If your a hiring manager or a recruiter you have the challenging task of finding talent. Talent acquisition in a world where there is a lot of people looking for work only has become more difficult. You would think that with more people available it gives you more to choose from, therefore making the process easier. The problem is that there will always be many more unqualified candidates than qualified candidates, and it really doesn't matter what profession. The quicker that someone in a…

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Right now the job search and recruiting market is in constant change. Much of this is happening due to social media, and the continued evolution of how people interact anywhere online. Being that the main source of the initial interaction between the job seeker and the employer happens online, it makes sense that this changes constantly. With that in mind there is no doubt that the future of this process could look very different even within the next few years. There is a lot of information…

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Any candidate in transition or working professional has most likely bumped into a recruiter at some point. Many executive recruiters often actively headhunt passive job candidates whom are currently employed. And if you are in the process of conducting an active job search, you have probably responded to an advertisement for a job opening placed on a jobs board by a recruiting firm. However, a well-thought-out, effective job search that covers all of the bases intentionally includes…

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In this ever-changing global economy, it’s more important than ever before to continually find ways to stay relevant in the workplace. The uncertain economy, outsourcing, downsizing and mass layoffs present a challenging and precarious work environment. You need to keep your skills fresh, which has the dual purpose of investing in yourself and adding value to your company. Today’s employee must constantly keep a finger on the pulse of his or her industry. Adapt or perish.

Take…

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In the words of American singer-songwriter Randy Newman, “It's a jungle out there.” A stagnant economy, an unemployment rate exceeding nine percent and fourteen million unemployed Americans looking for work, presents one of the most challenging environments for job seekers in decades. The uncertain economy has made hiring managers jittery and cautious. Competing candidates are just as qualified as you are, or more so. And more than ever before, companies are now dispassionately evaluating…

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The economic climate and unemployment rate remains stubbornly sour. There are six candidates for every one job. But, guess what? Despite the challenging economy, cautious recruiters and skittish hiring managers, the business world is humming along like it always has. Money is being made, products are being sold, business deals are being made and innovative disruptive startups are the talk of Silicon Valley. There are job prospects and job opportunities galore out there for the determined…

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We’ll admit right out of the gate that this is one blog post that directly relates to the type of business we run at ShinyNeedle. In order to write this post we had to mention our website, and we had to discuss challenge based hiring. There are hundreds of job posting websites available today. We just recently posted an article on how to manage the extremely large world of job posting websites. There are some that provide zero value, and some that have a bigger brand and have found ways to…

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Groucho Marx once famously quipped, "I'd never join a club that would allow a person like me to become a member." However, joining organizations in your chosen career with like-minded professionals is exactly what is needed to advance your career and jumpstart your job search. Professional associations provide invaluable networking opportunities and the chance to broaden your horizons. Although it costs money to join, usually an annual fee of about $100.00, it’s well worth it. Membership does… Continue

Why do companies continue to waste money on hiring talent over and over again? Isn’t doing something over and over again the definition of insanity? The reason this happens is the same reason so many companies and people still work 9 to 5 in an office at a cube. It’s because that’s the way everyone has done it for so long. Finding talent in the market we all are facing needs to be much more defined and strategic. The employer needs to look at each individual and determine if they are someone…

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The great Yogi Berra once quipped, “The future ain't what it used to be.” The legendary New York Yankees player and manager tapped into the uncertainty most of us have about the future. But in the midst of a depressed economy and an ever-changing global marketplace, you don’t have the luxury of sitting back and waiting for the future to come to you. You need to carefully map out your career by studying trends to ensure you devote your education and training to the careers of the future and…

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There has been some talk lately on various online HR and recruiting communities about respect towards recruiters. Do job seekers really understand the value their recruiter brings to the table? There is no question there are some that are extremely good and some not so good. This is true in any profession you could name, however most of the time they bring great value and the job seeker should respect the time and effort. The biggest concern that we’ve seen lately is that some job seekers…

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The job of the HR professional especially when it comes to recruiting has changed. It never was a straightforward process, but it’s even less of one now. The rules have changed on how to acquire and bring top talent in to a given organization. The main reason is a combination of both the Internet and social channels. The review process alone can be staggering from checking up on a candidates Twitter feed, to setting up multiple live interviews. Understanding potential candidates thinking via…

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It’s a really bad idea to fly by the seat of your pants when it comes to creating a job posting strategy for your business. There are multiple channels for getting a job post out there in the market this day in age. It’s easy to consider a spam strategy and get it to as many eye balls as possible. This isn’t necessarily going to get you to the right candidate. Some of the risks that come into play when you simply send out the post to the masses are getting an uncontrollable amount of…

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I wanted to share something that I thought would be an interesting topic for the group on Recruiting Blogs. I wrote this on our job site www.shinyneedle.com earlier today. Deciding if and when you should convert temp hires to full time can be a very difficult decision. For one you probably decided to start them out as a temp because of cost, but it could also be because of concerns. The idea is that it lets you test someone out and see how it goes. If…

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