Social Media and the Corporate Impact Part II

Is social media killing your company’s productivity? Stop and think about what you don’t know before you give an immediate answer to what you do know. How many of the people in your organization have unlimited access to a computer or smart phone each day? Has your organization set-up up the internet to block out access to any and all social networking sites (there are dozens)? Can people tuck away in a corner and update their Facebook page or send a tweet?

Now answer the question. A common response I have received is of course “it depends.” If your staff or certain people on your staff are in positions where they need to be highly visible and connecting with new people each day then great, it’s good to have them utilizing the latest technology in order to do so. Providing they are not wasting time with personal updates and connections. If however, your staff or members of your company don’t need to be on-line connecting with others throughout the work day then yes, they may just be killing productivity with social networking.

I recently had to coach a friend and colleague through a job loss not because of economic issues, a layoff or even performance. No, he was let go from being on his personal internet pages too much during the day. This is someone who I know is a top performer in the recruiting field, but as such has some idle time and the resources in front of him to check his MySpace and send out a status update once a day which eventually turned into multiple times per day.

Why is social networking at work such an issue? Mainly as a result of lack of direction and policy by corporations and management. People in general like to communicate with friends, family, peers and yes strangers. Social networking has become the new water cooler for the work place and without guidelines by which people should work by, then how long of a water break do they need?

In short, does you company have a policy by which to operate from or at least guidelines in place to help managers with navigating this new but very sticky issue? If not, then it might be time to start the research on your own to ensure the right people are helping to brand and drive revenues with work-place social networking and you don’t have an entire staff on the web having fun or even venting some steam to others on-line.

Chris

^{To hire The Recruiting Guy as a speaker or trainer visit The Recruiting Guy or contact The Wellington Group @ info@thewellington-group.com.}

Interesting post and news this week on Monster.com and Microsoft Office Online, “Four steps to your next job,” creating a new partnership to help the active job seeker. In the example they start to cite a specific individual’s pain and launch into this combined marketing program. A suggestion is made to utilize the Microsoft Office templates to help develop your resume. Now, unlike many of my peers or other resume writing service providers, I am not opposed to this and thus writing a negative post. Nope, I think it’s a great idea if you have no resume to work with and/or can’t afford or are unable to seek out help.

Living in “the land of resumes” as the electronic age has provided to HR and recruiters alike, I can tell you that a resume DOES make a difference in your job search. Having just the right ingredients, as Greg Miller has pointed out in previous posts, makes all the difference in the world. Too much and it’s usually overlook, not enough and it’s overlooked. I say equally important are the style, format and key selling points.

Take for example sales people which I work with on a daily basis as one of our key niche areas. When a client looks to our firm to help hire a true sales professional they are looking for a resume and candidate profile that speak sales. Duh say most of you. Duh is right but how come I still see what accumulates to the hiring manager or client as a non-professional? No stats or highlights on their successful sales career, recent accomplishments, numbers, ranking related to peers or their industry, deals won, and so forth. What happens is a lot of time spent with me or my team in creating a separate document or re-writing their resume to reflect these highlights that all VP of Sales or CEOs are looking for in true professionals!

As I wrote about in both ATS issues and resume formats, having a very complex format or even the new Office 07 .dox can be detrimental if the recruiter or hiring authority on the other end is not able to open it. That’s it, game over, done. Well not quite as if you get your career coaching from me, follow-up, follow-up, follow-up! Would you rather start with a tool which helps your job search or a template which might inhibit it?

In short, templates are a great tool and how I got my first job as a recruiter coming out of the military with no resume (boy that was a sad resume), but I strongly suggest seeking guidance in some fashion to help put you ahead of the pack. The best templates are those with simple and standard formatting. The templates I would stay away from have text boxes, rows, columns, etc.

Good luck in your career search!

Chris

For assistance with your resume from The Wellington Group staff visit The Career Store or Get in Touch.

Recruiting and Technology: Session 2

As I tour the country and work with various recruiters and professional headhunters I can’t help but to chuckle at the complaints the modern recruiter (corporate, executive search, staffing and basement dwellers) all seem to have. My internet is too slow, CareerBuilder is down again, my wireless mouse is not working, and on and on. It was not that long ago when we had to fax or hand deliver resumes and you were lucky to get a company email to contact some hiring manager or job seeker.

