Posted on 09 September 2011 by
In our final quest to identify the best of the best in corporate recruiting, we’re giving away an iPad 2 for anyone who submits a nomination.
The three Recruiting Awards categories are:
We’re also drawing for a $100 Visa gift card for those that help us spread the word through their social networks.
Posted on 31 August 2011 by
It’s that time of year, where HRO Today announces the top recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) vendors. This is the fifth annual “Bakers Dozen” customer satisfaction ratings – based on customer feedback.
The RPO Baker’s Dozen List, was developed from information culled on over 45 RPO providers selected that were reduced down to the final 13. Over 500 surveys from the 45 providers were received by HRO Today, who completes the confidential ranking according to a pre-determined set of indices.
What are their hiring volumes? These 13 RPO providers hired an impressive 867,811 people for their client organizations in 2010.
Here are the 2011 (Bakers Dozen) Top RPO Providers:
The RightThing, which held the top spot in 2008 & 2009, dropped to #2 in 2010 and has now fallen to #7. SourceRight was pushed out of the top spot they held last year by Alexander Mann Solutions.
Congratulations to Alexander Mann Solutions for achieving the recognition as the #1 RPO provider. For the complete criteria and additional information on the rankings, visit HRO Today – where you can also download the PDF of the rankings free.
Posted on 31 August 2011 by
SmartRecruiters today announced the company’s official launch and debuted a free online recruiting software targeted for small to medium businesses. The job posting and applicant tracking Software as a Service (SaaS) comes out of its public “beta” phase with 10,000 companies, 200,000 job seekers and 25,000 job openings already processed, proving that its new approach to recruiting gets results.
I had the opportunity to catch up with Jerome Ternynck, CEO and founder of SmartRecruiters, and asked about the gaps SmartRecruiters is tryign to address. Ternynck said, ”In order to solve our unemployment problem, we first need to make sure businesses can easily hire the people they need.” He added, “Unfortunately, that is not the case today. For most managers, recruiting is difficult, expensive and takes time. SmartRecruiters solves that problem by bringing the best recruiting tools and services at their finger tips. Getting the job done from Job Posting to Onboarding. Hiring made easy.”
Key Software Benefits of the SmartRecruiters platform include:
The company launch is timed in advance of this September 5 Labor Day and in conjunction with Zero Unemployment Movement’s #GiveLabor campaign, which encourages everyone to give 15 minutes on Labor Day to help a friend find a job and get America back to work. Participating individuals and businesses will be posting their activities and sharing their accomplishments at Zero Unemployment, on Twitter at #GiveLabor or on Facebook.
To sign up for SmartRecruiters, companies simply go to www.smartrecruiters.com to create their free account.
Posted on 29 August 2011 by
A few weeks ago, I began publishing a 4-part article series on video interviewing and recruiting. The previous 3 articles are:
This is the 4th and final article in the series, where we’ll explore how you know if the solution is right for you. I want to provide additional information to help you determine if this is a solution you should explore. Video interviewing can be used both at corporations and recruiting agencies / search firms. Consider the following:
As detailed in my previous posts, firms using video-enabled talent acquisition will find that it provides a positive answer to all of these questions. When used right, users enjoy a low cost of ownership and low risk. This is particularly true when you select a solution provider that has invested in its technology and offers a 100 percent browser-based application that frees you from downloads and virtually eliminates any burden on your IT department. A SaaS solution hosts all your information, and makes it as easily accessible as your LinkedIn or Gmail accounts. Just as your legal risk is low (as detailed in my first post on this topic) the technological risk is also minimal. With the right vendor, your company won’t have any interference in its systems. Everything should be able to integrate with Taleo, Kenexa and most applicant tracking systems.
I’m all too familiar with HR systems that bring with them hefty implementation costs, lengthy set-up times and painful trainings. Not here. A browser-based solution is up and running in a short period of time. Even for a Fortune 500 company, the set-up costs are minimal with a single-instance, multi-tenant architecture. For practitioners, a webcam and internet connection are needed – that’s all. Established providers have webcam delivery functions for late adopters.
