair because seeing opportunities and risks where others don’t can be valuable. That’s true whether you’re a caveman hunting for food or a talent acquisition or other human resources leader hunting for more efficient and effective ways of attracting the talent that your organization needs–not just to survive but also to thrive.

Case in point: programmatic job ad buying. This was the shiny new thing that proved to be worthy of attention. Continue Reading

Employers have the potential to stand out to college talent by leveraging storytelling. At SHRM 2018, Alfredo Castro and Mardely Vega will present “Strategic Storytelling: Engaging New Talents in a Global Workplace!” I spoke with Vega, Sodexo’s VP of Human Resources for Latin America, and Castro, President at MOT Training and Development, to discuss how business storytelling can change an organization’s approach to recruiting.

“Humans are not so good with lists,” says Castro. If I tell you five steps or five topics that you have to memorize, we don’t get that. But if I tell you a story where we can combine those steps, you’ll be engaged.”

Castro’s background is in engineering so he appreciates procedures. However, he was shocked to find that different people who read the same procedure would react and behave differently. That led him to the psychology of storytelling. Many leaders can use storytelling, he says, to deliver their direction and not just rely on logical procedures or instructions. Continue Reading

The quality of your job posting has a direct impact on how many applicants you will receive. If you need to hire for dozens, hundreds or even thousands of entry-level positions, we’ve got some tips to give your job posting the kick in the pants it needs to attract more top talent.

Over the years at College Recruiter, we’ve heard tons of feedback from our employer customers and other job boards on the effectiveness of a wide variety of job postings. Some postings generate way more views and applications than others, and unfortunately, few employers take full advantage of these tips to stand out to the right entry-level candidates. In this guide, we address your job title, whether to include salary, video, talking about your culture, and more.

Download the full guide to see our tips for creating excellent job postings to help you

hire college students and grads at scale. 

For example, the title of your job posting is critical. Candidates very well may know some of the industry jargon, but you have to think like a job seeker. Give your posting a title that will be searched for. Instead of titling it “SD IV,” use the title Software Developer and drop the internal lingo.

Your job posting is an advertisement. Nothing more and nothing less. You want it to generate interest in the position, so there is no reason to use the full job description, which is more of a legal document than a sales document.

Download the full guide to see our tips for creating excellent job postings to help you hire college students and grads at scale. 

The guide touches on what will specifically attract Gen Z talent to your posting. If you understand what they seek in a job and a career, such as stability and growth, your job posting can speak to that. This younger generation of talent wants to work at organizations that make a positive impact or have a strong sense of purpose. If that’s your organization, your job posting should reflect that.

Randy Pennington, owner of Pennington Performance Group, has been talking recently about the need to hire for “altitude,” in addition to aptitude and attitude. We interviewed him to find out more. Pennington is an expert in helping organizations build cultures focused on positive results in a world of uncertainty, relationships, and accountability. He will be a speaker at SHRM 2018, presenting a mega session titled “The Six Competencies You Need to Remain Relevant in a World of Disruption and Change.” Here we share takeaways from our conversation about recruiting and developing employees, including entry-level, to increase your organization’s altitude.

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When most people — including employers — think of hiring interns, they think of hiring them on-campus with the assistance of the college career service office as well as professors and other faculty. And those people would be wrong. Some interesting information came out today from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) regarding the sources of hire for interns.

NACE’s membership is heavily skewed to large employers so those are the employers are receive and respond to its surveys. You must consider that when looking at their survey results, understanding that it isn’t a random sample. In other words, their data don’t accurately reflect the hiring practices of all employers. At best, it reflects the hiring practices of the large employers that make up the bulk of its membership. Continue Reading

If you are going to interview for a job, or if you already have, you are one step closer to when that employer will call your references. They will likely call all the references you provided, but don’t assume they will only look into those people. If you’re worried that the employer will contact someone who has a biased or negative perception of you, we have some advice. You can prepare for it and defend yourself appropriately.

First, if you’re worried about the potential new employer spilling the beans at your current employer, recruiters get this. They understand the negative impact of spoiling your secret to your boss. Some job applications build in a box to check that says “please do not contact current employer until the offer stage.” If you are afraid of your boss finding out that you’re considering leaving, check this box. If you don’t see this box, you can write this exact phrase into your references document. Continue Reading

Succession planning often focuses on executive roles only, but as Kelly Renz of The Novo Group says, “that’s missing the boat.” I caught up with Renz, who is CEO of The Novo Group, where they believe better people means better business. She claims to be a non-conformist when it comes to business practices and she’ll be a speaker at SHRM 2018, presenting “Demystifying Succession Planning: It’s Easier Than You Think!” She insists that succession planning is not rocket science and has great insight into the importance of developing your entry-level talent.

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To get another perspective on diversity recruitment, I interviewed Kathryn Christie, the Director of Talent at Self Management Group. She has a passion for uncovering how to develop and retain high-performing employees to drive individual and organizational excellence. At SHRM 2018 conference she will be presenting “Recruiting Diversity: Let’s Get Tangible.” Here we share her insight about recruiting diverse entry-level talent. Continue Reading

If you looking for an internship or full-time entry-level job, you will find many opportunities within government agencies. A public sector career can feel different from a career in the private sector. To sort out the differences and help you understand whether to pursue a government job, we asked Jamey McNamara, the Deputy Chief Human Capital Officer at U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). McNamara draws his advice here from years of experience developing employees and leaders, in recruitment and retention, performance management, compensation and benefits, and labor relations.  Continue Reading