Now, I have a flat screen TV in my office and can’t live without all the small technology toys to include the so aptly named crackberry! Well most of it I can live without and probably become an even more productive recruiter and member of society, except my multiple monitors! I remember the first time I heard about running dual monitors for recruiting. I had seen the concept for call centers and IT developers but never thought it would apply to me. I was wrong.

I was attending a Top Echelon conference and one of the main presenters was hosting a training session. He had two screens being projected and showed how to run their ATS tool on one screen and look at a candidate or job order on another. What? Yeah I said that and laughed it off but Tiffany who was with me said, “Pretty cool.” Ok, so maybe there was something we were missing here. So, we asked what does it take to set up dual monitors in our office.

The set up was very easy, and after a few years now I have assisted numerous recruiters and companies, with various laptop or desk top hardware configurations, transition into the multiple monitor mode. If you are paying attention I said multiple monitors as I have found out with my laptop and docking station that I can have three monitors, and have since found a great USB product that will allow me to run up to five (yes, not enough desk space).

So why multiple monitors? As I learned at that conference; efficiency, efficiency, efficiency. I am sure there are a number of other gains like cost savings on printing, speed to market, enhanced phone time, etc. But it is great to have the resume of the person you are talking with on one screen, your ATS on another and the job order or client website on the third. Not to mention, but hey I am the boss, facebook or Yahoo IM running to see who I might ping during the day.

All told, running a dual or multiple monitor configuration is not that big of an investment, even for an entire team of recruiters and researchers. The enhancements you gain far outweigh the time and cost to set this technology up. Plus, you seem smarter to the person on the other end of the phone when you can Google a word or phrase they mention and say, “oh yeah here is what you are talking about!”

To engage The Recruiting Guy to train or consult with your staff visit our services page or contact The Wellington Group @ info@thewellington-group.com.

OK I SAID! Now that I got that off my chest let me point you to the root of my angst. Recruiting, like any other profession, has it s own social media / networking sites where we all get to share insight, tips, tricks and yes even humor. One such site is ere.net. The post getting all the attention today was “Bullet Point to the Head” by Matt Charney.

Matt’s post was very well written and very much on target. Just look below the article at all the comments. Everything from “I can relate” to “no, that is not me.” In my years of living as a professional recruiter I have seen his comments in-action more times than not. Too much perceived work on a recruiter or even HR’s desk so they have to fly through resumes as fast as they can, learning tricks to skim and weed-out in what they feel is an expeditious manner. Why, because they are lazy.

Don’t believe me, ok. But here is a true fact. Most large HR groups, Staffing Firms and Professional Search Groups receive so much resume traffic they have to hire staff just to filter and scan or purchase software to totally remove the human component. I can remember weeks at Manpower where we might receive 5,000 applicants. In addition to this the recruiting publications are now telling HR and Talent Manager they NEED to automate. Check out the latest Talent Management article on “Make HR Happy.”

On top of this, many of today’s recruiting demographic has the technology / MTV curse of “if it’s not instant it’s not worth my time.” So, they expect every candidate to have a resume laid out in a similar fashion with all the goodies at scan level in 2.3 seconds. The trouble is that many professionals are great at their jobs but not with working on their resume (see my previous post on 8 Musts for an Effective Resume). Lazy recruiters are grab-and-go, great recruiters are diamond miners, polishing off the mud to find the sparkle below…many times at their own expense.

What is the solution? I think the bump we hit in the economy helped create some of the cure, causing recruiters and HR to transform their skills or try performing it from the unemployment line. The other solution, better management of both corporate and third-party recruitment practices. Accountability to the primary goal, recruitment and review with the intention of uncovering the best talent for the right job.

Chris

To hire The Recruiting Guy as a speaker or trainer visit The Recruiting Guy or contact The Wellington Group @ info@thewellington-group.com.

Become a Professional Recruiter with a Recruiting Certification, Sure but Which One(s)?

The following web post is a piece I wrote in 06 while serving as the Certification Chair for the North Carolina Association of Staffing Professionals (NCASP). It is my opinion and belief that to be a professional, no matter what industry and skill set, you must obtain certification if it is available. Why? Certification allows for you to learn more about your industry and any critical legislation plus many require either a statement of ethics or business ethics exam questions, which are needed in our current business landscape. As a personal motivation to becoming certified, it shows you have put in the time to set yourself apart from all those who are not!

It may sound easy but there are a few options. The two main US based recruiting or staffing associations are the American Staffing Association (ASA) and the National Association of Personnel Services (NAPS). Traditionally ASA has been the association for staffing and HR solutions firms while NAPS is more direct hire, search or headhunter focused. While both have multiple certifications and have been attempting to attract the entire spectrum of this profession, they are still very settled in their legacy niche or audience.

