A great article on Why Google Employees Leave
October 20th, 2009
Two Networking Conversation Starters
October 20th, 2009
Article Title: Two Networking Conversation Starters
Author Byline: Kevin Donlin
Author Website: CollegeRecruiter
Hey, job seekers: Raise your hand if you love networking.
I thought so.
And why don’t you get a thrill out of talking to friends and family about your job search?
For many folks, it’s a problem of how to start. There’s really no way to ask, “Know anyone who’s hiring?” without feeling awkward.
To fix that, here are two ways to open your next networking conversation that are proven to produce job leads — and won’t make you feel self-conscious …
Use Me as an Excuse to Call
Over the past year, I’ve quietly been perfecting a short networking script at my Guerrilla Job Search seminars.
In every case, at least one person in the room gets a job lead — in less than 5 minutes.
Here’s the four-part script that people are using to start networking conversations by phone, with explanatory notes in parentheses:
1. “Hi, this is YOUR NAME! I’m at a training session and they told me to call the most-connected person I know. That’s you!”
(This gets you over the hump right away, by giving you an excuse to call. Here, that excuse is me — just say that somebody else told you to call.)
2. “I’m looking for a position as a JOB TITLE at a company like COMPANY #1, COMPANY #2, or COMPANY #3.”
(You have to think first, about what JOB you want and 3 COMPANIES you most want to work for.)
3. “Who would you call if you were in my shoes?”
(You’re asking someone to take ownership of your problem, by putting their ego aside and thinking as if they were you. Simple psychology that’s very powerful.)
4. “Could I have their name and number?”
(Write it down. Hang up. Call that new person and drop the name of the person you called first.)
For best results, use this script to call the most-connected person you know — the one person who seems to know almost everybody.
Here are three examples of how this has worked in my seminars:
1. Ellen in Minneapolis, MN, got a networking lead at the chamber of commerce after calling a friend.
2. Greg in Fargo, ND, got a lead on a pharmaceutical sales job by calling a friend.
3. Pete in Chanhassen, MN, got the name of an HR rep by calling a colleague he had fallen out of touch with.
2) Use an Object as a Conversation Starter
Chris Russell, founder of JobRadio.fm, warns that a false sense of pride can hurt your job search, recalling a friend who struggled mightily to get hired. “He would never tell people that he was out of work, even his former co-workers. I guess he was embarrassed.”
Russell points out that, when it comes to your job search, you should look for any excuse to start a conversation.
One such excuse may be the “Laid Off, Need a Job” wristband.
Described as an “attention getting conversation starter” by its makers, the wristband retails for $3 and comes in bright yellow, with the message, “I Need A Job.”
The idea is, you put wear the wristband each day, people see it, ask about your job search, and — shazam! Instant networking conversation. More information is at www.LaidOffNeedAJob.com.
Two other tactics I’ve seen are renting a billboard (pricey) and wearing a T-shirt with your resume on it (no verifiable successes).
Now. How else could you get attention and start networking conversations?
Here’s an idea: Stick a magnetic sign on the side of your car.
For less than $95, Kinko’s can create one for you. Your sign’s message could be on two lines, like this:
Need Accounting Help?
HireShellyNow.com
Nobody wants to hire, but almost every business needs help, so don’t use “Hire me!” or “U-M Grad Will Work Cheap” as your headline.
The format I would follow is: “Need YOUR SKILL Help? CONTACT INFO.”
Test several ideas on cardboard mockup signs and drive them past people, to see if they can read your contact info at 25 or 40 miles an hour.
(Note: I practice what I preach — look for my black SUV around the Twin Cities with a magnetic sign on the side that says, “Got Work? My New Job Hunt .com”)
Do these conversation-starting ideas make you feel uncomfortable? Good!
Because, if you’ve been comfortable thus far in your job search, and you’re still unemployed, it may be time to leave your comfort zone and try something new.
Kevin Donlin is co-author of Guerrilla Resumes. Since 1996, he has provided job-search help to more than 20,000 people. Author of 3 books, Kevin has been interviewed by The New York Times, USA Today, Fox News, CBS Radio and others.
Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.
