Recruitment Services Company of the year 2006 - Singapore.

As per the survey conducted by HumanResources magazine in a special annual edition title HR Vendors of the year - voted by HR professionals the top ten Recruitment Services Company of the year 2006 are listed as below:

Rank / Company
1. Kelly Services

2. Hudson Global Resources
3. Adecco Personnel
4. Michael Page International
5. Robert Walters
6. GMP Recruitment
7. Recruit Express
8. Manpower Staffing Services
9. Drake International
10. Korn/Ferry International

Singapore economy for the year 2006 is expected to surpassed all predictions if we are to go by the percentage of economic growth in 3rd quarter 2006 which stands at 7.1%. The economy outlook for the year 2007 therefore also looks very promising. With the booming economy the recruitment business is also expected to experience booming business in the coming years.
Of late, we've also seen the increased acitivities of the various financial institutes either setting up new operations or refurbishing existing infrastructure here in Singapore and thereby increasing on their headcounts. As a result of which competition for quality technical resources are getting fiercer and more and more recruitment services company are compeld to scout for resources outside of Singapore.
This fierce competition for talents also resulted in mushrooming new recrutiment services company and while the likes of Kelly Services will continue to hold thier position in the top by offering various niche services to their clients we can also expect to see new faces in the year 2007 and two such players are Talent2 and Charterhouse Partnership.

For all our current jobs/openings please click on this image


***Happy hunting folks!***

Building Talent Organizational Capabilities - JobMachine Inc.,

I am herewith reprinting the mail that I received from Dave Mendoza. Please contact him directly for more details on their services - Consulting and Training for sourcing and recruiting team in your organisation.

Dave Mendoza is a Master CyberSleuth and Consultant with expertise in the integration of sourcing methodologies, employment branding and recruitment technologies. Few in the recruiting business take “networking” more seriously or
pursue it more passionately. Author of SixDegreesFromDave.com, a leading recruitment blog, Dave is a distinguished writer and a well versed public speaker. He is known in the recruitment industry as an advocate for building aggressive talent pipelines and research capabilities while maintaining substantive social networking relationships. He joined Shally Steckerl at JobMachine as a partner. About Shally - Winner of the Recruiting.com Best Recruiting Research Blog Award! Talent Aquisition Strategy expert, consultant, and researcher. An authority in Internet Search, pioneer in Recruitment Intelligence, accomplished trainer, founder of: JobMachine.net, author of acclaimed CyberSleuthing!

On 11/23/06, Dave Mendoza dave@jobmachine.net wrote:

Good Morning Joe,

I wanted to take this opportunity to follow-up and provide additional information detailing our services . Our consulting practice also provides solution services to assist companies in building passive sourcing teams and talent organizational capabilities overall that will benefit staffing objectives.

Shally Steckerl and I have partnered to add value to our customer’s sourcing and recruiting teams by helping them build organizational capabilities. Shally Steckerl has helped architect sourcing and research teams at companies such as Microsoft, Google, Motorola, Cisco, Genentech, Disney and Wal-mart and we have advised many others. Attached is a detailed custom proposal, in addition to our training services for your review.

Consulting: We offer professional consulting to staffing leadership on how to design, implement or scale sourcing/recruiting models that best support their organization’s business goals. We assist in crafting potential recruiting models that yield greater efficiencies within an organization’s unique environment. Pricing is adjusted after an initial needs assessment meeting. Please select from the consulting services detailed in the attached document.
Knowledge Transfer: On-site training consists of one or two day live laboratory sessions conducted at your facility and customized for your recruiters’ needs. We’ll help you select the most pertinent topics from over 50 hours of training material. Your recruiters will get hands-on practice with open requisitions and walk away with actionable results. Tuition is $3,500 per day for groups of up to ten and $6,000 for up to 35 participants. To ensure adequate hands-on experience and Q&A, groups larger than 35 must be split into separate sessions. Instructor expenses (air/hotel/transportation) are in addition to tuition. A comprehensive list of topics is enclosed.
Feel free to inform your colleagues, associations and staffing management about our offerings.

If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Best regards,

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dave Mendoza
Partner, Master CyberSleuth
JobMachine, Inc.
O: (720) 733-2022, C: (714) 235-1004
http://www.sixdegreesfromdave.com/
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davemendoza
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On becoming a great recruiter!

I was reading this article 'A Profile of the World's Most Aggressive Recruiter, Part 2' by Dr. Sullivan on ere.net and this was based on Questions and answers with Michael Lackaye and I thought it's a very good advice indeed and every recruiter must heed to become a great recruiter.

On becoming a great recruiter:

Michael's advice on how to get better as a recruiter is abandon fear. "You are not paid to be PR, you aren't paid to call and make friends with candidates. You are paid to find the best, sell them, assess them, and hire them. Always be asking yourself 'is this person wasting my time, or is there value in going deeper?' If you want to build a competitive advantage for your recruiting function, be ready to try anything crazy, and fail. Engage your internal network. Brand yourself. Invest time in competitive intelligence, not only in offensive recruiting, but being cognizant of your competitors' efforts to take your best talent."