The bottom-line summary of these four posts: Video-enabled talent acquisition provides a number of core opportunities that will greatly benefit our profession:
As you review the information presented in these posts, consider the cost of inaction. When your competitors start using this process, what candidates will you drive to them because of your dated methods? What damage will be done to your brand as you lag? On the flip side, what great hires can you make as a result of this strategic decision? What advantage and expertise can you build while competitors neglect this opportunity?
Video interviewing is here to stay, as both Aberdeen Group and Bersin have attested. The winners will be those that embrace, understand it and deploy.
Posted on 24 August 2011 by
The recruiting conference scene has had a lot of changes take place over the past several years, primarily the attendance numbers dwindling. The impact on attendance has been driven from two main factors; first is the economy, and the second there are more events to choose from today than ever before. From niche conferences like mobile recruiting and social recruiting to a lot more regional events.
During the past 10 years, I have had the opportunity to both speak at and attend dozens of events myself. My first was Workforce 2000 by Linkage. I still remember the hot topic back then delivered by John Sullivan related recruiting top talent – and the reference to “Michael Jordan type talent” not using job boards.. One thing that hasn’t changed much at all is the content at the events, in over a decade.
So which conference makes the most sense to attend? The answer is obvious, if it depends solely on what specifically you are looking to take away from the event. What I can share is after talking with a lot of recruiters and leaders over the last 12 months, LinkedIn’s Talent Connect Conference received rave reviews in 2010.
If you are in corporate recruiting and are planning on attending one event between now and the end of the year, I’d highly recommend checking this one out. Here are the top 5 reasons to attend LinkedIn’s Talent Connect Conference in 2011 (Recruiting to the power of we):
Read the recent blog post by LinkedIn for additional conference details, or check out the Talent Connect conference site. I hope to see you in October!
Posted on 22 August 2011 by
My previous two posts on video-enabled talent acquisition focused primarily on benefits derived directly from the features available from top-tier solution providers (The Power of Video Interviewing and The Benefits and ROI of Video Interviewing) . Here, I’ll highlight the benefits that arise from smarter decision-making in a more collaborative hiring environment that, in the end, bring better candidates to your organization. I’ve been in touch with Montage, a solution provider in this emerging space, and this series on video interviewing is done in collaboration with them.
The first and primary success for anyone integrating video interviewing will be an enhanced candidate experience. Candidate experience, a notion now so common as to erode much of its meaning, is referenced often by those in the talent acquisition sphere. Yet, from my vantage, it’s so poorly reflected in practice that when an innovation appears on the scene like video interviewing, which can do widespread good for the profession, it’s worth trumpeting.
So, let’s explore why video interviewing is a blessing for recruiters and organizations that care about candidate experience, and want to do something about it.
Firstly, it’s respectful of the candidate’s time and acknowledges commitments outside the recruiting process – participating in a video interview creates an infinitesimal fraction of the strain generated from the travel, logistics and scheduling of competing priorities that an in-person interview demands, not to mention the enormous cost savings it delivers. It demonstrates a level of consideration for the candidate’s life that, historically, the job searcher has not enjoyed. Of course, the video interview will never replace a final in-person meeting, showing that when travel is called for, both parties are serious about moving forward. For the passive and highly sought candidate, this awareness is invaluable
Victors in the war for talent need more than logistics to enhance candidate experience, though. Candidate experience also means that the candidate can easily acquire a truer sense of the organization. “Fit” works both ways – especially for the highly qualified candidate – and the video interviewing process can be embedded with messages and context from the employer to the candidate that can shape the process in ways previously uncontrolled by the employer. Recruiters, supervisors and peers can share a sense for the role, the team, and the culture in a more nuanced way than a job description or on glassdoor.com.
