Talent Research & Recruiting Trends - Abhinav Mishra

29 Reasons!!..Stopping you moving ahead..

2011-12-27T23:08:00.000-08:00

Today I want to share some of the truths we experience that stop us moving forward in life.
Do any of these ring true for you?

Perfection – Perfection does not exist. If you accept that everything can be improved upon then perfection cannot exist. Give up the concept of being perfect and get on with your life as best you can.
Waiting for the right time – The right time is now, why put it off. If you’ve been waiting for the right time for something and haven’t taken action yet, it’s going to be difficult to start.
Being stuck in the past – If you focus on the past, you stay in the past. Moving forward is about acknowledging the past, but gently let the invisible cord of the past go, and move toward a better future.
Lying to yourself – Honesty with yourself and others will do wonders for moving you forward in life. Start with yourself and be as honest as possible about who you are, what you’re doing and where you’re going. If you’ve been a bit of an arse, admit it, and resolve to change.

Staying on the ‘Poor me’ train – The ‘Poor Me’ train never reaches it’s destination, because there is no destination, it’s just a train full of whiners and moaners. Jump off at the next station and resolve never to go back on the ‘Poor me’ train again.
Befriending the vampires – Vampires suck the life force out of you. It’s those people who bitch, moan, complain and generally suck the energy out of you. Drop them as quickly as possible, if you can’t drop them avoid them as much as possible.
Keeping a tight comfort zone – If you’ve got a tight comfort zone then you’re not pushing yourself hard enough. Push the boundaries of your comfort zone little, and as often as you can. If you only do things you feel comfortable doing you will stop growing, mentally, emotionally and intellectually.

Saying ‘I can’t do that’ – As soon as you utter this phrase your brain will take it as fact that you cannot do it, and give up trying to look for a solution. If you replace ‘I can’t’ with ‘I’m getting better….’, your brain will re-engage with you to look for ways to help you become better at something.

Comparing yourself to others – when you compare yourself to others you will ultimately fail. If you work on exceeding your own expectations you will fair much better in life.

Moaning – we seem to live in a world of moaners, and it’s easy to get caught up in it. Make it a point to only moan if you’re going to take action on what you’re moaning about, which should help cut down 99% of your moaning.

Multi tasking – Multi tasking is not possible, period! Or rather you can multi task, but because you can’t multitask and give 100% to each activity it’s impossible to do something well without giving it your full attention.

Asking ‘Why’ questions – A lot of the questions we ask ourselves are: Why does this happen to me, why can’t I do that, why is he better than me. Most why questions cause you to focus on the past and gives your brain a reason to look for reasons why you can’t do something. Instead you could ask ‘How’ questions, which are outcome oriented: How can I become better at that, how can I become the best I can be.

Trying to be in the circle – People in the circle want to be the same and conform into a group. You’ve got around 70 years on this earth, spend it finding yourself and break free from the crowd, or at least find yourself and decide if you want to break free from the crowd or not.

Not spending enough time with yourself – When was the last time you spent time alone and really loved it? Being happy with your own company is a good indicator of getting the right balance in life, as long as you’re not alone all day every day

Trying for the quick fix – Get rich quick, Lose weight fast, build up muscle quickly. Going for the quick fix in anything, usually doesn’t work in the long run. Anything worth doing, is worth taking the time to enjoy the journey of achieving.

Being a control freak – Another thing that is impossible to do is to control life. Life has a tendency to twist and turn when least expected. Planning ahead is good, but trying to control what’s in front of you can only lead to frustration.
Thinking you never have any luck – Samuel Goldwyn said ‘The harder I work, the luckier I get.’ Luck comes to those who put themselves in the path of it, to do that you must get out there and be the best you can be.

Watching the news – watching the news only perpetuates, in your mind, that the world is a bad place. The world is an amazing place with some bad people in it. If you watch the news you’d think every second person is a murderer, rapist or paedophile.

Wishing well thinking – It’s great to wish for things in your life, and sometimes it can be a nice daydream to dream of winning the lottery, but if you are banking on your wishes coming true, you’re not going to go far. Better to have wishes and work toward them than sitting around wishing.

Thinking the world owes you – Nobody, nothing or anything owes you a favour in life. We all have to take action toward the things we would like in life, it’s not coming to knock on your door.

Watching TV – TV is another energy drainer unless used for educational purposes. Watching soaps and reality TV actually gets you emotionally involved in someone else’s life, even though, in the case of soaps, they are fictitious. You’re essentially giving away your energy to a box in the corner of the living room.

Blaming others – There’s are always others who hurt us, physically, mentally and emotionally, but blaming them for not moving on with life will stunt your growth, emotionally and mentally. Accept that some people in your life have hurt you, and let them go mentally.

Not deciding what to do in life – A lot of people are unhappy in their jobs, not because they can’t get the job they want, but because they don’t know what job they want. Decide what you truly, madly, passionately, want to do with your life and start taking small steps to get there.

Not finding a reason to smile – We all have reasons to be grateful in our life, even if it’s just for the fact that you have access to a computer to read this post. Counting your blessings daily is a great exercise to improve the quality of your life.

Chasing others – If someone truly wants to be a part of your life they will make the effort to do so. You don’t need to chase someone to be in your life, and waste energy trying to do so.

Giving up too quickly – If you fail at something, learn from it and try again, if you fail again, learn some more and try again, if you fail again, learn some more……………

Not taking risks – Life is inherently risky and you’ve made it this far. Risk more in your life, as the rewards will far outweigh the thought of never having risked at all.

Not forgiving yourself - There’s not a single person on this planet that has not made mistakes in their life. Forgive yourself for your mistakes and free up your emotional energy for the things that matter.

Not enjoying the little things in life – Stop for a while to enjoy the little things in life, 30 years from now those little things will mean everything.

I hope you enjoyed this article!!

HR Day after tomorrow

2011-10-21T05:57:00.000-07:00

Unprecedented customer expectations and alternatives, global competition, time compression, complexity, rapid change, and increased use of technology would be the vista of the future.

With high end technology empowering and ruling the future HR practices, I being from HR wittingly do not rule out the scope of Human involvement into the system. However HR practices would rather be more virtual, with process-automation prominently driving the results as just-in-time query resolution, one touch logins, eco/solar-offices, biometrics-attendance systems (flying robot-scanners continuously trawling in air for any miss).
With computers thousand times faster than now with the size of small chips, we may be exploiting reflex-intelligence computer systems taking instructions directly from our brain, We all at different locations virtually attending the meetings, virtually appear to be seating in the same room together. Further on, we may be able to do mind sharing as similar as time sharing for multitasking.

Here is a idea how Recruitment function may look like-
Candidates across the geographies may be able to apply for any job thru access cards-type CV formats. One has to show their unique CV (UCV) card before their screens and the application system will auto-scan the code and extract your CV.
The system will automatically check for relevant skills-keywords in Resumes, It will filter the best out of total applications, giving best evens with highest accuracy and that’s without any human involvement.

Behavioural, Personal & Functional Interview process will also get benefited from technology; with specially programmed computer systems, with built in visual and audio sensors assisting in pre-screening the candidates concomitantly on various factors & skill sets. Recruiter would be able to check the confidence level, communication skills thru candidate’s voice and audio variations. Thus will catalyst the results tremendously; parallely saving cost & time, which generally skim into the process now,. And HR could concentrate more on strategic works and engagement Actions.

The technology will be aiding engagement initiatives by continuously monitoring employee’s satisfaction/motivation levels thru visual (webcam) sensors based systems observing the body language, behaviour and tone of employees (Picking stress points) and then be offering the improvement areas, identifying focus groups and suggesting the type of reliever required to deploy by HR.
The future may be different from the world we are in now. Possibly, will be flying from place to place rather than driving vehicles. Computers will fit into a person’s pocket and be thousand times faster than the ones we have now. We all will not speak aloud, just text, email, and instant message each other. We may be communicating thru telepathy. Hopefully, world hunger and poverty will end. We all will belong to the same nation as world peace was founded. I will be the CEO of some worlds top MNC;)

Only time will tell what the future will hold. But it’s true that our present can only shape up our future. And being HR we hold the ability to inspire people to change in the favour of our mother earth.

Save Trees!! Save Future!!

Best Wishes!!
Abhinav Mishra

Steer your thoughts, Worry no more..

2011-09-17T07:57:00.000-07:00

We don’t function well when we worry. Worry hinders our work and spoils our health. Being a habitual worrier, I decided to solve my problem and found for myself; three ways in which I can make my tensions disappear just by steering my thoughts in a particular direction.

Consider the following examples:

A cell of my body dies, another is born – does it make any difference to me? I will not even be aware of this death or for that matter, the birth.

In my lifespan, a second, a minute hardly matters; these are insignificant in the context of my lifetime.

Similarly, compare one’s self to the universe. A person is not significant enough to constitute even a speck of this universe, so huge are its dimensions. Even if I was no more the next minute, it will go on just the same.

Where is all this discussion heading? What has all this got to do with worry?

-When you are worried about your job, some work place problem, a family quarrel, obstinate kids, the thoughts like the above will help you put these issues in perspective. You will realise that events like these are not of prime importance. They are trivial, a very tiny part of your life. Happy occasions and worries, victories and defeats keep occurring in everybody’s life. They are just one of the thousands of things which have already happened or will happen in the future and should be treated as such.

- When the worm called ‘worry’ starts eating into you, make some time to ponder over whether the worrisome incident will continue to bother you tomorrow, whether it would make a difference to your life a year from now. Why, ten years hence you may have forgotten this incident and if you do remember you may be having a good laugh over it. I surely have no idea about what worried me even five years ago. Deal with the problem at hand in the best way possible but don’t fret over it.

-“I complained that I had no shoes, then I met a man who had no feet.”
When I am upset over issues with a family member, I try to think of those people who have no families to speak of, orphaned children with no home and I am thankful that at least I have a family. If you have a problem with a colleague, don’t let it ruin your day. Spare a thought for the unemployed – desperate for work but unable to find one. Aren’t you the lucky one? When you worry over the size of your neighbour’s bungalow knowing very well that you cannot afford a bigger house yourself, think of the homeless who have made the pavements their home. And mind you, don’t gloat over these people for them, in spite of their problems may be happier than you. Instead think over what you can share with them.

I have successfully done away with my worrying habit by using any one of these ways. Good luck to you too!

How Recruiterrs locate talent

2011-06-21T02:58:00.000-07:00

In the modern world you will have to be spot on to find out the best man to serve your company. There exist a lot of ways that recruiters all over the world adapt to take people. The methods vary company to company and from recruiter to recruiter. But there is one thing that is same with all the recruiters all over the world. That is how they find out people to recruit. How they locate potential candidates is the same thing everywhere. They use different types of networking. Their own networks and the networks of the people they know. They use both online and real life connections. They might use sites like Linked In to locate potential job seekers.

This will be very helpful for people who are seeking an employment. So many of us would go around saying “how am I supposed to get in touch with the recruiters?”. Well here is the answer. You don’t have to or you can’t get in touch with all the recruiters. You will have to be in touch with the recruiters those seek qualifications that you have. So you need to find out people who are actually looking for you.

The simplest way to do this, is networking. The recruiters will go and seek for people in their networks. Have a good network through proper channel so that whichever way they go they find you. If you have a strong network and the recruiter hears your name more than once then he is highly likely to consider you seriously.

As far as choosing the perfect network goes look into the type of job you seek. If it is a marketing job then you better build your network with people who are related to this ground. Or build a network with companies that are related to marketing firms. This way you can actually make your name heard by the recruiters once they spread their networking wings looking for you.

Managing the Sourcing Function

2011-04-11T21:59:00.001-07:00

Improving the effectiveness of your sourcing organization
The following are some learnings around how to make your sourcing more effective, especially if varying levels of experience exist within the team.

Understanding the fit: You may be reading this and go "no kidding", but the reality is this step is commonly skipped over in the process. Understanding the fit has to do with a solid working knowledge of the industry, the business group supported and how the role fits into what that leader is trying to accomplish. Where this usually breaks down is in one of the following areas:

If the sourcer is working through the recruiter, there is an expectation that the recruiter will ask all of the right questions when meeting with the hiring manager.
If the sourcer/ recruiter meets with the hiring manager and there is a lack of preparation coming into the meeting. This includes the sourcer / recruiter not presenting industry knowledge and using the meeting time to validate assumptions around expectations.
If the Recruiter is the Sourcer, the focus is more on the skills, versus the business goals the hiring manager is trying to accomplish. As a result, the recruiter finds the right skilled person, but the applications of the skills are misaligned.
Solutions: The key is planning, planning and communication. Assume nothing and talk about everything. Wikipedia.org can be a super tool when seeking to understand an industry, a position, a skill set. Interestingly enough, wikipedia if leveraged appropriately provides some good data points that can be used during a hiring manager discussion.

Secondly, have all of your recruiters / sourcers go in prepared to a hiring manager discussion. Again you might say no kidding, but 9 times out of 10 it does not happen, unless it is an Executive Search. Prepared means one or more of the following: Understand the industry; Have a prior discussion with the HR Gen of that business unit to understand any nuances that may positively / negatively impact the search efforts; Look on Linkedin, Spoke and your own ATS system to bring some profiles to calibrate against. People are visual, if you give them something to look at and respond to, you are more likely to get closer to the desired outcome at the very beginning of the search effort.
Duplication of Effort: Recruiters workloads are not getting any lighter, so therefore it is easy for individuals to go to the path of least resistance. However this path, especially if multiple people or vendors are assisting can be costly and unproductive. At SourceCon, Rob McIntosh presented a sourcing channel checklist. He broke this checklist into roles and activities. I took this channel sheet back to my organization, as well as peers, and began to ask questions, here is what I found:
Recruiting and sourcing teams that do not work from a plan perform duplicate work efforts. This lack of planning typically results in overlap when searching resume databases, contacting the same resources or networking through the various social networking sites
Continue to manage from the plan. Use the plan as a management tool to understand how the recruiting team is using each of the sources.
Don't pay sourcing vendors to do the same work performed internally. Face it, recruiters like the job boards. If you are using a resume mining and screening vendor, so do they. Pick one..
Not all sources generate results, so stop using the source and move on. Time is not a commodity in the recruiting business. Leverage your ATS data to begin understanding how your organization fills a particular type of role best and build from there.
Solutions: I truly believe that duplication of effort is something that requires constant monitoring. Now with that being said, I would also recommend the following:

Create the channel plan.
Create a channel plan that supports the sourcing strategy. A high volume, low complexity, localized plan will look very different from a high complexity, low volume, national search. Know what it takes to execute both and build a quick project plan to maximize time and resources.
Keyword Sets: Create sets of keywords that can also be divided by channel.
Manage to the sourcing plan. Conduct a review with the team on their activities and the results generated. Immediately seize activities on sources that are not generating the desired results and get the team to move on.
Prioritization: Not all sources generate results. Not all of the easiest sources will generate the results for the position that is being searched for. The concept of What source will generate the best results first requires sourcing knowledge, industry experience and reviewing the metrics to better understand what works inside your organization Activity for activity sake, still does not result in a hire. This only causes ill will, especially if there is segmentation between the recruiters and the sourcing team.

Solutions:
High Volume / Low Complexity: These are processing related sourcing plans. This requires activities that may leverage recruitment marketing, resume mining, job posting, radio advertisement, creative employee referral campaigns and drip market efforts leveraging contacts within the ATS. This plan may require the assistance of a resume mining vendor, an experienced sourcer/ recruiter as well as some good recruiting administrators. Each have there own role in getting the desired outcome accomplished. Know what works to execute a plan.

Low Volume / High Complexity: These are more strategic sourcing plans. This will include market research, competitive intelligence, employee referrals, cold calling and industry networking. Depending upon the type of role will determine which of these activities goes first.

The reality is, prioritization of a sourcing strategy may require someone who can serve as the organization's sourcing strategist. This person must be able to turn around a project execution plan quickly and articulate clear directions to multiple stakeholders in the process. This person must be a data jockey, who can pull reports from the ATS and leverage data to identify those activities which have a higher possibility of generating results first and baking this into the plan.

Best Practices for Screening Candidates

2010-06-02T21:11:00.000-07:00

Only one thing is certain about the procedure of screening and interviewing candidates: the huge variation in processes. But, through the years there is one that we have found to be fair, thorough (while being fairly quick), involves the right people, and (most importantly) the end decision will be one that both the company and the new hire are highly likely to be happy with.

What follows are our best practices for screening candidates.

1. Define the interview process.

Who will give input, who will be involved in the interviews, where will they be, and what are the criteria for selecting a successful candidate?

2. Develop good job and person specification.

This has the advantage that everyone knows what this person will be doing and key people in the company can give their input - with the added bonus that this can also be used for assessing performance in the future. For the person specification, are you looking for leaders or followers, someone who is inspired or inspiring?

