If you really want to see a VP of HR get nervous, ask him or her about the candidate experience at their organization. Like profanity-laced tirades and red faces? Ask a job seeker what happened the last time they applied for a position through an ATS. Of course, there are some wonderful exceptions out there, and I am so proud that many of our clients have made the candidate experience a goal in 2012, but I think we all know that for the most part the CE is still pretty lousy. From my vantage point, it’s one of the biggest topics facing HR, and now that the job market is beginning to improve I expect a harsh spotlight to be shining on this issue.

In most circles outside of our industry, the popular thing to do is to bash HR and recruiters as nasty, unfeeling cretins who purposely design byzantine application processes and cackle malevolently each time a candidate leaves a voice mail about a job they interviewed for two months ago. I’ve written about the candidate experience a lot over the last few years, and my opinion really hasn’t changed: it’s a simple numbers game that HR is on the wrong side of. In an interview I did with recruiting guru Peter Weddle, he put it all into perspective:

You cannot recruit more talent with less recruiting resources. It defies the laws of human nature. If you want to hire talent, you have to use the talent of the recruiting team, and that means giving them the time and support they need to do their best work. Frankly, I don’t get it. Companies spend hundreds of thousands, even millions of dollars on their ATS and then let the vendor off the hook. Not only are the vast majority of these systems abusive to candidates, they’re abusive to recruiters, as well. In addition, they’re costing employers a fortune by giving them inaccurate data on the source of candidates (causing them to misspend both their recruitment advertising dollars and the time of their recruiters).

Me? I’ve been waiting for top management to see the cost of a bad candidate experience and—well, I think they need help. If you’re a recruiter, show them the revenue potential you lost when that great salesperson walked out the door because no one called her after the interview. Tell them about the time, resources and impact on care and morale that will result from fumbling the Respiratory Care Manager you wanted so badly.

Fortunately, there are some great resources out there to help. Experts on both www.ere.net and www.shrm.org are telling their success stories and showing blueprints and examples of the steps they are taking to fix the candidate experience. It’s not going to happen overnight, and it’s going to be a process filled with setbacks, but I believe those that truly want to fix it—and the CEO’s who have their backs–will prevail, and win the battle of not only common courtesy, but the war for the best talent.

You may think all I do is dream about iced tea and carp about the darker side of today’s technology. However, I do know the secret to saving the economy and creating jobs:

The answer? You can’t.

Not really, anyway. There’s a great article in the New York Times Magazine by Adam Davidson titled Can Anyone Really Create Jobs? The answer, unfortunately, is no.

The fact is that creating [jobs] in a far-too-sluggish economy is practically impossible in our current capitalist democracy. No corporate leader is rewarded for hiring people who aren’t absolutely required. Most companies hire only when its workforce can no longer keep up with the demand for its products.

If you’re not familiar with Adam Davidson, I highly recommend checking out his Planet Money podcasts. He does a great job of explaining complicated financial issues and their ramifications in an unbiased way. I often turn to these podcasts when I want to learn about issues like toxic assets, the mortgage crisis, why we bailed out banks, etc.

Okay, so there’s two schools of thought on how we create jobs, and while you may favor one over the other depending on your political view, the truth is that neither one does much good.

Many on the Democrat side champion the Keynes’ view that the government can create jobs by spending a boatload of money. The problem with that, as Davidson states, is:

The stimulus…has to be borrowed, and it has to be really, truly huge — probably something like $1.5 or $2 trillion — to fill the gap between where the economy is and where it would be if everyone was spending at pre-recession levels. The goal is to goad consumers into spending again. And President Obama’s jettisoned $400 billion jobs package, hard-core Keynesians argue, is nowhere near what it would take to persuade them.”

The Republicans obviously champion a more fiscally conservative view that says that a Keynesian stimulus can’t grow jobs or fix the economy — only time can, and that any meddling we do only delays the recovery. Davidson points out the irony of this viewpoint:

It’s a puzzle of modern politics that Republicans have had electoral success with a policy that fundamentally asserts there is nothing the government can do to create jobs any time soon.

Of course, I wouldn’t expect Romney, Perry, Cain or any GOP candidate to shout, “Just sit tight, we’ll get through this!” In fact, many of the “jobs creation” ideas proposed by the Republicans like tax cuts and loosening of regulations are at odds with this wait-it-out philosophy.

So is there any hope? Davidson closes the piece with his opinion:

An economy is truly healthy only when its people know how to make and do things that others will pay them a decent amount for. Jobs, in other words, are not the cause of a healthy economy; they’re the byproduct. And that’s another thing most national politicians know but will never say. So perhaps instead of (or, at least, in addition to) arguing over plans that aren’t going to happen, we should focus on what almost certainly will come true. The economy that emerges from this recession is going to be different. Without the distortion of a credit bubble, it is clear that far too many Americans don’t know how to do anything that the world is willing to pay them a living wage for. No economic theory offers them easy salvation. We don’t need to become a nation of app designers. An economic downturn is a great time to learn things — carpentry, say, or aerospace engineering — that others will eventually pay for.

According to an article on BusinessNewsDaily.com, hiring managers should start thinking more carefully before they remove an applicant from their potential pool of candidates simply because they are what appears to be “overqualified.” While this might sound like common sense to some, considering the economic forecast recently, many employers tend to over look the overqualified and move on to employees that have less experience or education, typically costing the employer less; however, this article argues that might not be the best route for most companies to take.

One of the main reasons is highlighted by the article, setting the tone from the very first sentence, explaining what some might consider the obvious, “While many employers may shy away from hiring overqualified candidates, new research shows they might be the best people for the job.” But we’ve all heard that this might be the case. Again, many employers make their decisions based on cost and don’t always consider the long run, so what really solidifies this information? “While past investigations have revealed that overqualified employees are generally dissatisfied with their jobs and constantly looking for a new employer, a recent study by Aleksandra Luksyte, a professor at the University of Western Australia, finds that giving those same employees challenging assignments can have a strong positive impact on the business.

Specifically, the study shows that overqualified employees who are handed assignments that give them an opportunity to freely make decisions, coordinate or lead others, or be responsible for the outcomes of their work actions, were more likely to put greater effort into both their performance and promoting organizational welfare.” In other words, you get what you pay for and if you’re willing to pay for more experience, education and etc. than you’re ultimately getting more bang for your buck. “‘When overqualified people are placed into challenging jobs, they seem to be motivated to utilize all their under-realized potential into becoming excellent employees,’ Luksyte told BusinessNewsDaily. ‘Our results suggest that by placing overqualified employees in complex jobs, employers may be able to influence the most important work behaviors of their overqualified incumbents.’”

Not only would your company ultimately benefit from hiring someone with more qualifications for their own tasks and duties, but also furthermore, the article goes on to reveal that these individuals also have an impact on those other employees around them. “The research also found that overqualified employees given challenging tasks were stimulated to help their co-workers with professional concerns, such as helping out with a heavy workload, and personal issues, like cheering them up on a bad day. ‘Interestingly, they were reluctant to display counterproductive work behaviors such as neglecting their supervisors’ instructions,’ Luksyte said.” Have any employees that sometimes sport a competitive nature? Hiring overqualified individuals can spark this in others, causing a domino effect of motivation. “Luksyte believes her research shows that hiring and retaining overqualified people could be a competitive advantage, if done right.

‘A fruitful strategy could be one that involves improving aspects of job complexity, such as freedom to make decisions, work structure, participative decision making, heightened responsibility for outcomes or results, and communication with others,’ Luksyte said.”

To read more about the study and the results, click here to view the article.

As a hiring manager, do you typically eliminate any candidates you view as overqualified from your potential pool of interviewees? Furthermore, have you hired anyone overqualified and found success or failure with this in any way? If so, share your experience.

As a job seeker, have you been turned away from a job because you were considered overqualified? What was your response and how did you tackle this challenge?

On Monday, I joined thousands of Americans to watch President Obama discuss his Jobs Plan during a LinkedIn sponsored town hall meeting. If you missed it you can watch the event in its entirety below, it’s just over an hour long. While the answer to many of the questions posed to the President was along the lines of “pass my jobs plan” he did offer words of encouragement to all.

With a goal of creating 1.9 million jobs and adding close to 2% to our GDP, Obama hopes that his plan will “have ripple effects and help the recovery take off.” To a gentleman who had recently experienced a layoff after more than 20 years in IT, Obama also emphasized, “You’ve got the skills, you’ve got experience, you’ve got a track record of success. Right now the challenge is not you, it’s the economy as a whole.”
A pick-me-up like that from the President has got to be way better than getting one of the new Hallmark cards intended for the recently unemployed. (Although some of them are pretty funny.) There’s one that reads, “Don’t think of it as losing your job. Think of it as a time out between stupid bosses.” But I digress!

