For decades, people have treated sales as a numbers game, yet, this old-school mindset no longer fits current realities. In this podcast, Scott shares the Quality Quantitative Method, the current best practice for achieving high performance and better results.…

The myth that workers only become contractors to obtain a direct hire position has been officially debunked by a recent Randstad study.

Over 2,000 employed adults were surveyed for the Randstad Workforce360 Study. The study found that 78% of the…

Effective October 1, 2012, Ontario Ministry of Labour OHSA health and safety inspectors require Ontario employers to post the new workplace poster called “Health & Safety at Work - Prevention Starts Here”.

The poster has been available from the Ministry of Labour since June.…

Well, that is a really big question. And the answer completely depends on your definition of a cold call.

If you mean, calling completely cold and hoping to sell your services there and then, well, yes it is.

If you think of cold calling as a business development tool to introduce yourself and your services to a researched target contact, then no, it is…

By Carmen Lapham, Director of Recruiting and Operations, Q4B

If you are a parent with small children starting out on a road trip of any length you have heard this question numerous times, even if the trip is just across town. Depending on how old you are you may even remember asking the question yourself when you took trips with your parents, perhaps even last week. It’s as though kids have the idea that we live in a Jetson's age where everything happens at hyper speed,…

When you reach out to connect with a new person on LinkedIn, there is a warning printed at the bottom of the screen: “Important: Only invite people you know well and who know you.” But, why?

I am a complete supporter of networking via social media, so I do not necessarily condone only connecting with people you know.

There are definite perks to adding…

Since we all love hearing stories, I figured I'd share this one.  When I say this is fresh, I am talking about 8 minutes ago.  2 Weeks ago, I have a new client approach me, they were referred from a client of a client.  I love those.  Anyways, they have a fulltime need, and I tell them I can definetly help them.  Between you and me, it sounds like an awesome job in an awesome city.  I promplty get 5 very well qualified candidates over to them. 

1 of these candidates, strikes…

Like a predator disguised as an ally, there are numerous people out there posing as buyers who will consume your time and energy, leaving you with zero ROI for your effort. Yet, salespeople keep going back to these same people, over and over again, engaging in the irrational belief that it will somehow be different, this time. Yes, procurement, vendor relations, HR, and other influencers and gatekeepers are part of the buying process and must be treated with respect. However, it is unethical…

Six years ago a big part of my social marketing strategy was blogging... either writing my own posts or commenting on other blogs in my industry.  I would look for blogs from recruiters (there were lots of them) and career coaches and resume writers (not as many back then).

Then, the social networks got more powerful. LinkedIn wasn't really a place to have conversations (like Group Discussions) but I saw people start to comment about my posts ON FACEBOOK! And then quick comments on…

A customer came to me exasperated because he hadn't heard from the recruiter who was trying to place him at company for an engineering position. My customer told me the process had been going really well. He and the company were in the final stages, the hiring manager told him it looked promising, it was just a matter of getting him to meet with the VP of…

As this season's X-Factor gets underway, another reality singing competition strives to find the next big act that has "it" - that je ne sais quois, the elusive x-factor.

As Simon and Britney judge the latest crop of wannabes, recruiters evaluate candidates and audition talent…

"So there we stood me 'earties, in a fierce sou'westerly, headed for 'ome. Me ol' peg leg skidding around on the surf-blasted top deck, when cap'n Sophie spies summat on the 'orizon. It was a vacancy the likes of which 'adn't been seen since we drove the Armada onto the rocks and watched a thousand Spanish sailors removed from their posts by the 'eartless briny grip o' Davy Jones locker. Yea, a massive corporate hiring programme, tossed high on the great fiscal swell,…

Do expectations really make a difference? Robert Rosenthal, the first psychologist to systematically study this with teachers and children, found there were IQ gains in students in whom they expected this outcome. In addition, as noted on NPR.com:

“As Rosenthal did more research, he found that expectations effect teachers’ moment-to-moment interactions with the children they teach in a thousand almost invisible ways. Teachers give the students that they expect to succeed more time to…

HR graduates are among those least likely to stay with their first employer, but formal and structured programs can aid retention, new research shows (view an interactive infographic of the results).

The study, by Onetest, of 2851 former graduates who completed psychometric tests between 2002 and 2011, found the HR industry…

They are very loud some literally others figuratively. Many are driven by ego or a lack of attention early in life and yearn now for that 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 have never owned a Harley and think I’ve only ridden on a motorcycle once.  When growing up my parents would have never given permission to…

In today’s hyper connected world, it’s incredibly interesting how an unknown quantity can become an internet sensation in a short amount of time.  Just ask Korean rapper PSY.

Although he has been relatively successful artist in Korea for the last 11 years, you would be hard-pressed to find someone in the US that knew his name.  But now with his music video and song “Gangnam Style” (you probably want headphones…

The increased use of contractors over the past few years is more than just a knee-jerk reaction to the recession, according to a recent survey by Randstad.

The Randstad Workforce360 Study found that companies are beginning to view blended workforces - those…

Two things have happened in the past couple of weeks that has made me realise why recruiters generally have a poor reputation amongst both clients and job seekers. This poor reputation is not confined to external recruiters but also internal recruiters or Talent Acquisition people. 

Before I talk about the instances let me say from the outset that I am neither perfect or do I believe that every recruiter performs their job without care. What did happen has made me think fundamentally…

As noted in previous posts, I’ve been thinking lately about what makes a job board good – or not. Below are a few questions to that effect – and yes, some employment sites have these features, but most do not. Maybe there absent features you’ve wondered about?

• Voice input for search: Hey, if you’re…