3. Create a set list of interview questions.

Be fair on the candidates and don't leave important questions to chance. Get input from colleagues as well.

4. Conduct a first round interview.

Do a first-round interview with the hiring manager (or HR representative or consultant) to shortlist who will move on to the next step.

5. Include verbal and numerical reasoning tests and consider other psychometric tests.

These are quick, inexpensive, and can be done online. Unsuitable candidates can be objectively and consistently screened out earlier in the recruitment process. You may also want to include other psychometric tests, for instance an online Occupational Personality test. These will help you to identify for instance natural sales people or strong finishers.

6. Invite successful candidates back for a second interview.

Make sure that the right people are involved: the hiring manager if they have not been involved before, typically at least one senior manager, and one or more peers.

This doesn't just add to the comfort-factor and a democratic selection method, it also means that the people who have given their thumbs up for the candidate will be supportive of him and her in the future (as it is in human nature that none of us likes to be wrong).

This is a great opportunity to discuss the result of the online tests, and also any relevant, work-related tests.

7. Make your informed choice!

10 hiring tips for startups

2010-01-06T23:05:00.000-08:00

Be role specific

Hiring is the most important decision at startup stage. Here are some hiring tips for startups

1. Hire for a specific role and not because you are impressed by the person.

2. Don’t think of the role, write it down along with the skills and experience you’d need the person to have in order to perform well in the role.

Give comprehensive picture of the company

3. Create a clear and interesting script about your company, nature of business, future potential and how that role fits in. Use any recognition, commendation that came your way in the script.

Remember in case of startup jobs, both interviewer and aspirant are evaluating each other. You need to come across as a worthy employer.

4. If you are not sure you can assess abilities, there is no harm asking a known senior or ex-boss to sit through the interview with you.

Learn during the process, he may not come everytime.

Right information

5. Give a clear picture of your current state, strengths and limitations.

Assess the same about the candidate. Right information is key to decision making.

6. Working for startups requires abilities like initiative, selfdiscipline, cost consciousness, multitasking, resourcefulness and risk taking more than subject matter expertise.

Don't be defensive

7. Do not get defensive about your startup status. All big enterprises started out as one. Everyone works for the future; make sure you are able to define bright future loudly.

8. Ask for references and do not limit to two. Take five references, talk to all, get a feel.

Take enough time

9. Hiring is the most important decision at startup stage. Give it your enough time, prepare, read stuff and meet many candidates. Do not delegate hiring.

10. Do not hesitate to headhunt the right guy, no matter how big a company she works for currently. You’ll be surprised how bored good professionals can get working in working big companies.

Your job can give them the freshness they want. Worst she can do is say “no”. There is a high probability that she’ll refer some one else who fits in.

Master the Art of Interviewing

2010-01-05T01:19:00.000-08:00

Although your resume is the key to landing an interview, it is essentially the interview that will get you the job. Many job seekers assume that they can rely on their resume and experience to impress potential employers and often make the mistake of not fully preparing for an interview. It is important to take every avenue of opportunity to sell yourself to potential employers, especially in the interview, since this is the most crucial component to your job search.

An interview is the time to let your personality shine and to demonstrate to employers that you would be a valuable asset to their organization. It is essential to do your research before interviewing to learn successful techniques to increase your chances of receiving a job offer. Listed below are some tips on how to effectively handle the interview process:
Do Your Research - It’s important to be confident and prepared. The first step you should take in your job search is to conduct research on companies of interest before applying to a job or showing up for an interview. By understanding and showing interest in the company, you can customize your pitch, demonstrate the value you will bring to the organization and confidently convince employers that you are the right candidate.

Practice, Practice, Practice - Prepare for an interview by running through commonly asked interview questions. Understand that interviewing is a skill and as with any skill, practice makes perfect!

Dress Professionally - When you are on an interview, you are marketing yourself as the best candidate for the job, so it’s important to dress professionally. Appropriate attire and good personal hygiene demonstrates that you are not only willing to take that extra step to look your best but also do your best.

Make a Positive First Impression - First impressions are critical. Arrive early, give a firm handshake and make eye contact throughout the interview. It is important to be confident, but most importantly, be yourself!

Go Beyond the Canned Response - Behavioral interviewing is an ever-growing interview technique. Rather than merely telling the interviewer what you would do in a situation, demonstrate your knowledge, skills, and abilities by giving specific examples from past work experiences. Use this as an opportunity to emphasize the value you would bring to the company by citing a situation where you effectively used your skill set to overcome a difficult situation.

Ask Questions - Express interest and willingness to learn about the company by asking questions and listening to details about the organization. Remember, that you are not the only one being interviewed – you are also trying to determine if the company and position are right for you. This portion of the interview is your chance to shine. Not having any questions for the interviewer can show that you are uninterested and unprepared.

Follow Up - Reinforce to the employer that you bring value to their organization by developing a well-written thank you note. A thank you note is an easy and surefire way to show your appreciation, reiterate you are the best candidate and demonstrate your initiative and follow-through. It is also appropriate to make a follow up call, unless instructed otherwise by the employer.
Prove You Are the Right Candidate for the Job
Regardless of the position you are interviewing for, it is equally important to impress potential employers with your interviewing style and technique. Before your next interview, be sure to brush up on your interviewing skills and remember to be calm and confident to prove you are the best candidate for the position.

Ten Common Job-Hunter Types

2010-01-04T23:54:00.000-08:00

This is wonderful segmented description of different job hunters by By Lou Adler, I found it intresting and useful for everybody so thought to post it on my blog for my friends and readers....

::If you frequently find top people who are either over-qualified, uninterested, or tell you they've just accepted another job or are close to it, job-hunting typecasting can increase the number of top performers you see.

Adler has defined 10 tyoes of job seekers candidates based on the behaviour psychology of the top performer. Obviously, the more anxious they are about the quality of their current jobs, the more aggressive they'll be in looking for something else. Ten classic job-hunting styles stand out, from those who are simply open to talk about possible opportunities to those who are ready to accept a reasonable offer in a few days.

Knowing the type of person you're seeking can help you develop a targeted sourcing strategy, rather than using a one-size-fits-all approach. Segmenting your candidate pool this way will become more and more necessary in order to increase the quantity and quality of top performers you're seeing.

Ten Common Job-Hunter Types
1.Explorers. Explorers are people who are fully employed and quite satisfied in their current jobs. They will be open to explore other career opportunities if presented to them, but they will not proactively seek out something else. Recruiters need to call these people and provide them a chance to evaluate their opportunity with minimal commitment, letting them "just look" at what you have to offer. You can't push too hard when talking to Explorers. If you can get them excited about what you have to offer, you can try to reel them in by conducting an exploratory interview or suggesting an exploratory meeting with a hiring manager. To hire these people your job must offer both stretch and long-term growth. Expect the process to take longer, and don't expect a lot of preparation on their part unless they see your job as offering a significant career move. Explorers are passive candidates, but are open to consider something else if it's far better.

2.Foragers. Foragers are Explorers having a bad day. On these occasions, Foragers will venture into the job market for an hour or so, poke around, and if something stands out they'll check it out. Since their foraging is short-lived, your jobs need to be easy to find and compelling.
Since Foragers will lose interest as quickly as they entered the job-hunting market, you must make informal contact with a credible proposition quickly. Foragers have the same job demands as Explorers, but they're somewhat easier to find since they're looking for you.

3.Tiptoers. Once diminishing job returns set-in, most top performers tiptoe into the market. They'll contact a few former close associates and maybe a well-networked and respected recruiter or two. While Tiptoers represent the shift from passive to active candidates, their job demands are still high. Tiptoers are typically sourced through a very proactive employee referral program, or through a recruiter who's known as a functional or industry specialist. Don't expect a lot of preparation from them or demand they complete an application. If you do, you won't see them again. Tiptoers aren't desperate, and they often appear uninterested, so you'll to need to make your case quickly that you're offering something special.

4.Googlers. Googlers are job hunters who Google for jobs, putting in keywords like "jobs Denver warehouse distribution" into search engines to see what pops up. Your objective is to be on the first page of these searches. Tiptoers become Googlers soon after they establish their initial network, especially if nothing develops right away. To make sure your ads are found by Googlers, you need to use search engine marketing tools like pay-per-click, search engine optimization techniques, and easily found talent hubs that group jobs by function (e.g., all Flash developers). Although they're somewhat active job seekers, Googlers still have high job demands since they've just entered the market. But even if you're offering strong career opportunities, you'll also need to move fast, because the best of the Googlers quickly find other good jobs. Assign Googlers to your most aggressive recruiters, and make sure your hiring managers are available for instant exploratory discussions.

5.Networkers. Top people become Networkers when the easier job-hunting tactics don't pan out. Networkers are top people who aggressively go out of their way to meet respected recruiters, ask their former associates for others they can network with, and start trying to get connected to their 2nd and 3rd degree connections on LinkedIn. While their job demands soften a bit by this stage, these people won't take superficial jobs or lateral moves. Don't force Networkers to formally apply for jobs before talking to them, since they're still looking, not yet buying. In addition, companies need to expand their employee referral programs so that their employees are easily found by Networkers. Line managers also need to be more open to meet with Networkers just to discuss current and potential future opportunities.

6.Top-downers. Good people don't hunt and peck for requisitions when looking for new career opportunities. If nothing turns up quickly through networking, they'll proactively enter the job market conducting a top-down industry and company study, seeking out the best opportunities. Once a few companies stand out, Top-downers seek out some people in these companies to network with. These could be secondary LinkedIn connections, or just contacting the hiring manager or functional VP directly. Under no circumstances prevent this from happening using some legal rationale! HR should promote the idea of allowing hiring managers to hear directly from good candidates, since they'll often hear about good people through their networks weeks before they turn up in the recruiting department.

7.Aggregators. If none of the above techniques pan out, job-hunters become more aggressive as they look for something at least somewhat better then they now have. They're also more likely to make a quicker decision based on tactical criteria, like compensation, title, and location. However, these folks still won't spend much time on the major job boards; instead they'll become meta-searchers starting with job board aggregators like SimplyHired. To be seen here you'll need to reverse engineer your job ads and make sure they come out on top when an Aggregator goes to SimplyHired and searches on "your job title" "your city." SimplyHired will scrape your job board at no cost to ensure you're in their system, and they'll even provide a free evaluation of where you stand against the competition. While Aggregators start with sites like SimplyHired, they'll also search around on the more promising niche sites. SimplyHired will push your ads to these and any other free sites as well, for what seems to be a modest fee.

8.Socializers. Sometimes these job-hunters are also referred to as Joiners, but their aim is the same – meet people either online or in person who can help them find a new job. There's a lot of physical activity involved in the live events, so you know these people are serious. They'll also start sending emails to 3rd and 4th degree contacts, call every recruiter listed on a relevant Google search, update their MySpace and Facebook pages, Twitter and blog every day, and send out resumes to their Plaxo connections. While the majority of the best people have been picked up by this stage, there are still some good people in the Socializer crowd who just didn't find something sooner. So keep an open eye out for top performers who contact you, but move fast, because if they're any good, someone else will quickly recognize this diamond in the rough.

9.Posters. These are the people who finally decide to post their resumes online in all the best known places. People in this category will keep their resumes updated even after they've found a job. In this case they move back into the Explorer category open to accept your inquiry, but probably not willing to move too soon unless the opportunity is "just right." DO NOT CALL these people; it takes too much time since you don't know their current status. Instead, send a compelling email inviting them to consider your opportunity. Make sure your job description is creative and interesting, and suggest that if they're interested they should send you a resume with a half-page write-up of an accomplishment most closely related to real job needs. A performance profile should be used as the basis of creating this compelling email.

10.Hunters. Rarely will top performers become Hunters. These are candidates who will hunt and peck through the major job boards and company career sites to find something. They'll even apply online, sign up for numerous job agents, and do whatever it takes to find a job. So don't expect many top performers in this group; most of what you'll find are the Leftovers. These are the people who everyone else ignored. However, now and then you'll find a strong person here who somehow got overlooked. Unfortunately, by the time you've found them, often they'll tell you they just got an offer somewhere else.
If you're not seeing many good people from your sourcing efforts, or those good ones you do see tell you they've just accepted something else, you can assume you have a Leftover sourcing strategy. This is the default strategy most companies fall into when they don't implement workforce planning in combination with the targeted early-bird sourcing programs described above.

While job-hunter typecasting offers a good foundation for developing sourcing programs, the real key here is to recognize that the best people have different needs whenever they enter the market. A good sourcing strategy has to take these into account, rather than assume that the latest sourcing tactic presented at some conference will wind up being the universal solution.

Sourcing strategy development is an important part of the sourcing process, and it's based on using the latest consumer marketing ideas, technologies, and messaging. Few companies have adopted this concept wholeheartedly, but those that have are starting to see impressive results. It's not too late for everyone else to join in.

Bring Talent to Your Team this New Year....

2009-12-31T22:43:00.000-08:00

One of the most basic elements of teamwork is this: Be good at what you do.

Teams need talent. The more of it you bring to the group, the more you can contribute. Build your skills, and, in a very real sense, you are building the team.

You can't have a high-powered team with low-talent people. And sometimes the weakest link in the chain sets the limit on what the group as a whole can achieve.

So keep stretching. Polish your skills and perfect your moves. Master the fundamentals of your job.

Strive for continuous improvement—the Japanese call it kaizen—so the team never stops growing. Keep getting better at your craft, and you can do more to help the team chalk up higher scores. Any time you level off in your learning, the potential of the overall group flattens out a little more. And teamwork always takes a hit whenever people start to lose their touch.

Also keep this in mind—unless you're competent, people really can't afford to count on you. You're best positioned to build a high trust level in the group when you bring talent. Individual ability.

Give teammates good reasons to believe in you. Keep getting better at what you do.

Have the Best Team and a New Year 2010!!!
Abhinav....

Recruiter 10-Factor Evaluation

2009-11-26T05:07:00.000-08:00

# 1: Delivers Result
- Consistently fills most jobs on time, often with top people. Responsible –
Recruiters must be able to hit their numbers. This means consistently filling all of the reqs assigned to them month-after-month. If the backlog is increasing you have a problem. You can’t be passive.

# 2: Knows the Job
- Has solid understand of real job needs. Confident. Gets clarification –
Good recruiters must know the job, and not rely on the Job Description. Recruiters need to know what the person holding the job needs to do to be considered successful. Otherwise, you’re just guessing and box checking.

# 3: Finds best active candidate
- Strong with basic systems and uses a variety of other good techniques –
Recruiters must be able to find the best active candidates quickly. This means writing great ads, knowing what boards to use, and using all of the latest searching tools to mine through resumes quickly and accurately.

# 4: Finds best less active and passive candidates
- Always obtained good candidates through referrals. Assertive –
If you’re only sourcing candidates, you’re not really a recruiter. Recruiters must be able to build instant networks of top people and convince them to consider your jobs even when they say “no”.

# 5: Manages the process
- Can manage multiple assignments using a variety of tools. Well organized –
Recruiters have too much to do and things always go wrong. Managing all of these issues is a critical skill. Hiring one person is tough enough. Keeping everything moving while staying on top of it all is the essence of an exceptional recruiter.

# 6: Knows the market
- Quite knowledgeable about industry, trends and employment issues –
Recruiters must be on top of all of the issues in their area of expertise. This means knowing compensation ranges, the best places to find top people, and what’s happening in their industry. This is how you convince candidates and clients you’re an expert.

# 7: Influences the hiring decision
- Adds much value. Understands candidates and job needs. Respected –
Recruiters must exert influence on their hiring manager clients at every stage. This means haggling about job requirements, candidate competency, and how to negotiate offers. The best recruiters are involved at each step in the hiring process and push their candidates forward despite differences.

# 8: Influences candidates throughout process
- Provides good advice and is seen by candidate as advocate. Influences –
The best people always have other opportunities. Keeping them involved and interested in your job is the core of recruiting. This means knowing the job and presenting a persuasive case as to why offers should be accepted even if they don’t meet salary expectations.

# 9: Conducts professional and accurate interview
- Uses multiple tools to assess. Solid skills. Pretty accurate. Input valued –
Recruiters must be thorough and competent assessors of talent. This means knowing what questions to ask, interpreting the results correctly, and defending your candidate to the hiring team. You know you’re at the top of your game when you lead panel interviews and the debriefing session.

# 10: Works with the team
- Works well with team to improve process. Takes initiative to help others –
Forget the Lone Ranger stuff. In a corporate environment recruiters must work with a wide variety of people, some not so great. Influencing their decisions and keeping the process moving forward is what teamwork and cooperation is all about.

Why work or approach a headhunter?

2009-08-18T04:55:00.000-07:00

Why work or approach a headhunter?
It depends. You currently could have two years of working experience or maybe five years of working experience. You might have switched companies about two times now. You are wanting to know what is the current market rate of your specialization or skills. Well it all depends.