Whototalkto – the insider’s job search

You know of this blue chip company that you would love to work with and you know that it would have been much easier for you to get a job there if only you knew someone inside the blue chip company or know of someone who can give you the right contacts within the company or give you the inside scoop. But you don’t know anyone at the blue chip company.

In come whototalkto. Whototalkto is the first job referral exchange that brings job seekers together so that everyone can share and exchange the inside scoop.

As a recruiter, this concept did strike me in the past and I am glad whototalkto has come up with a system that is simply very cool and neat. Kudos to you guys!

From the recruiter community perspective, this is a beautiful way of exchanging resources and contacts – a truly give and take policy.

Sometime, we have this exclusive job request from the client/hiring managers and you wish someone could help you provide the right referral or leads.

JOHN
John is a recruiter with XYZ Pte Ltd and has a client with whom he has an exclusive search arrangement. XYZ gives John a requirement for a Kondor+ Business Analyst. John does not have any K+ candidates and does not know where to find one. John however has very strong network in local Singaporean SAP. John decides to post his dilemma in whototalkto.

JOE
Joe works for ABC Pte Ltd and knows someone in Dubai with K+ experience. Joe is also working with IBM client and is in urgent need of Chinese speaking SAP consultants for a project in Shanghai. He came across John’s request and responded.

John and Joe met up at whototalkto and exchanged their referrals and for both it’s a win-win situation indeed.

Some more examples of job referrals:

• I am currently working at Charterhouse. I can tell you lots about the best way to get hired here if you request more info about this referral.
• My roommate is a consultant with Standard Chartered Singapore. If you're looking for good permanent banking jobs he can put in a good word for you. I'll give you his email address.
• My husband is a consultant at IBM. He can refer you to his boss. I'll give you his email address and you can chat with him.
  

For more info and to register with whototalk to please visit http://www.whototalkto.com/

For all our current jobs/openings please click on this image


***Happy hunting folks!***

IT pros median salary in Singapore by PayScale!

The other day I got a mail from Susan at PayScale and she was sharing with me about the IT pros payscale in USA and I ask her if she could provide me for Singapore and she replied back immediately with the chart as given below. I thought it’s pretty interesting. You can also find the salary chart for IT pros in India as well as the median salary of IT pros in the different cities in India.

PayScale, Inc. is a market leader in online compensation information, providing access to accurate compensation data for both employees and employers. Learn more about PayScale.

Median Salary of IT pros in Singapore (in USD)

Median Salary of IT pros in India (in USD)

Compare the two charts above and you find the salary differences between the two countries to be more than 3 folds.

However this figures cannot be applied across the industry especially for the banking sectors. According to a recent article in Times of India the salary drawn by a executive and middle level officer in India is comparable to that offered in Singapore.

And for those of you who are keen to know the salary median in the different cities in India the below given chart is a good base to start from.

Median Salary of IT pros in India-by city (in USD)

For all our current jobs/openings please click on this image


***Happy hunting folks!***

Back Out candidates phenomena

back out
1. To withdraw from something before completion.
2. To fail to keep a commitment or promise.

Recruiting is a very exciting and challenging profession and even more so when you recruit IT consultants. The challenges for an IT recruiter in today’s job market are in convincing and managing IT job seekers to remain committed and not back out during the hiring process. With the current IT market boom, good IT consultant can find himself with multiple job offers at any given point of time and will get approached and head hunted by head hunters and recruiters alike constantly. And because he has multiple offers at hand he is bound to remain true to himself and not being loyal to anyone consultant, after all he can only take up one offer at one time. This will also means that to the other recruiter he is bound to be another case of a back out candidate.

As a recruiter, the most frustrating aspect of my job is to have in my hand a candidate backing out – during or after the selection process. For most of us, the stress that we go through as a recruiter is not so much from the targets and the deadlines but the uneasy feeling of not knowing if your selected/shortlisted candidate(s) will remain committed to your offer and take up the job.

My first back out experience in Singapore was with a candidate who had a niche-hard- to-find-skill that we sourced and selected from one of the leading software house in Southern India. The pre-qualifying and the interview process went smoothly and the client was happy and they want him on board ASAP. To make a long story short, we waited for him for one month and on the day of his departure he kept us in tenterhooks by not picking up his calls and when we called his home his family will not give us proper response however subsequently we managed to talk to him and he assured us that alls well. But later I got a call from the airport and that was 2:00 in the morning and he told me that he is not flying and he will not be able to join us because of family reason. That’s it. He decided in the last minute he won’t join us. Here our client IBM is under tremendous pressure themselves from their client because this candidate was supposed to be the lead guy and they wanted to parade him in front of the client the following day. Poor me, I had that sinking feeling deep down inside and I just wasn't feeling good at all to face the client.

Backing out of job offers is a big issue especially in country like India because of the bullish job market. I believe the situation is not so bad for organizations which are of repute and are well established such as Infosys, TCS, Wipro, etc but those second and third tier organization are the one facing the brunt of most of the back out cases. This could be attributed mainly due to the fact that the big boys do not have difficulty in attracting job applicants because of their good brand image and willingness to shell out above average market compensation.

