Recruiting and Sourcing Secrets

Oddskills - JobBoard

2009-06-24T12:31:00Z

Oddskills - JobBoard

With a name like Oddskills.com I thought you might find jobs that no ones want to do or posting like "I like to dig a hole in my yard" but turns out that's just the name as it has all jobs you mostly see in any job board.

Since its launch 2 months back Oddskills.com looks to have grown very well. You can see a lot of new position based on your interest, skills or location. I just signed up. I like the fact that signing up was very easy and posting or searching for any position looks very easy too. I strongly believe those are two most important thing which turns users away from any job board.

Job Seekers.. something for you to look at.

I am not sure how they would be making money as everything is free unless the use the ad space which currently runs Google Ads

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Top 10 IT Certifications - Verify them

2009-06-22T23:33:00Z

Top 10 IT Certifications - Verify them

I am currently hiring for a Sr. Business Analyst in Montvale, NJ and ran across a
excellent resume but in the resume the candidate mentioned in one of the section that he's a "Certified Project Manager.. Pending". What does that mean? Pending? Most of these exams are online and like the PHR (which I have) and you get the results immediately.
So either you are a PMP or you are not ..simple.

This got me to thinking the other certifications online which are easily verifiable

1) Microsoft - MCP/MCSC & 50 thousands others they have

2) CISCO -Cisco Career Certifications Tracking System
        * The Tracking System does not track CCIE lab results.

3) Oracle Certification Program (OCP /DBA Others)
         Please send an email to ocpexam_ww@oracle.com and place "OCP Credential Validation" in your subject line.. blah blah - Read more at Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

4) PMI (PMP) Certification Verifications

5) Verify other Security Certification Like CISA/CISM/CGEIT

6) CompTIA Certifications (A+,RFID,Network, others)

7) Verify a Red Hat Certificate

8) Sun Certifications

9) QA Certifications

10) Citrix CCEA or CCA Certification

TWO Non IT -

CPA LICENSE VERIFICATION - Cost $45 (Looks Like they are the only One Charging)

And for all those HR and Recruiting professionals out there

HR Certification - GPHR /SPHR/PHR HR Certification - GPHR /SPHR/PHR

Now you dont have excuses; Either your name is in one of this list or you don't have a certification.

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LeadResearcher Pro - Find Emails,Phone numbers FAST

2009-06-19T01:52:00Z

Recently I heard about a new software beta release of LeadResearcher by Egrabber. I have used many of their excellent products like ResumeGrabber and Resumefinder and this seems to another feather in the cap.

Why do you need it?

If you are a recruiter looking at email patterns for a specific company or looking to find all the possible email addresses of employees working in a given company.
For example you search on Linkedin to find a great profile in a company with no contact info. Now you can use this tool to get the contact information.

It works in 3 different ways

1) Type in a name and company. It digs the net and bring out corresponding domain based email contacts
2) If you are interested in more info you can find more details like phone number, company news or web details
and 3) or if you have someone's emails id; it does a Reverse emails look up searching for again phone number details or company info/domain info

They have a good 2 min demo you can watch at LeadResearcher.

To try it out I downloaded a 3 day trial version of LeadResearcher and here's how it worked for me.

Final Verdict: -Another Great Product but wish it was cheaper to afford in this economy.

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Find a Job on Twitter

2009-05-20T12:06:00Z

Find a Job on Twitter

Its tougher than it sounds but not that hard. The most important aspect is networking but what are

the other things you can do?Lets assume you have a twitter account and you have been doing some

tweets.

1) The first thing you need to do is creating a self brand.You have created a clean image with link to

you resume online or you might use http://twtjobs.com/ to create your twitter resume

2) Start following things of your interest. Yes following sanfranescorts is fun but keep that for your

private ID. Follow Industry experts , people you already know.

3) Start Networking with Recruiters. Follow them all.. starting with me ..

@ http://twitter.com/rithesh or the easiest way to look for recruiters is using the site command in

Google You can follow more than 10 thousand accounts related to jobs or recruiters.

