Recruiter Today | Recruiting Trends and Tips for Recruiters - Page 105

Shake a Thousand Hands: a Better Way to Network

I am a volunteer with the Massachusetts Department of Corrections. Every week, I go inside prison walls to facilitate a fellowship under the auspices of the programs office and the Protestant chaplain. I have been doing this for about a decade. Recently, as an extension of this fellowship, I had an opportunity to participate in the distribution of Christmas gifts to the men incarcerated at the...

8 New Year's Resolutions for Entrepreneurs and Startup Leaders in 2016, Pt. 1

The start of the new year is as good a time as any to make some long-lasting improvements to the way you run your startup or small business. You've had that holiday period to wind down and take a step back from the daily grind, allowing you to see the big picture for the first time in a long while. This can provide you with some much-needed clarity and a new sense of focus. It's also...

5 Ways to Use Your Recruiting Process to Drive Organizational Change

Organizational change is difficult. Daunted by the prospect of attempting lasting change, many organizations end up mired in the past. Often, there are groups of people who simply reject change because they've always done things a certain way. To change things now seems scary to these employees. However, organizational change is inevitable. Technology's unstoppable march forward...

6 Smart Ways to Recruit Talent From Big Companies

Welcome to Recruiter QA, where we pose employment-related questions to the experts and share their answers! Have a question you'd like to ask? Leave it in the comments, and you might just see it in the next installment of Recruiter QA! Today's Question: What can recruiters and entrepreneurs do to attract top talent from big-name companies to their small business or...

The First Leadership Skill Every Entrepreneur Should Learn

Entrepreneurs tend to be single-minded, a little obsessive (in a good way!), and completely convinced of their own vision. In the face of obstacles, this tunnel vision can be a very good thing, but if it is not tempered, it can also be an entrepreneur's biggest weakness. In fact, the singular focus of an entrepreneur may even bring about "founder's syndrome" and, eventually, the downfall of...

Writing a Cover Letter That Works for You

I often discuss resumes, and as important as those are to your application package, the cover letter is equally critical. Writing a cover letter that works for you is important because it will show recruiters and hiring managers why you want the role and demonstrate your specific interest in the company. The cover letter is where you can wow employers with your true colors, perhaps through a...

The Secret Behind Real Startup Success

When your mind is constantly in motion due to the daily tasks and excitement of startup life, the best thing you can do to refresh is get away from it all. I would argue that intentional downtime is necessary for success – maybe as important as the idea for the business itself. Downtime not only helps keep the mind feeling fresh, but it also helps prevent burnout, something I faced...

4 Ways to Re-energize Your Employees After the Holidays

Come January, your business will probably need a shot of adrenaline. Research suggests that, for many companies, productivity drops around the holidays, due in part to more employees taking sick days. Without doubt, you'll want to start the new year with a bang to make up for the lost output in December – but that's easier said than done. Once the holiday season comes to a close, many of...

12 Things I Learned About Recruiting From 'Chopped'

Courtesy of Food Network Be honest for five seconds: The part of recruiting you hate most is turning people down. I don't like doing it either, but it has to be done. I think most recruiters and hiring managers feel the same way. Early in my recruiting career, I realized I wasn't very good at rejecting people and needed to improve. "You wanted to get better at rejecting...

What Data-Driven Recruiting Strategies Can't Ever Give You

Big data is all the rage these days. The HR crowd, those perennial trend followers, could not help but take notice. This is the answer to your prayers, we are told. Data software quantifies what is by default elusive and subjective: – i.e., candidates' strengths and weaknesses, all packaged in a single spreadsheet. Give me an HR professional who wouldn't dream of that. Well, it's not that...

Culture Q&A: Good Things Happen When You Put Employee Happiness First

When you think of innovative company cultures, your mind probably jumps immediately to the tech giants of the world: the eternal summer camp vibes of Zappos, the "20 percent rule" at Google, and Airbnb's $2000 travel stipend all shine pretty brightly as examples of game-changing approaches to culture. Or maybe you go smaller. Maybe, for you, agile startups represent the epitome of unique...

How to Request Flexible Work and Still Get Hired

Flexible work really matters to the millennials. A recent study conducted by PwC found that, after training and development, the thing millennials want the most from their jobs is flexible work arrangements. Flexible work outranked other perks, like cash bonuses, free healthcare, and more vacation time. And it's not just the millennials who like flexible work: Some estimates say that as...

