Don't be a hostage to your job search!

Over the course of the last several months I've met with job seekers who when looking for new opportunities seem to carry frustrations they've had with previous employers with them in their search for a new opportunity. In essence, leaving them hostages to their previous employers and potentially keeping them from the opportunities they might receive. To move past this frustration, I've recommended job seekers meet with career counselors to help them work past this emotion so their present and ready for the new opportunity when it arises. It's like that old adage, as soon as one door closes another door opens. If you've got the door cracked open even just a little bit, it’s not shut, so as a previous job seeker myself, I recommend you, shut the door so your new door opens.

YOU'RE a GREAT BRAND - Share what you do with others NOW!

Job searching has changed. Technology has allowed job seekers to access opportunities all over the world. Because of this, branding yourself utilizing technology is central to your job search. How do you do this successfully? First, think like a recruiter. Go to where recruiters are and make sure your information is available to them. Great examples of this are sites like LinkedIn or facebook (fb). LinkedIn and FB are websites that recruiters use to find people. Secondly, ask yourself what information about you is listed on these sites? If it's not what you want people to know about you start by building your brand. You as a brand is your sales message that outlines the skill sets and or experiences you bring. Build your brand message by defining the experiences you have which differentiate you as a candidate. Interestingly enough, this same strategy is what recruiters are using to find great candidates so as an applicant use this information to your advantage and share what you do with others.

Recruiting in the world of Web 2.0 - where in the #@!! do you begin?!

Even though it's been a while and there's been a lot going on I thought it was high time I started sharing out my experiences. First, we all know recruiting has changed. We've moved from the job boards to job board aggregators to now blogs and groups that help employers push out their jobs to the candidates their targeting.

Welcome to the world of Web 2.0 folks! Let’s get moving to the world of 2.0 and beyond….

Web 2.0 is a combination of blogging sites, group pages, websites, and on-line communities all of whom have outlets for you to share your opportunities with audiences you might be targeting. The next question becomes which sites, pages or on-line communities do you start sharing your opportunities with? This ladies and gentleman is the million dollar question… Let’s start talking strategies and leveraging the world of technology to get us the best and brightest today and tomorrow. Stay tuned for more information... =)

Winning the war on talent... - finding the best of the best to work for you!

I was talking with a friend today about her new job which she's been working at for about 4 weeks. In talking with her she was ecstatic about the position. Not only because she'd found an opportunity, but because she found the "right" opportunity. She was excited because her job matched her skill set, her experiences, what she wanted out of new role and she was also working with a group of folks that she was genuinely interested in learning from. Because of these elements she's genuinely excited about her new gig.

As Recruiters it's our job to align opportunity with talent. Taking this a step further, it's our job to also align the desire and motivation of talent with opportunity. When we do each of these things, you then have applicant like my friend, who is excited and enthused at coming to work every day.

Even though it's only week 4 in her new role I'm betting that because her desire and motivation are aligned to the opportunity she's committed to she's definitely going to be there awhile. Because of this, they have a talented employee who is fully committed to the organization which also means they have an employee who is focused on doing her best work for the greater good of the company. Isn’t this ultimately, what having the best of the best means?

Why does a clear recruiting process matter?

Providing a great candidate experience means you're able to articulate to applicants your recruitment process. Without a clear process in place, candidates will have varied experiences that may or may not be great. A clear process allows you the opportunity to pinpoint where a candidate's experience might've gone awry.

The question now becomes, where do you start when you’re creating a clear process? My recommendation - begin with the end in mind. In other words, start with the goal. Ask yourself or your team what do you or your team want you’re process to achieve? Also, think about your goal in quantifiable terms. Meaning, how will you know whether or not you’ve achieved your goal (so once you’ve defined the goal ask – is it measurable)?

Finding top talent means prioritizing what you do - how to do this when you're on point to do everything...

Prioritizing time becomes an essential part of what we do... Having a mission outlined for your talent organization allows you the ability to make decisions that are focused on your core function. Creating your mission is the first part of this journey.

The quest for creating a great employer brand continues - it's part 3 in the series! =)

Don't knit pick ideas. We're at a point in our employment brand process where the ad agency has created mock ups of our potential site. This is a great place to be, although, we're now, picking apart the little things. Case in point, we've gone back on forth on colors and placement of items on the site which in the grand scheme of things are keeping us from looking at the bigger picture.

Big picture we need a site and brand that speaks to the kind of applicant we're targeting. So the colors and placement of items on the site are important as it relates to the folks we're targeting. If we're not keeping them top of mind we're not prioritizing what's important to the audience we're targeting.

To reiterate creating a GREAT employer brand means you're considering the following:

Audience + Organizational Values + Technology = A Great Employer Brand

So remember keep this formula and your Audience top of mind!