Other highlights of the event included a member of the audience also unemployed, except this time by choice, who asked the President to increase his taxes (he’s a former Google exec), a woman who spoke on behalf of her 65 year old mother who can not find gainful employment and a veteran who questioned how the government will better help vets transition to civilian careers.

What are your thoughts on the Obama Jobs Plan? Looking at your organization as we head toward 2012, we’re also curious about your plans when it comes to jobs. Are you likely grow and add to staff, hold steady until there’s more signs of economic life, or plan to cut back?

Share with us your thoughts and watch those of our President here:

Video streaming by Ustream

Last week I read an interesting study sponsored by the Kenexa High Performance Institute entitled: Attitude? What Attitude? The Evidence Behind the Work Attitudes of Millennials. In the report, they examine the conventional wisdom we have about today’s millennials as employees to see if the stereotypes have merit. Here’s just some of the things we tend to think of when we describe the millennials in our workforce:

• They feel entitled when it comes to their job—if they don’t like their work or variety of opportunities, they’ll leave.
• They demand a sense of fulfillment and personal accomplishment at work, and have little tolerance for more entry-level or menial tasks.
• They expect to be rewarded and praised for every small accomplishment.
• They are comfortable with change, and have few qualms or concerns about job hopping.
• They are rarely satisfied.
• (I would also like to  add that they’re thinner, have more hair and whiter teeth—darn those Millennials!)

However, the result of the Kenexa study paints a much different picture. The authors state that “by tracking more than 25 years of opinions through the WorkTrends study, we actually find that this picture is false.” In fact, as you’ll see in the charts below, in many cases millennials are on par or even surpass their Boomers and Generation X counterparts.

The study concludes with this summary:

Books are being written and stories are being told about the vast differences between Millennials and their generational predecessors. Yet, when it comes to the workplace, the differences are shockingly slight. How can we explain the disconnect? It’s possible that HR professionals and managers are adapting to their new charges, and creating programs that incorporate Millennials’ views into the workplace.

True, the study says, younger workers (“whether the hippies of the sixties or millennials today”) do display traits common to youth like periods of angst or optimism, but most organizations have seen many these attitudes before and can handle it. How about you? What does your experience as a recruiter or HR pro tell you about the millennial workforce?

So that crazy picture from the 4th of July BBQ was definitely Facebook worthy…or not.

I remember the days (actually, not that long ago) when we were warned about the consequences of being caught in an unflattering photo that could possibly reach the Internet. There were commercials broadcasting the dangers of pictures placed online becoming a permanent fixture in the public eye. But forward to present day, and we’ve all embraced a norm of posting any and everything that catches our attention. It seems we’ve become less inhibited where the Internet is concerned and despite the many warnings, and multiple stories of people losing their jobs/marriages, etc. over comments and tweets, there are still a variety of offenders still posting risqué photos and lewd, crude, and downright rude remarks, jokes, quotes, and lyrics. Of course, this is usually done in fun, and what people believe to be somewhat “private” and exclusive to only their group of selected “friends”.

Lest we warn again… there is a new reason to rethink what you intend to put online for all to see. You’ve probably heard that employers have been Googling you to see who they’re REALLY interviewing. Well now the background check has been given additional steps to include an even more thorough search which findings will be kept on file for a period of 7 years. Social Intelligence Corp., a background check company, was found to be in compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act by the Federal Trade Commission. They have now been granted a license to screen job applicants based on their Internet photos and postings.

What does this mean for you? You no longer have to be a celebrity like Kim Kardashian to feel the backlash of your statements/opinions on Facebook or Twitter.

When you’re applying for a job, the new standard part of background checks will include a search of all that you’ve posted to the Internet, including Facebook, Twitter, blogs, Craigslist, Flickr, and the like.

In case you were not aware of this already, employers must inform you, the job applicant, if they took adverse action based on something found on the Internet. This will at least notify you to change your privacy settings accordingly and make you aware of what you need to delete. However, with this new turn of events, these actions are no saving grace. In the instance that a search on you returns something job-threatening on the social media sites, and there it will be entered into your file, where it will stay for the next seven years.

You should know though that, although Social Intelligence will keep the negative findings on file, these results will not be reused. It is a one time disclosure and with each request from a new employer, a new search is conducted. The filed away results will serve as background information if ever needed for legal reasons.

 “We store records for up to 7 years as long as those records haven’t been disputed. If a record is disputed and changed then we delete the disputed record and store the new record when appropriate.”

- Geoffrey Andrews, Social Intelligence COO

The searches are limited to what’s already publicly accessible, meaning what they can find on the social and professional networking sites you may be on. And like a credit background check, the job applicant must give their permission for the screening of social media to be used. Keep in mind that not only will your photos, updates, comments and tweets be scrutinized, but that also includes what fan pages and groups you’re joining, among other things – For example, if you’ve decided to join the “I hate _ people” group and are a fan of a few weapons pages and/or posting your whereabouts each week at naughty venues, these are most likely frowned upon.

Social networking sites contain information that employers are not supposed to rely upon to make hiring decisions, but that doesn’t mean that it won’t happen. While employers are researching applicants, they must be aware that all the same protections due job seekers in the traditional world, still apply online. Since many sites include photos, employers are not allowed to preclude a job applicant based on categories they may fall into (race, disability, gender, age, etc.). Any hiring decision made should be documented and include valid information on why one candidate was hired over another.

Employers should not ask to be accepted into a social network under a false alias to check out potential candidates. In such cases where this has occurred, the job seeker may have an actionable cause.

- “Social Media Concerns for Employers and Employees,”

- VETS NET

A research study commissioned by CareerBuilder showed that out of the 2,667 HR professionals surveyed, 45% of them admitted to already using social networking sites to investigate job candidates, another 11% have decided to incorporate social media screening into their exploring methods in the near future, and 35% of employers claimed to have not hired candidates based on undesirable findings on social networking sites.

So again, the old warnings still apply. Though we’ve become such a tech-savvy, social media loving society, you should remain cautious in determining what’s appropriate for the eyes of the “world-wide web”, remembering that once something’s out there it is hard to be erased.

While traveling last week on business, I grabbed a New York Times. On the back page of the Arts Section was a full page (don’t see those much anymore!) “letter of apology” from the Economy—courtesy of nytimes.com and monster.

You can read a copy of the letter here.  In the letter, the economy takes full responsibility for the job market over the last few years but adds, “But now the ball is in your court. You have permission to move on with your life. It’s time to move forward, find a job you love and get back to work.”

Hmm. I’m not sure how I feel about this. On the one hand, I’m an advertising person, and nytimes/monster was simply trying (as we all are) to create a unique way of getting their message out—and maybe even inspire some people who have given up to renew their job search.

On the other hand, the job recession was so brutal and hurt so many people, people who did everything they could to try and find a job, that I can’t help but wonder if this letter is a bit too glib. I’m not sure those who lost their jobs during the recession would appreciate their situation being used as a way to drive traffic to a job board. Also, while the ad is certainly clever, I don’t think those who are still unemployed are in the mood for clever.

Following the responses to the “letter” in various blogs this week, I’ve seen everything from ”ingenious” to the “dumbest ad I’ve ever seen.” What do you think?

Let’s face it: a hiring manager’s job is tough. It’s not easy to find someone out there in a pool of thousands of applicants who “fits.” And we don’t just mean fits the job description or has a skill set that fits the position. It’s also important to find someone who fits in terms of the actual office environment and someone that might actually have more talent than the person who is hiring. In essence, a hiring manager has to find someone that is better than him or her; someone who can do things they can’t and, at times, that can be a bit hard to swallow. How do you find someone who is better than you after admitting that that’s what you’re looking for?