Why work with a headhunter?
When i tell people that i am a headhunter, the usual response is, ‘oh please find me a suitable job’ or ‘can you get me a new job’? I get that all the time. What the mass does not know is, a lot of headhunters are now specialized and that they work for the disposition of companies. At times the candidate but a lot of times the company. Depends on scenario and the level of the executive.

Well I do not blame them. This is the stereotype of a headhunter, ‘can u please find me a job?’ – Let me take you on a short insight.

Well maybe 30% of ‘can you fine me a job? effect’ might be true, but a lot of times people associate themselves with headhunters because of these few reasons:

Better Opportunity.
Getting a current market rate of their own specialization.
Getting an insight on their current work or career.
Exploring new opportunities.
Seeking new employment/opportunity.
Unhappy with their current employment.
Sometimes they just want more money.

Headhunters are always looking out for the best fit for their clients. Sometimes they refer to the company as the customer and the candidate as the client or vice-versa. You could receive a call from your consultant at anytime if an opportunity arises, that is if you have already developed the relationship with the headhunter. The headhunter now, after spending time with you knows your aspirations, your wants, your Skills and Strengths, your technical knowledge and is able to position you for roles when the opportunity arises hence although you are not looking for a job, you are in the headspace of a headhunter. He knows that you are THERE.

Why work/associate yourself with a headhunter?
When you see a headhunter today, you are not necessarily looking for a job. Quality and competent candidates are not usually looking for a job. A headhunter might have the right opportunity for you possibly in a month, six months or even a year hence when you see a headhunter, you are seeking a service like a very much like a consultation. We take on part advisers and counsellors. Whether or not the headhunter might have the right opportunity for you at that particular moment; cheers and good luck to you!

A lot of times when the right opportunity arises the headhunter will make contact with you thus your one hour spent with the headhunter six months ago has paid-off. The headhunter has identified your ideal opportunity and you are happy with the proposed package – the headhunter has done his/her job and the relationship has been strengthened. The headhunter is now your agent throughout your career from today and you have trust in the headhunter.

When you see a headhunter, be sure to know what you want, what you seek and also keep an open mind. You are sometimes are good at an area which you are blind too. A good headhunter who works with you might be able to pin-point certain strengths which you are blinded to. More often that is always the case. The headhunter usually thinks of the macro picture rather than the micro picture. Suppose today you are in IT and you have good skills and technical knowledge serving customers who are in the Financial Services Industries and tomorrow you could be a Lead IT Consultant within a bank with the help of a headhunter. He has identified an area and knows of a position which is well suited and tailored to your expertise. Two to three years down the road, you will work with the same headhunter and you would possibly be a Senior Executive/Manager in a company which deals with Financial Solutions. Once again the headhunter has customized you to a good job, an agent in your career change.

Keep an open mind. Be mindful about the headhunter you choose to see. The headhunter should be in the same vertical industry that you are in. It could be Financial Services, IT, Manufacturing or even Construction. Most headhunters now are industry-centric specialized.

Keep it open.

You are your worth and value, the headhunter is able to help you.

2009-08-18T03:19:00.000-07:00

Understanding - Talent Acquisition Recruitment + 1 step ahead of it = Talent Acquisition

Lets see How!!!!
How is talent acquisition different from normal recruiting efforts? It's a simple but telling question, and one that I hadn't duely considered before. Recruiting can be defined as profiling, sourcing, assessing and hiring candidates. Talent acquisition is defined as profiling, sourcing, assessing, hiring and optimizing this process so that candidates add value to the organization. This may seem like a subtle difference but I think it is not. What counts is the resulting talent and value of the candidate, not the internal process or machinations of the organization. While time to hire and cost to hire are recruiting metrics; quality of hire is the talent acquisition metric.

A similar emphasis on value exists for the definition of all talent practices. "Talent development" is perhaps the most strikingly different than the definition of development by itself. In many organizations, development is synonomous with training. If you want to develop an employee, send them to training. In talent-driven organizations, a fuller definion would be: the ability to develop and unleash "difference-making talent" through developmental experiences, expanding social networks, connecting people to purpose, expertise and resources, communities of practice, action learning, coaching and mentoring programs.

Get Started!!

>> Partner with a Trusted Advisor
Firms that have made the investment and have built a strategic hiring program are more prepared for success than those who are not. When trying to attract mid-to senior level hires, it is in a consulting firm‘s best interests to partner with a search firm.
The right search firm should bring a solid understanding of the firm‘s business and an independent perspective to the process. It is also very important that the search partner has deep industry knowledge and expertise and is dedicated to the passive candidate market. Used effectively, a search partner can positively extend your firm‘s brand, sending a strong message to the candidate market and creating positive PR as they communicate the firm‘s desire to attract great professionals and grow.

>> Audit Your Needs Perpetually
The first rule is to continuously audit your practice to identify your short and long term hiring needs. This can be done by commissioning an internal program or by partnering with a third party with deep market knowledge in the industry. Your audit should identify gaps in talent by functional, industry, or geographical capability. It should also bring insight into what clients want from outside professionals, what the competition is doing and trends in acquiring talent.
When completed properly, an audit will give your firm a solid understanding of the talent portfolio required to meet both client needs and firm growth objectives.

>> Define a Talent Acquisition Strategy
Once a talent auditing program is in place, firms need to define their talent acquisition strategy.
In today‘s talent market, it can take twice as long to acquire the same talent as it did just two years ago.

Firms should align their talent acquisition strategy with their business strategy for the next three to five years. Determine what you want to keep in-house and what part of the implementation you want to give to a talent acquisition partner. At this point, it is productive to involve any external partners in the strategic planning process so they can internalize your business objectives and have greater success early in the execution phase.

>> Execute a Dedicated Implementation Program
Given that the market is very competitive, attracting people has become more of a strategic initiative for consulting firms. To effectively shift talent from competitors and industry, most consulting firms should consider putting a perpetual lateral hiring program in place that rivals their campus hiring program. Firms that have done so have been able to stay ahead of the curve and have been able to hire the talent they need.

>> Stay Dedicated to the Passive Market
The goal in sourcing is to identify everyone capable of doing the job, and 90% of the time those individuals are passive. With the advent of the internet and greater volumes of information easily accessible, clients are seeing mostly active candidates.
To best tap the passive market, We may prefer using a three part sourcing program that leverages independent new research, referrals from industry executives who buy consulting services, and our own network.
When a sourcing strategy is combined with experience, persistence, and good relationships, the chances for success dramatically increase. Often this may also lead to attracting a group or doing a complete lift-out opportunity for our clients.

--------------------------
Some Basics !! Knowhow
What Do Most Consulting Firms Look For In New Candidates?
They are looking for perfect resumes. Over here the question is this: "We have this problem to solve or this opportunity to seize. Can you help?" And most employers' don't give special effort, how many degrees you have. If you can demonstrate that you can help an employer to acquire more clients or business, but all you have is some vocational training in lion-taming, you still can get the job.

Here are some hiring practices that I've found valuable...

Recruit people who will be slow learners of the corporate dogma ("This is how we do things around here"). If you keep looking for people of "your kind", that is, the same skills and attributes you have, sooner or later you create such level of incest in your firm that you end up wiping yourself out.

Recruit people who are better than you. Yes, you can put together a team in which you are the genius, but then you stand on the shoulders of dwarfs, and the limit of your vision is the tip of your nose. Attract people who are better then you, stretch you with their weird perspectives and oddball concepts, and you stand on the shoulders of giants. To do this you must tame your ego, but in return, you may just see much further.

Recruit people whom you are willing to compensate well. If you pay peanuts you get only monkeys. And since the universal law of attraction says that, "like attracts like", if you attract monkeys then you have a monkey business in which you are the chief monkey. That makes you a five-star imitator. And high calibre people with do their best to avoid you.

Yes, money is not the greatest motivator, but lack of money is the greatest demotivator. Just imagine, you have to live the rest of your life in fear of losing your best people, because a better firm has seduced them with better opportunities, including but not limited to better compensation. And when they go to the competition, they take your deepest secrets and many of your clients with them.

You may say that stealing clients is unethical, but since the professional service firm is the only form of business that is based on one-to-one relationships, many clients automatically move with the professionals with whom they have one-to-one relationships. And, besides swearing and shaking your fist to the high heavens, there is not a sausage you can do about it.

Now you may say your people signed non-disclosure and non-competition agreements. You can't be so naive, can you? There is one more thing here: How can you ask - almost - minimum wage - people to go out and sell your premium services? Minimum wage people develop minimum wage mindsets and minimum wage performance. Potential clients will be able to read this sign and it is very repelling.

Recruit people you don't need yet. Recruiting good people is just like "recruiting" a spouse. Just as you can't go out saying "I must fill the vacancy for a wife by Friday 5:00PM", you cannot find good people that way either. You recruit good people whenever you bump into them. Many firms make the mistake of growing linearly. The idea is to start with the end in mind and working backwards. If your vision is to develop a large multi-national firm, then abandon your small business management practices, that is, let's save money by building our own websites and cleaning our own toilets. If you want to grow, show it.

Also growth starts on the inside. First you have to develop the performance capability within your firm, and then that capability turns into performance and new revenue. It's like farming. First you have to plant and then harvest. You can't start the farming cycle by getting paid 1 million for your corn which you haven't even planted yet.

Use job interviews as idea generation, not only to screen candidates. The fresh perspective of the "ignorant antagonist" can take your level of thinking to a much higher level. Most people in most firms become the big bosses' yes people. Bring in people who dare to oppose you. That is how great concepts are created. You need people who dare to say: The emperor has no clothes.

Encourage your people to be mavericks. This is very hard. Most firm owners, especially owners of small joints are breathtakingly ego-driven, and want to take control without realising a basic fact as Nicole Kidman bluntly put it to Tom Cruise in the movie Days of Thunder: "Control is an illusion, you infantile egomaniac. Nobody controls anything." They have the "My way or the highway" mentality. You can buy people's time, their muscle movements, but you must earn their respect. You can control labourers by prodding them to shovel more horseshit from one pile to the other, but you can't control professionals to provide higher quality services. And one must be an Olympic-grade idiot even for trying. Just accept that your people are good at what they do, and give them freedom to practise their crafts. Focus on that you create an environment of honest, ethical high quality work, and your people will step up to your expectations.

Why Do You Think That Happens?
Consultants know that only very few firms are worth investing a long-term career in, so they grow their own assets within their firms. It is basically their firms' cultures that force them to build their own careers covertly, and when they are ready to jump, they go into competition against their former employers. Who can blame them? Nobody. Their former employers "made" them do it by working in a competitive as opposed to a collegial and collaborative environment.

When you talk about money, watch your candidates like a hawk. Watch both for verbal and non-verbal cues. If, after a boring discussion, their eyes light up, then you had better run very fast and very far, unless you run a consulting whore house and manage by "billable hours" and "making quota."

Focus on people who have never worked in an environment you have. Ignoring this concept can lead you to a collection great - for instance - doctors with amazing content knowledge but with no emotional skills, who cannot work with people beyond giving basic orders: "Bend over!... Next!"

Ignore your firm's past. You can't build your firm's future by constantly looking at the rear view mirror. As the saying goes, you can never discover new oceans until you have the courage to lose the sight of the safe and secure shore.

Here you can ask two questions:

The tactical question is: "What can we achieve through who we are, with what we and by what we do… today." That is, you have some rigid tactics and keep the strategy fluid. This is retarded. This is like a ship's captain saying, "Where can we go by steadily sailing south-east at 5.6 knots." Here the strategy is subservient to the tactics. As Stephen Covey says, "You're busy climbing a ladder but you don't know what it leans against." In this approach "How?" (Tactics) is given and the "What?" (Strategy) is haphazard.

The strategic question is: Who do we have to become and what do we have to do to achieve our objectives? Note that the "What?" (Strategy) is given and the "How?" (Tactics) is flexible.

Discovering Your People's Natural Strengths?
To make the most of your people, you have to make sure they play to their natural strengths. Your strengths are the direct result of the natural talents you were born with. These talents have been honed and sharpened through life experiences, education and the skills you've developed over the years. If you determine your people's strengths, you can really build a strategically focused firm that has a competitive advantage. In order for you to clearly identify your people's strengths it will be helpful to look at what constitutes strengths.

Strengths = Talents + Education + Experiences + Skills

Step 1- Talents
It all starts with your inborn talents. Your talents are the special abilities that you were either born with or developed within the first 3 years of your life. Talent is a consistently recurring pattern of thoughts, feelings and behaviours that can be applied productively. These abilities can take many forms:

Thinking abilities (strategic thinker, a marketing mind, visual or spatial thinking, genius thinking, creative thinking, linear thinking, curiosity, etc…)
Feeling abilities (intuitive, empathetic, passion, confidence, determination, spontaneous, etc…)
Behaviours (working well under pressure, being responsible, ability to focus, being a good listener, good negotiator, good bluffer, eye-hand coordination etc…)
Your talents are the foundations of your strengths. To achieve mastery, to be really excellent at anything first requires that you were born with a foundation for it. If you have the foundation, then you still need to receive the education, experience and skill training to convert the talent into a strength. If all these elements come together you have a strength.

Step 2 - Education
This derives from schooling, working with through mentors, reading, attending seminars, audio programs, and every other way you can bring in information that is already prepared for you in some form or another. This is the result of explicit learning.

Your education can either supportive or antagonistic to your natural talents. Ideally, your education should work in synergy with your talents. If you're a naturally born analyst, then study accounting.

Step 3 - Experiences
What you've learned throughout your life and pulled out as your observations and conclusions on how to do things. As a result of your experiences, your work becomes more and more intuitive. Hint: You can't go to school to become the next Picasso.

Step 4 - Skills
Skills are the steps by step instructions that experts have refined for you to more easily learn specific activities. While learning skills will help you improve your performance in any area, the areas where you have foundational talents will show exponential growth in your ability.

An example might be golf. I would imagine that no one has ever played at a pro level the first time they picked up a club. But some people take lessons for years and while they improve they still kind of lack. Others though show incredible progress from lesson to lesson. The difference between the two is inborn talents.

Before You Are Hiring Your Next Person
Step 1: Define the Position
Purpose: This is the "Why?" you want to hire this person. You must have a better reason than we have lots of projects and need new people. First reach the point of having much more demand for your firm than it can provide, so you can cherry pick your clients. And hire only when you have overwhelming demands for your services at premium fees.

Objectives: This is the "What?" you want to hire this person. What is this person expected to achieve in the new position?

What is this person responsible for? Do you expect this person to achieve results or mark time, be busy and perform pre-defined tasks?

What authority will this person receive to achieve the expected outcomes?

Describe the type of relationship this person is expected to work in both with clients and other associates of your firm.

Describe the environment this person is expected to operate in.

Step 2: Job Performance
The person: Remember, his book, in Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill writes about personality traits to achieve success, not specific skills to master, courses to take and certificates to collect. So, you'd better select this person based on character traits. Everything else can be taught and learnt. Many firms kill themselves by employing apathetic geniuses. What also works against you is that statistically, some 86% of employees hate their jobs and/or bosses.

Rewards: How do you reward this new person? Forget about hourly rates. That's retarded and it rewards incompetence.

Repercussions: How do you deal with people who refuse to act in the in the best interest of the higher good and goes on self-serving crusades?

Step 3: Measuring Results
Expected vs. Actual: Basically you measure and chart your projections against your actual results.

Differences: This gives you your delta, the difference between the projection and actual outcomes.

Corrections: And based on your delta, now you know what to do with it. That is, what sort of corrective action to take to get back on track.

There are two factors you can measure. Does your measurement relate to the process or the outcome? And is the measurement qualitative or quantitative?

So, you measure...

Quantitative Outcomes: These are the numerical changes your firms achieves by hiring this person.

Quantitative Process: This is the measure of progress. In project management these are your milestones.

Qualitative Process: This is about how your new candidates feel about the process of change that your firm initiated by hiring them.

Qualitative Outcomes: This section measures how your new candidates feel about the end result they are expected to create.

Best of luck.
and Emerge Victorious
Abhinav Mishra.

Why Use An Executive Recruiter?

2009-02-03T21:21:00.000-08:00

Using an executive recruiter is important because he/she can ensure quick responses, one-on-one attention and the highest potential results for their clients. In fact, there are some important criteria that most employers look for in executive recruiters. These include:

· Honesty
· Good communication skills
· Trust
· Accurate information gathering
· Accurate understanding and portrayal of a job or jobs
· The ability to conduct professional client interviews
· The ability to conduct professional candidate interviews
· The use of other recruiting agents to ascertain information and referrals concerning potential candidates
· Ensures confidentiality and integrity at all times in dealing with both clients and candidates
· The ability to represent one candidate at a time in negotiations on behalf of a client

An executive recruiter also should have the ability to handle multiple accounts and varied job positions for one or more clients. They should be willing to enter into lengthy contracts with clients and maintain a structured focus regarding customer/client satisfaction.