Consider two realistic, yet, hypothetical scenarios. In Scenario A, which most closely resembles current reality, a candidate’s experience follows a worn path: from resume submission to phone screen to phone interviews to on-site interviews to offer. At any point during this process, a candidate may withdraw or the employer may stop engaging, or scheduling might be too cumbersome. After just the first two steps, a thoughtful candidate may have invested several hours pursuing the job – and regardless of candidate quality – the employer has likely spent about an hour preparing for and conducting a phone screen. The recruiter relays his/her notes to other stakeholders in the process, which may or may not accurately reflect what happened, then both the recruiter and candidate enter a holding pattern of undetermined length. Ugh… equally predictable and disappointing.
In Scenario B, a candidate applies for a position. Then on his/her own schedule completes a short video profile that’s triggered automatically through the employer’s applicant tracking system. While completing that profile, the candidate hears from future co-workers about the job and the company, and gets insight on how to respond to questions. The candidate is in control of his/her submission without the presence of an unnecessary countdown clock or the authoritative 1-take rule that repels so many candidates. (Evidence suggests that the more engaging the process, the more likely candidates are to complete it.) Recruiters forward to stakeholders worthy links to candidate profiles, and discussions can begin instantly.
The gap in the results for these two scenarios is obvious, right? Hard costs and soft costs skyrocket with the first approach even though we haven’t moved past initial screening. In the second scenario, a candidate is more directed, more educated and more likely to continue engagement. The candidate and the employer both know each other better. The result will be a smarter, faster decision for all parties.
Posted on 18 August 2011 by
About 6 weeks ago we shared the news that a new recognition and award platform for the recruiting industry would soon be unveiled. The RecruitingAwards.com site is now live, and the team is gearing up for the inaugural awards which will be announced live at the upcoming 2011 LinkedIn Talent Connect Conference in Las Vegas.
There are several recruiting award contests currently run at other conferences, so what’s different here? Well, there are several factors that makes this platform unique, including:
While there are many facets of recruiting that deserve recognition and credit for building the future workforces of the companies we recruit for, the inaugural awards delivered at this event will include the following 3 categories:
A big thanks to all of the sponsors of the inaugural awards and the RecruitingAwards.com site, including Montage Talent, Checkster, Hirenomics, Jobs2Web, LinkedIn, and Talent HQ.
You can stay connected with Recruiting Awards and TalentHQ channels for more updates on twitter, facebook, and LinkedIn.
Posted on 14 August 2011 by
Last week, I kicked off a multi-post series on video interviewing. In the first post, I countered some of the common misconceptions about video interviewing with the actual facts: It’s engaging and relevant in ways that video resumes are not; it’s safe and legal; and it’s beyond Skype’s capabilities.
With common objections and hurdles removed, the remaining posts in this series will showcase the value and ROI such a solution can deliver.
In this post, I’ll summarize the two main features, which are widely available, and offer perspectives from the vantage points of hiring managers and recruiters through the lens of the products available.
The first function recruiters and hiring managers should utilize is a candidate profile, or recorded candidate responses to job-specific questions. Of employers already utilizing video interviewing, most use it to eliminate or shorten the phone screen. And, why not? Done right, video interviewing:
A candidate receives an on-line invitation to complete a profile based on the position to which s/he has applied. A wizard guides the applicant through the process and, when complete, submits it.
The bottom line ROI: What used to take half an hour to produce an opaque sense of a candidate can now be completed in a fraction of the time, yielding a much clearer picture. Shrewd recruiters leverage the resulting elimination of scheduling conflicts and the increased efficiency to connect with the highly sought candidate much earlier.
Some vendors offer only the video interviewing function, while more established providers bundle it with a live video interview function. Through live video interview, candidates can connect with geographically distributed recruiters and hiring managers, striking a blow to growing, bloated travel budgets. I don’t think this will ever replace the final candidate coming to the office for a last interview, but it can reduce the need to fly more than a few candidates on-site for that interview. Done right:
For recruiters, video interviewing is the vehicle that finally delivers the package that hiring managers have long wanted: a more comprehensive profile of the candidate with less upfront investment from the hiring manager through a process that efficient collaborative. It’s a way to get a truer sense of an individual and his/her organizational all the while enabling smarter decisions. In my next two posts, I’ll address the integration and collaboration that’s fueled through video.