Jason Seiden’s new blog post, “How to Surround Yourself with People Better than Yourself” might be able to help. Seiden’s article offers a few how-to tips on making the right (and tough) decision. Here are a few suggestions:

• Let go of judgment. The first step in recognizing talent is recognizing talent! You can only do this if you are able to put aside your own issues and prejudices and see others for who they are. ie, if you’re starving, any chef is a 4 star chef. You’ve got to be able to compensate for your own “schtick” when assessing others.
• Let go of jealousy. If you’re jealous of what they’ve got, you’ll feel it, they’ll feel it, and badness will be inevitable.
• Let go of labels. Strong people don’t need anyone to define a relationship with labels because they’re able to figure it out on their own. Trying to label a relationship can scare a strong person off. (Not comfortable with ambiguity? Keep that to yourself.)
• Let go of doubt. Great people want people around them who are even better then themselves. If you don’t believe you belong, you don’t belong.
• Let go of control. Great people will do things you don’t understand and can’t explain. Insisting on living in a world you fully understand will keep you from experiencing people who can open you up to new and bigger ideas. Great people approach their worlds with innocence, wonder, and curiosity.
• Let go of you. Help the people around you shine brighter. The strong ones’ll keep you around and start feeding your gift back to you. (The weak ones will show their true colors by trying to take advantage or assuming mal-intent on your part—easy to deal with once you’re prepared for it.)
• Let go of self-esteem. The thing about surrounding yourself with awesome is, you are always being challenged. It’s with love and support, but they’re challenges nonetheless, and you must win, without help, without cheating, without rationalizing. And when you don’t win, you must bounce back quickly and confidently because you don’t want to fail twice in a row.
• Let go of safe. Surrounding yourself with extraordinary people guarantees one thing: change. Scary, risky, life-altering change. No-more-comfort-zone change. For instance, if I were the worlds’ best matchmaker and we were hanging out, I could find you your true love. When I did, would you be ready? Great people requires us to abandon the safe harbor of our routines.

Seiden concludes with, “Did you get it yet? Greatness happens when you let go. It’s the ultimate ‘stone soup;’ you bring only your true self and all the other ingredients you think you need actually are provided by others when the time comes. It takes an incredible amount of self-confidence and faith to play this game—but I never did say it was easy. That’s my recipe. I hope you can make it work for you!” To read all of Seiden’s tips, see his blog for even more helpful information.

Have you experienced a tough time finding the talent that you need? Have you ever been afraid to hire anyone because his or her methods weren’t exactly in your “comfort zone?”

Have you ever experienced the opposite- gone out on a limb to hire someone even though you weren’t sure and had wonderful or terrible results? Share with us.

While things continue to look up on the economic and job creation front, there are still 5.8 million Americans that are among the long-term unemployed. Recently, Alstin’s Anne Hillman blogged about a crazy trend – jobless discrimination. It’s almost hard to believe but yes, companies are currently advertising open positions clearly stating that only currently employed candidates need apply. The unemployed are not part of a protected class (like race, gender, or age) in the US, unless you happen to live in New Jersey.

On ABC’s World News Tonight this report was filed noting the “cruel irony” of such a practice. Employers that engage in this pre-screen were confronted via phone on the big question: Why? One organization simply stated that this was a legal and common practice, another claimed to have made a mistake.

Besides calling attention to an issue that clearly should be made illegal in more states than one, the ABC News piece offers some real solid tips to candidates who are part of the long-term unemployed, particularly on how to effectively fill in their resume gaps.

Check out the report and be sure to let us know your thoughts. What would you think if you read “only currently employed candidates apply” in a job ad? As a hiring professional, does long-term unemployment or a large gap on a resume weigh heavily on your decision to interview? If you are among the long-term unemployed, how are you attempting to overcome the hurdles?

Facebook is not only used as a social networking tool, but it also serves as a massive online medium for advertising to all kinds of people internationally. While several retail companies have used Facebook to get their product out in front of the masses, Facebook is also an excellent resource for companies looking to hire or obtain fans and followers.

An article online, “Facebook claims more than 31% of the display ad market” is pretty self-exclamatory by the title, but some are still resistant to even test out their recruiting efforts online. So if you’re not convinced just by the title, the article goes on to explain, “The social network had 233.9 billion more impressions than the next largest display ad publisher. Of the more than 1.11 trillion online display ads U.S. Internet users viewed in the first quarter, nearly one in three, or 31.2%, were delivered on Facebook, according to web measurement firm comScore Inc. The leading social network led all web sites that displayed ads with 346.46 billion impressions, a 96.5% jump from the 176.31 billion impressions it delivered in the same period a year ago. Yahoo Inc. sites came in second with 112.51 billion impressions, followed by Microsoft Corp.(53.59 billion), AOL Inc. (33.45 billion) and Google Inc. sites (27.99 billion).”

Still not convinced that it’s worth your time or money? “Facebook has increasingly focused on online advertising, rolling out offerings such as Sponsored Stories, an ad service that lets companies place their logos alongside content from Facebook posts that involve the company. Consumers can click the ads, which appear on the right-hand column of news feed pages in a box labeled Sponsored Story, to visit advertisers’ Facebook pages. Online display advertising is thriving, says Jeff Hackett, comScore executive vice president.

‘We are now seeing more than one trillion display ads delivered every single quarter and nearly 300 individual advertisers spending at least $1 million a quarter on display, numbers which underscore just how large and vibrant the online medium has become,’ he says. ‘And it’s not just about the volume but about the quality of the advertising experience that can be delivered as we see continued investment in compelling, high-quality creative that helps cultivate long-term brand equity.’”

And while so may be leery of the dangers of posting online or creating a company Facebook page (which, yes, some are legitimate), take a look at the competitors in your industry and see what they’re up to. Weight the cons and pros and really consider delving into embracing this option. Using Facebook isn’t just for making friends anymore.

A few months ago we posted a blog about Honestly.com, a website that allows employers to rate employees and potentially rate them poorly on a public forum. But let’s be fair here as employees aren’t the only individuals in the workforce that are challenged, questioned or even attacked on the internet. On the other side of the coin rests GlassDoor.com, a website that touts itself as “as inside look at job and companies” that allows employees to anonymously rate their employment at companies, give details on their salaries, write about the office environment, the interview process and just about anything else they want. Previously, we questioned the ethics of posting on Honestly.com about employees and their performance. After all, there are so many factors to consider – whether or not the person rating is actually being honest or holds a strange vendetta against the employees, whether or not the performance at an old job that might have completely different requirements and a completely different environment is even relevant to a new job, and the list went on.

How do they define themselves?

“What is Glassdoor?

Glassdoor is a free career community where anyone can find and anonymously share an inside look at jobs and companies. What sets us apart is that all our information comes from current and former employees, interview candidates, and even the companies themselves. Now with more than a million salaries, company reviews, interview questions, office photos, and more, you have all the information you’ll need to manage your career and make more informed career decisions.

Plus, with Glassdoor’s proprietary JobScope™ technology job seekers have a new way to browse job listings and get instant, in-depth details about thousands of companies, including reviews from employees, salary information, recent news coverage, and more.

No other career or jobs site offers such detailed information about specific jobs at specific companies – all for free.”

But taking a closer look at GlassDoor.com prompts us to ponder the same questions. Is it possible that an employee just never got along with his or her superiors and is now writing to give the company a bad rep? Is it possible that their job requirements did not merit the salary they were expecting; giving them an excuse to post that the company employees pays poorly? GlassDoor.com, just like Honestly.com, allows people to give companies (instead of employees) a numeric rating based on whatever factors the person posting comes up with, as well as a list of pros and cons about the company. While for the most part, it seems as though people writing the ratings include valid pros such as benefits for full time employees, and cons such as work/life balance is tough, because people rating are allowed to basically write whatever comes to mind, this gives room for the same type of personal attack as Honestly.com does. Of course, just like Honestly.com, there are watchdog measures put into place to make sure this type of thing doesn’t happen frequently, but it only really needs to happen once to damage an individual’s or a company’s reputation. Aside from that, just because GlassDoor.com sees the post and erases it, doesn’t mean that no one else saw it and maybe posted it to their site, blog, etc.

The one ethical advantage GlassDoor has over Honestly is that GlassDoor does allow employers to fight back in way, using their own Public Relations. The site contains a “For Employers” section where, for a fee, employers can create a profile or job postings on GlassDoor that can “Tell your company’s story with an Enhanced Employer Profile. Highlight your employment brand, promote your latest job listings, and get access to advanced analytics and competitive benchmarking.”

As a professional, do you believe that the one redeeming factor on GlassDoor.com is enough? Does GlassDoor cross the same ethical lines as Honestly.com, or are they different? Is one more or less ethical than the other?

As a company, are you concerned about your reputation on the internet considering there are sites like GlassDoor that allow potentially disgruntled employees to post poor ratings?

As an employee, have you ever posted anonymously to GlassDoor or used it to research a company before applying or interviewing? Have you ever used GlassDoor.com to specifically look up salaries that a company might pay?

This past week, Alstin had some college students stop by our offices for a tour and a Q&A session. They were a great group of hopeful advertising professionals from Rowan University’s Ad Club who came prepared with thoughtful questions and the right attitude. I always emphasize to student groups the importance of gaining experience (Get it whereever you can and make the most of every experience!) and am always happy to offer tips on professional and creative ways to stand out from the crowd when looking for that first job.

There are a few examples on this blog like the Google AdWords guy and these great resumes  that I can point to, and here’s another terrific example I saw on Recruitng Blogs this week for y’all out there.

