"Seize the day!"

"Grab the bull by the horns!" 

"The early bird gets the worm!"

No, I haven't called in your high school gym teacher to write a guest post, but those pep rally staples do neatly encapsulate the main thrust of today's post; the importance of being proactive. This is a lesson for job searchers and hiring managers, and we'll look at specifically how it applies to both, but it really boils down being active rather…

I’ve been trying to figure out what Pinterest, a virtual bulletin board of recipes, diy projects, paint swatches and style tips has to do with the business of recruiting.

And I really haven’t come up with a good answer...

Gregg Dourgarian of Staffing Talk did a search for “hiring” on Pinterest (see his results).

He came up with hiring infographics,…

(This is the first article in a 5-part series, to view the rest of the series go to the Identified Employer Solutions Blog)

Cover Images

The first thing you should do when you make the switch to Timeline is update your Cover Image. This is the large image at the top of the page. Try to be creative and choose something that's eye-catching and displays your employer brand…

Much has changed in the candidate experience since the early internet and classified ads days. Not only is it easier to track and capture recruitment metricsfor all the recruitment sources you use but from a candidate viewpoint it’s becoming less and less straight forward.

Let’s take a look back.  Early on when candidates apply it was a very linear process.  A candidate…

A recent article by Harvard Business Review focuses on how employers can retain their Generation X talent, but it appears that many workers from this generation may be better suited for contract assignments.

According to the article, 70% of Gen Xers surveyed by the Center for Talent Innovation stated that…

With nearly 95% of people aged 18-35 belonging to at least one social network, HR professionals have turned to Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to find job seekers.  If done well, social recruiting can be a powerful way to find the right candidates.  Nearly 80% of companies are using social networks as part of their hiring process.  But are they using them effectively?  Consider these three levels of the Social Recruiting Spectrum.

 1. Putting It Out…

Whether you are applying for a job at the local mini-mart or as a top executive for a small or large business, being able to sell yourself is critically important.

So, on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being poor and 10 being great), how would you consider your selling skills when it comes to the job hunt?

While some job applicants find the interviewing process a piece of cake, others sweat their way through it, oftentimes doing something along the way that eliminates them from the…

I had taken a hot job order from a new client, you know the golden type that always picks up the phone when you call, responds to e-mails almost immediately, instant feedback on candidates, basically the best case scenario. In my initial sourcing efforts, I found three solid candidates. I set up interviews immediately and received instant feedback with an offer for one of them. I was excited as the candidate they selected was a perfect personality fit, had the required skills, background,…

This post originally appeared on the SkillStorm blog: www.skillstorm.com/blog

Image courtesy of photologue_np and Flickr.com

 …

Okay, now Forbes magazine in its article, Top Executive Recruiters Agree There Are Only Three True Job Interview Questions,  has confirmed what employers are looking for in candidates. This is not new news. Employers…

Ms. Nonato reported in PostMedia news that a job candidate in Ontario was asked in an interview to provide his Facebook login and password so the employer to could investigate the interest, photos and people the candidate was involved with.  Most of us would readily question the privacy rights of that candidate and the levels of ethical consideration of the employer; however, the request in Ontario was neither illegal nor immoral.  In fact, temptation exists with the increase of social media…

I had an interesting exchange via email with a VP level candidate while working to coordinate a meeting/ interview with a client. And I quote:

“Kant do it thurz? can Friday?”

My recruitment work is done primarily in the mobile and digital tech space, I’m a texter, a twitter junkie and into Social Media and totally get the language of microblogging.

There has to be a line drawn and adhered to that separates the quick…

Recently when I presented the “Secrets of a Successful Job Search” at the University of Utah, I asked the participants “How many of you feel you have been discriminated because of your age?” About a third of the people raised their hands.

When you read about diversity recruitment most people discuss systems and solutions but I have yet to see anyone discuss the root problem. Possibly the reason that you do not see the root cause is that most people who write on the subject are outside…

This is an article that Neil Lebovits of Dynamic Scale recently had published in The Fordyce Letter.  Neil is the former president of Ajilon Finance, one of the nations largest Accounting/Finance recruitment firms.

Nothing bugs me more than entering a comment only to find the blog is moderated and my comment must be approved.

Do you want conversation?  If so - conversation is the free flow of dialogue.  That means - you say something, I say something, you reply, I reply and so on.

If you moderate your blog here - it more or less says "I am here to tell you what I think" which is not the way a thriving community continues to grow.

Thank you.

It was a fun show and to my surprise it got high marks from the crew. The topic was infographic resumes and we looked at some during the show. The primary example was http:re.vue/Natalie . 

We also looked at Rory . Here is the guest's infographic resume - http:re.vue/MikeHarding and here are a whole slew of examples on…

A few days ago there was an article posted on this blog about whether or not it's OK to burn bridges. I guess that's a matter of opinion and circumstance but if my severe Road Rage (Washington DC area traffic) has taught me anything of value, it would be "WHY BOTHER."

So that manager never called you back after the interview and your previous boss was a horror show. Do you think that by airing your experience publicly that no one else is going to show up for an interview with that…

LinkedIn is a dream tool (for now).  Having the ability to view up to date resumes (or profiles), being automatically notified of job changes, being connected through contacts/groups, etc. is a recruiters Nirvana.  But like anything that works, you have to work it.  However, being a public company can often times cloud decisions making them based on quarterly numbers rather then core.  Where are they going and what will they look like in 12 months? 

Bullying seems to be the new buzzword.  Be it in the schoolyard or on the job, there are increased outcries about one person trying to dominate another through intimidation.  Most of the time the intimidation employed is psychological.  But often enough it is physical as well.    It is nothing to minimize, but then by the reaction of some, it would appear bullying only recently appeared on the scene.   With the plethora of articles, seminars, workshops,  and panel discussions, bullying or…

Working in the media industry, it is important that I remain aware of it's ever evolving landscape and the thing that stands out the most is the speed with which social media can make an impact. Whether it's something with a '#' before it or a much 'liked' Facebook status, we're all switched on, all plugged in, all paying attention.

A recent example of this is the latest iPhone app doing the rounds. My Facebook home page became littered with people referring to their new…