This Is Unreal…
October 20th, 2009
I’LL GO WITH YOU (Con te Partiro-English Translation)
(E. Sartori - L.Quarantotto)
When I’m alone
I dream on the horizon
And words fail
Yes, I know there is no light
In a room where the sun is absent
If you are not with me
At the windows
Show everone my heart
Which you set alight
Enclose within me
The light you
Encountered on the street
I’ll go with you
To countries I newer
Saw and shared with you
Now, yes, I shall experience them
I’ll go with you
On ships across seas
Which, I know,
No, no, exist no longer
With you I shall experience them
When you are far away
I dream on the horizon
And words fail
And yes, I know
That you are with me
You, my moon, are here with me
My sun, you are here with me
I’ll go with you
To countries I never
Saw and shared with you
Now, yes, I shall experience them
I’ll go with you
On ships across seas
Which, I know,
No, no, exist no longer
With you I shall experience them again
I’ll go with you
On ships across seas
Which, I know,
No, no, exist no longer
With you I shall experience them again
I’ll go with you
I with you
What are the 9 Components of a Successful Employee Induction Programme?
October 9th, 2009
Article Title: What are the 9 Components of a Successful Employee Induction Programme?
Author Byline: Employers today understand that productive employees are the cornerstone of any successful business. Therefore, when a new team member comes on board it is vital that they participate in an Employee Induction Program. Why?
Author Website: SBStrategies
Lay Strong Foundations
Employers today understand that productive employees are the cornerstone of any successful business. Therefore, when a new team member comes on board it is vital that they participate in an Employee Induction Program. Why?
An Employee Induction Plan ‘Sets the Scene’
An effective Employee Induction System showcase’s the company’s history, its mission statement, the direction its heading, company policies, training programs, and the culture within the organisation.
Tools to assist with induction:
* Employment Terms and Conditions checklist
* Employee Induction checklist
* The first three months of employment
* Probationary Period Assessment form
More importantly, Employee Induction Procedure’s outline what the company expects from their employees.
Facilitated correctly, the employee will be better able to understand where they fit into the organisation and in what direction it is heading. The sooner that is in place the more productive they will be so the perfect time to implement Employee Induction Procedures will be during the probation period.
Is a Probation Period Necessary for Every Full-time Employee?
Yes. Implementing an Employee Induction Plan at the start of a probation period will ensure the new employee a rapid and smooth transition into their new position. It also gives the Manager time to observe the new employee and decide if he or she is suitable for the role. Click here to access a FREE copy of the Employee Induction Plan.
Use the points below to ensure an effective Employee Induction System.
9 Components of a Successful Employee Induction Program
1. Utilise the ‘Employment Terms and Conditions’ checklist, the ‘Induction Schedule’ and the ‘Employee Induction’ checklist.
2. Conduct a brief initial induction.
3. Prioritise the Employee Induction Program and facilitate with shorter meetings over three to four weeks. This avoids information overload and the tendency to ‘dump’ information on the ‘newbie’.
4. People want to believe they can ‘fit in’ so during the initial meeting talk about the culture inside the organisation.
5. Get the new employee to their work site as soon as practicable.
6. Involve their immediate Manager as soon as possible.
7. Give them achievable goals within the first couple of weeks.
8. Initiate a ‘buddy’ system where the new employee can go, to seek advice and assistance. This person may be able to offer ‘on the job’ coaching to fast track the new employee’s development.
9. Complete a Probationary Period Assessment form.
Tip: The HR Department or Senior Manager should handle the Organisation Induction. The Manager directly responsible for the new staff member should handle the Departmental Induction.
Final Note
Employee Induction Procedures demonstrate that your company is interested in their employees. Studies show that employees who feel valued in their jobs and secure about their futures are better employees and less likely to leave. Staff retention is paramount!
If you want to get the best from your people our new HR Policy and Procedure CD ($497.00 inc GST) consists of essential HR policies, procedures and systems, saving you time, money and stress while building your business.
Please forward this newsletter onto colleagues, business associates, friends or a person who is interested in achieving the best from team members.
What are your Human Resource Challenges?
Let us know of a challenge you are facing in relation to attracting, motivating, retaining or developing talent and we will provide a FREE no obligation HR Solution.
Phone 03 9808 2512
Email d.mcgillivray@sbstrategies.com.au
Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.
Confessions of a Sales Executive
October 5th, 2009
Today, I did the unthinkable.
As a technical recruiter, I was always wary of candidates hanging up on me or telling me that they don’t have time for this or that. As a sales executive, I’ve gotten a couple of nasty rejections, but for the most part (99%) people are very civil when I cold call them out of the blue and ask them if they use “technology consulting services”.
But no matter how vicious the hang up or how curt the response, I never forget that this is my client. Whether on the recruiting side or on the sales side, my ability to form a good impression on my prospective client is paramount to all other considerations.