Well now that I have you super-excited about certifications you are probably wondering, “Which certification should I look at obtaining?” That is a great question, one in which I recently explored myself. Let’s begin reviewing these by looking at what ASA has to offer, the CSP and the TSC.

The Certified Staffing Professional (CSP) is focused on employment law for what we traditionally title a “Staffing Specialist.” The CSP requires two text books and a study guide prior to the exam. The second ASA Certification is the Technical Services Certification (TSC). The TSC was developed by the National Technical Services Association (NTSA) prior to the merger of NTSA and ASA. The TSC has a similar background of questions in employment law, but the TSC also caters to contractual and legal issues relevant to most Technical Recruiters. A plus to the TSC is that once you obtain the TSC designation you now automatically receive the CSP.

Both the CSP and TSC are 100 question, 2-hour exams in which you must score a 70% or better. The Certifications are good for three years and require 30 CEUs for re-certification. One item that has been added to both certifications is the State Employment Law workbook and exam questions, based on the laws of your home state.

NAPS has three Certifications from which you can choose; the Certified Personnel Consultant (CPC), the Certified Temporary-Staffing Specialist (CTS) and the Physician Recruiting Consultant (PRC). The CPC is similar to the TSC with a focus on business situations along with employment law. Recruiters who run a perm desk or a blended technical/perm desk may benefit best from this exam. The exam requires the CPC Legal Study Manual. The CTS is similar to the CSP with a stronger focus on the temporary labor market. Studying for this exam requires a separate Temporary Help Legal Manual. Both the CTS and CPC from NAPS are 150 question exams with Certification good for three years where you will need 75% or better to pass. NAPS require 50 contact hours for re-certification every three years.

The final NAPS certification is focused on the physician recruiter with a study emphasis on physician training, licensing, references and regulatory issues. The PRC exam is only 50 questions and requires the PRC Manual, however, one must possess either the CPC or the CTS certification first.

I hope this gives you some brief insight into the differences amongst the five possible certifications offered through ASA and NAPS. If you want to simplify this process further, just take my old friend Jonathan Weiner’s advice and select the exam that best fits your desk from the parent association where your organization is a member. Thus, I have a TSC, as I was NTSA Carolina’s President working for a niche technical recruitment firm. Good luck to you in becoming a CERTIFIED PROFESSIONAL and remember if you aren’t certified you might just be putting yourself, your organization and possibly your clients at risk for a costly legal snare.

**To all hiring managers and HR processionals reading this post, is the person you are investing your company’s dollars with a certified recruiting professional?

Chris

To hire The Recruiting Guy as a speaker or trainer visit The Recruiting Guy or contact The Wellington Group @ info@thewellington-group.com. 

Leveraging the New Internet and Social Networking for your Career

It was not that long ago that the World Wide Web was only cool for chatting and checking out various static pages, job boards and some blogging for those looking to make a change in their careers. What happened? The WWW truly went worldwide and is now in the homes and on the laps of many of my beloved remote Alaskan family members. Now they can see the latest jobs we are working on, harass me real-time on Facebook, and even apply to my tweets on Twitter.

If you think your networking skills are a bit rusty, I am willing to bet that you may have very little or no internet social networking experience. Not to worry… you are not alone. Many of the clients I help are in the same spot: mid to late career professionals who have rarely had to present a resume, let alone now having to navigate the complexities of the latest in internet resources. The big question is, Where do I start?” Staying true to form, I will say “it depends.” It depends on: Where are the people in your industry hanging out, where is your personal network lingering these days on-line, who is hiring in your career niche and where are they putting their money and time on-line?

Before just jumping in and making real work of trying to be on every social networking site, job board and reading all the latest blogs, first sit down and try to answer the questions just asked above. Chances are good that you will find niche communities, groups and recruiters (internal and headhunters) on very specific sites or part of specific groups. In a short amount of time this can give you more exposure to a larger group of people than sprinkling yourself all over the web, taking hours at a time to monitor. Better yet, just start with your personal network and see where that takes you. People like to help other people and nowhere is this more evident than on the internet.

Here is another trick that a highly trained recruiter will be looking for…your resume or career highlights posted on various independent web pages, or key words from you on the profile(s) you do build on these sites. Take some time to build a thorough career profile on the sites you decide to be part of, as string searching the web will get traffic to your profile, thus putting your in-demand skills in front of the world.

