Featured Guest Post by Gerry Crispin

The hiring process has no minimum acceptable (or unacceptable) standard of practice. Anything goes and many recruiters prefer it that way. Perhaps intuitively we know that people who think of themselves as recruiters (or enjoy being seen as successful recruiters by others), are highly individualistic and, if occasionally…

One of my dearest friends shared a conversation she’d had with her daughter, Molly. Molly was attempting to Bellyache, Moan, and Whine about her current circumstances (I often refer to this as recklessly driving a BMW). Being the ever confident and highly competent mom, she did not allow Molly to pull her down into the clutches of a victim spiral. Instead, she…

It’s that time of year, when we reflect upon the ways we want to improve ourselves. Gym memberships will soar and potato chips sales will momentarily plummet. Personal resolutions seem to be easier to define, but in order to continue to grow…

When accepting those rapidly accumulating random LinkedIn connection invitations, I generally also scroll down to peruse my timeline. In doing so, I often notice plenty of job opportunities being posted. Some of these are blasted out by automation tools and others are manually added as a person's LI status update. 

Either way, I selectively…

As I watched the news the past couple of days, the newest hot debate is over extending unemployment benefits. The previous extension has expired, and the politicians - as always - are looking for a "winning" argument to score political points for the next election. It seems like the easiest thing to do for a politician is go around saying that the pursuit of happiness includes a free…

If there’s one recruiting trend you can count on in 2014, its that LinkedIn will continue its dominance – and ubiquity – within the talent acquisition conversation. With over 90% of recruiters reporting to using the “professional network” for sourcing and screening candidates in 2013, LinkedIn enjoys a market penetration few competitors can match, as well as the unique…

As we wind down our three part look at recruiting contact campaigns, you’ve learned how to build, deliver and measure a successful recruitment contact campaign.  We’ve taken a look at what recruiting contact campaigns are really about, practical tips and tricks for making sure your…

We aren’t the first to link recruiting to marketing. There are a lot of parallels, and using creative content to attract the right audience is a big one. Content marketing has become huge in the last decade. No matter who you’re trying to reach, bite-sized, visually appealing content is…

We all know what Thanksgiving is about…food. Just kidding, it’s about being grateful andshowingthat gratitude. Hopefully that spirit lasts longer than the leftovers and you’re returning to the office with thanks. This time of year we are all made aware that we need to show those around us that we value them. As a family member or best friend, that is pretty easy to do. It…

Every year in the US alone employers spend $72 billion — that’s billion, with a B — on recruiting services, staff and technology. For some perspective: $70 billion will buy every franchise in the NFL, MLB, NHL and NBA with some…

As football season comes to an end, the fair weather fans are coming out of the woodwork. Your coach is a hero…unless they lose. Your fantasy football QB is amazing…until he gets sacked. We’re all there screaming and buying t-shirts when the times are good, but do you leave the stadium to beat traffic in the 4th of a bad game? No one wants…

We all know how important it is in recruiting to embrace social media as an effective medium in your recruiting process, but many of us don’t know how to integrate social media recruiting initiatives with an ATS optimally. Social media has changed the way we recruit. Knowing how to use your ATS in a manner that facilitates social recruiting is important. If the occasion should…

The NBC News reported on Sunday that the Washington State Department of Transportation reported that a construction project to construct a tunnel in Seattle had been halted because the world’s largest boring machine had been stopped by an 8 inch diameter steel pipe. When I stopped for a moment to consider this I asked myself in our HR functions what is our 8” diameter steel pipe?

The majority of HR professionals will tell you that they meet that 8” pipe every day. We are told by a…

As average turnover rates continue to rise, it's increasingly important to hire the type of employee that will stay with you for the long run. Even if a candidate seems like a great fit in the interview, it can still be hard to tell if he will really work out until he starts the job. Particularly in sales, the turnover rate is even…

This week I took my youngest daughter to see Disney's latest, "Saving Mr. Banks."  Truth be told, she wanted to see it far more than I did; I didn't expect to glean much from it at all.  I'm pleased to report I was wrong.  You might not think that a movie about the making of another movie, Mary Poppins, would have any relevance to recruiting.  I don't blame you.…

Whether you're owner, manager or employee in your company, you probably know at least one super achiever in your midst. It’s the person who racks up victory after victory, sets new standards for excellence and is destined for big things.

What does the super achiever do differently from everyone else? What makes a super achiever a super…

In case you haven’t noticed yet, the web is going mobile. More and more users are surfing your staffing or career site from their mobile phones and looking at it with a tiny 4 or 5 inch screen. Up to 30% of your traffic now comes from mobile devices. Which means you need to optimize it for their viewing pleasure.…

By now, your holiday slowdown should be over. It’s been replaced with a mountain of email that needs to be reviewed; calendar invites that need to be accepted or declined, and the feeling of “Holy Smokes I got to get back up to speed quickly aka why did I take 2 weeks off?”



This is also your last chance to get a summer intern.

OK, today’s not really your last chance, but I wouldn’t wait until the end of the month to get started. You’ve got to the end of this…

Last week, my wife and I watched a fine documentary on TV called Jiro…