Proactive Recruiting
Over the years, one of the biggest challenges Hire Velocity has faced is communicating the importance of proactive recruiting to our clients. A large majority of US companies approach recruiting from a much more reactive standpoint. For example, many companies fail to build the relationships and talent pipelines they should be building, when hiring is down. Instead, many companies wait until five electrical engineers are needed, and they post jobs expecting to get the five best electrical engineers out there. Although this approach does work occasionally, we have come to find that the best talent is acquired through continuous proactive recruiting. Creating a talent pipeline can enable your company to pick from the best available prospects when the time comes. Generally, companies may view proactive recruiting as the more expensive approach, but the cost of reactive recruiting can reach similar heights while necessarily bringing back the quality talent you’re looking for in a timely manner.
Instead, find a recruiting partner that can build relationships with prospective applicants and passive candidates in order to streamline the hiring process. The University of Illinois at Chicago did a study on proactive recruiting particularly pertaining to finding qualified female candidates. In two different job searches for the same position, proactive recruiting nearly doubled the number of qualified applicants and showed a huge increase in the number of female applicants. Proactive recruiting was defined as an aggressive search for talent rather than a simple job post.
In recent years, Technology has eased the pains of creating an effective proactive recruiting process. Applicant tracking systems such as Silk Road’s Open Hire, iCims, and Taleo, (for example) have enabled companies to build robust talent pools and ease the process of finding qualified passive candidates. Leveraging the right technologies can create the infrastructure and foundation needed to lower your recruiting costs and enhance your recruiting process. Thus, it’s essential to look past the “reactive” recruiting methods such as job postings, and create a proactive recruiting process that will build a much more qualified talent pool.
Finally, remember that it is always a good practice to continuously promote your brand from a recruiting perspective. Your career site is the door to your company and should display the goals, values and culture of your company. Once you do proactively get the candidate to your front door, make sure you leave a great impression!
Valeri Marks
CEO
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Good News for the Recruiting Industry!
On Thursday March 18, President Obama signed into action a new bill, which will directly affect the staffing industry over the next few years. Our industry has taken one of the largest hits over the past two years, since many companies reduced their hiring initiatives, which left many staffing and recruiting companies with half the volume they were used to in prior years. However, President Obama has made it one of his top concerns to get the whole country and economy back on its feet, starting with reducing unemployment. February saw little progress in decreasing nonfarm unemployment. The current unemployment rate has remained at 9.7% and February only saw 36,000 more employed Americans in comparison to January. The new bill will directly respond to these sluggish numbers by creating $18 billion in tax breaks for companies who hire in the next year. The bill is proposed to create 250,000 new jobs over the next year. Although that may not seem largely significant, it will bring new business for the recruiting industry, something that we can all look forward too!
Byron West
President
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The Importance of Diversity Recruiting
Most American companies view recruiting diversity as a burden for business, unrelated to the idea of having diversity in the workplace but rather the hassle associated with finding diversity candidates. It’s no secret that diversity recruiting is not a common result of the standard recruiting process. Many companies find that diversity candidates are not resembled in the majority of resumes on Monster, Careerbuilder, and other large job sites. However, there are overwhelming benefits to integrating a diversity of cultures in the office. Several companies have found first hand that the diversity of culture has led to several new ideas that have increased efficiency or led to new products.
Take the Frito Lay organization for example, their desire to recruit diverse candidates led to their product Doritos. Increasing diversity in the workplace will also increase creativity. Not all problems can be answered with one solution; other cultures can bring new ideas, which a homogeneous culture might not stimulate. Therefore, diverse recruiting strategies will bring benefits to the workplace, which are always worth pursuing.
Additionally, in an examination of common western culture in comparison to eastern culture, one noticeable difference is the view of relationship management. Eastern cultures rely on strong relationships between whom they work with. As a result, many customers of companies in the Far East have strong relationships with those they work with. Recruiting diversity more specifically from Asian countries can create stronger relationships with customers and strengthen the ties between those you work with. One downside to diversity in the workplace can be barriers in communication, however those barriers subside over time leaving the benefits of recruiting diversity.