Using a successful recruiter is paramount to successfully filling a job opening. This requires that the recruiter remains flexible, allowing for varied options to suit their clients. Other important factors include:

· Quality results at a reasonable price
· Both computerized and paper storage of client and candidate information, always kept separately
· The ability to accurately match their clients' skill sets
· The ability to analyze and suggest the best approaches to suit their clients' needs both in business and the workplace environment
· The ability to bring together both clients and candidates through negotiation and proper research
· The ability to search for the best fit for positions and help achieve a successful conclusion for both clients and candidates

There are many advantages to using an executive recruiter. Generally speaking, an executive recruiter is a highly skilled individual who is able to properly identify the right person to take the helm in a managerial team or head a said team. They are successful managers that keep the welfare of their clients paramount and recognize the importance of superior management in the modern world of business. They will also show expediency, effectiveness and efficiency in all the contracts they undertake. Most importantly though, they will have the keen ability to maintain confidentiality to protect a client's current reorganization of their management, any new initiatives (product, etc.), employee information, stockholder details and who their suppliers are. This ensures that their job does not undermine the ability of the client to run his business.

Another reason most employers prefer to use an executive recruiter is that they can access candidates not only in their own area, but on a global basis. The recruiter's contacts will have virtually no boundaries, not limited by politics or country borders. In this, recruiters are most valued for professional ethics and their mediation skills.

Executive recruiters tap into a global network of contacts. An executive recruiter has a wide network of contacts in comparison to the in-house human resource departments. Good candidates are already employed and many will deal only with an executive recruiter. The third party representation of an executive recruiter is valued. Confidentiality and professional mediation are recognized assets of the executive recruiter.

In conclusion, using executive recruiters is one of the most financially effective methods used by most employers today to find the appropriate fit for their varied job positions. A good recruiter can work with all levels of executive positions and deal with clients that range from the very small to the huge corporations. Ultimately, they save the client money in finding a competent candidate and future employee that will become an asset versus a liability to their client's firm. In fact, they will provide the best candidate that will bring new or refined skills to the employer that will help the client's business grow and increase its reputation in the its chosen industry.

Recruitment Process in India.

2009-02-03T21:14:00.000-08:00

The recruitment process in India is designed in such a way that each candidate gets the desired profile according to its own choice. Place the candidate from the right profile, the best job recruitment agencies, the solution is the end of most Indian job recruitment agencies.

The job recruitment agencies in India involves identifying those posts, preparing the job description and person specification, advertising, management of the response, the prequalification process, organizing meetings, conducting interviews, making decisions, the appointment and action. This means that a lot of time and resources must be invested before the right candidate is selected.

Most recruitment agencies in India follow three stages in the recruitment process, which are essentially short list of application, preliminary assessment and final interview and selection.

The recruiting India process may include a written test to judge the particular skills of a candidate. In this case, the test must be carefully prepared, not to deviate from the subject. Much can be found on the candidate's resume. A good presentation of his resume is in an organized way and refined talk a lot on the individual. His mentality and attitude can be judged according to his resume.

Then the interview, which is an important and crucial part of the recruitment process. The person who takes the interview of the candidate must be well prepared in advance. Concerns such as the location of the interview, the timing, structure of the question of strategy, the style of taking the interview must be decided in advance, so that nothing is excluded, and all subjects properly treated.

In addition, there are a number of things that must be taken into consideration in the recruitment process. Until the final decision about a certain candidate is taken, it is important to keep in regular contact with the candidate. The decision-making process should not take too long to prevent candidates from taking any other occasion. An applicant must be informed once the decision is made. He or she must say the entire process of his appointment clearly with the details of all documents to be submitted. A record should be kept of the candidate file for future reference.

The recruitment process must be strong and justified and shall withstand external scrutiny. Only a good job recruitment agency with a good understanding of the area and the process can execute the same success. In India, most of the recruitment agencies to understand the needs of clients and candidates and they work in a planned way to recruit people.

Job Hopping: How to make a smooth transition

2009-01-04T23:23:00.000-08:00

Job Hopping: How to make a smooth transition

Before quitting your current job and moving on to a new place, make sure you fulfil all the formalities.

The days of lifetime association with one single organisation are long gone. With new opportunities coming up regularly, job hopping is the order of the day.

Here is a check list of things that need to be taken care of before taking up a new job.

Salary account

Most corporate employers credit salaries to the employees’ bank account. To facilitate such transfers, employees are asked to open ‘zero balance’ saving bank account in the same bank which the employer uses.

The trouble is when you quit, the ‘zero balance’ nature of the account ends. In most cases, you need to maintain a quarterly minimum balance, which may amount up to Rs 10,000.

Failing this, the bank debits your account with the minimum balance charges which may range between Rs 150 to Rs 750 per quarter. Besides the risk of incurring charges, there is a possibility that you may have been giving standing ‘payment instructions’ on a salary account.

To avoid such problems, keep your salary account free of any transactions other than credit of salary. Maintain a bank account other than salary account which can be used to make all the other payments . This works best for those who frequently change jobs.

Provisional tax statement

Many employers offer salary projection along with the salary statement, which includes the amount of tax deducted at source in the current financial year.

If such a projection statement is not provided to you, do ask for the amount of tax deducted, as the same is asked for by your next employer.

Loans and other outstanding

Often employees avail of loan facilities provided by their employer. Needless to say, these need to be paid off before the employer gives a relieving letter.

The best way out is to get the employer loan refinanced by a bank before changing jobs. This is because getting a loan in a new job is usually difficult as banks prefer to lend to those with at least one year of employment history.

Insurance and other facilities

If there is a break between jobs, there is also a break in the group health insurance cover provided by your employers.

Hence don’t rely on employer’s insurance and buy some insurance on your own, if you have not done that till date. You need insurance even when you are unemployed.

Also, the terms of many group policies require that the employee work for a certain period, say one year, before benefits can be extended to family members.

If you are dependent on your employer for providing insurance to your dependents, you need to buy insurance to take care of this uninsured gaps.

Provident fund and other dues from the employer

Ensure that you fill up the forms for transfer of provident fund when you join the new company. If you intend to withdraw the provident fund, the process starts 60 days after the separation.

Ensure that you have filled in the withdrawal forms and handed it over to the previous employer along with your bank account details for smooth encashment of provident fund. In case of annuity, do provide your bank account details to your employer, who in turn pass on the information with the insurer and facilitates payment of pension in the bank account.

Change of address
If you have given your office address as the address of communication for your bank account and other money matters, do change it immediately. First, this deprives you of any important communication sent by your banker. Worse is when somebody, who is not supposed to access such information, can misuse it.

10 careers that make employers look for you in 2009

2008-12-31T03:22:00.000-08:00

10 careers that make employers look for you in 2009:

If you think looking for a job and finding a career are the same thing, think again. With the US unemployment rate under 5%, almost anybody can find a job.

The bad news is that many of these jobs are low-paying, come without benefits, or offer little in the way of security.

Finding a career where you have the upper hand takes a little more long-term planning than simply finding a job, but it will be well worth in the long run.

These ten careers--in four major job sectors--are likely to be rewarding because employees in these fields are expected to find themselves in an employee's market.

Healthcare workers are in high demand

Healthcare
For better or worse, you can't fight demographics, and those demographics show that the average American is getting older. Healthcare needs increase with age, so as the baby-boom generation enters retirement, healthcare workers are going to be in more demand than ever.

Personal/Home Health Aide:
As people age, healthcare becomes more of a day-to-day issue, which is why personal/home health aides are in such demand. Health aid training will give you enough background to get started in this field.

"Demand for medical assistance is gradually growing!"

Medical Assistants:
Demand for this occupation is growing, but so is the demand for formal training. You'd want to take some medical assisting courses in school--or even consider a medical assisting degree.

Psychologists are always in demand

Mental Health Counselors/Social Workers:

The psychological aspect of healthcare cannot be overlooked. Consistent with the theme of an aging America, Alzheimer's disease is creating more and more mental health challenges, but there are also conditions such as autism which are becoming more common in the general population.

Psychology programs are offered in many schools, and online psychology degrees are also available.

Programmers in IT sector

Information Technology

The big concern with information technology (IT) has been that some programming and customer support functions have been outsourced overseas. However, certain IT functions are more hands-on, and these are the areas where trained workers remain in demand.

Network Systems and Data Communications Analysts:

Mastery of the computer system makes you indispensable to an organization. This takes a high level of training, so a degree in information technology is a must. Experience plus training is even better, so if you are already working, consider earning an IT degree online.

Computer engineers are always in demand

Computer Software Applications Engineers:
Routine programming can be outsourced, but there will never be any substitute for the ability to create new, value-added applications.

A computer programming degree is a good start, or go online to check out other types of computer science degrees.

Teaching is the best option!

Education:

Teaching is another career that is hands-on enough to be immune to outsourcing.

Teacher:
Dedicated teachers are in demand in virtually every part of the country, and with the general population growing, this demand is not going to wane any time soon. You will need a degree in education, and an online teaching degree is one way of meeting this requirement. You'll need teacher's certification as well, so check your state department of education website.

Legal Assitants job is always secure!

Professional Services
The nature of these services is highly-individualized, which is one of the reasons trained professionals are in demand.

Paralegal/Legal Assistant:
These occupations are in demand because they can leverage the time of high-priced lawyers.

There are paralegal schools across the country and online where you can pursue a paralegal degree or legal assisting training.

Auditors job can always be safe!

Financial Services
The heart of the baby boom is entering its peak savings years. Careers in finance can be highly compensated, so an MBA in finance may be well worth the investment. An online finance degree can be a way to give your current career a new boost.

Accountants and Auditors:
These have some of the same characteristics as financial services careers. Training can be found at a variety of accounting schools, or consider an online accounting degree. Specialize in taxes or estate planning or fraud to attract even bigger opportunities.

Be an HR professional

With all the job demand described above, it should be no surprise that this is expected to be the fastest growing segment of the professional and business services sector. Plus, what better way to keep track of evolving employment trends than working as a recruiter or placement specialist? Consider earning a human resource management degree either online or at a traditional school.

As always, check out the relevant accreditation standards for any career training and educational program you choose. As for making that choice, the bottom line is, if you want a job where you'll be in demand, just look at society's trends and follow those trends toward your new career.

What is a "headhunter" or "recruiter"?

2008-11-02T19:32:00.000-08:00

Job Headhunters And Recruiters
What is a "headhunter" or "recruiter"?
A headhunter is actually a professional placement specialist or executive recruiter. What they do is they get a request, typically from a client company, and the company will say, "We're looking for an executive or a professional who can do XYZ. Please help us find this individual." The executive recruiter at that point will either go into their database of candidates and/or they will actually recruit or headhunt at other companies to find the most appropriate individual or individuals they can introduce to their client company, and hopefully get them placed.

How does a headhunter or recruiter get paid?
Typically a headhunting company will be paid by the client company, and that's always the way that you want to go if you're an applicant. So if you are thinking of using an executive recruiter or headhunting firm to help you with your job hunt, be sure to ask them, "Are you employer paid or are you applicant paid?" And the most reputable headhunting firms are going to be company paid.

What are guidelines for working with a headhunter or recruiter?
With job headhunters and recruiters, the most important thing to remember about working with a headhunter is that they are in the business of sales. Headhunters make their money by every placement that they make. Most reputable executive recruiting companies are the ones who have good relationships with high quality client companies and who are looking to recruit top level people. Therefore it's very, very important when you're interviewing with those types of companies to find out what their track record is and what types of companies they typically work with. Do they have areas of specialization that they place? It is very important because obviously if you're in accounting, you don't want to be recruited to be working with an executive recruiting company who places people in the healthcare field. So you must ask recruiters a lot of questions.

What are guidelines for working with a headhunter or recruiter?
A good head-hunter or executive recruiter is going to spend the time to really get to know you and what your needs, goals and objectives are; not just for the short term, but also for your long term career plans. The last thing that an executive recruiter wants to do is place a candidate with the client company (remember that the client company is the one paying the bill) and then have one or both parties be unhappy after a few months. They are really looking for that long term win-win relationship, between the candidate and the client company. So, if you paint a very honest picture for the recruiter you're working with, he or she can then take that picture of you to the client company and that's going to ensure that long term success for you.

How do I find a headhunter?
With job headhunters and recruiters, the best way to find a really good headhunter is through referral. Find some other people who have worked with a headhunter and get the name of the specific recruiter that they have worked with. Additionally, you can also call around to other employment agencies and find out what types of relationships they might have with executive recruiters. Certainly you can go to the internet but you might not always get an honest picture of who this company is going to be, so your best bet is to contact recruiters armed with a lot of questions. And be sure that those recruiters answer your questions to your satisfaction.
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Know Why Recruiters Are Worth What They Charge !!

2008-10-11T07:18:00.000-07:00

>>>
“When I need a heart by-pass, rest assured that I won’t select my surgeon on the basis of what he charges.”

That’s what an ailing executive recently opined when he was informed by his doctor about his arterial blockage problems.

Why then are corporate executives so tightfisted when dealing with what is so commonly thought of as the “heartbeat” of their companies . . . top-talent?

Companies think very little about paying the often excessive fees charged by their outside accounting and legal firms . . . or even to the gaggle of consultants who promise cost-cutting and streamlining miracles in other areas of operations.

Yet, when faced with brain drains, talent deficiencies or the need to replace one employee with a better one, their thoughts too often turn to parsimony. This K-mart mentality belies and contradicts their stated objectives to “hire the best,” especially at pecking order levels below the “big picture” executive suite inhabitants.

Of course recruiting fees can vary from firm to firm but, when they do, you will almost always find that those on the low side are sure to exclude some very key ingredients of the process, all of which are vital to providing the indispensable services necessary to satisfy the needs of the employer.

So why are recruiters worth what they charge? Just a few of the often unspoken reasons are:

Expertise - Nobody knows the employment marketplace better than a professional recruiter . . . nobody! In-house human resourcers, no matter how effective, view the marketplace through an imperfect or misrepresentative prism and tunnel vision is their occupational hazard.

Just as physicians are cautioned against treating members of their own families, so too is it folly for an in-house H/R professional to believe that they have an undistorted and unbiased picture of the employment landscape. They are vulnerable to the pressures of internal politics and cultural dimensions which do not hinder the outsider.

Street-smart recruiters already know the neighborhood, including the unlisted addresses so often overlooked by the insiders.

Cast a wider net - A professional fisherman will always have more to show than a weekend angler. Recruiters are in the marketplace day in and day out. They know the unfished coves, reefs and inlets that are unknown to others. The job-hunter bookshelves are filled with lore about the “hidden job market.” The same holds true for professional recruiters who have a detailed roadmap to the hidden talent sources which will never be accessed by newspaper ads, alumni associations, applicant databases, job boards or any of the other more familiar sources of people.

There are occasional pearls through these sources (and someone inevitably wins the Publisher’s Clearinghouse Sweepstakes too) but you have to shuck an awful lot of smelly oysters to find them. Recruiters only give you oysters proven to contain pearls. Your only job is to determine which pearl is the best.

Want to catch what you’re fishing for? Hire a guide!

Cost - There is a misconception among employers that the cost of a hire equals the cost of the ads or Internet postings run to attract the person hired. Nothing could be further from reality.

Try adding these to the true cost and you’ll see just how cost effective an outside recruiter can be:

Salaries and benefits of the employment/recruiting staffs plus those of the line managers involved in the hiring activity (who are not productive in their normal job pursuits when they’re out recruiting); travel, lodging and entertainment expenses of in-house recruiters; source development costs; overhead expenses including but not limited to telephone, office space, postage, PR literature, applicant database maintenance, reference checking, clerical costs to correspond with the hundreds of unqualified respondents, etc.

Unbiased third party input - Contrary to what some believe, recruiters don’t try to put square pegs into round holes. A recruiter’s stock-in-trade is their integrity and their reputation for finding someone better than a company could have found for themselves.

For a mid to senior-level executive, the average recruiter may develop a “long list” of a hundred or more possibilities. Each must be called and evaluated against the position specifications as well as the personality “fit” with the company and the people with whom they will ultimately work. Once this is winnowed down to the “short list,” an even more intensive interviewing process begins to narrow the search to a panel of finalists for review by the client.

This process is not, as some believe, simply romping through the file cabinets, harvesting from the Monster lookalikes or putting the job opening out to others on the recruiter’s network with crossed fingers that someone good will show up.

It is highly unlikely that a professional recruiter will be plowing new ground with your opening. They deal within spheres of influence far more familiar with your needs than any internal recruiter and, more often than not, view the finalists as people who are competent to solve client problems rather than just fill an open slot in the organizational chart.