For assistance with your Job Search or Resume from Chris Wellington and others on the staff visit
The Career Store or Get in Touch.

I seem to be a magnet for publishers, direct mailing companies, aspiring writers and all in between…to include my neighbor’s mail at times! The flip side to this is that I AM a knowledge pack-rat. I have books upon books, magazines that have come and gone, brochures, conference binders, clipped WSJ articles and entire newspapers all which had some nugget of information or learning moments I could put into practice. So it’s no surprise to visit the mail box at 12:16 each day to find a new magazine.

This week I received a recruiting / staffing magazine, Employment Marketplace. Now forgive me as I may have received these in the past, but I had idle time on the exercise bike to flip through this 24 page (cover to cover) magazine and read each article. What follows are my thoughts on the magazine and some of the writers, one of which I think very highly of for many years now.

Apparently Employment Marketplace has been around for 26 years as their website quotes. The publication I received was Vol. 27 Issue 111, for what that might mean. To me it’s like a check number. “Mr. Wellington, what check number would you like to start with…2009?” Not being facetious but it’s very colorful, lots of pictures, MANY advertisements and oh-so very Thin. I think most of the publication is vendors, advertisers or people trying to sell their works through snippets or rushed articles.

It’s understandable in tough times to adjust and modify to survive, but most companies that survive make this morph with more service than pay, not true in this case. While I like some of Steve Finkel’s work, the Manager’s Corner piece was a tough read. What was the point, I never got there? Temp Track was even less understandable, although I did highlight a couple pieces in the last two paragraphs. Frank Risalvato’s sales call advice is sure to get you fired in reputable company.

It’s obvious this magazine is funded by NAPS and vendors for they had Frank Burtnett write a piece on NAPS National Conference. I have known Frank for years, think very highly of him, and assisted or initiated his support in dozens of people becoming NAPS certified at conferences or even in my offices. That said, he is the fly-in fly-out consultant there for certification and rarely seen during the remaining hours of any conference? I would like to see more on how to achieve and maintain certification and why that sets you apart as a true Professional from him. 

My favorite piece by far was Tuning out the Noise by Neil McNulty. I have no idea who Neil is but I will be watching for more of his work. This article was only one page but very precise and on message. So much so that I sent a copy to each member of my team, some of my peers and a couple clients for the accountability he wrote about transcends the recruitment industry.

It’s too bad the entire page of pictures on the NCASP and SCAPS annual conference were taken at the cocktail party or lunch verse the actual learning sessions as it would have been great to see the 3 people attending from The Wellington Group on the page verses the NCASP board.

In short, was worth the time to review and read verses my current book or CD. I did pick up a couple of pieces of information to use and put to memory. Will not be paying the $148 for the annual subscription to get a 24 page, self-indulged magazine 4 times and some on-line info.

As a professional headhunter paid to uncover names and talent my final question is…how did they get my current address?

Chris

Follow The Recruiting Guy on Twitter…@therecruitinguy.com

To hire The Recruiting Guy as a speaker or trainer visit The Recruiting Guy or contact The Wellington Group @ info@thewellington-group.com. 

*Employment Marketplace and EMinfo can be found at www.eminfo.com.

First and foremost, this blog title and piece are based on the tried and true principals of Napoleon Hill in his 1937 book titled Think and Grow Rich.

As a consummate learner and researcher, I am always intrigued to find nuggets of information which to both share with jobseekers / clients and apply in my practice. This information caught my eye as many of his suggestions from 1937 still hold true today, but seem to be lacking in numerous resumés we receive, from new grads to seasoned executives!

“Eight Musts for an Effective Resume”

1. Education
2. Experience
3. References
4. Photograph
5. Apply for a specific position
6. State your qualifications
7. Offer to go to work on probation
8. Knowledge of your prospective employer’s business

While some of these principals may seem odd or “old school” I view them as genius. Education, Experience, References, Qualifications and Applying to a specific position with a resume that matches the employer’s needs or the job description are all crucial to setting yourself apart in the current sea of competing candidates. Going to work on Probation is great for new grads and may be stated in your Cover Note or in the resume. Employers may not take your up on the offer, but they will love the commitment.

Most HR Professionals and Professional Resume Writers would tell you not to post a picture on your resume, and I agree. Current ATS systems, HR tracking tools and OFCCP / EEO regulations may present an issue with this type of information. What I do suggest however is putting a nice, professional picture on your social media sites such as LinkedIn or Facebook. People want to work with and hire people, the more true and real you can be the less “mystery” of your candidacy becomes for that hiring manager or recruiter.