Byron West
President
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Generation Y
As we look forward to emerging out of this recession and reducing unemployment, a new and highly anticipated generation of employees is moving into the workforce. There seems to be a lot of skepticism about how effective the “me” generation will be. Growing up in a culture centered on instant gratification and focused on efficiency, this new generation of the workforce will bring a new set of cards to the table. No longer is the time dedicated to a job, a justified means to being promoted. Generation Y will now see their performance as the most justified reason for upward mobility in the company. In addition 35% of Generation Y employees wish to communicate with their boss several times a day. What is to be expected from these new employees should be clear, obtainable, and concise. Focused on efficiency, the more communication will be essential in obtaining the optimal performance from new workers.
In addition, Generation Y, or the “me” generation, seeks to obtain the security and status their parents obtained much earlier in life. In a recent survey Generation Y respondents ranked “working with a manager I can respect and learn from” as an 8.74 on a 10 point scale. With most new employee’s eyes set on upward mobility, the ability to gain wisdom from their managers is becoming ever more crucial. Skepticism about this new workforce has led Generation Y to be referred to in a negative connotation. However, I believe that the new mold of employees can bring new effectiveness to companies through their aptitude with technology and ambition to jump through the necessary hoops to achieve success. Most of Generation Y has grown up with computers and has become extremely proficient at navigating the Internet. Their awareness with new developing technologies will bring technology options that may have gone unnoticed. Nevertheless, with the new employees coming into the workforce, I think we can all anticipate what Generation Y will bring to the table.
Resources:
Questions and Answers about GENERATION X/GENERATION Y. www.bc.edu/wfnetwork. Sloan Work & Family Research Network, n.d. Web. 18 Feb. 2010. <wfnetwork.bc.edu/pdfs/GXGY.pdf>.
Byron West
President
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Actively Looking for a Job? How do you cover all angles?
In this tough economy, competition for open job slots is fierce. So how do you catch the recruiter’s eye? What sorts of things do you do to maximize your potential of being hired?
The first thing to keep in mind is the recruiters’ perspective. Most recruiters are glancing through hundreds of resumes a day, searching for the one that best fits the job description. Thus, you only have one chance to make the right impression. Make your resume catchy and sophisticated. The standard size 12 typewriter font doesn’t do you any good. Instead, take advantage of free resources, such as resume templates on Google docs or in Microsoft Word. Additionally, make sure that you include every accomplishment that may work towards your advantage.
Once your resume is aesthetically pleasing, your next concern is how to give the greatest visibility to your resume. Companies like Resume Rabbit can post your resume to over 80 job sites for $59.95, but that may not be entirely necessary. With Yahoo! Hot Jobs, Careerbuilder, and Monster being the most popular places recruiters dig for resumes, posting to all three will give your resume proper visibility. Keep in mind that posting your resume to these sites costs you nothing. So, cast a wide net.
As an active candidate for any position your approach should be a more aggressive one. In addition to posting your resume, searching for relevant job postings can be beneficial in staying up to date with new jobs. While searching for posts on the big three (Hot Jobs, Monster, and Career Builder) may be effective, there are still more efficient resources that can be used. Sites such as Indeed and Simply Hired are increasing in popularity, and for a good reason. By taking advantage of these sites, job seekers can view postings from various job boards and career portals simultaneously. Using Indeed and Simply Hired can cut the time you spend searching for jobs in half.
With competition for open jobs increasing more and more, its essential to cover all the angles involved in being an active candidate. Creating a powerful resume and posting it to the right sites is a great way to give yourself wide spread visibility in the eyes of recruiters. In the same sense, using Simply Hired and Indeed ensures that you are aware of any job postings which could relate to you. Taking advantage of these resources can make your path to finding a new job a quick and painless one.
Byron West
President
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