Graeme Anthony, a Brit in the PR industry created his very own Curriculum Vitae Interactive Video, or CVIV for short, that’s worth checking out.

As with the other examples, it’s not exactly a shocker that these approaches tend to be taken (and praised) by people in the creative/communication fields, but no matter what business you are in, I think you’ll enjoy this. Be sure to check out a few, if not all, of the links that show up at the end of his CVIV.

Graeme’s currently gainfully employed, but in addition to the great approach, I also like his commentary. He notes on YouTube that he made these videos public “in the hope that it inspires others to demonstrate their natural creativity and secure work.” Nice job and thanks for the inspiration Graeme!

“Don’t worry, it’ll be fun. Trust us.”

I don’t know about you, but that sort of lingo always tends to have the opposite effect with me. The company R/GA, a branding firm, leads off the application process for their internship program with these words front and center on their website. Why all the reassurances?

Part of their application process includes allowing R/GA to interview the applicant’s friends too. On Facebook.

Yep, on Facebook. This is how they explain it:

As a part of the application process for the R/GA internship program, we’ll be posting questions on your Facebook wall for your friends to answer … we’ll post three questions – one per day …

You can opt-out of this process, but seriously, opting-out has got to equate to taking yourself out of the running. A person with the company is quoted as saying “ … this is a new way for them to demonstrate sophistication around using social media.”

I am not so sure how approving an app that will post questions on their wall to friends and family (who may be a little bit biased, ya think?) showcases social media prowess – it does show that R/GA is using social media in a new way – but to each his own.

This approach will likely be a fun exercise for the company and for the potential interns who are game. I think we’d all agree however, that this is not an approach that would sit well for the majority of hiring organizations and candidates who are already under enough pressure looking for gainful employment.

What is your take? A creative approach to recruiting? Another Big Brother experiment in HR-land? Let us know!

The constant changes in technology have developed our communication in different forms that allow us to connect in various ways wherever we are anytime of day. The most popular form is mobile, through the use of cell phones/handhelds. Today, there are 4 billion mobile subscribers worldwide, with 3 billion that are using text messaging. The mobile device is one of the most important things we carry with us on the daily basis next to our keys, wallet or purse, and it keeps us connected via email, Internet, phone calls, text messaging and additional applications. But of them all, text messaging is the most widely used application on the planet. With this information, you can lightly assume “everybody’s doing it.” This includes all the candidates you’re so desperately searching for….for the purposes of this post, namely physicians. 94% of text messages are read compared to email & direct mail campaigns which average 3%, and researchers anticipate the number of texts to double to 10 trillion by 2014. I think we can safely say that this growing trend is definitely the big business of the future.

Of the over 262 million U.S. wireless subscribers, a large part of them are working professionals, including gadget junkies who crave and enjoy the latest technology has to offer. This large audience encompasses a number of tech-savvy physicians who’ve incorporated the convenience & time-saving assistance of a mobile device in their daily repertoire. According to Physician’s News Digest, many young physicians rely solely on the Internet to inform them of available positions. First steps in spreading the news of your openings should be to post your opportunities on general physician sites as well as the specialty societies and association sites. But have you found that you’ve exhausted these methods and more, time and time again, and still have no viable candidates to fill your hard-to-fill physician openings?

With the popularity of free medical apps, the medical blogosphere and physician only online communities among physicians, might it be worth your while to try your hand at mobile messaging? We all know that where you’ll place an ad is determined by what your target employee market reads, listens to or watches, and in mobile devices, you’re able to reach them no matter when or where.

Many people don’t realize that healthcare providers and professionals have been using a wide range of wirelessly connected devices for years, and with the constant development of new and improved, wave of the future tech devices being produced year after year, healthcare, like all other industries, must and are poised to evolve and progress. Healthcare technology professionals expect that the success of Apple’s iPad will bring about major competition from HP, Dell and even Google. It’s likely that these giants have set their sites on the healthcare community to be the first to meet their needs in a specific tablet designed to function in a healthcare environment. Apple’s already targeted medical professionals in its endeavors to market the iPhone and iPad as useful reference tools in their practices, with workshops for physicians. They’ve also seized the opportunity to capitalize on the rapid adoption of electronic medical records by pushing their latest technology as a platform for these methods. The healthcare community is a huge target for tech developers as they aspire to keep pace for efficiency in quality healthcare.

With a feast of apps being written for smartphones today, more than a serving are targeted at the healthcare sector. Physicians can and have downloaded a large number of these free popular medical apps to aid them in their profession. Epocrates claims to have over one million healthcare professionals, including over 300,000, or over 45% of, U.S. physicians regularly using their app to make decisions and improve safety, while MedCalc has more than 700,000 installs world-wide as the most popular medical calculator for doctors and nurses for iPhone and iPod touch.

Still not convinced that targeting Physicians through mobile efforts is worth a try?

64% percent of U.S. physicians currently own smartphones, and that number is expected to increase to 81% penetration in 2012.

A recent report from Manhattan Research indicates that offline sources will slowly dissipate as the internet will become physicians’ primary professional resource and that mobile technology will become more indispensable to physicians as the various functions on these devices grow to include administrative tasks and patient monitoring. With the significant increase in participation in social networks dedicated to physicians almost doubling and the record growth of smartphone/PDA ownership from 2008 to 2009, the prediction is that physicians will steadily become more immersed in online media, and by 2012, all physicians will come equipped with stethoscope and a smart mobile device. There will be very few professional activities that physicians won’t be doing on their handhelds.

As the world keeps turning, technology will continue to change and prosper, realizing new and successful ways to communicate your message to the ideal audience. It is up to you to decide to adapt for your betterment and determine where your efforts will accomplish your goals.

As technology is constantly shifting and advancing around us, it’s hard to keep up sometimes on the most recent trends and information in Human Resources and job seeking. One of the most interesting revelations is that the cover letter, an additional document to follow your resume meant to introduce yourself with a personal touch, is becoming obsolete in some cases. Shocked? Disappointed? Taken aback considering that you just finished editing your most recent draft? An article on Mashable.com titled, “Are Cover Letters Still Relevant For Social Media and Tech Jobs?” explains why.

” As more companies use social networks to screen candidates, many applicants are questioning whether their cover letters are still relevant. With the level of transparency in social media, what can a cover letter offer that a LinkedIn profile or Twitter stream can’t?”

What does this translate to?

“A cover letter’s value can be determined by its approach. Many hiring managers see them as increasingly unnecessary because they’re often text-heavy, unoriginal, and repeat the resume‚ rather than enhance it.

Mark O’Connor, staffing manager at oil company Tesoro, says he doesn’t read much into cover letters, particularly for tech jobs but adds that it doesn’t mean applicants shouldn’t bother to send them. ‘They should be short functional summaries of their relevant experience,’ he says.

Still, O’Connor’s team of recruiters focuses on developing relationships with candidates via social networks. From there, they’re more concerned about the details that lie within the r‚sum‚ and try to hone in on a candidate’s past experience.”

So overall, there are two conflicting messages here – Cover letters are “unnecessary,” but job seekers should send them anyway? Before typing up a long cover letter that details your own philosophies and ideas, rethink everything you think you know about the cover letter. Let’s suppose cover letters are not being phased out, but rather need to be revised. As O’Connor reveals, he would prefer “short functional summaries” of experience and education with a brief personal touch.

But some still certainly place value on the cover letter and believe that it is vital to standing out. “The main advantage of a cover letter is its ability to be customized. Some hiring managers see it as a way to assess your dedication to and qualifications for a specific position.

‘A cover letter, especially one that is customized to the position tells me the person is actually applying for this position. This person cares enough to write something that applies not just a blanket response of resumes to a bunch of jobs,’ says Patrick Chaupham, senior vice president of digital communications at public relations agency Weber Shandwick.

In fact, it’s the lack of tailored and interesting cover letters that keeps Ryan Goff, director of social media marketing at advertising and public relations agency MGH, from reading them. ‘We want to be wow’ed, and the cut-and-paste cover letter will never do the trick,’ he says. ‘Know your audience and, in doing so, give us something that would impress.’”

Essentially, what hiring managers are saying is that a cover letter can and, most often, should be included, but must be written correctly. It should be personal, it should show that a job seeker knows that company and it should be brief enough to not take up too much time to read. Consider the fact that most companies are currently flooded with resumes and don’t have an hour to read cover letter as long as a novel.