For Ex:-

I use this site:twitter.com +bio (recruiter OR sourcer OR headhunter)

command in Google to to get http://tinyurl.com/onyd9z

4) Now you have searched for individual recruiters search for Corporate Twitter accounts Like

@KPMGUSCareers - KPMG US Open Job Positions

@KPMG - KPMG Careers

@EMCCareers - EMC Job Postings

@WBCareers - Warner Brothers Career Opportunities

@DeloitteTalent - Deloitte Job Postings

@TheRecruiterGuy - AT&T

@AppleRecruiter

@HewittCareer and so many others

Corporate Twitter Accounts includes

- Best Buy

- Cisco Systems

- Toys ‘R’ Us

- Dell

- Johnson & Johnson

- Wells Fargo

- Microsoft

- Time Warner

- FedEx

- New York Life Insurance

- McDonald’s

- Oracle

- Google

- Avnet

- Amazon.com

- CBS

- Texas Instruments

- Monsanto

- Whole Foods Market

- Rubbermaid

- Symantec

And so many others. Follow them interact with them

5) A lot of twitter related job sites are popping up every day like

http://jobshouts.com/

http://www.twithire.com/

http://www.twitterjobsearch.com

http://twitterjobcast.com/

http://tweetmyjobs.com get notification of new jobs on your cell phone

Or use twitag.com/tag/job to search for jobs ,conference, experts, webinars etc using "hash tag" #tag

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Strategy for hiring The Disabled

2009-04-01T12:08:00Z

Strategy for hiring The Disabled

Given a chance would you hire Albert Einstein as your scientist or maybe consider FDR, Beethoven, or Thomas Edison? These and are several of the famous people who had some form of disability

ADA-Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990- is a civil rights law which prohibits, under certain circumstances, discrimination based on disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act. Disability is defined as "a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity."

According to the U.S. Census, people with disabilities comprise the largest minority group, approximately 20 percent of the population

Everyone agrees that the Economy is bad, so it stands to question, why is the unemployment rate (15 percent ) among disabled workers almost double that of the non disabled population? Especially considering that disabled workers have one of the highest retention rates of 85 percent.

DiversityInc recently published a list of the Top Companies for people with Disabilities. The list may not be perfect; The companies are doing all they could (I am sure they are trying) and it’s especially hard committing to programs during these hard economic time which is why it’s more important not to lose focus.

Disability inclusion is not about being compliant or avoiding a law suit. It is about maintaining a competitive advantage. It’s about becoming the employer of choice. It’s about sending the right message to your employees and your customers. It’s about enhancing your organization to access untapped talent.

Many believe that there's a shortage of talent and with a large workforce pending to retire in coming years. The Gen Y are coming to the market. They are well versed with ADA. They will not tolerate discrimination and would expect the same of level of understanding they got in their schools, community and college.

It’s very important to know that there are different types of disabilities. Physical Disabilities like Cerebral Palsy or Cystic fibrosis, Acquired Disabilities like AIDS or Multiple Sclerosis and Developmental Disabilities like Dyslexia, ADD or Learning Disability which are very common.

According to the United States Social Security office almost 1 in 4 of today’s 20 year-olds will become disabled before reaching age 67.

Hiring disabled employees may qualify your business for additional tax benefits such as: deduction for costs of removing barriers to the disabled and elderly; disabled access credit and work opportunity tax credit financial programs.

IT’S ABOUT ABILITY.

The statistics and numerous surveys demonstrate that Disabled workers have one of the highest retention rates and the lowest turnover therefore ultimately costing companies less to provide a reasonable accommodation.

Companies also gain in - Increased employee productivity and organizational performance through a more diversified employee base; Tax benefits; Lower economic costs because of lower absenteeism; decreased employee turnover, and better-than-average safety records

So what should be your strategy for hiring Disabled workers?

(1) Establish Affinity Groups - resources to raise and share voice which will change the misinformation and attitudes of your staff. Educate everyone.

(2) Plan - look at your current diversity plan. Does it focus on specific programs for tapping or reaching out to disabled?

(3) It has to be a Top down approach. Not only the leadership and management should be actively involved in the efforts but should make it mandatory

(4) Involve people who are disabled. The best ideas would come from them. For example while creating a new software design or product design which might appeal to someone who is blind (voice recognition) or deaf or hard of hearing.

(5) Have an effective PR campaign in creating awareness. It should be an issue of the entire organization. It’s just not about legality. Is your career page friendly for disable.. Does it show only people who are multi race or is there a picture of a disabled person. (How about someone in a wheelchair?).