Types of back out:
Let’s look at what stages of the recruitment process a back out can possibly happen.
1. Candidate backing out before the interview
2. Candidate backing out after interview
3. Candidate backing out after accepting the offer
4. Candidate backing out before joining
5. Candidate backing out just after joining

Probable reasons for back outs:
Varied reasons can be attributed as to why a candidate back out, from my past experiences below are some of the common ones -
* Have in hand several offers and will decide on the one best offer
* Developing cold feet at the last moment before submitting his/her resignation letter
* HR/Line Manager convinced him/her to stay back
* Was given a very good counter offer by employer so decided to stay back
* Not serious about leaving current job, and attending interviews just because the opportunity was presented to him/her.
* Learnt of the project which was not to his liking/preference/expectation and is not keen on joining
* The final offer not up to his/her expectation
* Did not agree with some of the clause(s) in the offer letter/appointment letter
* His/her friends/contacts gave negative feedback about the organisation so decided not to join
* Required joining time not reasonable
* See what offer he/she can get from the market to negotiate a better salary with existing employer
* Selection process took too long and has already accepted another offer
* Tried re-negotiating for more salary after selection
* Genuinely have personal/family issue because of which he/she cannot take up the offer

Repercussions & affects of backing out:
- Recruitment is an expensive activity. Every time a candidate backs out the recruitment process has to be initiated all over again.
- Good amount of time and effort is wasted to find a new replacement and projects can and do get delayed and all these translates to revenue lost
- But most important of all is the lost of client’s trust. This is non tangible and will have long term adverse affect vis-à-vis client-vendor relationship.

How to avoid & reduce candidates backing out:
• If you and your candidates are in the same area it is always advisable to meet face-to-face.
• Be it on the phone or in person spent as much time as you can and dig for information – what motivates him to look for a change, professional and personal reasons, what are his expectations in terms of money and roles, etc.
• It is important to be in control when it comes to recruiter-candidate relationship. To achieve that it is important that you conduct a thorough pre-qualifying. Get all the low-down about his background and aspiration, et al.
• Always insist on obtaining either verbally and/or in writing his/her response and commitment to the job offer. You may do this with a direct approach or with great subtlety. Which approach you resort to will depend on each individual or their level of seniority – you need to make the right judgment.
• Constantly update him/her on the process and try keeping-in-touch on a frequent basis.
• Pay close attention while talking to him/her and listen for those tones and expressed/unexpressed concerns and look for those signs that might indicate his intentions.
• If any of his/her words, expressions, actions gives you a sense of doubt and concern, then drop him/her and move on. It is better to drop him/her now than later have a back out in your hand.
• Have a set of questionnaire that you can run through with him/her before proceeding to qualify him - questionnaire that will test his seriousness and sincerity to look for a change.
• Do not hesitate to ask them if they have discussed with his/her family members about this plan to look for a job change. Especially for those who are married, please confirm with them if they have consulted their other half.
• Try and get inside your candidate’s mind, understand his needs and his aspiration.
• Pro-actively try to cover all areas that you possibly think will be a likely point of concern (reason for a back out) for him at a later stage and addressed them immediately.

If after all this you have a back out it’s probably all right, after all, let us not forget that we are only human and let us accept the fact that they too are also just human like us and not anything else (wink!). Like us they too can have many internal and external influences/flaws for them to change their decision at a drop of a hat or act differently at times without any rhyme or reason.

The trick here is to constantly learn from ones mistakes and not repeat the same mistake the next time round. A good recruiter is someone who no matter how many times he falters and gets knocked down will reinvent himself and come back again and again but stronger, better and smatter.


Appreciate if you can share any additional suggestions/comments on how one can avoid candidate backing out.

*** Happy hunting folks!***

Most IT pros are looking for a new job

I stumbled upon this interesting piece of statistics from a survey and thought to share with everyone.

Most IT pros are looking for a new job, Says survey

60% of IT pros are looking for new jobs, Of the 60% who want a new job,

- 27% are "actively" searching;

- 52% are "somewhat actively" looking,

- 20% say they're "not very actively" hunting for new work,

And the reason why the IT pros are looking for a change:

- 73% cited the desire for better pay as the main reason for their search,

- 40% are looking for better benefits.

- Two-thirds also say they are looking for new jobs because their current positions offered no advancement opportunities.

- 58% say they are looking for new challenges.

- 40% of the job-searching respondents complain that their managers don't respect or value the work they do.

- 40% say they hope to find new work in the same industries they're in now.

*** Happy hunting folks!***

Lost your job – what do you do?