Here are a few tips the article shares from other professionals:

“‘Find someone, even a long-lost relative, who can refer you. There is nothing better to open doors than this cover-letter opening line: ‘So-and-so suggested I send you my resume .’
- Eve Tahmincioglu, MSNBC career columnist

“‘Focus on your resume. If it’s strong enough, there won’t be the need for the cover letter.’
- Ryan Goff, director of social media marketing, MGH”

And if that’s not enough, consider other options. As the very definition of the cover letter seems to be evolving just as quickly as technology and social media, try to evolve your cover letter. Consider creative options that show experience and have a personal touch just like your standard cover letter would. Personally, I’m an advocate of trying new ways that incorporate technology- Instead of a cover letter, include a Prezi about yourself, your experience and your education. New ways to stand out to employers are constantly popping up through technology and should be taken advantage of. Read up on your favorite technology and social media blogs and articles to see what you can do differently.

As an employer, how many cover letters have you received in the past month attached to a resume? Do you read each one or just browse the resume to make sure the candidate has the skills you’re looking for? What are you looking for in a cover letter?

As a job seeker, how many cover letters have you spent hours crafting to make sure they sound perfect? Do you find that your cover letters still grab attention or make no difference in the eyes of potential employers? What other methods have you tried to stand out and get your personal touch across?

Rising demand! Expanding profit margins! Increased expectations for economic growth! Brighter employment outlook! Increased capital spending! Is this really happening? And the survey says….Yes! Well, at least according to the National Association for Business Economics January 2011 Industry Survey which is packed with such high hopes. 

Among the surveys findings:

• Industry demand in all four major industry sectors increased for a sixth consecutive quarter during the final 3 months of 2010.
• Profit margins expanded for a sixth quarter in a row.
• Employment market improvement: The hiring outlook for the next 6 months finds 42% of respondents indicating their firms will increase employment.
• Expectations for future capital spending are higher with 62% of respondents reporting higher planned expenditures

Interestingly, these findings are not connected to new tax policies. Firms “anticipate no increase or decrease in investment spending or employment in response to new tax policies” which suggests business decisions are being driven by the fundamentals of an improving economy. Boo-yah!

 ”The number of firms expressing positive hiring planned is at a level not seen in over a decade – a sign of improving labor-market dynamics”

 The stock market has recovered nicely from 2009 lows and corporate profits are on the rise. Employment is the last key ingredient to what will be the end of a slooooow recovery. I’m not looking for 5% unemployment by years end, but some slow, steady decline to 8% this year would be a real victory and a sign of better years ahead.

According to an article recently circulating the web called, “The Sick-Day Bounty Hunters” on Yahoo! Finance, employees should beware: If you plan on calling out sick, make sure it’s because you actually are sick…or else. The article reports that “an alarming number of workers play hooky, corporations are clamping down — and calling in the detectives.”

That’s right. Some companies have now resorted to calling on private investigators to make sure that when an employee calls out, they’re not spending the day running errands or taking a vacation, but rather are actually as ill as they claim to be. A detective named in the article (Rick Raymond), notes that employers’ “suspicion has led Raymond to bowling alleys, pro football games, weddings, and even funerals. On this morning it has taken him to a field outside the home of an Orlando repairman whose employer is doubtful about his slow recovery from a car accident. Although Raymond tries to be impartial about his subjects, ‘80 to 85 percent of the time,’ he says, ‘there’s definitely fraud happening.’”

While some employees might complain that this is an infringement on privacy, some HR managers applaud the effort and claim that, “Corporations pay [private investigators] to spy on workers who take ‘sick days’ when they may not, in fact, be sick.”

Raymond has reported some incredible stories on employees using new technology to cut out of work, even going to amusement parks while feigning ill. “Earlier this year, Raymond investigated an employee at a Florida health organization who called in sick with the flu for three days. As Raymond discovered, she was actually visiting the Universal Studios theme park. ‘On some of those roller coasters, they take your picture at a really sharp turn, and then you can buy it at a kiosk,’ Raymond recalls. ‘She went on three rides, and I bought all three of her pictures, which had the date at the bottom.’ When confronted with the evidence by her employers, Raymond says her first response was, ‘That’s not me!’ After they played Raymond’s video of her volunteering at the theme park’s animal show, her only defense was, ‘I don’t even remember that!’ She was fired.”

This brings up several interesting questions for employees and employers alike, which a few people have commented on below the article:

• Is it ethical for employers to “spy” on workers taking sick-time? If not, is it justified to take sick-time when not actually sick, just because it is an offered benefit? Is it a right for the employee?
• Who pays for these private investigators? Unless this employee is a repeat offender, wouldn’t the cost of a private investigator add up quickly for any company and possibly cost more than the employee’s day of work?
• What rights do the employer and employee have in the eyes of the law when it comes to taking sick-time?

As an employee, an employer or a HR professional, how do you feel about this new influx of private investigator use?

What draws qualified job seekers to the opportunities at your company? More and more these days, recruiters are being inundated with resumes from unqualified or under-qualified job seekers who are applying for any and all available positions in the hopes of securing a job any way possible. During this time, that will most likely continue to happen, however, in the midst of the many resumes that come in, how many are from top-quality candidates that have the qualifications you seek and the wherewithal to “cut it” as a productive employee for your organization? Though job opportunities are in high demand, quality workers are pickier than you may think. Along with the needs for stable employment, job seekers, especially those who are currently employed, are searching for the opportunity to improve their situation, be it financially, for educational or professional advancement, unsatisfied in their current workplace or position, or to create better harmony in some way for their home life. How do you capture the interest of a more calculating quality applicant?

First things first…are your job descriptions giving these job seekers the details that mean something to them? According to a survey done by Snagajob.com, when it comes to a job description, job seekers want to see:

• 55 percent want job details
• 27 percent want to see wage information
• 10 percent want quick readability
• 5 percent want more information about perks and benefits
• 2 percent want pictures and video

Of course, you must be sure not to confuse the selective candidates you’re looking for with job titles that are unclear, or a verbose run down of each and every duty involved in the position. You want to use common language, or the terms that someone fitting the role should understand and read easily. Share with them the corporate culture of your business, and the best way to make them feel like they’re not “being sold” is to feature genuine employee testimonials. Who can sell better that your company is a great place to work than the people that work there?

When pitching your openings to possible candidates through job descriptions, print ads, web postings, social media interaction, etc. it’s a good idea to keep in mind the reasons YOU would leave a position, and depict the positive areas in which your organization is strong. There have been a number of articles, blogs, and surveys done that indicate the strongest explanation for employees to be unhappy in their job or to leave their job is a lack of appreciation. Believe it or not, that simple pat on the back may have kept some of your best workers. Thanks to many quotes, sayings anecdotes, we all know that money is not the only thing needed to make one happy. Employees want more, and to keep them happy in the workplace you’ll need to ensure: (from AltaStaff, A Boutique Staffing Agency)

1. Appreciation

2. Respect

3. Trust

4. Individual Growth

5. Good Boss

6. Compatible Co-workers

7. Compatible Culture

8. A Sense of Purpose

If your organization exemplifies these factors, be sure to let prospective candidates know. It’s a good idea to utilize your career site, advertisements, social media tools and more to convey how they will be valued, how their ideas, opinions, and needs will be respected and supported, and how you trust them to do good work in exchange for this open and honest culture you provide for their comfort.

Providing a good work environment is more than the location, the cosmetic structure of the buildings and even state-of-the-art equipment. Often it will all come down to the people, and the ability to feel engaged in your daily achievements and fulfilled in the direction you’re headed.

Make it known that you can accommodate your employees sense of purpose, acknowledge their contributions, respect them as partners in driving the company forward, and it should aid you in drawing in the more sought after candidates.

“The longer people stay out of work, the more trouble they have finding new work,” begins an article from The New York Times titled, “The New Poor: Unemployed, and Likely to Stay That Way.” This article, also titled “Is HR unfairly biased against the long-term unemployed?” reveals some of the less than hopeful facts about finding a new job after the recession regardless of experience, that can sometimes even count against job seekers as opposed to for them.

The rates leave some feeling humbled as “New data from the Labor Department, provided to The New York Times, shows that people out of work fewer than five weeks are more than three times as likely to find a job in the coming month than people who have been out of work for over a year, with a re-employment rate of 30.7 percent versus 8.7 percent, respectively.” But can this truly be attributed to Human Resources being “biased against the long-term unemployed?”

The article continues to clarify that one of the biggest problems job seekers face is the possibility of becoming “disconnected from the work force” and “[having] more trouble getting hired, probably because of some combination of stigma, discouragement and deterioration of their skills.” Job seekers also might have been “poor performers in their previous positions and among the first to be terminated when the recession began.” As the article explains, “These people are weak job candidates with less impressive résumés and references. In other instances, those who lost jobs may have been good workers but were laid off from occupations or industries that are in permanent decline, like manufacturing. But economists have tried to control for these selection issues, and studies comparing the fates of similar workers have also shown that the experience of unemployment itself damages job prospects. Many unemployed workers fret about how to explain the yawning gaps on their résumés. Some are calling themselves independent ‘consultants’ or ‘entrepreneurs.’”