How You Might Be Losing Top Talent and Potential Customers

A poor candidate experience is far from an anomaly. In fact, CareerBuilder reports that one in four workers has had a bad experience applying for a job in the past. So, what constitutes a bad candidate experience in the minds of the 78 percent of candidates who say they would share said bad experience with friends and family, or the one-third of candidates who would be less likely to...

Recruiting, Tweet by Tweet

Whether you work for a small organization or a large corporate entity, you can use Twitter to expand your digital recruiting reach with little or no cost and very little time. To make Twitter an effective part of your recruiting strategy, you need to accomplish three things: promote your new Twitter feed, share relevant information, and develop relationships. 1. Promote Your Feed First,...

5 Ways to Test Whether a Candidate Fits Your Company Culture

Employees and company culture go hand in hand. We rely on employees to uphold our cultures, and we rely on our cultures to unify our employees. It's a delicate balance, and throwing employees into the mix who have values that are fundamentally contrary to those of your company can halt progress. You may find the most qualified employee in the world, but if they don't fit in with your culture,...

4 Reasons Why You Should Always Check a Candidate's References

According to a new survey from SkillSurvey, which offers an online reference-checking solution, 70 percent of hiring professionals always check references for every candidate. That number is higher than I expected it to be. Beyond verifying dates of employment, what useful information can a reference really give you? As it turns out, there are a lot of benefits to reference-checking –...

Why Telecommuting Is No Day at the Beach

There was a time when I used to dream about being a remote worker. The thought usually arose while I was stuck in rush-hour traffic on the 405 (Note: Rush hour is approximately 7 A.M. to 7 P.M. in Southern California). I pictured myself on an outdoor chaise lounge, tropical drink in hand, as client after client called to tell me they were ready to sign on the dotted line. Pineapple slice? Don't...

Hey Recruiters! Here Are 3 Ways to Boost Your Productivity

The quality of your candidate pool – and, by extension, your organization's workforce – is directly impacted by the performance of your recruiters. Don't miss these three simple ways to optimize your recruiting productivity and the overall hiring outcomes for your organization. 1. Prioritize Prioritization Time management is an essential skill for recruiters. To achieve their goals...

10 Best Tips for Empowering Your Team on a Daily Basis

Ever since I sold my first company, I've been thinking a lot about what I could have done to make it more successful. Some people might think that selling a company for a decent check is a good thing --and I would totally agree. But that doesn't change the fact that I could have done better, and I am always trying to achieve more. I have realized since founding my last successful company that...

How to Measure Your Organization's 'Velocity'

"Ten years ago, you hired the top people from the top schools," says Deidre Paknad, CEO and cofounder of Workboard, which offers tech-based goal-management solutions. "Your design strategy for organizational advantage was IQ." According to Paknad, this strategy just isn't going to cut it in today's business climate, where it's all about "sprinting." "In the world we live in now, the very...

4 Ways to Jump-Start a Dead Job Search

It's frustrating, I know. You've been searching for a new job for weeks now – months even. Interviews are few and far between, and the interviews you do get are nothing you actually want – but hey, they're job opportunities, right? And at this point, you'll take what you can get. So you entertain these opportunities you don't really want because, well – you need a job! It's a...

Are You Ready? The Value of Preparing for Meetings

Abe Lincoln* once said, "If I had six hours to chop down a tree, I'd spend the first four sharpening the axe." Whether or not you agree with the proportion of time that Lincoln would have you spend on preparation, it's hard to argue against the idea that doing your homework will serve you well. How do you prepare for big meetings or presentations? Has that changed over time, or do you...

How to Audit Your Employer Brand

In order to attract good candidates, you need to pay attention to your employer branding. That's just a fact of the recruiting industry. When we advise our readers and customers to focus on their employer brands, they often have a lot of questions. "What kinds of things should we be paying attention to?" they ask. "How do we actually perform an audit of our employer brand?" Given...

Culture Q&A: At 15Five, Employees 'Work Toward Their Greatest Selves'

You would hope that 15Five, as the purveyor of an employee engagement solution, would have a great company culture. After all: If the employees at the company aren't engaged, why would you trust the company's product to make sure your employees were? Based on my conversations with some 15Five employees – as well as the CEO himself, David Hassell – I can confidently say there's no need to...