Posted on 08 August 2011 by
Meeting online through video has evolved from an easy way to connect grandparents and grandkids via Skype to a fully integrated part of the talent acquisition lifecycle.
How did it happen so quickly? What’s the promise of integrating video interviewing into your workflow? And, what’s next for this technology?
I will be publishing a series of posts over the next month on this topic – and will analyze where video interviewing fits into talent acquisition. I’ve been in touch with Montage, a solution provider in this emerging space, and this post series on video interviewing will be done in collaboration with them.
First, let’s note from the beginning that video interviewing is not interchangeable with the video resume. The video resume as a concept had some promise, but that’s quickly dissipated. A video resume is a one-way, candidate-to-employer device that gained notice more for its failures and flops than for its successes. It’s asynchronous, often clumsy, rarely responsive to employer needs, and worst of all, anxiety-inducing for HR managers.
Video interviewing, on the other hand, can be integrated with applicant tracking systems, can be configured to employers’ needs and workflows, and builds a relationship between candidate and employer in a way that resumes and phone screens are capable of.
Secondly, video interviewing is far more than Skype or web conferencing. Done right, video interviewing is an end-to-end brandable solution that download-free, scalable and configurable to your workflow. It offers distinct capabilities and advantages: panel interviewing, enhanced candidate experience and engagement, and candidate support. Best of all, video interviewing is a solution drives higher quality hires and enhances your brand while reducing costs. As I mentioned earlier, Skype and its ilk are nice for connecting family and friends … but they can’t deliver the experience – for the candidate and for the hiring manager – a video interviewing solution can.
Another common concern I hear when conferring with my fellow practitioners is whether or not video interviewing is discriminating. Namely, what does the EEOC think of this practice? Does it enable discrimination? The short answers are that the EEOC has opined on and approved the practice of video interviewing, and views video in the same light as an in-person interview. As an employer, once you make the decision to fill a position, you’re not incurring any more risk by video interviewing than you are following your typical workflow. For a longer answer, read and watch what EEOC Associate Legal Counsel Carol Miaskoff said.
Now that I’ve addressed the most common concerns about video interviewing, let me highlight some benefits that I’ll expand upon in future posts. With video interviewing, savings and efficiencies are immediate and significant. Just as important, but less frequently cited, are the improvements that it can achieve in candidate selection. To get a truer sense of a candidate earlier in the process and in a way infinitely more meaningful than a resume is nearly priceless. As employer adoption becomes widespread of candidate video profiles that include recorded responses to job-specific questions, the value will only grow. You can spend half an hour phone screening a candidate whose organizational fit you’re likely to determine in the first few moments. Or, at your own convenience and from any web browser, you can observe the candidate for a fraction of the time and get to a stronger decision much faster.
As a recruiter, you’re enabled to make earlier, smarter decisions for your stakeholders in ways previously impossible. On top of that, good vendors enable multiple stakeholders to get eyes on a candidate at this stage – no more relying on the recruiter to reference notes, memory and subjective opinions. And, we haven’t even touched on the live virtual interview, which I’ll address in future posts.
Posted on 08 August 2011 by
Announcing the Talent HQ facebook page.. Prior to today, Talent HQ administered a “group” on facebook with nearly 2,000 members, but we did not have a “page”. Since groups on the site do not enable as much community functionality as a pages – this shift will enable us to be more content and community driven vs. the group alternative (administrator driven).
The Talent HQ Facebook Page
By “liking” the page you receive updates in your news feed just as you do with other pages – when new content or statuses are updated. You’ll easily be able to comment, tag, or join in conversations about topics related to HR, Talent Management, Recruiting, and Jobs. Please click the link to take a look at the new facebook page, and we hope you “like” it.
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