Jim Stroud of the recruiters lounge, the award winning blogger/recruiter/speaker has written a book that is going to be very popular amongst recruiters and even some corporate recruiters. It is called Resume Forensics - and it is a comprehensive guide on how to use Google, Yahoo and MSNLive to find CV's - free! Click here to download the ebook . In the meantime here is a video to give you a taster of what to expect in the ebook.
I came across this site today, and I have to say it is certainly a little different. But did it get the message across - not immediately, and I had to try and figure out what they did! It is all well and good having fancy clever animated sites, but unless they convey the message clearly then they sort of miss the trick don't they?
Nice idea, but a little off track for me!
Lemmings are known for mindlessly following other lemmings, even to the point of destruction. Many recruiters could be described in the same way - it could be that they are following successful people, following what the perceived 'right thing to do' is, following others because they have no direction or it might be as simple following because they are told to. And yes they could also follow to the point of self destruction as well!!
What happened to innovation and being remarkable and being different? There are genuine innovators in recruitment, and they have been successful because they did something different, and were brave enough to do so. Seth Godin, in his latest good book, Meatball Sundae, would describe these people as remarkable and he is right. They are not afraid of leading the innovation curve and trying different ideas, different recruitment methods, different attraction methods, different ways of pricing etc
While the recruitment world needs lemmings, is there too many of them? And is there enough recruitment Seth's?
As a regular reader of Jim Stroud's excellent recruitment blog - The Recruiters Lounge - I wanted to share his latest strategy of getting 5000 subscribers to his blog ...... and quickly. It is a very simple concept (but clever!), and it revolves around his latest book, Resume Forensics.
When you subscribe to his blog, he will send you a free copy - nothing new there - but here is the catch. He won't distribute the book to anyone until there is 5000 subscribers!! And when he gets 5000 subscribers, the free aspect goes, and it goes on sale normally. As I said, fantastically simple but effective!!
So how does he get 5000 subscribers? He uses everyone else (like me here!) to distribute the message for him, after all it's in my interests - the sooner he gets the 5000, the sooner I get my book!! This book does promise to be very good, so subscribe here to get your free copy......quick!!!
Reading a good post on small business interview process on HRWorld got me thinking. A recently frustrating experience with a client left me, as the recruiter feeling embarrassed on behalf of my candidate for the time it took for the interview process.
How about this then (bearing in mind the role is for a junior coordinator role, and it is urgent) for a timeline for recruiting this member of staff?
Take brief from Client------relevant cv's provided in 2 days--------1st interview 3 days later (going well so far isn't it!)----------now we start to hit the quicksand!!-----------although very pleased with 1st candidate, wants to see more-----------interviewed more 3 weeks later-----------take 2 to 2nd stage assessment interview (including my original) - we are now in 6th week(!)----------they dither and they can't make a decision so telephone interview the 2 candidates again - in another week!---------- hang in there it gets better!----------then in week 9 the candidates have to have a 'final' telephone interview with a very senior global head of business (remember, it is only a junior position!)---------- during week 10 they discuss the outcome of this interview-------------then finally in week 11 they offer the role to the 'other candidate'----------in week 12 they accept it!!!!!!!
And of course that doesn't include the notice period the candidate had to serve! so in total it took nearly four months to recruit a junior position!!! Is it any wonder that recruiters go mad quicker than other industry sectors??
(And just for reference, my candidate went to a different company interview at 2pm and by 5pm had an offer - she was so good they didn't want to lose her!!)
Any of you had any similar (or worse) stories?
Getting it right will win you business, but get it wrong and you can kiss that deal goodbye! What am I going on about? simple really, body language. This follows on from my previous post, and shows you all the positive and negative indicators that will show you where you need to improve, before you go into that 'big meeting'. Positive body language is all about how you make other feel. The most 'attractive' people in a room know how to make everyone else feel attractive and interesting, but the converse is unfortunately also true! Body language centres around clusters of gestures and expressions. These patterns of movement can be most revealing and show our true inner feelings. Test yourself - imagine the most recent meeting and see whether you are more positive or negative when it comes to other people.
Here are the positive body language movements that say "I like you" - it will also tell you if they're interested in you as well.
Continue reading "How to say, "I like you" without even speaking a word" »
I recently wrote a post about handshakes and their meanings, that attracted an incredible amount of interest, so I thought I would continue this theme. We all meet people everyday, whether it be candidates, colleagues, clients or or even prospective employers. We usually get just one chance to make that impression, and while many people focus on what needs to be said, there needs to be equal attention paid to your body language. Whether you are a blinker, a sloucher, a baboon or simply pushy, you need to aware of the characteristics that you are showing physically. This post deals with the body language we all use every day - some good, some bad! My other post on this subject shows the positive and negative indicators of body language.
There are ten main areas, defined by Robert Phipps that will identify your own body language and what you should be doing to make that right impression.
Continue reading "Are you a sloucher, a baboon or just plain pushy?" »
Both HR professionals and recruiters are busy people and haven't got time to act as a nursemaid / psychologist / English teacher etc when reviewing CV's for a role. You get one opportunity when applying for jobs, so you want to make absolutely sure that you get it right.
What you don't want to do is to commit one of the seven deadly sins below when it comes to applying for jobs!!
Continue reading "The Seven Deadly Sins when applying for jobs" »
Clients are a recruiters lifeblood, after all we wouldn't be in business without them! But how much do you actually know about them? What makes them happy, and conversely what annoys them? Don't you think you should invest a little more time in getting to understand them a little better? Craig Harrison from Expressions of Excellence shows us four areas that we all should be focused on:
So which one are you? Are you a Shirker, a Screamer, a Gossiper or even a Megaphone?
A recent survey by Ceridian, has collated the top 10 most irritating types of workers, according to their colleagues. It is the Shirkers - colleagues who seem to find excuses to avoid work - who come out on top as most hated by 21% of their UK colleagues!
Below are the The 10 most irritating types of workers from Shirkers to Sneezers:
Continue reading "The top 10 most irritating types of work colleagues!" »