The scenario:

“Yikes! You just lost your job! You’ve been so busy at *work* that you don’t feel your network is as strong as you would like it to be! What are you going to do with (and to) your network in the next 6 weeks as you begin an aggresive job search campaign? And, outside of your network, what job search tactics will you employ? Or your best networking tips related to job searches”. - Blog carnival by Jason Alba

Phone & e-mail:

Firstly, I would update my mentor (if you don’t have one yet, this is the right time to do so) on my unfortunate situation and seek his immediate advice and also share with him on my plan of action and listen to what he has to say. Secondly, pick up the phone and talk to my favorite recruiter and also later call my not-so-favorite recruiters. Thirdly, I would then personally call up all my networks, spend time catching up with them and subtly enquire from them if they are aware of any new jobs around. I would try not to be too aggressive or desperate the first time around. Showing desperation at the first meeting/chat after a long gap can be perceived to be not a ‘cool’ thing to do and for some it might even sound rude or might even be construed to being taken for granted. One has to be respectful and not take any relationship for granted, very basic and important. After all the talk is done suggest a personal meeting over a cup of coffee or lunch/dinner, provided you and your network are within the same city or vicinity. Personal meeting are always more effective then catching up over the phone. I’ll proceed to update my network on my situation, be nice and enquire about his health, about the market/industry, whatever, and be prepared to share my plans and my actual situation. I would then follow up this meeting with a phone call after 3-4 days and this time round I can be completely open with him and share my intention to look for a job immediately. I will check with him if he is aware of any job openings that will suit my profile and request him to talk to his network to enquire any relevant job openings on my behalf. I will be assertive about my intentions but will not show any sign of desperation. To those in my next level of network, I’ll try calling them else make sure I write to them and update them on my situation and enquire from them if they would be kind enough to refer if they know of any openings that would be suitable for my experience. I would also remember to thank them in anticipation of their help/assistance.

Messengers:

I’d use the messenger and the contacts to spread the word around that I’m seeking for a new job. Sometime, those contacts even though they might not be recruiters will know of recruiters whom they can touch base and enquire for any job openings on my behalf. Some folks do have this strong tendency to go out of their way to help others, pray you do have such contacts in your list.

LinkedIn/Orkut/Jibberjobber:

I would also start paying close attention to all my contacts and my contact’s contacts. And try getting myself introduce to them or connecting to them.

Professional Membership:

I’d also find out about the members within the memberships that I currently belong and look around for anyone whom I can network with and get their advice/help/references.

Blogroll:

If you do blog within the relevant area of your professional practice, do get in touch with all your fellow bloggers and subtly enquire around for any relevant job openings.

Mailing group:

If you are part of a mailing group (e.g.; like yahoogroups), do check for any relevant job postings by fellow group members. Also do touch base directly with some of the members whom you think might be able to assist you.

When all the above means are exhausted, the next best option is to go to Job sites and job boards and news paper/magazine advertisements and start checking out the relevant job postings and start applying. This traditional mode of job search sometimes can be very effective and that’s because the openings are generally of urgent in nature and that’s one reason why in the first place the job has been advertised.

Also, it might be worthwhile for me to shortlist few of the companies that I would like to work with, visit their website and check out if they have any relevant job postings on their website.

The last and the most extreme mode of job search outside of one’s network will be blogging. This is the age of web2.0, go ahead blog your way to the attention of your next employer. Blog about anything that is relevant to ‘the’ company that you really wish to work for, do your bit of digging and research, and impress them on how much you know about them, their products and services, talk about any market feedback if you know of any, et al.

And should all else fails, you might even try filming your CV and distributing it to all your prospective employers – this one is innovative but extreme and sure to attract attentions – both wanted and unwanted.

Finally, be passionate about yourself, your profession and your job search and you will find that sooner rather than later your search will land you your next job. Also in the process of searching for a new job and through the journey you would have importantly renewed and strengthen your network, met some wonderful new contacts, increased your knowledge and becoming wiser and more prepared should you have to search for a new job in the near future again.

*** Happy job hunting!***

Desktop Search Engines

Have you ever struggled to locate a specific email message or file on your local or shared hard drive? Have you ever wished that you could find anything inside your email attachments and in your hard disk instantly with just a few clicks and/or by keying in few keywords? The solution is available for you in the form of Desktop Search and it’s free!

Google V/S Microsoft V/S Yahoo

Desktop Search works like an internet search engine and is used to find a file on personal computers using keyword(s). Desktop Search is a tool every recruiter must have to achieve optimum productivity vis-à-vis effective search and retrieval of data – resumes, files, reports etc from their local machines or for those working in a network environment the Enterprise version of Desktop Search. A good recruiter will normally work at a furious pace and will not want to be slowed down by not having the means and tools to mine his database effectively. Desktop Search can be downloaded free and are very light and can be downloaded and installed in a minute or so.

Desktop Search has been around and the most common one that we are familiar with will be the one that Microsoft has in-built along with their operating systems and also with all their office applications. And for those of us in the search industry we all know how frustrating it can be to rely on this search mode because it is very ineffective especially when you have to search the database in the local drive for multiple skills set.

Google has taken the search concept a notch higher and they developed a tool call Google Desktop Search (GDS) and as expected they were soon followed by Microsoft with their version call Windows Desktop Search (WDS). And the latest one being from Yahoo call Yahoo Desktop Search (YDS) - Yahoo licensed the technology for YDS from X1, a desktop search developer owned by Idealab. We also have some more Desktop search applications flooding the market such as Copernic, HotBot, Ask Jeeves, Blinkx etc, but I would like to focus on the above 3 players because they are more or less known by everyone.