While “policy makers in the United States as they seek to address unemployment,” if companies refuse to hire the long-term unemployed, then there is little anyone can do other than continue to struggle to find something close to what they had that can pay the bills. An article from USA Today titled, “Economy has sent executives to jobs down corporate ladder,” describes a few recently hired professionals that have turned to positions far from what they once had, taking “25% pay cuts” and watching as “annual pay has plunged to about $95,000 from $400,000 or so” for some that once boasted high titles such as CEO and “chief operating officer.”

But Human Resources isn’t necessarily to blame for thinking that long-term unemployed job seekers might not be the best fit for new positions they advertise for and some are certainly working towards trying to think about unemployment differently. The New York Times article reports, “’From what I’ve seen, employers do tend to get suspicious when there’s a long-term gap in people’s résumés,” said James Whelly, deputy director of work force development at the San Francisco Human Services Agency. “Even though everyone on an intellectual level knows that this is a unique time in the economy, those old habits are hard to break with hiring managers and H.R. departments who are doing the screening.’”

While it’s good to know that some HR professionals are becoming gradually more willing to hire and more understanding of the current economic situation, job seekers are still feeling the pressure and hoping that gaps in their resumes won’t stop them for getting interviews all together, or worse, that they can afford to continue going to interviews. “It does not help when job seekers are repeatedly rejected — or worse, ignored. Constant rejection not only discourages workers from job-hunting as intensively, but also makes people less confident when they do land interviews. ‘People don’t have money to keep up appearances important for job hunting,’ said Katherine S. Newman, a sociology professor at Princeton. ‘They can’t go to the dentist. They can’t get new clothes. They gain weight and look out of shape, since unemployment is such a stressful experience. All that is held against them when there is such an enormous range of workers to choose from.’” 

As an HR professional, do you look differently at a resume that has a large gap from the recession? What do you think of job seekers that have years of experience and are looking to get back into work hoping for similar salaries close to what they used to make? Do you think that is it fair to argue that HR professionals are “biased against the long-term unemployed?” As a job seeker, what have you done to help close the gap on your resume?

In November, I blogged about how Monster.com’s Facebook page invited their followers to post questions on what the federal government is doing to create jobs and spur growth. Those that were “liked” the most would be answered directly by the White House.

Austan Goolsbee, Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors, responded to those questions in a series of videos now found on Monster’s YouTube channel. As unemployment benefits are now starting to expire for 2 million Americans, here’s a timely response to a question regarding the impact of long-term unemployment:

You can view them all on Monster’s YouTube Channel - the questions range from age discrimination, to outsourcing and more. We’re also interested in your impressions of the Q&A’s. Do you think these are the most pressing issues facing America and what’s your impression of the responses?

Finally. A good jobs report came through last Friday. Businesses added a better-than-expected 151,000 jobs to their payrolls last month and the U.S. has now demonstrated four months of private sector job growth. Many Americans won’t be saying “finally” though until they have finally landed a job. President Obama addressed the American people on that very fact after the numbers were released:

We’ve now seen four months of private sector job growth above 100,000, which is the first time we’ve seen this kind of increase in over four years. Now, that’s not good enough … because the fact is, an encouraging jobs report doesn’t make a difference if you’re still one of the millions of people who are looking for work. And I won’t be satisfied until everybody who is looking for a job can find one … just as we passed a small business jobs bill based on ideas of both parties and the private sector, I am open to any idea, any proposal, any way we can get the economy growing faster so the people who need work can find it faster.

If you had a forum to address the President on the issues surrounding the current state of jobs in the U.S., what would you say? What would you like to vent to him about? What ideas do you think need to get off the table and into immediate action?

Starting this week through Sunday, November 14, Monster.com has such a forum on their Facebook page with this invitation to us all: “Post your questions on our Facebook page and those that spark the most engaging conversation and are “liked” the most by other members of our Facebook community will be delivered to the White House for response. Here is your chance to find out exactly what the federal government is doing to create jobs and spur growth. Don’t miss this opportunity – post your questions now!”

Spend a few minutes reading the increasing commentary on Monster’s “Keep America Working” Facebook Page and you’ll get a feel for the diversity and complexity of the real issues Americans are facing these days. It is pretty overwhelming.

Post your own comment, or “like” the ones that resonate – the White House is listening – and I will be back with a follow-up when all is said and done.

Regardless of the state of the economy, it’s important to remember that the holidays are coming up, and with them will come a flood of seasonal and temporary jobs out for the taking.

According to an article from Forbes.com titled, “How to get a holiday job,” these jobs will be in high demand and “…many Americans will want to consider going for that staple of seasonal employment.”

The non-seasonally adjusted data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that, “last year, when the recession was hitting hard, employment in retail jobs increased 47,800 in October, 318,900 in November and 134,700 in December…” This year, the retail economic environment has improved, offering more jobs to the swell of unemployed job seekers.

Another Forbes.com article, “Who’s hiring the most this holiday season,” stresses that “retailers and other big seasonal employers won’t be hiring as many people this year as they did in the last years before the recession began, but some of them are looking to take on thousands of workers.”

While these jobs might not pay top dollar and have off schedules that are usually based on mall or retail hours, it’s important to get a jumpstart on them if you want one in the upcoming holiday months. The article from Forbes.com gathered a short list of what companies will be hiring, as well as the average pay for some positions.

Here are a few that are going to be (if not already) up for grabs from both articles, with links leading to each company’s careers page:

“JCPenney and Macy‘s hold the No. 2 and No. 3 spots, with 12,189 and 9,090 listings, respectively.”

“Toys “R” Us is also looking to hire thousands of workers to help customers find the perfect gifts this season. Though it has only 5,354 unique listings right now, the toy retailer announced last month that it plans to double its domestic workforce this season by hiring about 45,000 holiday workers altogether.”

“UPS has 6,051 job postings right now, and FedEx has 2,733, many of them seasonal. According to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a global outplacement firm that tracks hiring and job-cut announcements, UPS plans to take on 50,000 seasonal workers in all.”

“Wal-Mart also confirms that it’s adding holiday help to its gargantuan staff of 1.4 million employees, though spokeswoman Ashley Hardie won’t say how many.”

One of the most important things job seekers should keep in mind is that according to a survey from CareerBuilder, “for some, a seasonal job may be a gift that keeps on giving. The survey revealed that about 40% of employers hiring holiday workers plan to transition some of them into full-time employees. That’s up from 31% last year.”

So, how do you obtain such a seemingly fleeting opportunity? Using most job search engines (CareerBuilder, Monster, Indeed), type the word “holiday” in the keywords section of the search, along with your location. Click to find literally hundreds of possibilities that have already been posted and advertised on the web since early October. A CareerBuilder search last week resulted in 45 pages of new seasonal jobs that are available in the Philadelphia region.

The key to securing a holiday job is polishing your resume, crafting a cover letter that states you are looking for seasonal work and acting NOW! Who knows? Perhaps an employer will have the gift of a permanent position for you after the holiday rush. 

Last week, I read a very interesting article on ere.net titled “What’s important to employees around the world”

I strongly encourage you to read the whole article, but here’s just a glimpse at some of the things they found:

• In the U.S. and the UK, a competitive salary is the most sought-after quality in a job.
• Germans list “challenging work” as most important to them in a job.
• Career advancement is the top goal of job-seekers in Brazil, India, and China.
• A convenient work location is a big lure in Germany and the UK; less so in the U.S. and UK.
• “The appetite for career growth in Panama is unbelievable. Companies are more interested in a company than expertise in a field; someone might move from human resources to a very different department rather than move from one HR job to another.”
• In Mexico, “security concerns make it more difficult to find information about people. Also, Mexico City has a formal culture where people are often much more dressed up than an American tourist might think…trust builds a little more slowly than perhaps in the U.S., took more nurturing.”
• In India, it’s all about the brand, “It’s a lot harder to get quality people if you’re not a big-company, whether a big Western name or a big Indian multinational like Infosys. If you lack a big brand, he says, “you’re fighting with one hand tied behind your back.”

I find the differences across cultures and countries especially interesting because Alstin Communications is part of an alliance called EMPACTworld, a global network of independent advertising agencies specializing in recruitment advertising, employer branding and HR communications.

I’ve been fortunate enough to attend several of these meetings over the years and it’s truly amazing to observe how different our recruiting methods and communications can be. I remember about 7 years ago–this was when Monster and CareerBuilder were at their peak—learning just how little impact job boards had made in some European countries. I remember one of our members (I believe it was Belgium) brought in the jobs section from his country’s newspaper and it was close to fifty pages of full color, creative image ads.

