2013 is certainly the Year of the Employer Brand.  41% of companies have developed an employer brand strategy, but how do you measure the effectiveness of your employment branding investments?…

"Realize that your environment might not be the best fit for every candidate; let them make that decision by providing the information. You don’t create your employment brand, your candidates and employees do."

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On "If you want to fix shit" [as in our industry]

Let’s require anyone that intersects with HR to pay a toll…that of becoming a SHRM member and supporting our accreditation process and outcomes. Apply this to everyone…vendors trying to sell you software to analysts that sell reports to bloggers that write about workplace stuff. Filter them. Are you a SHRM member? No, then fuck you. Yes, how are you supportive of HRCI? Oh, you’re not… then fuck you. It really…

Some days, don't you wish you could just say it out loud?  When the company business is hopping, and things get hyper busy, time becomes a rare commodity. Time is golden. One day, I had one of those candidates that was extremely persistant (I have caller ID, they really did call 4-5 times in one day), and it took alot of energy not to respond in a fashion that would have probably cause trouble with my boss.  Let me…

Staffing firms are being brought into the ongoing debate about immigration reform.

U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley, D-Iowa, is introducing legislation that would prohibit staffing firms from bringing in H-1B visa holders, according to Staffing Industry Analysts.  Specifically, it…

Yorkshire based online recruiter Blue Octopus have done it again! They have managed to win the ‘The Creative Offline Marketing Award 2013’ by a recruitment supplier.

The awards ceremony was held at the contemporary Grange St. Paul’s Hotel in London’s West End on 21st March. It began at 7.00pm with a Champagne reception and the representatives of Blue Octopus…

One half of existing employees will consider looking for a new job if the economy improves according to theFourth Quarter 2012 Glassdoor Employment Confidence Survey. This may prompt employers to take a look at their retention efforts. Employees don’t search for new job opportunities merely when they are unhappy. Many people are constantly evaluating their options in…

With any job, it's important to know where you stand and then set goals for yourself, and often times this is a numbers game. As the hiring manager, your goals need to be something tangible and quantitative. It's not enough to show the metrics of your busywork (humber of job ads posted, hours logged or resumes read).

To prove your recruiting and hiring methods work, you…

People trust people. It’s a fact. You can spend millions on advertising trying to persuade people to trust and choose your brand over others, but ultimately your success comes down to people. People and what they say about you. People and what they think about you.

So who are the best people to speak about your brand? Your employees of course!

Why?

They are at the heart of your business.

They are your voice from within.

And if you treat them right,…

According to research undertaken by the Corporate Leadership Council an effective EVP can:

• Increase how committed new hires are by 29%…

So you're sick of earning money for someone else? Good for you. But what's your next step to getting your business off the ground?

The fact is - and it's a harsh one indeed – 4 out of 5 recruitment businesses don’t last beyond 2 years. We all know the recruitment industry is one of the toughest sectors to work in, selling a product that can say no and only being as good as your last month. But with no barrier to entry to set up a recruitment company it’s even more challenging trying…

So in the course of any one day I get a stack of emails from people that seemingly have no idea how/why to apply for a role in the creative industry.

Normally it’s cool, I’m polite and reply with a, “thanks but no thanks…” sort of thing, trying to offer a piece of advice where and when I can. But occasionally, towards the end of a long day, I don’t. And I write something like this:

“Dear *****…

As a recruiter, I’ve had to learn to adapt to many different personalities. (Haven’t we all?) This applies to both candidates and hiring managers alike. When it comes time to make an offer, you’d better know the personalities on both sides very well if you want to make the deal.

There are candidates that can’t stand negotiating; they hate it as much as they usually hate…

A few days before arriving here in Copper Mountain, Colorado for our Spring Break ski trip, I asked my sixteen year old son if he thought he still remembered all of his skills. “It’s been five years Ben,” I said. “How do you think you’ll do?”

“Are you kidding,” he said. “All I gotta do is pizza and french fries.”

For those who don’t know what Ben was referring…

Both are very loud - literally and figuratively. They can be driven by inspiration, ego or yearn for recognition. The mechanics of both may be complicated and only those dedicated to the early struggle, can appreciate the current boldness and the excitement of what the future may bring to the table.

I’ve never owned a Harley, but none of us can say the same for technology. I am a baby boomer and grew up on the cusp of the technology era when Programmers and Developers suffered the…

On "Does a “like” really mean anything?"

Recruiting and hiring is really about developing relationships. Relationships require time, trust, and mutual interest. So while setting up a jobs page on Facebook or a company twitter account may be great for brand awareness, I’m not sure what it does for finding the right person to hire.

John Sumser, Social…

What gets you up out of bed every morning? What makes today different than yesterday? What drives you to succeed in life? What are you looking for out of life?



You could take these series of questions and answer them in a number of different ways. Your answer could be based upon your career, your family, or they could be taken into talking about your spiritual beliefs.



For the purpose of this blog, lets talk about your career. Specifically, lets talk about recruiting.…