FEATURES:	Google (GDS)	Yahoo (YDS)	Windows (WDS)
Indexing	Yes – local	Yes – local	Yes – also network
Interface	Windows Exp	Panes	panes
Email attachment	No	Yes	Yes
Auto preview	No	Yes	Yes
Boolean search	Yes	Yes	Yes
Auto indexing of web pages visited	Yes	No	No
Character search(eg:C#/C++)	No	No	No

One other company well versed in the science of search is Copernic and they offer Copernic Desktop Search (CDS) which has one of the best interface. After experiencing Copernic and Yahoo search, Google is such a huge disappointment. Firstly, the windows interface is very untidy and a pain when you have to click on the link every time you have to access the file and for recruiter like me I would prefer to have a preview before I can waste valuable time clicking on the link when I am not even sure if the file will even be relevant. Secondly, Google missed out on including the email attachment indexing, which to me is very important because most of the resumes are in attachment. Thirdly, unlike Copernic and WDS, Google does not let you search through the mapped network drive.

Almost all the players have something similar to offer and few can offer anything that is radically different. I would give my highest ranking to Copernic except for the fact that I struggled to completely index my database in spite of trying it few times and besides it does not indicate to me the indexing progress (percentage completed) which is like working in the dark.

Based on my requirements and the intended use of the utility which is searching mainly for resumes in email attachment and hard drive, my preference will be WDS. This is because WDS does a good job of indexing and even though it has a limited preview option it does serve its purpose because I can have a glimpse of the search result in the form of a windows pane. So this time round, for me it's got to be Microsoft.

Google VERSUS Microsoft

The dynamic world of web search and services has never been the same since Google arrived on the scene and this I can promise you things around us are destined to never remain the same. Google not only brought in newer and braver and more innovative ideas but also fired up competitors like Microsoft to become more creative in creating and coming up with a better product. One such example would be a superior Windows Desktop Search (WDS) from Microsoft as compared to Google Desktop Search (GDS) and another such example would be Microsoft's Windows Live search compared to Google web search. Compare the two sites and you observe the resemblances between the two. It is pretty obvious that Microsoft is trying to emulate Google with a neat and light search page - Google's trademark design. The competition between the two does not end there but also in many other areas as can be seen in the comparision table as below. One can boldly predict that the fierce competition is not about to end soon atleast not in the near future. And the good news is that we can also look forward to happy days ahead of us with better, cheaper and meaner products resulting from the healthy competition between Microsoft and Google. For now I am not willing to take any side just yet but atleast when it comes to web search, cool gadgets and email I am for Google - entirely and faithfully.

Service/product	Google	Microsoft
Web Search	Google search	Windows Live search
Email	Gmail	Windows Live Mail beta
Instant messaging	Google Talk	Windows Live Messenger
Mapping	Google Maps/Earth	Windows Live Local/Virtual Earth
Web Calendar	Google Calendar	Windows Live Calendar
Browser Toolbar	GoogleToolbar	Windows Live Toolbar
Spreadsheets	GoogleSpreadsheet	Microsoft Excel
Desktop Search	Google Desktop Search	Windows Desktop Search