I also remember how far behind we were (and still are) with using mobile technology for recruiting, as many of our global members were putting recruitment ads on SIM cards and sending candidates recruitment messages via mobile.

There is an obvious lesson in the article for those that recruit globally–what works splendidly in one country may be a disaster in another. However, even if you only recruit in the U.S., I think it’s wise to look at recruiting methods in other countries for ideas, trends and best practices, and try to incorporate some of those ideas into your organization.

I’ve been hearing and reading a lot lately about jobless discrimination, a disturbing new trend in recruiting where employers are reluctant to hire unemployed workers thinking the best candidates are the ones already working. I have heard a few unconfirmable stories about employers thinking the unemployed are more likely to steal even including a credit check of an applicant as part of the screening process. The idea being “If you’re in debt, we don’t want a desperate employee”. To what extent this practice goes on I do not know, but this article highlights some crazy examples of actual job ads/solicitations specifically requiring candidates to be currently employed in order to qualify for the opening. The author cites some examples of this practice by surfing for jobs that use the “must be currently employed” language and found several on Monster.com and Craigslist:

A staffing agency representing a “world leader in the medical industry” is advertising for a San José-based product salesman on Monster.com, but the person “must be currently employed.”

A “Big Box” retail giant in New York City posted a Craigslist ad for an overnight freight flow manager who “must be currently employed for consideration,”

..a manufacturing company in Winston-Salem, North Carolina specified on Monster.com that it will not consider any unemployed applicants for a Senior Pricing Analyst position.

And a CPA firm in New Jersey said “DO NOT APPLY IF YOU ARE NOT CURRENTLY EMPLOYED IN PUBLIC ACCOUNTING” in its ad on Craigslist.

Is this even legal? The short answer is yes. We have laws in this country to prevent hiring discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, national origin, disability, pregnancy and age. But joblessness? Uh, completely legal.

It’s sad to think many of the nation’s 15 million unemployed are facing this kind of challenge in seeking employment. The economy drops out with plenty of blame to go around but the average wannabe American worker may be getting the real short end of the stick.

I’d like to take a minute and talk about Mobile. Social and search go hand-in-hand in my mind. Like someone once said (I forget who, so apologies for not giving credit where credit is due), “Social and Search are like peanut butter and jelly.” Well, add to the mix is an extra special layer of…butter? (like my dad likes to add) or Marshmallow Fluff? or Nutella?…would be Mobile. 

Mobile is the ugly step-child of social media recruitment marketing. And, I’m not quite sure why. I hear over and over, “…it’s not proven, it’s untested, where’s the ROI? How will people apply? How will people search for a job…much less our jobs?” Yadda yadda yadda.

I’m telling you, mobile is the untapped frontier in the recruitment world and people have just started to dip their toes into this HUGE market. Of the 500 million Facebook users…150 million of them tap into the site via mobile platform.

I came across a great article about social and job search and thought, “There’s got to be an app for that!” And there are many! Do a key word search on Jobs or Careers in the App Store and you get a lot of results! 

So, what’s an employer to do about it?

Why not develop your own company “Jobs App” for people to download to their mobile device?

My perfect ‘company-focused’ jobs app would include the following:

• Search open positions (duh, but this is important – geo, keyword, industry- it must include robost searching otherwise you’ll make the end user delete your app)
• Email the job position to the end user or their friend
• Alert messages from the app when new jobs match their search queries.
• Employee testimonial videos on specific job opportunities (ie. Customer Service, Retail, Sales, Account Management, etc.)
• Calendar of events (for upcoming hiring initiatives)
• Ability for applicant to send notification of their LinkedIn profile as an ‘interest’ contact
• Promotional giveaway, or other coupon code, to entice higher download rates

 Want some more reading on the subject? Here’s what they are saying over at Forbes,  The Washington Post, and Mashable.

Mobile is the untapped frontier within the human resources industry. What are your experiences within this new space? Let me know! @JenHitchens

Isn’t it always the way? When you get yourself up to speed with the latest trend, something new comes onto the scene. In this case, just as you’re putting the finishing touches on your candidate-friendly Facebook page and you’ve gotten your twittering where you wanted it, the talk has turned to video.

Though technology seems to come at you faster than ever, smart recruiting is about more than keeping up — it’s about reaching out in stimulating ways to potential employees.

FACT #1: Making a video is easy.

I was standing in line at the grocery store the other day and saw a four year old using his mom’s iPhone to make a movie. “Dees are my toes…dat is my hand…dat is mom’s hand…” It was an adorable effort, but will probably only enjoy limited release in a few select living rooms.

FACT #2: Making a good video is tough.

It can also be expensive and time consuming. That’s why whenever a client needs a professional-grade video with a high level of production, custom camera work, and multiple bells and whistles, we partner with one of our proven video partners for knockout results.

The thing is, sometimes our clients — most often, an HR department — don’t have the time or money to work with us or our partners on a professional video. They still need something for their website, for their FB page, or for YouTube.

FACT #3: There is another way.

(Cue the magical-fairy-dust-twinkling-in-the-air music.)

Rather than turning to their four year-olds, our clients are increasingly requesting one of Alstin’s Montage Videos.

A montage video is just what you’d expect — a collection of photos (yours or our stock), short video clips, and text set to music. They run anywhere from a minute to three minutes, and in most cases, cost under $1,000. They can be turned around in about 7 business days, and are easily uploaded to your Careers page on your website, YouTube, can be set up to be viewed from a link in an email, or (for an additional investment) can be turned into a DVD.

So give it a try. And the next time you see a cute kid making a movie with his parent’s really cool phone, tell him to keep his day job.

A while back I used this blog to spotlight a recent lawsuit related to the wage gap that’s still a fact of “work life” for women across America. I concluded that while the pace to close that gap has been painfully slow, stats like these lead me to believe that the pace will eventually pick-up:

• Within 22% of dual income male/female households, the women are the breadwinners
• It’s projected that women will start to earn 60% of Bachelor’s degrees — women currently make up 58% of all college students
• Women will soon hold more full time jobs than men
• High achieving, female millenials who are entering the marketplace are keenly aware of the wage gap and will settle for nothing less than equal pay

I was very curious to read the latest data from the Census on U.S. states and territories that currently offer the highest pay for women. Drumroll please. Here they are:

1 – District of Columbia – $54,698
2 – Massachusetts – $45,062
3 – Maryland – $44,937
4 – New Jersey – $44,166
5 – Connecticut – $43,900
6 – New York – $40,584
7 – California – $40,019
8 – Virginia – $39,354
9 – Rhode Island – $39,248
10 – Alaska – $39,017

In that group, there was only one place where women brought home more than the average median salary for U.S. men ($45,485) – the District of Columbia. However, the women of D.C. still trail their male counterparts by about $7,000 and overall women remain in the #2 spot in all 50 states.

Puerto Rico is the only U.S. territory where women earn more than men – about 103 percent of what men earn. The median salary in Puerto Rico? $20,563. 

So while these numbers aren’t necessarily the greatest, I did see one stat that leads me to believe that my hunch is right. We’re on to something here when it comes to education. Virtually all of the locations (Rhode Island was the exception) reported that more women age 25+ have a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree than men. Will women someday out pace what men earn – who knows? Will there eventually be paycheck equity – who could say no?

On this historic day, the Supreme Court began their new term with three women on the bench. I think Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s words were pretty inspirational and on target about where we are and where we are going as a country and I’ll leave it at that:

“When the schoolchildren file in and out of the court and they look up and they see three women, then that will seem natural and proper – just how it is.”

“Over 75 million professionals use LinkedIn to exchange information, ideas and opportunities.” At least that’s what LinkedIn’s home page says, and I bet you are one of that 75 million.

LinkedIn has become an essential tool for most recruiters and professionals alike. Taking a quick look at my connections, within my network there are certainly people I’ve never actually met, directly worked with or am even likely to reconnect with. However, I have taken care when selecting those who fall within that league of my connections. I know them (or of them) on some level.

When I came across the story of “Robin Sage” this summer – a character created by Thomas Ryan, a 20 year security veteran and founder of the company Provide Security - I was pretty amazed by how far this ruse played out on social media went.

"Robin Sage"

For starters, here she is folks. As a person in the marketing world who has given hours of her life searching stock images for just the right picture, I have got to give it to Ryan, he picked the right one for the profile shot. (He created similar phoney profiles on Facebook and Twitter too.)