(6) Get your mentorship or internship process involved for disability.

(7) Select and external/national/local disability partner to implement programs, events, workshop etc.

(8) Portray your company as one that values the contribution of individuals with disabilities. Disability inclusion should be in your Organization's Value Proposition

(9) Budgeting for the inclusion of people with disabilities should be a part of the overall budget. It should be a centralized resource. Everyone knows the cost of hiring a Foreign worker (H1 B costs $3000 Plus Green Card another $5000). The Average Cost for Employers to Accommodate Persons with Disabilities is less than $500 for more than 60% of People with Disabilities

(10) Create networks (social /professional) internally and externally just for disability candidate pipelines. Do Targeted recruiting

Employers who hire people with disabilities create a positive corporate image. Hiring people with disabilities is not charity. But bringing them into the organization is an exemplary act that models corporate responsibility. It’s about ABILITY and its time you start doing something about it.

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Networking is icky! ...or maybe no

2009-03-25T12:57:00Z

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.

Informational interviews are a form of networking and are a great starting place, especially if you have little-to-no work experience in your field. Are professionals willing to be interviewed? Many are willing, but be respectful of their time by asking smart questions. Let's return to the example of asking your instructor a question about an assignment. The conversation with your instructor is usually most effective if you have specific questions in mind. If you approached your instructor with, "Can you tell me about the assignment?" they'd probably say, "What part of the assignment?" or "Weren't you listening in class?" On the other hand, if you asked, "You mentioned we should cite at least 6 sources. May I cite blogs or should I only site academic journals?" your instructor knows what specific information to clarify for you. Likewise, when conducting informational interviews, you want to have specific questions in mind that probe deeper than any information you might read online or in a book. "From my readings, it seems that art therapy is gaining momentum and seeing some real growth. Is that consistent with what you've been seeing in the field?" If you were pursuing a career in art therapy, it would be useful to know whether or not there was demand for art therapists, so a question like the one above helps you get an answer that will assist you in your decision-making. It also gives the professional you're interviewing a specific question to address. Informational interviews can certainly vary in length and depth of conversation, but I suggest requesting 20-30 minutes of the professional's time and generating 10-15 thoughtful questions to ask. You can always ask fewer questions or add more as the conversation progresses. Can informational interviewing get you a job? Maybe, but usually not directly. (A friend of mine was offered a job at the end of an informational interview, but that was definitely an exception, not the rule!)

Let me give you another example. Let's say that a high school student were given your name by one of the admissions counselors because they were interested in majoring in the same subject as you. The high school student dutifully emails you to set up a time to for a brief conversation. She asks for only 20 minutes of your time which you appreciate because you have a lot of other things going on. In her email, she includes a list of questions she hopes to ask you, which makes you happy because you can prepare your responses in advance of the conversation. The high school student calls you on the predetermined day and your conversation goes very well. Then, at the end of the call, she asks if you can get her into your college. "Wha????" you ask. "Of course not! That's not my decision." You'd probably leave the conversation scratching your head. On the other hand, if the student asked you for advice about how to be successful at your college, you'd likely be happy to share with her what classes you thought were phenomenal, what food to avoid at the cafe, and what residence halls to steer clear of. Why would you be willing to share all of that information? Because the student was respectful of your time, asked thoughtful questions, had done some research about your school, and mostly because, you're a nice person. As nice as you are, however, you don't have the power to get her admission to your school.

Likewise, most professionals are happy to share insights, advice, and even contacts with you. Some will bend over backwards to help you out. Why? Because they are nice people. But, they might not be in a position to offer you a job. So don't make things awkward by asking for one. Of course, be honest and let them know you're looking for employment, just don't put the burden on them to find the job for you. Hopefully you can see that networking (of which, informational interviewing is a legitimate form), doesn't have to be icky. So, get out there and start networking!

About the author: Career development professional with 10 years of experience in career advising. Specializes in working with undergraduate students with little-to-no work experience. Special interests include: international students, immigrant populations, parents transitioning back into the workforce, faith in the workplace, and Christian career counseling. Grace's site, Sweet Careers, provides tips, advice, videos, and tutorials to help job seekers find meaningful careers.