** Happy Hunting Folks!**

Tips for Job Seekers - A recruiter's perspective

Searching for a job can often be very stressful and for some even emotionally and physically draining. The process could take time and hard work before one can find success. As a job seeker your search can become more effective if you learn how to streamline your effort and you do this by doing proper research and preparation.
As an IT recruiter I have had the experience of interacting with thousands of IT job seekers through the years and some of them truly impressed me with their approach and conduct and left in me an inedible mark and a positive influence. Unfortunately I cannot say the same for majority of the job seekers. These tips are meant especially for those job seekers who wish to improve and hone their job search skills - a recruiter's perspective.
1. Resume writing: In today's competitive market, it is imperative that you always have your resume ready and updated - you never could tell when and where from the next great opportunity will come to you. Design a resume which clearly states your experiences, achievements and basic information such as educational qualification, contact details et al. Always be prepared to customized your resume based on the prospective employer's requirements and expectations. Having said that it is equally important that you do not put anything extra in your resume for which you can not substantiate. Keep in mind too the layout and the format of your resume design. You will receive Recruiters' appreciation, attention and respect if you are prepared to take the time and effort to do up your resume which is neat and detailed. And for those mature/specialized skills job seekers focus not on your needs but the needs of your prospective hirers - this definitely will catch your recruiter's attention.
2. Job Market Research: Once you have your resume prepared and/or you are prepared to initiate your job search actively the next thing for you to do is explore your immediate available options - networking through your friends, contacts, colleagues, ex-colleagues, and maybe talk to your favorite recruiter. You have much to gain and little to loose by befriending a recruiter. Remember this that a recruiter talks and meets many job seekers everyday and receive many mails every single day. How do you make the recruiter remember you and/or remember your profile? The most obvious is that you have a very impressive resume which stands out amongst the crowd - for many of us this might not be an option and lets be prepared to face and accept it. The other option is that you cultivate and nurture a friendship or contact with your recruiter - this is known as networking and let the favors be mutual. Favor I mean will be when you contact him for available openings or market information and when he contacts you for leads and references.
If unfortunately you've exhausted your immediate options, you then need to widen your horizon and start scanning through the different job sites and even newspapers - recruit/opportunity sections. Most of today's job sites, that's if you are a registered member will mail you new jobs that are specific to your search. This means you have the luxury of new jobs being presented to you without you having to scan through the job sites one after the other. The other option is go directly to your prospective company website and search for their current job listings. Lately, I've found that mailing groups like yahoogroups are a good place to find out the current jobs in the market as posted by various recruiters. Some of these jobs might not even be advertised/available anywhere else.
3. Send out your resume: Now that you have your resume ready and you've done your market research and you have a good idea of where to send out your resume/application go ahead and start applying. Do keep in mind the following e-mail tips:
a) Hide your distribution list: To avoid looking awkward never put multiple email id's in the "To:" field in your e-mail message. A good and self respective recruiter may not be very enthusiastic to contact you if it looks like you are working with every other firm in the market. As far as possible avoid sending your resume to more than one company in the same mail. A recruiter loves nothing more than if you take the pain of mailing to him alone and addressing him by his name in the mail. However for whatever reason, against your better judgment presumably, if you have to write to multiple company please do so by using the "undisclosed-recipients" feature in your e-mail program, or the "bcc:" field.
b) E-mail content/Cover letter: How you approach to land yourself the job that you desire or successfully gain your recruiter's attention will be determine by how well you address and express yourself in your email or cover letter. A good introduction will include a brief highlights of your experience, skills and your reasoning on your fitment for the role, do make it short and to the point. Again, remember that a recruiter loves nothing more than to hear his own name when approached by a job seeker. Go ahead make his day, write to him, call him by his name, you have nothing to lose!
c) E-mail subject: If you are applying for job through advertised jobs with a reference code given, do make it a point to use the reference code in both your subject line and in your cover letter. This goes to show that you understand the requirement and that you do understand and one does assume that you have what it takes. This way chances are higher that your application will be validated and not get lost in the muddle or worst in the junk/spam mail folder.
3. Follow up: Often, a recruiter can get overwhelmed with too many mails to check and too many calls to attend to and return et al. It does not hurt one bit if you can follow up your application with a gentle reminder mail or even a short call. To a good recruiter, he will be convince that you are indeed serious about your job search and therefore he will take the extra effort to look into your profile and take the necessary action. In other words be pro-active in your job search and be ready to reap your harvest.
3. If nothing else works, try blogging: For those job seekers who for whatever reasons have only one desire or specific goal to find a job with a particular company, and after exhausting all options but still unsuccessful in landing himself a job with the company, it might be worthwhile to blog your way into their hearts and finally inside the organization. But if you are not the blogging type that's ok because you might still be able to find yourself a job by reading others blog, such as this blog by yours truly advertising jobs with Charterhouse.

Finally, it does not hurt to thank others. Prepare short thank you mails for your recruiter, like the ones that you sent to your prospective employers, after attending the interview. Not many job seekers takes the trouble to thank his recruiter. You might say that its their job why should I thank him. You are right but as I mentioned earlier it does not hurt you much to thank him but it could go a long way in building a good relationship with him. Do not forget, you might still need him the next time you start to look for new job.
In conclusion, let me quote the 3 Ps. According to Katie, job seekers should "keep in mind the rule of the 3 Ps." They need to have:
Purpose: Have a purpose for what you're doing; don't just use a scattershot approach - have a plan and follow it.
Persistence: Don't give up! The process can be hard on the ego, but stick with it.
Patience: All things do come in time.

I would add Passions to the above. Be passionate about what you do and what you intend to do and what you would like to achieve. Be positive, and show good amount of enthusiasm especially while interacting with your recruiter or your prospective employers. A good motto to keep in mind- "Passions is virtue" and "Good things come to those who work".

For all our current jobs/openings please click on this image


*Happy hunting folks!*

My first month at Charterhouse!

"August – what a blessed and exciting month it has turned out to be for me. Firstly with the arrival of the most wonderful and adorable baby I have ever laid my eye on – my son Immanuel and secondly joining Charterhouse Partnership. With the new work place, a new environment and the sleepless nights(to attend to baby Nuel's needs), what would I have done if not for the energy boosting Brand's - Essence of chicken which keeps me active at work and also the regular afternoon cup of Kopi 'O' which keeps me ticking. What an exciting time and yet so much to look forward to.
As far as Charterhouse is – its been great and in the past few weeks or so I've been keeping myself busy trying to build up the database and also streamlining the process of uploading resumes to the application database. My KRA's are still evolving but I do what I always do best and that is search and resource for resumes. I do have access to jobsites such as Monster and JobsDb, however, I felt that sometime these two sites are just not effective enough and therefore I had to resort to ‘googling’ and mining the net and looking for sites that offers FREE job postings and FREE resume search. Believe it or not, there are quite a few sites on the net which does offer such FREE stuff and I've been busy doing job postings and mining the respective databases. Since we are basically a start up as far as Singapore market is, and in line with my management's plan, I do my bit of branding exercise by starting this blog, secondly by posting about Charterhouse brief to the discussion groups and job boards and thirdly by sending out mailers to all my contacts and prospective candidates. So far the progress is slow but definitely encouraging and I am confident that my effort will pay off in the long run.