Lou Adler's Winning Formula for Recruiting Passive Candidates

If you've been in the industry for longer than 30 minutes, you know that recruiting passive candidates requires an entirely different strategy from whatever tactics you use with active applicants. You also probably know that passive candidates are important because the best people don't need to look for jobs the traditional way. Furthermore, when top candidates do happen to be actively...

4 Great Ways to Drive Down Startup Costs

Entrepreneurs are great at coming up with innovative products and taking the market by storm. Sometimes, though, they're also great at getting swept up in their own hype – and that can lead to a dangerous loss of financial perspective. In the early days of a startup, all eyes may be drawn to booming sales reports. Meanwhile, more mundane – but absolutely critical – metics fall off the...

The 16 Biggest Hiring Problems You'll Face in 2016 [Infographic]

Sorry, folks, but there's a good chance your current recruiting/hiring process won't be good enough to carry you through 2016. That's according to a new infographic from Spark Hire, which you can view in full below. The infographic, titled "16 Hiring Problems You Need to Solve in 2016," outlines a number of problems that recruiters are facing today – problems that they need to address...

How the Grinch Stole Workplace Appreciation (and How to Get It Back)

It's a Christmas classic. Every year, we enjoy the journey of the Grinch -- from ninja-level curmudgeon, to repenter of his ways, and, finally, to the hero of the day. The Grinch remains an interesting character. He's so filled with anger and resentment that it clouds his vision and, certainly, his judgment. He embarks on a journey that he thinks will fill the hole in his small and fragile...

How to Get Employees Excited About Your New Efficiency Initiative

Organizational efficiency initiatives are often viewed with skepticism – probably because they don't always work, and even when they do, many don't actually attribute the company's success to these initiatives. If this happens regularly, then employees in your company may simply view any and all productivity initiatives as nuisances and distractions. This, in turn, means employees will be...

How to Quit Your Job – The Right Way

If you are reading this, you probably need to find a new job opportunity. Or perhaps you've already scored a great new gig and are now plotting your grand exit. But no matter how long you've dreamed of storming into your boss's office and quitting in a blaze of anger, it's important to leave your position gracefully. That's why we're here to offer five ways to quit your job with no...

8 Red Flags That Will Kill Your Chances of Landing a Job

Welcome to Recruiter Q&A, where we pose employment-related questions to the experts and share their answers! Have a question you'd like to ask? Leave it in the comments, and you might just see it in the next installment of Recruiter Q&A! This Week's Question: When you're hunting for a new hire, what are some of the red flags that will disqualify a candidate immediately? Whether...

The Business Writing Mistake That's Making You Look Bad

There's something you may be doing every day that's making you look old and out of touch -- and, you probably have no idea what it is. It's not your clothes, or your hairstyle, or the AOL email address (although, those might not be helping either!). What you're doing is more subtle than all that. Worst of all, it' something that you learned was correct in school. How or why would you...

How Flexible Work Arrangements Can Make Your Startup Stronger

Starting a business used to be easy! Okay, it was never easy per se, but at least in the old days you could focus on your product/service and your company branding. In today's talent-starved job market environment, however, you also need to worry about employer branding if you are ever going to attract the best talent to your organization. If you need a skilled barista and not just someone to...

Careers Vs. Jobs: The Path to Personal Fulfillment

Are you a college graduate, a millennial, a military veteran looking to transition back to civilian life, or a seasoned professional unsatisfied with your current employment situation? If so, then the "job" versus "career" question is one you should consider, because the differences between the two can be crucial to your overall satisfaction. During your life, you'll spend a lot of time at...

No Matter What Industry You're in, You Can Be a Great Place to Work

Nestlé Purina PetCare It's Christmas time – in more ways than one. Of course, the actual holiday itself is upon us; what's more, Glassdoor just released its list of the "Best Places to Work" for 2016. To me, that's a pretty great gift. I always get very excited when Glassdoor's list comes out, because it offers us all a chance to step back and take a look at what it means...

When an Employee Isn't Working Out, Is It Better to Terminate or Reassign Them?

Today's question comes from a busy entrepreneur: Is it better to terminate or reassign an employee that is not working out? I have spent a lot of time training an employee. She is a great person, but I have to remind her several times to do something. I am not sure if she is just not in the right role or if she will always need so much oversight. I am curious how others have handled...