Because they want to do business with you again and again, they are looking for (and challenging you to excellence by hiring) the “truly exceptional” rather than the “just satisfactory” so often settled for by in-house hirers.

Confidentiality - Advertising or otherwise publicly proclaiming an opening, aside from its cost and demonstrated ineffectiveness for sensitive senior level openings, often creates anxiety and apprehension among the advertiser’s current employees who wonder why they aren’t being considered or worry about newcomer transition problems. Just as often it alerts competitors to a current weakness or void within the company.

Speed - The recruiting process is always faster through a search professional who is continually tapped into the talent marketplace than one having to start the process from scratch. For every day that a key opening remains unfilled, a company’s other employees must grudgingly do double duty. And this doesn’t factor in the profit opportunities or competitive advantages lost to a company because a position remains unfilled or is done on a part-time basis by others less qualified.

Post-Hire Downtime - Not only is speed an essential part of the professional recruiter’s process, the ability to locate a person who can immediately “hit the ground running” with a minimum of “ramp-up time” saves time after the hire. All too often, a hire selected through less effective sources offering a smaller talent pool requires several months of expensive training and orientation.

Reality - Professional recruiters often recognize and have a duty to inform clients that they may be mistaken as to the type of person sought, the salary required to attract them or the possibilities that the solution might just lie in areas outside the traditional target industries . . . something an internal recruiter is politically disinclined to do. Too many hirers fail to understand that a professional recruiter’s primary function is not necessary to fill a slot but to provide the right candidate to solve a problem.

Negotiation - As Master negotiator Herb Cohen had says that, “negotiation is the analysis of information, time and power to affect behavior . . . the meeting of needs (yours and others’) to make things happen the way you want them to.” As a buffer and informed intermediary, the professional recruiter is better able to blend the needs and wants of both parties to arrive at a mutually beneficial arrangement without the polarizing roadblocks which too frequently materialize in face-to-face dealings.

Prioritizing company resources - It is often amazing to see how much of a company’s revenues are squandered on non-productive perks for existing high-level employees while they penny-pinch on what is every company’s lifeblood . . . talent acquisition.

Club memberships and the like may be fine, but no one with an IQ higher than Forrest Gump’s believes that these expenditures substantially contribute to a company’s profit margin. But one well-placed employee can be the cause of a company’s profits skyrocketing. And the fee for having hired these people pales to insignificance when compared to the contributions they make to the bottom line.

The next time you think a recruiter’s fees are too high, put them in the proper perspective before asking for that Blue Light special or spinning your wheels thrashing about trying to fill vital openings with less effective (but not necessarily less expensive) pedestrian methods. Savvy executives learned long ago that the fee paid to a recruiter is a shrewd strategic investment, not an extraneous expense. They also know that the “best” is far different from the “best available.”

Once you have a handle on these ?closes’ you’ll have a much better chance of turning a prospect into a paying client.

Courtesy: Fordyce Letter

I find this wonderful article (by Paul Hawkinson) and thought to share it with u all.
Thanks!!!

Headhunting - Learning the Game.

2008-04-16T06:33:00.000-07:00

Headhunting - Learning the Game

Headhunters are often thought to be the kind of people who can go out and acquire excellent job candidates for their clients, just at the drop of a hat. We all know it’s not that easy but it is the common perception of people outside the human resource field.

Behind these apparently effortless hiring results are literally years of developing and maintaining relationships with successful professionals. A determination to succeed is a pre-requisite for ongoing recruiting success and true headhunters do not work in the business for a few years and move on.

Most HR people will never work in the headhunting field but there is advantage to be found in looking at the basic skills and techniques that headhunters use, and how internal HR can take advantage of them and apply them in their own work.

It’s All Relationships

The key issue with true headhunters, as opposed to those who just put the title on the bottom right of their business card, is that their relationships with prospective candidates are long-term. Headhunters don’t mine databases for skills, and they have to keep momentum in their candidate relationship over long periods of time. This has to be done without going into any deep relationships until a suitable position has come up.

For this reason true headhunters are likely to be in a relationship with many potential candidates, even when they have no position to offer. This is the part that many recruiters never master.

The reasons for this are quite varied. Internal recruiters are often targeting a job as Human Resources Manager and don’t stay long enough in recruiting to develop any real depth in their relationships. The are often introverts and prefer deep relationships with a small number of people, to what they would she as the shallowness of multiple ‘friends’.

Turnover of recruiters is also high and a network of telecommunications people is quickly lost when the recruiter moves into industrial parts. In a War for Talent market like in our country there is a strong requirement to put ‘bums on seats’ and this precludes a long-term relationship approach.

To my mind only a few people and a few companies in the world have actually achieved a sufficient number of candidate relationships that qualifies them to call themselves Headhunters. They know who they are. Funnily enough, most of them prefer the word Search Consultants, as the expression Headhunter can have negative connotations.

Give To Receive

A cynical view of all this would lead us to believe that headhunters maintain false, shallow relationships that are based on purely selfish motivations.

But reciprocation is one of the tools that I believe is essential to their success. Giving something away is good business because in most cases you can rely on the other person to give back when you need them to. People don’t like to have too much debit on the relationship balance sheet. It’s makes them feel uncomfortable, and that feeling can only be alleviated when the favour is returned.

I’m not a big fan of the ‘Guanxi’ network where you calculate the value of what you are owed, and expect it to be given it’s equivalent in return. These are shallow relationships that just happens to take a long time to work themselves out. True giving is done without the expectation of anything in return.

A good example is social networking, where the ethos is that members are required to give before they receive. Headhunters often have large connections bases on social networking sites and they are an obvious person to choose if you want to connect with someone else. Their inbox will be filled with requests to connect two individuals together.

Their natual tendency might be to refuse these connection requests, but if they think long-term they will oblige, even if it means the loss of a potential search fee. In the long run the obligations they build will be returned in the form of a basic trust, and this trust will eventually result in business relationships that will last a long time. Admittedly, it’s a long chain of causal connections but results will accrue to those who commit to their career, and who tough it out in the beginning.

This is a much different world from that of the internal company recruiter who used to spends his day as a PC-jockey, searching for skills in a Job Portal's search box.

How to Buy a Talent Management Suite 12 Proven Steps of Making the Right - "Business Decision"

2008-04-10T00:15:00.001-07:00

Overview

Talent management is a key enabler for organization seeking to improve workforce productivity, bottom-line results and sustained competitive advantage.

The availability of flexible, on-demand talent management suites creates a valuable opportunity to effectively deploy talent management across your business leveraging three critical components: people, process and technology.

By following the steps outlines in this paper, you will not only fast-track your evaluation, selection and implementation of a talent management solution, but also ensure alignment with business goals and outcomes-thereby optimizing the return on your technology investment.

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What is your People Strategy?

2008-04-10T00:15:00.000-07:00

A strong team is often the result of a recruitment strategy that goes well beyond HR.

A people strategy is a well-thought-out plan of attack that will help your firm attract, hire, develop, retain and grow your workforce. It consists of five areas: culture marketing; recruitment and selection; orientation and training; communication and feedback; and compensation and benefits. This article is designed to provide a brief overview of each element within a people strategy.

Culture Marketing: Attract the best people
In order to attract the type of people that you need to grow your organization and add value to your open positions, you need to identify the attributes that make your organization unique. Following are a few questions you need to consider.

- Who are your best performers and why do they like working at your firm?
- What attracts candidates to your firm?
- What words would you use to describe your firm? (i.e. entrepreneurial, energetic, professional, team-oriented)

Organizations typically have marketing strategies designed to create demand in the market through creative messages about the unique attributes of their products. However, with the changing and competitive job market beginning to heat up, organizations need to consider developing marketing campaigns to attract talent. Culture Marketing is the process of identifying the distinguishing characteristics that make an organization a great place to work and packaging these in an intriguing and appealing message.

Recruiting and Selection : Find the people
The key to a successful recruitment process is the ability to understand the skills, talents and personality traits needed for your firm. For each hour you spend developing and defining the role and responsibilities of an open position, you reduce your length of time to fill the position by eight days! A well-written and accurate position description can dramatically increase recruitment success as well as improve performance reviews, career development planning and even succession planning.

How creative are you with sourcing candidates? What type of tools do you use to attract candidates? Your goal should be to cultivate an organization of recruiters. Everyone in your organization should have a vested interest in hiring the best and brightest. Many of today's successful firms leverage multiple recruitment tools such as employee referral programs, agency partnerships, college scholarships, electronic job boards and even open houses.

How skilled are your interviewers? Now that you have creatively attracted the best candidates, you cannot afford to lose them. The interviewing step should focus on identifying the skills, knowledge, education, experience and personality of each candidate. Your interviewers should understand the company's culture as well as the specific roles and responsibilities of the position. They should also use this opportunity to sell the unique attributes of your firm. Be sure they make a positive impression on each candidate, even if the applicant is not a fit for the position. Finally, select the candidate that is best suited for the role and focus your efforts on bringing him/her into your organization. An effective recruitment process should measure the quality of new hires, days to fill, cost per hire, and strategic impact to the organization.

Much has been written about the recruitment process over the years. However, the evolving job market forces firms to rethink how they attract, find, and hire talent. My objective is to challenge the status quo and develop and implement recruitment practices that will help you find your next strategic hire.

Orientation and Training: Develop your people
What type of orientation program does your company offer? Did you know that the turnover of employees who have been with the firm one to two years could have been avoided through an effective orientation program? Based on my research, I found that new hires leave after one to two years because they never felt they were a part of the organization.

An effective orientation program will help cultivate employee loyalty as well as increase individual productivity by providing the new employee with the specific tools to help them succeed. An effective people strategy also addresses personal and professional growth. How do you plan to grow your staff and provide opportunity? Your strategy should include a career development process, leadership development tools, as well as succession planning. This section will delve into cost-effective ways to develop your staff and dramatically increase employee commitment while at the same time reduce employee turnover.

Communication and Feedback : Listen to your people
I am not referring to the suggestion box in the break room. Your people strategy should encourage knowledge and information sharing throughout your organization. In addition, communication and feedback programs should solicit ideas and thoughts from your staff that could grow the business and improve productivity as well as provide your staff with an opportunity to make a difference. You pride yourself in hiring the best people; now leverage their skills, talents and abilities beyond their title or position. I will explore effective feedback programs that could replace traditional performance reviews and provide tools that you can use to actively engage your workforce while positively affecting your firm's profitability.

Compensation and Benefits : Reward your people
Compensation administration is often viewed as a necessary evil that all of us have to deal with. However, if approached from a holistic perspective, a compensation and benefit program can attract and retain your best performers. Your people strategy should approach compensation and benefit administration from an employee's point of view. Your staff is interested in receiving a fair market wage and benefits with an opportunity for financial rewards.

As part of your compensation analysis, you should consider base salary or wage, as well as variable compensation such as company bonuses and individual performance. Your analysis should be based on market research, employee performance levels, value to the firm, and individual productivity.

Your benefits should be tailored to your staff's needs and based on market research and employee feedback. Many firms overlook this area of their people strategy and miss an opportunity to add value to an employee's overall life, while also positively influencing the firm's bottom line. With the rising costs of health care, creative benefit programs are beginning to become mainstream and provide the employee with individualized coverage while saving the organization time and money.

As your firm strives to become an employer of choice, you will need to address all areas outlined in this article. By developing a detailed strategy, you will be able to help your firm dramatically improve the way it attracts hires, develops and retains people.

Honing Talent

2008-03-29T03:55:00.000-07:00

Retail wants employees with the right soft skills

Sanjay Jog, HR head, Pantaloon Retail
“ Recruitment is no problem. The problem is the necessary attitude.”

The cash registers are ringing, but it’s har-dly music to the man behind the counter. The annual entry-level median salary in the sector ranges from Rs 1.5 lakh in the South to Rs 3.11 lakh in the North. If we count out the salaries in the North, the entry-level median salary in the sector is the lowests among all the 12 sectors in the survey. The wide variance between the South and the North can be attributed to the higher number of lifestyle stores in the North where front-end employees need more spit and polish, and, hence, are paid higher.

As in manufacturing, 80 per cent of the employees in retail work on the front-end and get paid low salaries. The sector is considered the last refuge of the unemployed, since a high educational qualification is not a necessary precondition; in fact, most of the employees currently in retail are not graduates.

Recruitment is not a problem for the sector; most of the brands in the sector are well known, so walk-in interviews are the norm. “Recruitment is no problem,” says Sanjay Jog, chief people officer at Pantaloon Retail. “We get enough people. The problem is the attitude which is a necessary thing in a service industry like ours.” Employees require rigorous training, particularly in soft skills, given their poor education and low socio-economic background. This creates some unique problems for the companies. “Most of the employees in the sector come from a lower socio-economic background, and their encounter with consumption economy creates a problem of self-esteem,” says the human resources (HR) head of a large retail group.

Since most companies in the sector are doubling their employee strength every year, training becomes a key HR operation in a company. As retail is a new industry, it is investing a fair amount to provide diplomas and degrees in retail management to its management staff.

For retail, expansion is an opportunity as well as a challenge. Currently, a substantial part of the revenues of the retail chains is coming from the top 10 cities, but they are slowly and steadily moving towards tier II and tier III towns. Here they will face a new challenge of training their employees. Companies also have to recruit employees from the local community, as they want their employees to reflect the language skills of the community being served by the stores.

The sector is generous with its benefits but it does not provide stock options across all levels, nor does it provide leave travel allowance or house rent across the industry.

Understanding Industry Verticals and Domains (For Recruitment.)

2008-03-26T01:50:00.001-07:00

(by Abhinav Mishra - recpro)

One of the most fundamental & initial step in recruitment cycle is “Taking the JOB – REQUIREMENTS”, from HR/or Functional Head. Whether you are an internal Recruiter or outside agency you cant skip this crucial step. For searching and sourcing the most qualified candidates we need to start the process by preparing ourselves by Firstly 'Understanding the Requirements or Job Position'.
I have seen many of the recruiters who found trouble in getting with initial searches in the absence of appropriate knowledge of the major Industry verticals and domains for which recruitment is generally or frequently targeted on.
I am delineating herein brief, giving an idea about them.

Lets understand them one by one:

Information Technology
Information technology (IT), is "the study, design, development, implementation, support or management of computer-based information systems, particularly software applications and computer hardware." IT deals with use of electronic computers and computer software to convert, store, protect, process, transmit and retrieve information, securely.
The term information technology has ballooned to encompass many aspects of computing and technology, and the term is more recognizable than ever before. The information technology umbrella can be quite large, covering many fields. IT professionals perform a variety of duties that range from installing applications to designing complex computer networks and information databases. A few of the duties that IT professionals perform may include data management, networking, engineering computer hardware, database and software design, as well as the management and administration of entire systems.
ICT (Information and Communications Technology).

Java
Java is a programming language originally developed by Sun Microsystems & released in 1995 as a core component of Sun's Java platform. The language derives much of its syntax from C & C++ but has simpler object model & fewer low-level facilities. Java applications are typically compiled to bytecode which can run on any Java virtual machine (JVM) regardless of computer architecture.
The original & reference implementation Java compilers, virtual machines, & class libraries were developed by Sun from 1995. As of May 2007, in compliance with the specifications of the Java Community Process, Sun made available most of their Java technologies as free software under the GNU General Public License. Others have also developed alternative implementations of these Sun technologies, such as the GNU Compiler for Java and GNU Classpath.
Java's design, industry backing & portability have made Java one of the fastest-growing & most widely used programming languages in the modern computing industry.

Business Intelligence
BI applications are used to analyze performance, projects. AQL - Associative Query Logic, Scorecarding, Business activity monitoring, Business Performance Management & Measurement, Business Planning, Business Process Re-engineering, Competitive Analysis, User/End-user Query and Reporting, Enterprise Management systems, Executive Information Systems (EIS), Supply Chain Management/Demand Chain Management, and Finance and Budgeting tools.Data mining (DM), Data Farming, and Data warehouses; Decision Support Systems (DSS) and Forecasting; Document warehouses & Document Management; Knowledge Management; Mapping, Information visualization, Dashboarding, Management Information Systems (MIS); Geographic Information Systems (GIS); Trend Analysis, (SaaS) Business Intelligence offerings (On Demand), Online analytical processing (OLAP) & multidimensional analysis, Real time business intelligence; Statistics and Technical Data Analysis; Web Mining; Text mining; and Systems intelligence.

Data Warehouse
A data warehouse is the main repository of an organization's historical data, its corporate memory. It contains the raw material for management's decision support system. The critical factor leading to the use of a data warehouse is that a data analyst can perform complex queries and analysis, such as data mining, on the information without slowing down the operational systems.
While operational systems are optimized for simplicity and speed of modification through heavy use of database normalization and an entity-relationship model, the data warehouse is optimized for reporting and analysis (online analytical processing, or OLAP). Frequently data in data warehouses are heavily denormalised, summarised or stored in a dimension-based model.