Like most organization here in Singapore ours is also a five-day week and even though we do not have a dress-down Friday or a casual Friday, we have a 'Friday Wrap'. Friday Wrap is what most of us looks forward to because thats when we all loosen our ties and relaxed. A typical Friday Wrap starts at 4:30PM with a choice of bottled beer, wine or fizz drink. Soon with our drinks we move into the conference room where one of our directors will conduct and wrap up the meeting with the happenings in the company for the week, introduction of any new joinee, et al. This is a good way to build a culture that will bond everyone in the company. Last week we also had a fun time of bonding at Victors Superbowl with most of the staff participating in the bowling game and enjoying the evening with Beer/wine/Fizz drink and a light dinner.

At Charterhouse, we offer specialist services within the Accounting, Banking & Finance, Sales and Marketing, Technology, Industrial, Manufacturing and Engineering fields. Each unit or business domain is headed by an Associate Director with 2 or more Principal Consultants working with him. I work in the Technology unit and have 4 Consultants that I support with research/resource activities. Each Consultant works within his area of specialization, for example, we have a Consultant who takes care of all Midrange/AS400 related assignments and another who takes care of SAP assignments. We also have consultants specialized in Quantitative area and some in front and middle office within the Banking & Financial sector. This concept of having a specialized consultant in a particular technology or domain is rather new to me. However, I've realized that this is not something new in other parts of the world/organization. This approach as I’ve realized could be very effective in terms of quality delivery that’s because the recruiter will be in a better position to talk-the-talk of the line managers and candidates alike.
Could this however, have some element of limitation/drawbacks, especially in a small market like Singapore? Well, it’s really too early to comment but it sure is different, bold, innovative and exciting and if nothing else, this sets us apart from all and sundries.

As mention earlier we are a very young organization and processes will take time to shape and be in place and as with any start up we will improve, learn, grow and evolve and eventually taste our fair share of success. In the last one month that I have been here, I've experience positive vibes around me and within me and I do believe that sooner rather than later success will come to us in heaps and bounds. Needless to say, I am certainly excited about the whole prospect of being involved in and being part of a team in a start up that is on the verge of creating a successful organization.

For all our current jobs/openings please click on this image

*Happy hunting folks!*

My first day at Charterhouse

"We take what we do very seriously, but not ourselves" - Charterhouse Pte Ltd.

It has always been a desire for me to work in an environment which is different and unconventional. This desire was fulfilled when I met the folks at Charterhouse - I was introduced to them by the great people at Contact Recruitment (Guys, please get in touch with Contact Recruitment if you are a recruiter and looking for a better job here in Singapore!).
Now, back to Charterhouse, this is an organization which promotes creativity and freedom all the while keeping optimum productivity in mind. Everyone is treated with respect and treated as adult. We have the directors who do not believe in cabins and enclosed room. We all have our work spaces seperated just by shoulder height cubicles, yes you heard me right, even the directors sits in cubicles!. No policing and no intimidation and the leadership style here is basically very friendly and not oppressive.
On my first day at Charterhouse I was made to feel right at home. The induction took over an hour and I thought the induction process was pretty detailed and handled very neatly. It's always comforting when your director takes the time to explain to you about the organization Vision and Mission and business plans. I believed that every member of an organization should be educated well on the company's Vision and Mission statement, afterall, how can one begin to value add if you have a different wave length and aspiration from your employer? The Japanese employees are a different breed - every employee is expected to know the management/founder's Vision & Mission statement and have it on the tip of their tongues. Organization are managed like one big family, employers treat their employees with respect and take care of them like their own family members. In turn, the employees are loyal and dedicated. I guess this is one reason why the term attrition in Japanese work culture is not commonly found.
Expectations are very high on me, but then thats a feeling which is not new to me. I only hope that I can give my best at all times and contribute to the growth of the organization. My first responsibility as a Research Associate would be to build and organize the database and of course to support my front end guys with great resumes to present it to the clients. Even before I joined Charterhouse I kept track of their job postings both from Charterhouse's job search, JobsDB and Monster and the idea behind this was purely to understand the kind of requirements and domains that they are into. Well, I do have a pretty good idea now and all I need to do is build and nourish my network, farm and harvest the internet/job sites and constantly scratch my brain and think out of the box to generate resumes and contacts in order to build a mega size databank. I will need all the help that I can get mate, you listening? :-)
*Happy hunting folks!*