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 for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.

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Have you Refreshed your Relationships Lately?

2009-03-25T12:50:00Z

As you add contacts (or renew old contacts) during your job search, you should ensure that you "refresh" your relationships on a regular basis (at least every 3 or 4 weeks). This is important for everyone, but especially if you are currently unemployed. The approach for each contact will depend on the nature of the relationship. For friends, relatives and business acquaintances, it is as easy as reminding them that you're out there. If they know you they already know that you are looking for a job, so a simple email (or phone call) will usually suffice. For recruiters, a phone call (asking them if they have any leads) or an email (maybe with an updated resume or a brief on any pending interviews) should do the trick. I've included some links to networking which provide a few views/tactics for keeping your network "fresh".

Riley Guide on Networking - This article from the Riley Guide provides an excellent review of networking. What it is, how to do it and what it isn't. The article provides a number of additional links on associated topics.
Successful Job Search Networking - This About.com article provides another view on networking (formal versus informal) as well as a long list of additional resources. The article mentions that 60% of all jobs are filled via networking (I've heard as high as 80% as well).
The Art of Career and Job-Search Networking - Quintcareers also has a page dedicated to networking and they also stress that this is probably the most important part of your search methods. They provide detail on networking on the web, networking groups (like Diversity, Women, Military, etc.) as well as some publications on the topic.
The Social Network as a Career Safety Net - This NY Times article provides a real-life example of how social networking helped someone find other opportunities. While the current job market environment is likely to make it more difficult than the success of the individual in the article, it does stress the importance of networking.

Good luck in your search.

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 for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.

Egrabber

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Research / Recruiting starts with Researching

2009-03-16T11:20:00Z

Research / Recruiting starts with Researching

I wrote the following article on the very first issue of Sourcecon Newsletter (which was www.thesourcingconference.com at that time) "Research Starts with Research "exactly a year back and still think is very relvant. Most recruiters consider Internet as database and start working on it without understanding what the problem is and without any planning starts tackling a recruiting assignment. Whether you use the Search Engines or Job boards you can't achieve your maximum potential without planning and more importantly stop to think on what you going to do; how you going to do?,how to break up your task,how this search would be different from a smilar search 2 months back. Internet is changing very fast and so would your searching ability and capability should. The way you searched 6 months back may be relevant but a whole new dimension might have got added which you should improve up on.

So here you go from something I wrote a yr back...

"The ability to source and attract the most qualified candidate requires a skilled, organized, and high-performing staff. Talent sourcing begins with research. Laying down a good foundation not only finishes your jobs faster and avoids coming back to the start process again.

Here are the three stepping stones.

Profiling the comfort zone-

Any sourcing/research begins with knowing what you are looking for. It is just not about knowing what skills or key words you are looking; rather it should even involve what type of hiring manager you are dealing including any details about his background, current employees, working profile. You may bring the best resume but the manager always has the softness for the college he/she graduated. The manager has to be interviewed skillfully finding out specific KSA (Knowledge, Skills, Abilities) and attitude along with profiling/interviewing the most productive employee. The more time you spend with the manager, the more details you get the easier your job. It is all about finding which candidate would fit the comfort zone.

Strategize your search-

Intelligence gathering is a tedious process. Before you start digging or writing advanced Boolean you have to be sure what area, which competitor, firm, department or industry do you want the search to focus on? This is where you decide if you would be doing the telephone research or Internet research. Both have its pros and con. Phone works well for targeted searches, but still requires you to do the homework on web before you start calling.

The Search-

Make it simple by starting with your ATS database. Most of the ATS are great but still a big black hole unless you search on it. The job board and yes the researchers should be looking on it for ones that were missed out, the resumes with past junior titles, Archived ones and most importantly looking for the trends on layoffs or the industry/company where most resumes coming from could be an easy target.

Search Engines/ISP sites: - These sites have personal web pages with resumes, blogs and links to past employers, and more (comcast.net).

People directories: - Networking, Individuals who register with their profession/employment.

Associations:- Professional/social Networking sites(LinkedIn), Alumni Associations(classmates.com or corporate), professional organization (like American Accounting Association ), local Chapters, Forums, Groups(Yahoo/Google) etc.