Analytics
The simplest definition of Analytics is "the science of analysis". In reality, the word "Analytics" has not been properly defined by the professional community and may mean different things to different people. A simple and practical definition, however, would be how an entity(i.e., business) arrives at the most optimal or realistic decision from a variety of available options, based on existing data. Business managers may choose to make decisions based on past experiences or rule of thumb, or there might be other qualitative aspects to decision making; but unless there is data involved in the process, it would be considered beyond the purview of analytics. Another definition could be that Analytics is a field of study / profession that has applications in any field (business / social / poiltical / home) where data is available.

Software Testing
Software testing is the process used to measure the quality of developed computer software. Usually, quality is constrained to such topics as correctness, completeness, security, but can also include more technical requirements as described under the ISO standard ISO 9126, such as capability, reliability, efficiency, portability, maintainability, compatibility, and usability. Testing is a process of technical investigation, performed on behalf of stakeholders, that is intended to reveal quality-related information about product with respect to context in which it is intended to operate. This includes,the process of executing a program or application with the intent of finding errors. Quality is not an absolute; it is value to some person. With that in mind, testing can never completely establish the correctness of arbitrary computer software; testing furnishes a criticism or comparison that compares the state and behaviour of the product against a specification.

Enerprise Resource Planning (ERP)
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems integrate (or attempt to integrate) all data and processes of an organization into a unified system. A typical ERP system will use multiple components of computer software and hardware to achieve the integration. A key ingredient of most ERP systems is the use of a unified database to store data for the various system modules.
Examples of modules in an ERP which formerly would have been stand-alone applications include: Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Financials, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Human Resources, Warehouse Management and Decision Support System.

Database Administrator
A database administrator (DBA) is a person who is responsible for the environmental aspects of a database. In general, these include:

Recoverability - Creating and testing Backups
Integrity - Verifying or helping to verify data integrity
Security - Defining and/or implementing access controls to the data
Availability - Ensuring maximum uptime
Performance - Ensuring maximum performance given budgetary constraints
Development and testing support - Helping programmers and engineers to efficiently utilize the database.
The role of a database administrator has changed according to the technology of database management systems (DBMSs) as well as the needs of the owners of the databases. For example, although logical and physical database design are traditionally the duties of a database analyst or database designer, a DBA may be tasked to perform those duties.

Technical Writing
Technical writing is a subset of technical communication, is used in fields as diverse as computer hardware and software, chemistry, the aerospace industry, robotics, finance, consumer electronics, and biotechnology.

Technical writing (aka Information Development or Technical Documentation or Technical Publications) exists to communicate and disseminate useful information. Technical communications are created and distributed by most employees in service organizations today, especially by professional staff and management. Writing well is difficult and time-consuming, and writing in a technical way and about technical subjects compounds the difficulties. To be useful, information must be understood and acted upon. Fortunately, tools and techniques are available to make writing more accessible and easy to understand.

Computer Networking
Computer networking is the engineering discipline concerned with communication between computer systems or devices. Networking, routers, routing protocols, and networking over the public Internet have their specifications defined in documents called RFCs. Computer networking is sometimes considered a sub-discipline of telecommunications, computer science, information technology and/or computer engineering. Computer networks rely heavily upon the theoretical and practical application of these scientific and engineering disciplines.
A computer network is any set of computers or devices connected to each other with the ability to exchange data. Examples of networks are:
local area network (LAN), which is usually a small network constrained to a small geographic area.
wide area network (WAN) that is usually a larger network that covers a large geographic area.
wireless LANs and WANs (WLAN & WWAN) is the wireless equivalent of the LAN and WAN.

Sales
Sales are the activities involved in providing products or services in return for money or other compensation. It is an act of completion of a commercial activity.
The "deal is closed", means the customer has consented to the proposed product or service by making full or partial payment (as in case of installments) to the seller.
Academically, selling is thought of as a part of marketing, however, the two disciplines are completely different. Sales often forms a separate grouping in a corporate structure, employing separate specialist operatives known as salespersons (singular: salesperson). Sales is considered by many to be a sort of persuading "art". Contrary to popular belief, the methodological approach of selling refers to a systematic process of repetitive and measurable milestones, by which a salesperson relates his offering of a product of service in return enabling the buyer to achieve his goal in an economic way.

Marketing
Marketing is a social process which satisfies consumers' wants. 4 Ps of Marketing are:
Product: The product aspects of marketing deal with the specifications of the actual goods or services, and how it relates to the end-user's needs and wants.
Pricing: This refers to the process of setting a price for a product, including discounts. The price need not be monetary - it can simply be what is exchanged for the product or services.
Promotion: This includes advertising, sales promotion, publicity, and personal selling, and refers to the various methods of promoting the product, brand, or company.
Placement or distribution refers to how the product gets to the customer; for example, point of sale placement or retailing. This fourth P has also sometimes been called Place, referring to the channel by which a product or services is sold (e.g. online vs. retail), which geographic region or industry, to which segment (young adults, families, business people), etc.

Advertising
Advertising is paid, one-way communication through a medium in which the sponsor is identified and the message is controlled by the sponsor. Variations include publicity, public relations, etc.. Every major medium is used to deliver these messages, including: television, radio, movies, magazines, newspapers, video games, the Internet (see Internet advertising), and billboards.
Advertisements can also be seen on the seats of grocery carts, on the walls of an airport walkway, on the sides of buses, heard in telephone hold messages and in-store public address systems. Advertisements are usually placed anywhere an audience can easily and/or frequently access visuals and/or audio.

Media
Media may refer to various aspects:
Recording media, devices used to store information
Print media, communications delivered via paper or canvas
Electronic media, communications delivered via electronic or electromechanical energy
Multimedia, communications that incorporate multiple forms of information content and processing
Digital media, electronic media used to store, transmit, and receive digitized information
Mass media, all means of mass communication
Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass electronic communication networks
News media, mass media focused on communicating news
Media meshing, the act of combining multiple independent pieces of communication media to enrich an information consumer's experience
New media, media that can only be created or used with the aid of modern computer processing power
Media for advertising, also media-buying, or the choosing and buying of TV airtime, radio airtime, newspaper etc space, for advertising.

Management
Management comprises directing and controlling a group of one or more people or entities for the purpose of coordinating and harmonizing that group towards accomplishing a goal. Management often encompasses the deployment and manipulation of human resources, financial resources, technological resources, and natural resources. Management can also refer to the person or people who perform the act(s) of management.
The verb manage comes from the Italian maneggiare (to handle — especially a horse), which in turn derives from the Latin manus (hand). The French word mesnagement (later ménagement) influenced the development in meaning of the English word management in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Management has to do with power by position, whereas leadership involves power by influence.
Frenchman Henri Fayol considers management to consist of five functions:
planning
organizing
leading
co-ordinating
controlling

Finance
Finance studies and addresses the ways in which individuals, businesses, and organizations raise, allocate, and use monetary resources over time, taking into account the risks entailed in their projects. The term "finance" may thus incorporate any of the following:
The study of money and other assets;
The management and control of those assets;
Profiling and managing project risks;
The science of managing money;
As a verb, "to finance" is to provide funds for business or for an individual's large purchases (car, home, etc.).
The activity of finance is the application of a set of techniques that individuals and organizations (entities) use to manage their money, particularly the differences between income and expenditure and the risks of their investments.

Accounting
Accountancy (profession) or accounting (methodology) is the measurement, statement or provision of assurance about financial information primarily used by managers, investors, tax authorities and other decision makers to make resource allocation decisions within companies, organizations, and public agencies. The terms derive from the use of financial accounts.
Financial accounting is one branch of accounting and historically has involved processes by which financial information about a business is recorded, classified, summarized, interpreted, and communicated; for public companies, this information is generally publicly-accessible. By contrast management accounting information is used within an organization and is usually confidential and accessible only to a small group, mostly decision-makers. Tax Accounting is the accounting needed to comply with jurisdictional tax regulations.
Practitioners of accountancy are known as accountants.

Auditing
The most general definition of an audit is an evaluation of a person, organization, system, process, project or product. Audits are performed to ascertain the validity and reliability of information, and also provide an assessment of a system's internal control. Auditing is therefore a part of some quality control certifications such as ISO 9001. The goal of an audit is to express an opinion on the person/organization/system etc. under evaluation based on work done on a test basis. Due to practical constraints, an audit seeks to provide only reasonable assurance that the statements are free from material error. Hence, random sampling is often adopted in audits. In the case of financial audits, a set of financial statements are said to be true and fair when they are free of material misstatements - a concept influenced by both quantitative and qualitative factors.

Legal / Law
Law is a system of social rules usually enforced through a set of structured institutions. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus ticket to trading swaptions on a derivatives market. Property law defines rights and obligations related to buying, selling, or renting real property such as homes and buildings. Trust law applies to assets held for investment, such as pension funds. Tort law allows claims for compensation when someone or their property is harmed. If the harm is criminalised in a penal code, criminal law offers means by which the state prosecutes and punishes the perpetrator. Constitutional law provides a framework for creating laws, protecting people's human rights, and electing political representatives, while administrative law allows ordinary citizens to challenge the way governments exercise power. International law regulates affairs between sovereign nation-states in everything from trade to the environment to military action.

International Trade
International trade is the exchange of goods and services across international boundaries or territories. In most countries, it represents a significant share of GDP. While international trade has been present throughout much of history its economic, social, and political importance has been on the rise in recent centuries. Industrialization, advanced transportation, globalization, multinational corporations, and outsourcing are all having a major impact. Increasing international trade is basic to globalization".
International trade is also a branch of economics, which, together with international finance, forms the larger branch of international economics.

Manufacturing
Manufacturing is the use of tools and labor to make things for use or sale. The term may refer to a vast range of human activity, from handicraft to high tech, but is most commonly applied to industrial production, in which raw materials are transformed into finished goods on a large scale.
Manufacturing takes place under all types of economic systems. In a capitalist economy, manufacturing is usually directed toward the mass production of products for sale to consumers at a profit. In a collectivist economy, manufacturing is more frequently directed by a state agency to supply perceived needs. In modern economies, manufacturing occurs under some degree of government regulation.
Modern manufacturing includes all intermediate processes required for the production and integration of a product's components. Some industries, such as semiconductor and steel manufacturers use the term fabrication instead. The manufacturing sector is closely connected with engineering and industrial design.

Production
In microeconomics, production is the act of making things, in particular the act of making products that will be traded or sold commercially. Production decisions concentrate on what goods to produce, how to produce them, the costs of producing them, and optimizing the mix of resource inputs used in their production. This production information can then be combined with market information (like demand and marginal revenue) to determine the quantity of products to produce and the optimum 'pricing'

Supply Chain
A supply chain, logistics network, or supply network is a coordinated system of organizations, people, activities, information and resources involved in moving a product or service in physical or virtual manner from supplier to customer. Supply chain activities transform raw materials and components into a finished product that is delivered to the end customer. Today, the ever increasing technical complexity of the distribution of standard consumer goods, combined with the ever increasing size and depth of the global market has meant that the link between consumer and vendor is usually only the final link in a long and complex chain or network of exchanges.
This supply chain begins with the extraction of raw material and includes several production links, for instance; component construction, assembly and merging before moving onto several layers of storage facilities of ever decreasing size and ever more remote geographical locations, and finally reaching the consumer.

Engineering
Engineering is the applied science of acquiring and applying knowledge to design, analysis, and/or construction of works for practical purposes. One who practices engineering is called an engineer, and those licensed to do so have formal designations such as Professional Engineer, Chartered Engineer or Incorporated Engineer. The broad discipline of engineering encompasses a range of specialised subdisciplines that focus on the issues associated with developing a specific kind of product, or using a specific type of technology.
Engineering, much like science, is a broad discipline which is often broken down into several sub-disciplines.
Aerospace Engineering
Biomedical Engineering
Chemical Engineering
Civil Engineering
Computer Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Environmental Engineering
Instrumentation engineering
Mechanical engineering
Manufacturing engineering
Industrial Engineering
Mining Engineering
Production Engineering
Software Engineering

Pharmacy / Pharmaceutical
Pharmacy is the health profession that links the health sciences with the chemical sciences, and it is charged with ensuring the safe use of medication. The scope of pharmacy practice includes more traditional roles such as compounding and dispensing medications on the orders of physicians, and it also includes more modern services related to patient care, including clinical services, reviewing medications for safety and efficacy, and providing drug information. Pharmacists, therefore, are experts on drug therapy and are the primary health professionals who optimize medication use to provide patients with positive health outcomes.
A pharmaceutical company, or drug company, is a commercial business whose focus is to research, develop, market and/or distribute drugs, most commonly in the context of healthcare. They can deal in generic and/or brand medications. They are subject to a variety of laws and regulations regarding the patenting, testing and marketing of drugs.

Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)
Business process outsourcing (BPO) is the contracting of a specific business task, such as payroll, to a third-party service provider. Usually, BPO is implemented as a cost-saving measure for tasks that a company requires but does not depend upon to maintain its position in the marketplace. BPO is often divided into two categories: back office outsourcing, which includes internal business functions such as billing or purchasing, and front office outsourcing, which includes customer-related services such as marketing or tech support.
Information technology enabled services, or ITES, is a form of outsourced service which has emerged due to involvement of IT in various fields such as banking and finance, telecommunications, insurance, etc. Some of the examples of ITES are medical transcription, back-office accounting, insurance claim, credit card processing and many more.
Outsourcing
Offshoring
Nearshoring
Homeshoring

Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO)
Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) is a form of business process outsourcing (BPO) where an employer outsources or transfers all or part of its recruitment activities to an external service provider.
RPO may involve the outsourcing of all or just part of recruitment functions and process. The external service provider may serve as a virtual recruiting department by providing a complete package of skills, tools, technologies and activities. The RPO service provider is "the" source for in-scope recruitment activity.
On the other hand, occasional recruitment support, for example temporary, contingency and executive search services is more analagous to out-tasking, co-sourcing or just sourcing. In this example the service provider is "a" source for certain types of recruitment activity.differentiating between RPO and other types of staffing.

Legal Process Outsourcing (LPO)
Legal Process Outsourcing (LPO) is the industry in which in-house legal departments or organisations outsource legal work from areas where it is costly to perform, such as the United States or Europe to areas where it can be performed at a significantly decreased cost, primarily India. Legal Process Outsourcing is a high end industry that has been growing rapidly in the recent years.
Legal Process Outsourcing covers the following services in general:
Legal Research
Document Drafting like standard contracts, agreements, letters to the clients, patent applications etc.
Legal Billing activities like preparation of invoices, collation of time sheets etc.
Intellectual Property research--substantive and administrative
Paralegal Services
Administrative and secretarial activities like following up with clients, etc.
The work is done by experienced paralegals and attorneys using industry standard databases like Lexisnexis and Westlaw.

Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO)
Knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) is a form of outsourcing, including legal process outsourcing. These are both high-value-added forms of business process outsourcing (BPO). KPO firms provide domain-based processes and business expertise, rather than just process expertise, and actually make many low level business decisions - typically those that are easily undone if they conflict with higher-level business plans.

Telecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of signals over a distance for the purpose of communication. In modern times, this process typically involves the sending of electromagnetic waves by electronic transmitters, but in earlier times telecommunication may have involved the use of smoke signals, drums or semaphore or heliograph. Today, telecommunication is widespread and devices that assist the process, such as the television, radio and telephone, are common in many parts of the world. There are also many networks that connect these devices, including computer networks, public telephone networks, radio networks and television networks. Computer communication across the Internet is one of many examples of telecommunication.

Retail
Retailing consists of the sale of goods or merchandise, from a fixed location such as a department store or kiosk, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser.[1] Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be individuals or businesses. In commerce, a retailer buys goods or products in large quantities from manufacturers or importers, either directly or through a wholesaler, and then sells smaller quantities to the end-user. Retail establishments are often called shops or stores. Retailers are at the end of the supply chain. Manufacturing marketers see the process of retailing as a necessary part of their overall distribution strategy.

Managing the Sourcing Function:

2008-03-23T23:31:00.000-07:00

Recruiter 10-Factor Evaluation

2008-03-14T23:23:00.000-07:00

Simple Ways to Increase Your Intelligence

2008-03-13T12:56:00.001-07:00

Simple Ways to Increase Your Intelligence
Your brain needs exercise just like a muscle. If you use it often and in the right ways, you will become a more skilled thinker and increase your ability to focus. But if you never use your brain, or abuse it with harmful chemicals, your ability to think and learn will deteriorate.

Here are 5 simple ways anyone can squeeze a bit more productivity out of the old gray matter.

1. Minimize Television Watching - This is a hard sell. People love vegetating in front of the television, myself included more often than I’d like. The problem is watching television doesn’t use your mental capacity OR allow it to recharge. It’s like having the energy sapped out of a muscle without the health benefits of exercise.