Qualities of a good Recruiter

Who exactly is a recruiter? According to Dictionary a recruiter is

• noun: an official who enlists personnel for military service
• noun: someone who supplies members or employees

The first definition perhaps might not be relevant to our context but the later can be considered as a generic description of a recruiter and this is what we shall refer to as a definition of a recruiter. In many parts of the western world where HR/Recruiting space has existed for long, they have in the past decade or so gone through many changes and they are still developing and evolving, one such eg; from Personnel dept. to Human Resources dept. or even Human Capital. Like wise, atleast for some of us, we are experiencing new specialized roles in the recruiting space

• Consultant
• Recruiter
• Researcher
• Sourcer

The qualities that are essential for a Consultant/Recruiter could vary vastly from a Sourcer (a Sourcer is a computer geek, an introvert, good in mining information/data from the net, etc), however a Researcher’s role might even overlap with some of the roles played by Consultant/Recruiter. A Recruiter source and manage her clients and also generate relevant profiles to meet the clients requirement.

Some of the behavioral qualities that are common in most of the successful recruiters are:

• Observant
• Sharp and quick grasp of matters
• Good memory
• Fast learner and knowledgeable
• Self starter
• Persistent
• Empathetic
• Organized
• Good communicators
• Good listener
• Multi-tasker
• Pro-active

A good recruiter must have a good grasp of the thing that are happening around her, she must have good knowledge about the market, the domain/industry, technology, the client, the job, etc. She must also act as an Information storehouse - have information or knows how to access for information.

Some of the skills intrinsic to any great recruiter would include(source: Job Junction):

1. Interview skills: Knows and use array of interviewing techniques
2. Internet skills: Boolean, Flip, peel, x-ray websites to find passive candidates
3. Computer skills: Understands what is O.S, network, Local drive, server etc and very handy with keyboards shortcuts and very comfortable with MS word and Excel.
4. Sales skills: A good recruiter must have strong verbal and written skills, good presentation and negotiation skills. Convince a client for her business-sell your business/company to the client and convince a candidate for the job-sell the job to the candidate.
5. Analytical skills: Good with numbers and calculations. Resumes sent, shortlisted, interviewed, selected and/or reject - a good recruiter must keep track of these numbers, analyzed, and take action wherever necessary to see the increase in numbers of closures. A good recruiter must always quantify and talk numbers.
6. People skills: Build and develop internal and external relationships – with client, candidate, colleagues etc.

- Happy hunting folks!-

Bookmarklets?

Just the other day I came across this new term call bookmarklets and I got curious and started searching the net. To my suprise, this indeed is a very good and useful tool and I was kicking myself for not finding out about it much sooner. I found it to be very useful for anyone who spends lots of time on the net surfing or searching or…. And as for anyone who calls himself a recruiter this is a must must tool to learn and use and you must not be found without one.

A Bookmarklet is a small JavaScript program that can be stored within a bookmark in most popular browsers and in favorites in Internet Explorer (that’s why some call it favelets or favlets).

Bookmarklet lets you:

• Modify the way a web page is displayed within the browser (e.g., change the font size, background color, change the image size, etc.).
• Extract data from a webpage (e.g, hyperlinks, images, text, etc)
• Takes you directly to a search engine, with the search term(s) input either from a new dialog box, or from a selection already made on a web page by highlighting the word(s) using your mouse.

For more information on bookmarklets and to download more than 100 bookmarklets that are ready to be use, please visit

• Bookmarklets
• Square free

Happy Hunting folks!

Understanding the term Job stretch

Job stretch is a term describing an environment in which you show what you can do on a larger stage -- heftier operating budget, bigger challenges, and supervision of more employees. – Bill

While negotiating with candidates who are on a high-end, middle management or senior level position often what motivates them for a change might not necessarily be on the usual salary improvement or benefits alone but often it could be on what we call as job stretch. It does become very pertinent that a proper probing is undertaken to fully understand what drives and motivates a candidate. For many candidates who are content with their current earnings(it might surprises some, but there are many people out there who are not so money driven- I guess its all about putting priorities in place), most invariably what they look for is a career growth- which can translate to taking on more challenges, more work load, greater opportunity to be part of the decision making team, etc. For some they are far sighted enough to understand that with growth and successful delivery and meeting the employer’s expectation, one can definitely be in a better position to be awarded with future raises, promotions and even more growth. Such people are generally much focused and they know what they need to achieve and they are prepared to make the necessary sacrifices and meet their pre-determined set of goals.

In order for a recruiter to negotiate based on a Job stretch it is very crucial that the recruiter understands 2 things first, and understand them well. First, what does the job description say and have an in-depth understanding on the job profile. Second, understand the complete profile of the candidates – his achievements, aspirations, roles and responsibilities, etc. Next, look for gaps between what you can offer and what his expectations are vis-à-vis job stretch. Identifying these gaps is the key to successful closure.

Examples of job stretch:

• For a computer programmer – taking up a new job where opportunities are expected to work on new technologies or skills.
• For a recruiter – opportunities for taking on more number of accounts with more number of back-end support.

***Happy Hunting folks!*