I will suggest you go to the library and check out this book and use it as a tool or guide for your career search. After all, your resumé in many instances is THE FIRST IMPRESSION of you to that new potential employer or to the recruiter with the job opening.

Good luck in your career search!

Chris

 For assistance with developing your perfect resume or cover note from the TWG staff visit the Career Store or contact The Wellington Group @ info@twgrecruiters.com.

For those who are unaware of what Bounty Jobs appears to be here is the website; no secrets, as I truly believe success in the recruitment business all has to be transparent or the end result, the job seeker taking a position with the hiring company, will not happen. www.bountyjobs.com

Bounty, like many other “tools” or HR / Recruitment short cuts before and after them, truly does not understand the motivation of human nature. People want to communicate and be part of an engaged community. Honest people genuinely want the resources a Bounty or others can provide to help make these invaluable connections possible. Most run-of-the-mill, basement dweller or 3 month recruiters can’t provide the knowledge base, infrastructure, bandwidth or network a “tool” like Bounty Jobs promises to deliver. A couple great examples are Facebook and inside919.com. For the most part they are free and unrestricted and as a result, people are making not only money but building empires, finding careers, creating causes and even reconnecting with old friends from remote Alaska. If this is the case then why do these “tools” want to restrict the very ingredient which can make them a king’s ransom?

Here are excerpts from the “non-typical email” myself and my staff, industry peers, clients and vendors received TODAY from Bounty Jobs, cut into the pieces that one assumes to hit their message to the core.

We want total control of a process that can’t be totally controlled in order for it to be a true success.

“Unlike the typical “how it works” email… With 20,000+ registered headhunters (and counting!)…, we will be [re] moving the name of the hiring company one step further into the BountyJobs process… BountyJobs remains absolutely committed to providing an efficient communication and recruiting solution. ”

While my firm is using Bounty at the request of a couple clients, we (the team, the clients and all involved) agree the handcuffs by this “tool” inhibits communications and any chance of immediate success and long term survival of this “tool.”  How long will they be around? I am not sure, but I have seen many “tools” come and many go, with most that are remaining now on the edge of financial crises in this current economy because they do not allow for full human interaction which is the very root energy of the recruitment and HR professions.

The complete link to their new Q&A for recruiters and hiring companies on these changes can be found at: http://image.exct.net/lib/fefc1174706500/m/1/Company+Name+FAQ.pdf

My advice is think twice before engaging in these resource robbing “tools.” Take the time to ravage their sites for information on the true fulfillment rates verse just number of jobs posted and recruiters involved. After all, graduate school did teach me statistics and how numbers can always “look beautiful in the eyes of the reporter.” Best of luck in your recruitment efforts.

Chris

To engage The Recruiting Guy to train or consult with your staff visit our services page or contact The Wellington Group @ info@thewellington-group.com

 Are you keeping up with the future of being recruited? Part 1

Ok, so we don’t refer to WWW or the “World Wide Web” any more. In fact the internet has become so common place in our global society that I can talk via Polycom phone with Egypt in the morning and my family in remote Alaska in the evening without ever dialing a phone number.

WOW, technology has come a long way in a short amount of time. But as such, so has the way in which technology is used for finding a job, or better yet the job finding YOU! For example, a Plant Manager in what was once thought obscure nowhere is now expecting us to “paste and send a LinkedIn profile” of his ideal candidate(s) for a junior food processing engineer along with their resume.

Think about what I just wrote above for it was not that long ago when the Plant Manager of this facility was taking resumes from the people I was assisting via FAX. Yes, FAX. Now he wants to see what others have said about this person via social media on the internet. Better yet is the fact that he responded to my tweet about the new Facebook app for my Blackberry Bold.

So, what does that mean for you in both an active and passive job search (to be wanted is great, to be wanted when you have a great job means growth)? The hard fact is that having a professional social medial account which highlights your experience, education and accomplishments can get you to that wanted but not looking status much faster and in better standing than your peer at XYZ Company who still thinks the internet is a joke.

Your homework, pick a great social media site that people can find you on and build out your network, profile, career accomplishments and references so that next growth opportunity finds YOU before it finds someone else.

Chris

^{For assistance with you new resume visit the career store or contact The Wellington Group @ info@thewellington-group.com.}