4 Ways to Raise Prices Without Driving Away Customers

Creativity, innovation, and marketing expertise are crucial to the success of your business – but so is a good pricing strategy. As I discussed yesterday, poor pricing strategies – including undercharging for your good or services – are a common cause of startup failure. To maximize revenue and ensure their businesses stay viable, entrepreneurs need to know how to price their goods and...

Use Behavioral Interview Questions to Assess Cultural Fit

In a traditional interview it can be just about impossible to accurately assess a candidate's cultural fit – especially if you're using questions like the old "tell me about yourself" standby. In a situation that depends on an emotional component for a quality decision, it is too easy to be inexact and inconsistent. This is the "falling in love" strategy of interviewing which most of us...

Why You Should Let Your Employees Make Mistakes

You've come a long way since your days in college. Scratch that. You've come a long way since you began your leadership role. It doesn't matter if you've been in the position for two weeks or two decades: Leadership requires a constant evolution of skills and management techniques. But what leaders often don't know how to handle – no matter how long they've been in leadership roles –...

While We're Busy Fretting Over Generational Differences, We're Making Bad Hiring Decisions

SaaS company Assess Systems recently released an excellent white paper, and the title alone should be proof enough that these folks are not messing around: "Generational Differences: The Newest Way to Justify a Bad Hire". Further expanding on this no-nonsense line in a press release, the vice president of talent solutions for Assess Systems, Carol Jenkins, said, "Stereotypes about...

Sourcing Candidates Is a Team Sport

If your organization wants to hire great talent, it's critical that your recruiters and hiring managers team up to identify, engage, and nurture candidates. In many organizations, hiring managers depend on recruiters to source and screen candidates. Recruiters are the experts in the hiring process – but they're not always the best suited to identify candidates. Hiring managers know, more...

6 Employee Perks That Attract Top Talent

Hiring exceptionally talented individuals and motivating them to perform at their highest levels is critical to the success of any business – but this critical activity is also intensely difficult to do. Because the best talent is constantly in demand, some companies have begun to offer more than generous pay and benefits packages to attract and retain top employees. But here's the thing:...

5 Red Flags That Your Startup's Prices Are Too Low

Research from CB Insights found that poor pricing strategies are one of the most common reasons why small businesses fail. When it comes to poor pricing, overcharging is only one aspect of the problem. Undercharging for goods or services can be just as damaging to a company. Many cautious entrepreneurs choose to adopt a low pricing strategy in order to win business and gain market share. The...

The Business Benefits of Taking a Daily Stroll

Like many companies, we at Due are always trying to be more productive and more health-conscious at work. A couple of months ago, I read that Stanford University recently conducted a survey that concludes that daily walks improve productivity and creativity, so I decided to put this idea to the test. For 30 days, we asked that everyone in our office (if physically able) take two...

Building a Culture Where Your Employees Would Rather Be at Work Than on Vacation

Ryan Fitzgerald, cofounder of digital marketing firm Net Conversion, sees his company as a family. "Everyone has each other's backs and will pitch in and help when needed," Fitzgerald says. "I make sure I know what's happening in everyone's lives – not just on a work basis, but on a personal basis. I make sure everything's okay." But we've all heard that kind of thing before, haven't we?...

Is Text Messaging a Viable Way to Recruit?

In today's hyper-competitive talent market, many recruiting teams are starting to think outside of the box. Thanks to rising quotas and shrinking budgets, more and more recruiters are looking for creative ways to leverage existing technology to improve their recruiting efforts. Consider, for example, how recruiters turned social media into the hottest new talent acquisition tool just a few...

What's the Business Case for You?

You can't be distinctive without being selective. Selective organizations and their leaders look to the strength of the "business case" before investing precious resources in new opportunities. Whether it concerns people, priorities, or projects, the business case includes a dispassionate and balanced assessment of the relative benefits, costs, and presumed impact of the potential choices....

The Importance of Building Your Online Presence Now

I often browse LinkedIn, connecting with people in the industry or reaching out to my clients to stay in touch. If I don't see someone I know on LinkedIn, and I go to ask them why they don't have a profile, I always seem to get a similar response: "Oh, I'll set one up later. I don't need one right now, so there's no point." Well my friend, you are wrong there. You do need to establish an...