Don’t you feel drained after a couple hours of TV? Your eyes are sore and tired from being focused on the light box for so long. You don’t even have the energy to read a book.

When you feel like relaxing, try reading a book instead. If you’re too tired, listen to some music. When you’re with your friends or family, leave the tube off and have a conversation. All of these things use your mind more than television and allow you to relax.

2. Exercise - I used to think that I’d learn more by not exercising and using the time to read a book instead. But I realized that time spent exercising always leads to greater learning because it improves productivity during the time afterwards. Using your body clears your head and creates a wave of energy. Afterwards, you feel invigorated and can concentrate more easily.

3. Read Challenging Books - Many people like to read popular suspense fiction, but generally these books aren’t mentally stimulating. If you want to improve your thinking and writing ability you should read books that make you focus. Reading a classic novel can change your view of the world and will make you think in more precise, elegant English. Don’t be afraid to look up a word if you don’t know it, and don’t be afraid of dense passages. Take your time, re-read when necessary, and you’ll soon grow accustomed to the author’s style.

Once you get used to reading challenging books, I think you’ll find that you aren’t tempted to go back to page-turners. The challenge of learning new ideas is far more exciting than any tacky suspense-thriller.

4. Early to Bed, Early to Rise - Nothing makes it harder to concentrate than sleep deprivation. You’ll be most rejuvenated if you go to bed early and don’t sleep more than 8 hours. If you stay up late and compensate by sleeping late, you’ll wake up lethargic and have trouble focusing. In my experience the early morning hours are the most tranquil and productive. Waking up early gives you more productive hours and maximizes your mental acuity all day.

If you have the opportunity, take 10-20 minute naps when you are hit with a wave of drowsiness. Anything longer will make you lethargic, but a short nap will refresh you.

5. Take Time to Reflect - Often our lives get so hectic that we become overwhelmed without even realizing it. It becomes difficult to concentrate because nagging thoughts keep interrupting. Spending some time alone in reflection gives you a chance organize your thoughts and prioritize your responsibilities. Afterwards, you’ll have a better understanding of what’s important and what isn’t. The unimportant stuff won’t bother you anymore and your mind will feel less encumbered.

I’m not saying you need to sit on the floor cross-legged and chant ‘ommm’. Anything that allows a bit of prolonged solitude will do. One of my personal favorites is taking a solitary walk. Someone famous said, “All the best ideas occur while walking.” I think he was on to something. Experiment to find the activity that works best for you.

Conclusion - I hope you aren’t disappointed that none of the techniques I’ve proposed are revolutionary. But simple, unexciting answers are often the most valid. The challenge is having the will to adhere to them. If you succeed in following these 5 tips, you’ll be rewarded with increased mental acuity and retention of knowledge.

10 Ways to Instantly Build Self Confidence

2008-03-13T12:56:00.000-07:00

10 Ways to Instantly Build Self Confidence
by John Wesley

Self confidence is the difference between feeling unstoppable and feeling scared out of your wits. Your perception of yourself has an enormous impact on how others perceive you. Perception is reality — the more self confidence you have, the more likely it is you’ll succeed.

Although many of the factors affecting self confidence are beyond your control, there are a number of things you can consciously do to build self confidence. By using these 10 strategies you can get the mental edge you need to reach your potential.

Build Self Confidence

1. Dress SharpAlthough clothes don’t make the man, they certainly affect the way he feels about himself. No one is more conscious of your physical appearance than you are. When you don’t look good, it changes the way you carry yourself and interact with other people. Use this to your advantage by taking care of your personal appearance. In most cases, significant improvements can be made by bathing and shaving frequently, wearing clean clothes, and being cognizant of the latest styles.

This doesn’t mean you need to spend a lot on clothes. One great rule to follow is “spend twice as much, buy half as much”. Rather than buying a bunch of cheap clothes, buy half as many select, high quality items. In long run this decreases spending because expensive clothes wear out less easily and stay in style longer than cheap clothes. Buying less also helps reduce the clutter in your closet.

2. Walk Faster - One of the easiest ways to tell how a person feels about herself is to examine her walk. Is it slow? tired? painful? Or is it energetic and purposeful? People with confidence walk quickly. They have places to go, people to see, and important work to do. Even if you aren’t in a hurry, you can increase your self confidence by putting some pep in your step. Walking 25% faster will make to you look and feel more important.

3. Good Posture - Similarly, the way a person carries herself tells a story. People with slumped shoulders and lethargic movements display a lack of self confidence. They aren’t enthusiastic about what they’re doing and they don’t consider themselves important. By practicing good posture, you’ll automatically feel more confident. Stand up straight, keep your head up, and make eye contact. You’ll make a positive impression on others and instantly feel more alert and empowered.

4. Personal Commercial - One of the best ways to build confidence is listening to a motivational speech. Unfortunately, opportunities to listen to a great speaker are few and far between. You can fill this need by creating a personal commercial. Write a 30-60 second speech that highlights your strengths and goals. Then recite it in front of the mirror aloud (or inside your head if you prefer) whenever you need a confidence boost.

5. Gratitude - When you focus too much on what you want, the mind creates reasons why you can’t have it. This leads you to dwell on your weaknesses. The best way to avoid this is consciously focusing on gratitude. Set aside time each day to mentally list everything you have to be grateful for. Recall your past successes, unique skills, loving relationships, and positive momentum. You’ll be amazed how much you have going for you and motivated to take that next step towards success.

6. Compliment other people - When we think negatively about ourselves, we often project that feeling on to others in the form of insults and gossip. To break this cycle of negativity, get in the habit of praising other people. Refuse to engage in backstabbing gossip and make an effort to compliment those around you. In the process, you’ll become well liked and build self confidence. By looking for the best in others, you indirectly bring out the best in yourself.

7. Sit in the front row - In schools, offices, and public assemblies around the world, people constantly strive to sit at the back of the room. Most people prefer the back because they’re afraid of being noticed. This reflects a lack of self confidence. By deciding to sit in the front row, you can get over this irrational fear and build your self confidence. You’ll also be more visible to the important people talking from the front of the room.

8. Speak up - During group discussions many people never speak up because they’re afraid that people will judge them for saying something stupid. This fear isn’t really justified. Generally, people are much more accepting than we imagine. In fact most people are dealing with the exact same fears. By making an effort to speak up at least once in every group discussion, you’ll become a better public speaker, more confident in your own thoughts, and recognized as a leader by your peers.

9. Work out - Along the same lines as personal appearance, physical fitness has a huge effect on self confidence. If you’re out of shape, you’ll feel insecure, unattractive, and less energetic. By working out, you improve your physcial appearance, energize yourself, and accomplish something positive. Having the discipline to work out not only makes you feel better, it creates positive momentum that you can build on the rest of the day.

10. Focus on contribution - Too often we get caught up in our own desires. We focus too much on ourselves and not enough on the needs of other people. If you stop thinking about yourself and concentrate on the contribution you’re making to the rest of the world, you won’t worry as much about you own flaws. This will increase self confidence and allow you to contribute with maximum efficiency. The more you contribute to the world the more you’ll be rewarded with personal success and recognition.

How to attract top talent…and keep it!

2008-03-13T06:04:00.001-07:00

How to attract top talent…and keep it!

As a recruiter I have seen plenty of great creative agencies in a bind searching for top-notch talent, and not being able to keep them. What gives??????

The issue might be in the entrance interviews where all the bells and whistles are released. Potential employees know there is more than just a list of prestigious awards, a fun culture, and great accounts. Many candidates really are smart enough to look beyond the first 6 months, and want to know what an advertising agency can offer them down the road.

Among the most important aspects is that of great leadership, which will in-turn produce great leaders. Candidates want a great mentor who can discuss their career path in complete honesty and with genuine interest. As it turns out, the quality of leadership at any company, both within the advertising industry and beyond is a make or break quality for candidates.

Don’t shy away from long-term goals and take a potential employee as seriously as they are taking you. Respect is a two way street and its much easier to keep candidates than it is to continuously cycle through them.

The Talent Tri factor

2008-03-13T06:04:00.000-07:00

The Talent Tri factor
The best talent comes down to three essential ingredients: competence, commitment and contribution. Organizations must strive to cultivate all of these elements in their employees,for it anyone of them goes missing, the talent equation falls apart.

We know it matters. Some go to war for it. Professional sports teams draft for it. Actors audition to show they have it. Others consider it the ultimate solution and try to manage it. Agents contract for it. Some are innately endowed with it, while others strive diligently to develop it. We all want it.

Competence
Competence
Committed

See full article

What to Know About Every Candidate You Interview

2008-03-13T03:00:00.000-07:00

What to Know About Every Candidate You Interview

Day-in and day-out we are constantly interviewing candidates and gaging their fit for new opportunities while trying to fully understand their qualifications and what they want in a new position. But that’s not all we need to know. In a recent article, seasoned recruiter, consultant and writer, Howard Adamsky, discloses ten key areas that every recruiter should fully investigate before presenting a candidate to a hiring manager. In recruiting, more is better… the more information you have to offer the hiring manager, the more value you add to the overall hiring process. Enjoy!

10 Things Recruiters Should Know About Every Candidate They Interview

Interviewing candidates and gauging their fit for a culture and position is one of the most indispensable tasks a recruiter performs. The more a recruiter knows about a candidate, the better equipped they are to add value to the hiring process. That's why getting to know the candidate and understand what they are looking for, along with overall qualifications, is so critical.
But there is more about candidates you should uncover if you want to do the best possible job of providing information (read: value) to hiring managers. Below are ten points in key areas that all recruiters should investigate for each candidate they interview — before they present the candidate to the hiring manager.

Complete compensation details. Understand exactly how the candidate's current compensation program is structured. This means more than the candidate's base salary; the base salary is just part of the overall package. Be sure that you ask about bonuses; if, how and when they are paid out, stock options or grants that have been awarded. Compile a complete list of benefits and how they are structured (e.g. PPO vs. HMO; there is a difference) and know when the candidate is up for his or her next review, because this can alter cash compensation.

Type of commute. Commute is a quality-of-life issue and discussing it is important. A ten-minute commute against traffic is very different than taking the car to a train and having to walk five blocks to the new organization. If the commute to your organization is worse for the candidate than it is in his or her existing job, bring it up and see how the candidate responds. If the commute is better, use it as a selling point. By all means, be sure that you understand the candidate's current commute and how they feel about the new one.

The "what they want vs. what they have" differential. Most candidates do not change jobs just for the sake of changing jobs. They change jobs because there are certain things missing in their current position that they believe can be satisfied by the position your organization is offering. This disparity is called the "position differential" and it is the fundamental reason a person changes jobs. Know what this position differential is and you will be able to know if you have what the candidate is looking for. If so, you will be able to develop an intelligent capture strategy when it comes time to close.

How they work best. Some candidates work best if left alone, while others work best as part of a team. It is your job to know enough about the organization's philosophy and the way the hiring manager works to see if the candidate will either mesh or grind. Beware of recommending hiring a candidate who does not fit into the current scheme, because, at times, style can be just as important as substance.

Overall strengths and weaknesses. Be sure to get some understanding of the candidate's strong points and the candidate's limitations. All of us have strengths and weaknesses (even John Sullivan has weaknesses, but he won't tell me what they are). Our role is to identify them and be able to present them to the hiring manager. Hint: Ask what functions the candidate does not enjoy performing. We are seldom good at things we don't like.

What they want in a new position. Everyone wants something. Find out what the candidate wants in a new position. Be sure to do whatever is necessary to get this information. Feel free to pick away during the interviewing process with open-ended questions until you have all of your questions answered. It is difficult to determine whether a given hiring situation has a good chance of working out if you do not know what the candidate is looking for in a new position.

Is the candidate interviewing elsewhere? This is big; I don't like surprises and neither do hiring managers. I always ask the candidate what else they have for activity. If the candidate has three other companies they are considering and two offers are arriving in the mail tomorrow, this is absolute need-to-know information. If the hiring manager wants to make an offer, it's time to advise them as to what the competition looks like and move this deal onto the express lane, fast.

What it will take to close the deal. This is a first cousin of #6 above but it is more specific and flavored with a "closing the deal" mentality. #6 relates to what the candidate wants in a new position, but this one quantifies that want. For example, if the candidate wants more money, this is where you will assess how much it will take to close the deal. As another example, while #6 will let you know that the candidate wants to work on different types of projects, this one will tell you exactly what types of projects those are.

Can the candidate do the job? Even though, as the recruiter, you might not be able to determine if this is the perfect candidate, you should exit the interview with an opinion as to whether or not the candidate can perform the functions of the position. Furthermore, that opinion must be based upon information that was unveiled during the interviewing process and not just a gut feeling. It has to be based upon what the candidate has successfully accomplished and how that aligns with the needs of the current position. If you can't offer a solid opinion on this one, you need to dig deeper until you have a solid case for why the candidate can or cannot do the job.

Will the candidate fit into the culture? Predicting the future is tricky business, but someone has to take a shot at evaluating a candidate's chance for success. Not everyone that is capable of doing the job will have a successful run at the company, because culture does play a role in candidate success. For example, the culture of a buttoned-down insurance company in Boston is very different than the garage culture of a software startup in the valley. If you have a reason to believe that the person is the wrong DNA for an organization, it is imperative that you raise the issue.
There are few things hiring managers value more than solid candidate feedback based upon a well-executed interview. Convey this information to the hiring manager and take one more step towards becoming a world-class recruiter.

Jim Stroud with A.K Menon - Good Times & Recruiting

2008-03-11T01:10:00.000-07:00

Video: The Recruiters Lounge

Hi Friends, I found this video of Jim Stroud taking Interview of AK Menon, A Recruitment connoisseur & advisor, sharing his joyful experience & journey with recruitment in india, Blogging, and talk of growth options here..

You will surely enjoy this..
ABhinav Mishra
Recpro - I am a learner.

Finding a Perfect Job Online

2008-03-10T06:59:00.000-07:00

Finding a Perfect Job Online
Some of the most effective tools for finding a job via the internet are literally at your fingertips. With just a few clicks of the mouse, you are connected to a gold mine of possibilities. Visiting websites that offer networking opportunities is just one of the great benefits of online job searches.

There are many websites that can enhance your efforts to secure that perfect job. Professional associations are a great way to find out what’s going on in your particular profession and to establish relationships with people who can potentially lead to future employment for you. Establishing yourself as an expert in these online discussions and interactions with professionals enhances your profile.

Private agencies are high utilizers of the internet when it comes to filling open positions. Visiting the website of specific cities or governmental agencies leads to a ‘careers section’, listing open jobs, job descriptions, and skills required for certain job listings. Salary information is usually included with these postings.

Websites of recruitment firms/consultancies are also great way to identify potential jobs in a specific geographic location. They also offer advice and opportunities to enhance your resume or update your skills through continuing education, either online or in person. Accessing websites for such Recruitment & Talent Management Solutions provider will offer you with creative ways to repackage yourself.

Visiting community associations and organizations online is a great way to learn more about the employment opportunities and outlook of a city. These sites often include forums, chat rooms, and discussion groups where you can learn a lot about the local economy and employment outlook. They also sometimes include a web of links to other sites with job postings. Here sites like www.orkut.com, www.ibibo.com, www.recruit.net, www.freshersworld.com, www.chetanas.com can also help you.

Finding a job via the internet can be an overwhelming experience, but when you focus on the sites that support you in your job search, you’ll find that online job seekers have a definite advantage. Your online job search is a gold mine waiting to be mined.

Abhinav Mishra
Recpro

Steve Jobs' 12 Rules of Success

2008-03-04T02:02:00.000-08:00

Lessons from Steve Jobs, Founder of Apple Computers

Shared by: Abhinav Mishra

Steve Jobs is one of the most successful entrepreneurs of our generation. His success story is legendary. Put up for adoption at an early age, dropped out of college after 6 months, slept on friends’ floors, returned coke bottles for 5 cent deposits to buy food, then went on to start Apple Computers and Pixar Animation Studios.

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Steve Jobs' 12 Rules of Success
1. Do what you love to do. Find your true passion. Do what you love to do a make a difference! The only way to do great work is to love what you do.

2. Be different. Think different. "Better be a pirate than to join the navy."

3. Do your best. Do your best at every job. No sleep! Success generates more success. So be hungry for it. Hire good people with passion for excellence.

4. Make SWOT analysis. As soon as you join/start a company, make a list of strengths and weaknesses of yourself and your company on a piece of paper. Don't hesitate in throwing bad apples out of the company.

5. Be entrepreneurial. Look for the next big thing. Find a set of ideas that need to be quickly and decisively acted upon and jump through that window. Sometimes the first step is the hardest one. Just take it! Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.

