We recruiters often talk about how candidates need to give more to their employers and how they need to be seen to want to add value, to want to drive for good outcomes but it is a game of two halves and as Employers we all have to look at how we attract, retain and develop our people - do we have a formal employee engagement strategy in place?…

In the world of staffing, the words "temp" and "contractor" are often used interchangeably. But in our experience, there are some differences between the two.

The word "temp" conjures up the old stereotype of the lower paid worker provided by a staffing agency. Temps often fill in for employees on vacation or to bridge the gap while a company replaces someone who has quit. Companies also turn to temps for…

Weathering Inevitable Change Online

Klout, the site that measures your social media activity to calculate your online influence, changed their algorithm in late October.  Klout users’ scores dropped, spurring a stream of negative buzz on Klout’s website.  But…

Top 10 Interview mistakes to avoid

As recruiters we spend all day speaking to candidates and preparing them for their upcoming interviews, but despite this many seem to fall foul of even the most basic of mistakes when interviewing themselves to develop their career in recruitment.

As a little reminder I have listed below the top 10 mistakes made by recruiters when interviewing for a new recruitment job

Know your billings – You are in…

Why on earth would anyone want to be a recruitment consultant?

About a week ago I caught up with an old friend who asked me what I do for a living? "I find people new jobs and companies new employees" I said. "Uh, so you mean your work is to find other people work?" She replied, puzzled. "I thought you studied psychology?"

It wasn't until I sat looking across from her that I realsied what an oxymoron my job description seems to be. My work is finding other people work.…

Poor HR, employee engagement is their responsibility, yet it is definitely one of those things that cannot be done alone. Employee Engagement is one of those things that companies really struggle with when it comes to prioritizing, surveying, implementing and monitoring effectiveness; why? Well it is overwhelming. When we think about engaging our employees and our teams we want to be sure that we have all of the pieces together, we want it to be successful and repeatable and there are a lot…

“Today more than ever, the fate of an organization depends on its ability to recruit, retain, and, when necessary, replace talent.”

–        Emmett C. Murphy, Talent IQ

In his best selling book, Talent IQ, Emmett Murphy lays out a very clear and researched process for increasing your company’s productivity and profitability. It all…

Last week, I spoke about Talent Communities and inevitably what I envision them to be.  But let’s take a step back and talk about what many organizations have in place today: Talent Pools.

For those unfamiliar with Talent Pools.  Talent Pools are a collection of recruiting contacts separated by specific disciplines & other…

I saw an article recently entitled 7 Resume Lies Employers Will Never Check, on the excellent candidate-oriented web site Resume Bear.  This inspired me to write the anti-article – how to counter these lies that…

Last year around this time, Dawson had a Customer Service Open House - we advertised on job boards, our website and spread the word on our personal social media accounts.  This brought us about 30-40 people that we were able to help! 

Today, we abide by the same rules and hardly have anyone walk through our door…what are we missing?

Has anyone else experience this struggle?  It comes with the Staffing territory, I know, but this "drought" seems to be lasting longer than…

Seriously, I do have a "WISH LIST".

I have an ongoing list of companies that are not currently clients but I think I might like to have as clients. Throughout the month/quarter/year I pick up information on them and keep it in the “WISH LIST” file under their name.

When I talk with candidates who have worked at one of my Wish List companies I ask about what it was like working there. What did they like? What did they not like? What attracted them away? Would they work there…

Last week I read a post about how social media killed job boards (yes, again!). Whether or not you agree with the argument (and as you can surmise, I don’t), the piece inadvertently brings up a larger issue: are job boards still relevant to job seekers? After all, this is all about the job seeker, right? Many social media evangelists would have you…

I meet with a number of Recruitment Consultants every week who are looking to move on from their current position, or step up to their next opportunity…  I probably speak with a further 10, or more on the phone….

 And, to be perfectly honest I’m lucky if I meet with one a week who I consider a good, old fashioned ‘A’ Candidate…

It’s not to say that these candidates are not fantastic on paper… On paper most of these candidates look great…. On paper most of these…

Ok, so I have no idea where this diversity series is taking me....but hopefully you’ll come along for the ride.  I just got back from speaking on a discussion panel so my mind is going a mile a minute on this topic.  What I’d like to address is how, we as recruiting professionals can help our organizations continue to hire and grow awesome, diverse talent.  Here are a few thoughts:



Pipeline - Build a big,…

Remember that cute little blonde you had a crush on when you were ten but were to shy to approach or even kiss during that awkward game of spin the bottle. Well you're a big boy know so you better start taking action, especially if you're in Human Resources otherwise some big finance guy is going to waltz right in and sweep Blondie off her feet. It’s time for…

The Occupy Wall Street Movement has caused its fair share of consternation to a good many persons and organizations.  In certain areas where Occupy Whatever is taking place, small business owners are losing business due to the congregations outside their doors.  Often regular customers will not patronize businesses where large crowds are gathered outside or nearby.   People are intimidated.  It's that simple, really.

Then, of course, there has been vandalism where various businesses…

Sorry I missed Monday’s chat regarding references. My computer was on but I was nowhere around!

I love doing the reference checking on candidates. Some just because of who their references are. Others because I want the straight scoop - I don't trust what candidates are telling me.

One weird reference I got was for a woman that was well respected in her field and I asked my routine questions regarding her work ethic, work style, ability to work within a team environment etc.…

That’s what I heard every day for 2 years from my boss.

Every time I talked with a partner in a public accounting firm or a corporate attorney or a commercial banker he would tell me that they only returned my call because I worked for him. They only referred clients to me because I worked for him. Yes, he had a huge ego.

I believe he thought if he said it enough to all his recruiters they would believe him – most did. None of us had signed non-competes – he told us he didn’t…