So today, a green behind the ears recruiter from a certain Boston recruiting agency called me to ask if I would come up to their Andover office( a 3 hours diversion from my call time). He wanted me to fill out some esoteric paperwork before he could tell me about the opportunities he had for me as well as meet some of his illustrious colleagues. Not only was he pushier then a used car salesman, he was also overbearing. I could hear it in his voice.
I suggested that if he wanted to place me, he would have to take me out to lunch on his expense account and tell me what “exciting” opportunities he had for me. He responded that he was too new for that. Then I asked him how much money he was going to make off me and told him how much I was used to making from every consultant. To my surprise he said that this was irrelevant. When did a candidate’s salary become irrelevant??
So I suggested that when he was ready to take me out, he give me a call and then I hung up.
I hung up on a recruiter! A recruiter and a sales guy hung up on a fellow recruiter! Travesty.
But not really. My Golden Rule of recruiting is never waste peoples time. This recruiter wanted to take 3 hours of my call time and burn it. Forget about it.
I hold that meeting with recruiters before they get you a first interview is a total, complete, and irreversible waste of your time. It’s called pay it forward. Why should a candidate take 3 hours of his day to come and meet with a bunch of fresher’s straight out of college to fill out some BS paperwork that may or may not ever go anywhere? You need to create value. Remember? The Value proposition? Simply calling me with an opportunity does not do it.
Moral of the story: If you want to make money by placing people, respect their time as if it were your own. Never be a Jerk to a recruiter who can find out who your client is and call the hiring manager directly.
Tips for Electronic Resumes
September 29th, 2009
Article Title: Tips for Electronic Resumes
Author Byline: Karen Burns, Working Girl
Author Website: Working Girl
Your job hunt should never consist solely of submitting your resume to the online job boards. You need to be out there in the real world networking with real people.
But you do still need to know how to format your resume so it can be submitted online and/or be scanned.
Hence, here are a dozen tips to get you started:
1. Guess what, for electronic resumes you no longer have to worry about that old one-page rule. If fact, be too short and you may appear underqualified. Make your resume as long as it needs to be.
2. Forget fluffy terms like “results oriented,” “goal-driven,” “excellent communications skills,” “multitasker,” “team player,” etc. Resume software doesn’t look for words like these. It looks for skills, certifications, and job titles.
3. To convey those skills, use nouns rather than verbs. Say “software engineer” instead of “engineered software for blah blah blah.” Include certifications, courses you’ve taken, any applicable training.
4. Don’t bother including a career objective. Really, no one cares. And it takes up valuable space.
5. Hard copies should be designed to be scannable and be printed clearly on bright white paper. Mail them flat in a big envelope. No folding, no staples.
6. If you’re submitting online, format in a text file, not as a Word document (or even as HTML).
7. No column or table formats. Everything should be on its own line.
8. Use common fonts (Times Roman, Courier, Helvetica) in a normal size (11 to 14).
9. Only left margin justification (the right margin should be ”rag right”).
10. No boxes, shadows, shading, graphics, underlines, italics, horizontal or vertical lines, or colors.
11. No bullets. Asterisks are a reasonable substitute.
12. No hard returns.
Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.
Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-09-20
September 20th, 2009
Twitter Updates for 2009-09-17
September 17th, 2009
Staffing – The self abasing industry
September 4th, 2009
“We are not a staffing company. We are a consulting company.”
I cannot describe to you how many time I have heard this lame line. If your primary purpose is to deliver talent to your clients then you are a staffing firm. You may not like some terms that are associated with a staffing company such as agency and body shop, but it does not change what you are.
When does a staffing agency become more then a staffing agency? This happens only if the solutions that the agency is selling to its clients do not solely revolve around staffing. For example, a company that claims to be a solutions company but concentrates on collecting individual requirement from managers is a staffing firm no matter how hard they try to persuade everyone of the contrary.
On the other hand, if a company has a specific solution that addresses a particular business need of the client, say a data warehouse, then that company is a true solutions company.
When did staffing become a dirty word? Is this self flagellation a result of clients not needing staffing services or is it an attempt by staffing agencies to take market share away from solution firms such as Accenture and CSC?
Everyone needs staffing. Name one Fortune 500 company that at one time or another did not employ temporary workers or retain a search firm to find a C level executive. You will not be able to because everyone uses staffing agencies and there is nothing to be ashamed of if you do staffing.
After all, if they didn’t need us, there wouldn’t be a multibillion dollar market for the service.
