5 ways to maximize your recruiting efforts

Simply put, your job is to hire people. But for you to do your job well means you have to hire the right person for the right job. This is where your job gets difficult. Oftentimes, the people that respond to your posting in a newspaper or online aren’t the ideal candidates. These people are cold calling a million other places and put little thought into where they’re actually applying. You need to find the person for the job you’re filling; the right person isn’t going to find you. Consider these five tips on better recruiting:

1. Extend your network. This is a common adage for the job seeker, but it works just as well for the employer. Contact local colleges and universities and speak with their career counselors. This is a great way to tap into a talent pool of young, educated, and eager people just hitting the job market. Career counselors know what type of candidates they have through interviews and are usually excellent judges of talent.

2. Look in-house. If you have a position you need to fill, who better to turn to than someone who already knows what you’re looking? Before advertising a job listing to the public do so internally. A current employee looking to advance in the company will know how the system works and will be more easily trained. It also builds employee morale when you hire within because it makes current employees feel valuable.

3. Look for experience. This sounds like a no-brainer, right? But going for someone who simply graduated from a top college doesn’t always translate into success. Look for people that have performed a similar job to the one you’re looking to fill and have done so successfully. This will make the transition easier and they’ll already know the professional landscape.

4. Advertise your benefits. Given the current economic landscape prospective employees want to know what you’ll give them beyond salary. Sure a competitive salary is crucial, but if you offer comprehensive healthcare then let it be known. Have a free health club? Have a great retirement plan? Sell it.

5. Tap your employee’s networks. Your employees know what type of person fits in the company and they can cut down some of the sifting through of resumes if you ask for their help. Offer a referral bonus and you’ll see your employees step up to the plate with viable candidates. They won’t risk putting forward a candidate if it’s going to reflect badly on them.


This post was contributed by Heather Johnson, who is an industry critic on the subject of how to become a nurse. She invites your feedback at heatherjohnson2323@gmail.com.

:: I’m on LinkedIn – Now What??? by Jason Alba

My pal Jason Alba of the renowned Jibberjobber not only has he succesfully conceived, build and run a networking site but now has also added another feather to his cap by becoming a writer and that too on the hot topic of LinkedIn and titled I’m on LinkedIn – Now What???.

I had the honour of browsing through this book before it goes to the publishing house and I believe that anyone who is serious about networking through LinkedIn must grab a copy of this book by pre-order as the book is slated to be released in September.

If you are a professional interested in advancing your career, increasing your business or expanding your opportunities through relationships, this book is for you. It helps you understand and develop an effective online social networking strategy with LinkedIn.

The reader will walk away with:

1. an understanding of LinkedIn and why they should use it
2. a set of best practices and tips to get started and keep moving
3. an understanding of how LinkedIn fits into their networking and career
   strategy

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!***

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".

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*Happy hunting folks!*