There’s a great interview with Ryan by ComputerWorld on his experiment to see how many people in the information security, military and intelligence fields would willingly connect and share personal information with a stranger claiming to be an expert in security/computer hacking for the Naval Network Warfare Command. Although his biggest drivers were “all the talk about cyberwarfare and cyberespionage – and what’s real and what’s not real” his findings demonstrate how getting a little too comfortable with these tools can really backfire.

Putting a magnifying glass on her profile – a 25 year old with 10 years of professional security experience? – would (should!) have resulted in a red alert. Some people who Robin Sage attempted to connect with did do a little research – calling the phone number provided on the profile, or asking her to email them directly from her military account. Yet, still others – all told 206 on LinkedIn, 226 on Facebook and 204 on Twitter – were more than happy to accept her invite.

She even got this message:

“If I can ever be of assistance with job opportunities here at Lockheed Martin, don’t hesitate to contact me, as I’m at your service,”

At your service?!! In the midst of several additional offers to apply for jobs with other organizations, there were also invites to speak at a private-sector security conference in Miami, and to review an important technical paper by a NASA researcher. Oh yea, and more than one request for dinner.

What’s your take? The old adage not to judge a book by it’s cover never gets old, that’s for sure. If you’re using LinkedIn to recruit, are you also always making a point to use Google, or other tried and true approaches, to see if things match up? We’d like to hear some of your “Sage” advice too.

The other day I was in Jake’s, my favorite new sandwich shop, and in the next booth over were four young people having lunch. For the next ten minutes I watched as they texted furiously into their phones, their shoulders hunched and eyes narrowed, not pretending for a moment that the people they went to lunch with (or the outside world) existed. I thought a lot of things that day, namely:

• How will they ever learn to have a one-on one conversation with another person?
• How will they interview for a job?
• What’s so important that they need to text right now?
• Would they notice if I stole a french fry?

I find it so ironic that as a new world of communication tools have developed, we seem to be getting really, really bad at communicating with one another. That day at Jake’s also got me thinking about human resources and communications. The advances I’ve seen in just the last few years are incredible: robust Talent Acquisition Systems, mobile apps, social networking tools like Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, LinkedIn, etc., virtual events, recruiting blogs and so much more.

But maybe we all need to relax, take a breath and step back so we can see the whole canvas.

When it comes to employer marketing and communications, my advice to recruiters is to maybe focus more on WHAT you want to communicate, and less on HOW you’ll communicate that message.

Start here: What is it that you want to say, both to your employees and candidates? I know it sound head-smackingly obvious, but so many organizations blow over this process with little thought, or simply insert glib clichés (“employer of choice,” “best practices,” “Six Sigma,” “dedicated to premier quality and service,” “industry leader,” etc.)–and it always comes back to haunt them.

Don’t get me wrong, this doesn’t mean there has to be nine months of navel-gazing, 40 different employee surveys, and hundreds of meetings with management. It does mean however, that before you embrace the next great HR trend or recruitment application, you spend some time thinking about what makes you desirable (or not) as an employer, what type of people you want working for you, and what your organization’s culture is truly like. Note: You need to be honest here. For example, some companies like to proclaim that they’re “family-friendly,” which sounds nice, but if EVERYONE, from management to employees to customers knows you’re not (unless by a family you mean a dysfunctional unit with lots of animosity and hostility), you’re doomed. Try to push this false image on your audience and you’ll waste time, money, and energy while losing credibility.

Another example: many HR Departments today say their goal is to deliver a great candidate experience. Okay. But can you clearly explain what that means?  How will you show it to the next candidate who applies? How will you measure it? To do it right, you’ll have to get into thornier questions like: How can we possibly deliver a great candidate experience when we’re understaffed now and we get 5000 applications a month?

It’s the same with recruitment communications. Who cares if with two taps on your mighty iPhone you can post a job in 16 different places if all that appears is a boilerplated, outdated job description? What’s the point of a creating a Facebook careers page if after the first month no one in your organization cares about updating it or communicating with candidates?

The truth is that there aren’t easy answers to these questions. In fact, they probably get right to the heart of your company’s culture, operations and focus. Still, it’s the message that really matters, so start with that. The tools to deliver that message will be ready when you are.

Did you ever see the old Twilight Zone episode The Eye of the Beholder? It’s a classic. The episode is set in a hospital and is focused on a woman whose face is completely bandaged. The doctors and nurses talk in hushed voices about this being her 11th procedure to help her look “normal.” You never see their faces either until the dramatic climax. The bandages are removed revealing a very pretty woman, however the medical staff’s reaction is one of horror – and we are ultimately horrified when we get a load of them. The hospital staff is revealed and they all have crazy pig snout noses and very disfigured and disturbing faces.

The episode concludes with these words:

Now the questions that come to mind. Where is this place and when is it? What kind of world where ugliness is the norm and beauty the deviation from that norm? You want an answer? The answer is, it doesn’t make any difference. Because the old saying happens to be true: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, in this year or a hundred years hence, on this planet or wherever there is human life, perhaps out amongst the stars. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. A lesson to be learned— in The Twilight Zone.

So what happens when the eye of the beholder is a recruiter? A beautiful resume doesn’t always land a candidate a job. We all have heard and experienced first hand – whether on a job hunt or in hiring mode – that that an engaging smile, firm handshake and tasteful clothing matter for that critical first impression. However, how much does beauty really matter when a candidate walks through the door?

NEWSWEEK recently surveyed hiring managers and job seekers about the role of beauty in the workplace. The results? Looks matter. Do you agree with these findings? Be sure to let us know.

54% of hiring managers advised spending as much time and money on looking good as perfecting a resume.

Two thirds of business managers said they believe some managers would hesitate before hiring a qualified job candidate who was significantly overweight.

64% of hiring managers said they believe companies should be allowed to hire people based on looks when the job requires an employee to be the “face” of a company at retail stores or in sales.

57% of hiring managers believe the unattractive have it harder at work; while 68% believe that looks impact the way managers rate job performance.

47% of all hiring managers said that they believe some women are penalized for being too good-looking in the office.

Here’s some good employment news for you: Gallup’s Job Creation Index has remained more positive in recent weeks than at any point since the fall of 2008. However, the American people still feel like they are on shaky ground. Check out these numbers:

The availability of jobs plays a key role in how we view the state of the economy and while jobless rates may have declined, so did payrolls in June. Rather than end on deflating news, Gallup further reported, “Even while the average American has become more negative when asked to assess the state of the economy, U.S. workers remain more likely to report that their employers are hiring rather than firing.”  How can we gain our confidence back? If we can hold steady on that trend, we’re on our way.

Memorial Day, a federal holiday celebrated in the United States on the last Monday in May to commemorate the men and women who have given their lives in military service to our country, has gained more significance in recent years for many of us. Our country is now fighting two wars overseas and more than quarter of the military consists of the National Guard and Reserves. Due to the downturn in the economy many of these men and women have returned home to find their employers closed and their jobs gone. In conjunction with Memorial Day, I am writing this blog post with the help of Rick Jones from RecruitMilitary on the benefits of hiring veterans.

Rick Jones is a 24-year Veteran of the US Marine Corps. He retired in 2006 and currently works as the Director of Sales for RecruitMilitary.

RecruitMilitary is a veteran-owned, veteran-operated, and veteran-advised. All of the account executives and search consultants are either veterans or active or former reservists

Theresa Hastings: Does the military have jobs that are compatible with civilian jobs?

Rick Jones: Yes it does. The Department of Defense (DOD) trains thousands of new military members in their specialty (Military Occupational Skill) during their first year of service. This adds up to thousands of skill sets in communications, information technology and many of the healthcare fields, which cross over into the civilian community with little or no training at all.

TH: How does military training transfer into experience for a civilian job?

RJ: After a service member completes their tour of duty, which may range anywhere from 3 to 6 years to over 20, that person has accumulated quite a bit of experience in their specialty and also factor in the conditions in which they have worked, this should qualify them for multiple opportunities in various disciplines. They often deal with deadlines and stressful conditions that could be of importance to our National Security.

TH: In your opinion what will an employer gain by hiring a veteran?

RJ: Employers will get the best of what this country has to offer. Our military members today have some of the best training in the world and do their jobs in conditions that most people couldn’t imagine. They have worked hard protecting us; don’t we owe them a chance at a new career?

I watched this video last week and said aloud to the computer monitor in front of me, “That is awesome.” Admit it, from time to time you Google yourself. Alex Brownstein, who is in the habit of Googling himself “embarassingly frequently,” figured the top five creative directors he wanted to work for probably did too.

For $6, just 15 cents per click, his message got top billing whenever one of the five did a Google search on their name. I already know the power of Google AdWords. A little budget can go a long way toward targeting and connecting my clients jobs to talent. It sure went a long way toward getting this guy his dream job. Way to go!