Research Tools:-Lexis, Hoovers, ZoomInfo, Pipl, One Scource, Jobster etc.

Resume Automation tools: - SourcePoint, TalentHook, Broadlook, Egrabber, Spiders, CSE's etc.

Telephone search:-Targeting a Company/Industry. "

Things are moving fast . The world is changing from a SaaS (Software as a Service) to a PaaS(Platform as a service)environment. Many of the tools I mention today may not be relevant tomorrow but technology and tools that plugs or toolbars for recruiting might become easier, faster and much better.

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Recruiting Strategy for Twitter

2009-03-14T22:18:06Z

The importance of branding was missed when initially writing on how to recruit from Twitter or created slideshare on Recruiting Via Twitter and even when critical seeing so many recruiters were spending there whole day in twitter ( I know you Ain't recruiting).. which I still l don't understand on how you do it... well Its very easy to get hooked on it...

Many recruiters start posting "I am looking for a blab blah manager" as soon as you hear that twitter is the next best thing in social media. The importance of branding, creating your profile, following your interest and generating interest is totally forgotten.

You won't hire anyone without having a strategy to start with. Its more important when you are a company or a business.

Twitter is so appealing to the all search engines(with you search ranking coming on top) and with the ability to spread your message at light speed and monitor online conversations about your business, company , brand or You.

Here are 10 simple practices:-

(1) Guidelines:- You should have a clear guideline on what you going to do. All your post/tweets/updates should adhere to clear policies and procedures representing your company. Simple things like whether you should "follow" selected people in twitter or follow "All" should be sorted out. Are you going to screen people.. using tools like topify..simpfly or other automated tools will help.

(2)Brand:- I like company Brands with a human face; not just a anon person putting in updates. It shows its real than just a PR media with motto only to pump up good will. The person should have the access directly with the PR and communication channel office. The message coming out should have a similar vibe from the official channel.

(3)Keep in touch:- Finding the details on why they are following is important; what are they looking for?(Occasional survey would help)Are they interested in Industry news or careers? Make Separate usernames for different functions. Make it available and update it regularly.

(4)Career related:- One of the most asked question is "I have the right skills.. why I didn't get selected"...People forget to understand that there's always things more than the skills...... Attitude, Personality, Culture of the company differs and that's something you should bring out more than "I have a job opening"; what type of people you hire and what type work here?

(5)Change:- Change is hard but important. With twitter follows,.. you can see people's pictures, personal blog, personal ideology and not only twitter but social media in general makes it easier for discrimination in the job recruiting process. .. goes back to the guidelines and what type of people you choose to represent on Twitter. The fine line about someone venting against your company or telling a truth which is hard to digest (especially in this economy) should they be considered as bad mouthing your company? Where the limitations?

(6)Contribute and Share:- It's hard to make everyone happy. You won't be able to reply to all comments. Be Straight. Comes back to what you are here for?You have to contribute valuable content along with sharing research reports ,whitepaper etc and need to be a person answering certain comments.

(7)BlackHole:- Careersites and employee ATS are well known for taking the resumes to blackhole. In twitter your reputation management can go down the sink very fast; so a simple answer "I don't have anything for you right now" will help a lot.

(8)Beware:- You try your best still its always trial and error. You are a human and even with your best intentions there are always bad elements out there ..just to get you. You feel very itchy to write back or get back to them.. its soooo tempting. The best approach IGNORE. You can't make everyone happy.

(9)Don't Give up:- It takes time.. a lot of time to generate valuable leads. Creating CRM for your twitter might be a good idea.What's the value in working for you? Things you can't talk or mention in your job description is what people want to hear. Integrating a new tool like Twitter with you other social media mix would require commitment and patience.

(10) Divide and Conquer:- Don't make social media the job of one person. If you are a business or company you need to cover different areas, types of news, career roles,ideas etc. Turn the remote to tech savvy recruiters who can do understands the needs and bring in more clicks to your career page.

Now are you ready to recruit from Twitter?

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Sourcing / Recruiting Linkedin for Free Accounts

2009-02-25T11:00:00Z

Sourcing / Recruiting Linkedin for Free Recruiting/Use of Linkedin with your free account.

View more presentations from Rithesh Nair. (tags: boolean learn)

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