6. Start small, think big. Don't worry about too many things at once. Take a handful of simple things to begin with, and then progress to more complex ones. Think about not just tomorrow, but the future. "I want to put a ding in the universe,” reveal Steve Jobs his dream.

7. Strive to become a market leader. Own and control the primary technology in everything you do. If there's a better technology available, use it no matter if anyone else is not using it. Be the first, and make it an industry standard.

8. Focus on the outcome. People judge you by your performance, so focus on the outcome. Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected. Advertise. If they don't know it, they won't buy your product. Pay attention to design. "We made the buttons on the screen look so good you'll want to lick them." "Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works."

9. Ask for feedback. Ask for feedback from people with diverse backgrounds. Each one will tell you one useful thing. If you're at the top of the chain, sometimes people won't give you honest feedback because they're afraid. In this case, disguise yourself, or get feedback from other sources. Focus on those who will use your product – listen to your customers first.

10. Innovate. Innovation distinguishes a leader from a follower. Delegate, let other top executives do 50% of your routine work to be able to spend 50% your time on the new stuff. Say no to 1,000 things to make sure you don't get on the wrong track or try to do too much. Concentrate on really important creations and radical innovation. Hire people who want to make the best things in the world. You need a very product-oriented culture, even in a technology company. Lots of companies have tons of great engineers and smart people. But ultimately, there needs to be some gravitational force that pulls it all together.

11. Learn from failures. Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.

12. Learn continually. There's always "one more thing" to learn! Cross-pollinate ideas with others both within and outside your company. Learn from customers, competitors and partners. If you partner with someone whom you don't like, learn to like them – praise them and benefit from them. Learn to criticize your enemies openly, but honestly.

Existence of Recruitment Team in your Organization & their role..

2008-02-28T03:30:00.001-08:00

Existence of Recruitment Team in your Organization

Introduction
What do you think is the actual role and responsibility of “Recruitment Team” in company? I my previous write-up titled “Roles for HR Professionals in New Economy, I have mentioned about various roles and responsibilities that a “Recruitment Team” can take-up. The key and main role of the Recruitment Team of any organization is “Sourcing” but even if they are not doing that and just working as a mediator between Various Departments and Recruitment Consultancy Firms/Agency … don’t you think they are not justifying their very existence in the system? Lets go in detail and find the solution.

Different resources available for sourcing
The following are the various resources available for corporate houses and organizations to get profiles for their requirements:

1) Advertisement

2) Employee References

3) Job Portals

4) Campus Hiring (including, hiring through different private institutes)

5) Recruitment Consultancies/Firms

6) Resumes‚posted on the website of the company

7) Direct Drop-ins

The last two are ill-managed resources. If managed properly‚these two resources can be very useful and effective. Among the above-mentioned sources “Recruitment Consultancies/firms” is the only source where you cannot, directly get in touch with the “prospective employees”.

I am not against “Recruitment Consultancies”‚I am in favour of them and I want to use them in a better manner. I want to use this resource for “Headhunting”. This gives rise to two more questions? What are different resources available with Consultancy Firms‚for sourcing and what is difference between Sourcing and Headhunting?

Different Resources available with “Recruitment Consultancy Firms” for sourcing Recruitment Consultancy Firms also use all the above-mentioned resources except “Campus Hiring” and “Employee Reference”. (Let me know if there is any other resource available to them). Then, why is it that you cannot tap the talent and they can? Probably, you are not aware of the market? Probably, you are not aware of the business?

What the “Recruitment Team” is actually doing?

First question, if the recruitment team of your company is the final authority to “Select” or “Reject” a candidate? In most of the cases‚your answer will be NOPE, they are not the final authority. That right has been vested on “The Departmental or The Functional Head”. If those Department and Functional heads selects anyone on their own‚without informing you‚you cannot do anything.

Now the second question‚you cannot take any decision (on selection or rejection)‚you cannot even source (just getting people from recruitment consultancy firms)‚then what are you doing in the company? Are you working as mediator or coordinator between “Consultancies” and “Functional Departments”? In such scenarios‚how can you justify the very existence to this “department” in the organization? I am not against “Recruitment Department”‚my question is if they are not doing the very basic and key function of their department-”Sourcing” , then what they are doing?

As soon as they get the requirement from any department or any division they just call their (their selected, short listed or favorite) consultants and place the requirement. I have seen‚in some cases they are not even able to explain to the consultants‚the Job Description‚Job Specifications and roles for the profile that they are looking for. It is an irony.

Solution and Conclusion
It is not my verdict and it is not my decision. It is your company and it is for you to pay. But, I suggest to “Corporate Heads” and “HR-Heads”‚either use your all resources minus recruitment firms‚efficiently or outsource your total “Recruitment Process” to an external agency. This will save a lot of Administrative and Operational Cost. What do you say?

Thanks to: Sanjeev Sharma for his contribution

Resources for Talent Acquisition, Hiring and Recruitment

2008-02-28T03:30:00.000-08:00

Resources for Talent Acquisition, Hiring and Recruitment

Introduction

One needs to have dreams, plans, strategies to be successful in any venture. This is a basic requirement. If you do not know what you want, where you want to reach and how you want to reach (your mode and plan for success), you certainly cannot reach there. In case you are starting a new venture or you are planning to diversify your existing business, you also need to identify the source for your capital (Financial Backing). You cannot do all these things on your own. You need “extra-ordinarily talented” and Highly Skilled people to help you to reach the goal that you have seen for your organization. For this, you need a jeweller (the talented, matured and exceptionally skilled HR Professional) to identify such DIAMONDS for you. It is one of the key role of a HR Professional to identify, source, select, HIRE and RETAIN BEST of the talent from the market to work for the organization. If they cannot find talented people from the market then they need to groom the right type of people with the right type of attitude and aptitude. In 21st Century, we are in the era of “war for talent”. It is becoming difficult to get right type of people and retain them. Many companies are losing their businesses because they are not able to hire “right type of people”; because they compromised with the “quality of the talent”. In this article, we will try to explore and understand different sources to get “Best of the Talents”. Any reference of HR Department” in this article, means Team of Talent Acquisition, Hiring and Recruitment.

Different Sources To Get Talented People

As a HR Professional (Chief Talent Acquisition Officer; Hiring Manager or Recruitment Head), one should be aware of all the sources and resources to get best of the talents and they should also be aware of as how to use those resources to the optimum level. You can use either or all of the below mentioned tools to get BEST talents.

1) Existing and “Active” Candidates Data with Company

2) Employee References

3) Internal Advertisement (internal Job Posting)

4) Jobsites and Job Portals

5) Campus Hiring

6) Recruitment Consultancies

7) External (Newspaper) Advertisement

8) Social and Professional Networks & Local Communities

9) Head Hunting (Also called as “Body Shopping”)

10) Talent-Poaching

Distinction Between Headhunting and Talent Poaching

Some talent acquisition managers as well as hiring and recruitment professionals are confused and are not able to discriminate between the two. Here are few differences between the two:

1) Headhunting is associated with senior and rare profiles. Talent Poaching is just sweeping and running through talent-wealth of your competitor.

2) Headhunting is planned. Talent Poaching is targeted.

3) In headhunting, the intention is to get the BEST person for your organization but in Talent Poaching, the intention is to kill your competitor and the competition.

4) Headhunting is about getting a person with “Leadership” skills and “Global Exposure”. Talent Poaching is about “saving the training cost”.

Conclusion

This article is not about “Recruitment Process” or to describe about “Steps involved in Recruitment Process” but just to share the resources and channels to source and identify talent. I have taken care to list all the possible channels. I am sure all the readers will gain from this article.

I Would like to thanks Mr. Sanjeev Himachali for this contribution.

Azim Premji - "My Lessons in Life"

2008-02-26T23:58:00.000-08:00

Azim Premji - "My Lessons in Life"

An Article Address by Azim Premji in the "Shaping Young Minds Program" (SYMP) organized by AIMA in collaboration with the Bombay Management Association (BMA) in Mumbai on "My Lessons in Life".

I am very happy to be here with you. It is always wonderful to be with young people. As my hair turned from black, to salt and pepper and finally salt without the pepper, I have begun to realize the importance of youth. At the same time, I have begun to truly appreciate some of the lessons I have learnt along the way. I hope you will find them useful when you plan your own career and life.

First

The first thing I have learnt is that we must always begin with our strengths. There is an imaginary story of a rabbit. The rabbit was enrolled in a rabbit school. Like all rabbits, it could hop very well but could not swim. At the end of the year, the rabbit got high marks in hopping but failed in swimming. The parents were concerned. They said, "Forget about hopping. You are anyway good at it. Concentrate on swimming." They sent the rabbit for tuitions in swimming. And guess what happened? The rabbit forgot how to hop! As for swimming, have you ever seen a rabbit swim? While it is important for us to know what we are not good at, we must also cherish what is good in us. That is because it is only our strengths that can give us the energy to correct our weaknesses.

Second

The second lesson I have learnt is that a rupee earned is of far more value than five found. My friend was sharing me the story of his eight year-old niece. She would always complain about the breakfast. The cook tried everything possible, but the child remained unhappy. Finally, my friend took the child to a supermarket and brought one of those ready-to-cook packets. The child had to cut the packet and pour water in the dish. The child found the food to be absolutely delicious? The difference was that she has cooked it! In my own life, I have found that nothing gives as much satisfaction as earning our rewards. In fact, what is gifted or inherited follows the old rule of come easy, go easy. I guess we only know the value of what we have if we have struggled to earn it.

Third

The third lesson I have learnt is no one bats a hundred every time. Life has many challenges. You win some and lose some. You must enjoy winning. But do not let it go to the head. The moment it does, you are already on your way to failure. And if you do encounter failure along the way, treat it as an equally natural phenomenon. Don't beat yourself for it or any one else for that matter! Accept it, look at your own share in the problem, learn from it and move on. The important thing is, when you lose, do not lose the lesson.

Fourth

The fourth lesson I have learnt is the importance of humility. Sometimes, when you get so much in life, you really start wondering whether you deserve all of it. We have so much to be grateful for. Our parents, our teachers and our seniors have done so much for us that we can never repay them. Many people focus on the shortcomings, because obviously no one can be perfect. But it is important to first acknowledge what we have received. Nothing in life is permanent but when a relationship ends, rather than becoming bitter, we must learn to savor the memory of the good things while they lasted.

Fifth

The fifth lesson I learnt is that we must always strive for excellence. One way of achieving excellence is by looking at those better than ourselves. Keep learning what they do differently. But excellence cannot be imposed from the outside. We must also feel the need from within. It must involve not only our mind but also our heart and soul. Excellence is not an act but a habit. I remember the inspiring lines of a poem, which says that your reach must always exceed your grasp. That is heaven on earth. Ultimately, your only competition is yourself.

Sixth

The sixth lesson I have learnt is never give up in the face of adversity. It comes on you suddenly without warning. Always keep in mind that it is only the test of fire that makes fine steel. A friend of mine shared this incident with me. His eight-year old daughter was struggling away at a jigsaw puzzle. She kept at it for hours but could not succeed. Finally, it went beyond her bedtime. My friend told her, "Look, why don't you just give up? I don't think you will complete it tonight. Look at it another day." The daughter looked with a strange look in her eyes, "But, dad, why should I give up? All the pieces are there! I have just got to put them together!" If we persevere long enough, we can put any problem into its perspective.

Seventh

The seventh lesson I have learnt is that while you must be open to change, do not compromise on your values. Mahatma Gandhiji often said that you must open the windows of your mind, but you must not be swept off your feet by the breeze. Values like honesty, integrity, consideration and humility have survived for generations. At the end of the day, it is values that define a person more than the achievements. Do not be tempted by short cuts. The short cut can make you lose your way and end up becoming the longest way to the destination.

Final

And the final lesson I learnt is that we must have faith in our own ideas even if everyone tells us that we are wrong. There was once a newspaper vendor who had a rude customer. Every morning, the Customer would walk by, refuse to return the greeting, grab the paper off the shelf and throw the money at the vendor. The vendor would pick up the money, smile politely and say, "Thank you, Sir." One day, the vendor's assistant asked him, "Why are you always so polite with him when he is so rude to you? Why don't you throw the newspaper at him when he comes back tomorrow?" The vendor smiled and replied, "He can't help being rude and I can't help being polite. Why should I let his rude behavior dictate my politeness?

I hope you achieve success in whatever way you define it and what gives you the maximum happiness in life. "Remember, those who win are those who believe they can."

Best Practices for Screening Candidates

2008-02-20T02:41:00.000-08:00

Only one thing is certain about the procedure of screening and interviewing candidates: the huge variation in processes. But, through the years there is one that we have found to be fair, thorough (while being fairly quick), involves the right people, and (most importantly) the end decision will be one that both the company and the new hire are highly likely to be happy with.

What follows are our best practices for screening candidates.

1. Define the interview process.

Who will give input, who will be involved in the interviews, where will they be, and what are the criteria for selecting a successful candidate?

2. Develop good job and person specification.

This has the advantage that everyone knows what this person will be doing and key people in the company can give their input - with the added bonus that this can also be used for assessing performance in the future. For the person specification, are you looking for leaders or followers, someone who is inspired or inspiring?

3. Create a set list of interview questions.

Be fair on the candidates and don't leave important questions to chance. Get input from colleagues as well.

4. Conduct a first round interview.

Do a first-round interview with the hiring manager (or HR representative or consultant) to shortlist who will move on to the next step.

5. Include verbal and numerical reasoning tests and consider other psychometric tests.

These are quick, inexpensive, and can be done online. Unsuitable candidates can be objectively and consistently screened out earlier in the recruitment process. You may also want to include other psychometric tests, for instance an online Occupational Personality test. These will help you to identify for instance natural sales people or strong finishers.

Here is a list of commonly used online tests, available in many languages: http://www.larseng11n.com/Larsen/psychometric-assessment.asp

6. Invite successful candidates back for a second interview.

Make sure that the right people are involved: the hiring manager if they have not been involved before, typically at least one senior manager, and one or more peers.

This doesn't just add to the comfort-factor and a democratic selection method, it also means that the people who have given their thumbs up for the candidate will be supportive of him and her in the future (as it is in human nature that none of us likes to be wrong).

This is a great opportunity to discuss the result of the online tests, and also any relevant, work-related tests.

7. Make your informed choice!

Candidate's Recruitment Process

2008-02-20T02:21:00.000-08:00

See what Mike Moore has to say.

Effective recruitment processes are vital in ensuring that an organisation has the people it needs to implement its strategy and meet its objectives. Recruitment can be expensive, but so too is the appointment of an employee who is inadequately qualified, fails to perform well or leaves the organisation before he or she has been able to make a significant contribution. The time and effort invested in planning the process of recruitment carefully can help to get the right person for the job, reduce labour turnover and enhance competitive advantage.

Definition

Recruitment is the process of attracting, assessing, selecting and employing people to carry out the work activities required by a company or an organisation. This checklist focuses on planning and undertaking the initial stages of the process. This involves assessing whether there is a need for additional or replacement staff, identifying the tasks to be carried out, specifying the kind of person needed, finding a pool of suitable candidates and drawing up a shortlist.

Action checklist

1. Review staff requirements

Take a broad view of your staffing needs and consider whether you really have a vacancy. If an employee is leaving, review the work load and decide whether a full-time permanent replacement is needed or whether an alternative option would be more appropriate. For example, would a part-time or temporary worker be sufficient? Should the work be restructured or outsourced? What would the staffing implications of this be?

2. Consult with those involved

Take any organisational policies and procedures into account. Authorisation for a replacement or a new appointment may be needed from senior management. Consult with your personnel or HR department if you have one, as they will have expertise in this area. Ask yourself which other departments may have an interest in the appointment--it may be possible to make it a joint effort. Where possible, talk to the previous holder of the post. Discuss the job role with the relevant supervisor, and especially with the people the new employee will be working with.

3. Specify the sort of person you are looking for

List the duties, responsibilities and relationships involved in the job role and define the level of authority the post holder will have. If you are filling a post that has been vacated, consider whether the job should be carried out in the same way or whether there are changes that you wish to make. Decide what qualifications and skills are required; what type and length of experience is needed and which personal attributes will be important. This will enable you to draw up an up to date job description and person specification. State how soon the person is expected to be competent in the job, what training you are prepared to give and set a target start date.

4. Research the labour market

Review the job description and person specification and ask yourself whether you are likely to find what you are looking for in one person. If so, undertake some research to gauge the pay and benefits package you will need to offer. Salary surveys are usually expensive, but are often summarised in the press at the time of publication. Monitoring job advertisements and networking with employers in your area and sector can also give you an idea of current pay rates. You should also consider whether you will be able to find suitable candidates locally or need to look further afield.

5. Comply with legal requirements

Recruitment activities are covered by a growing body of legislation and codes of practice designed to exclude discrimination and unfair treatment. These include: the Sex Discrimination Act 1975, the Race Relations Act 1976, the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, the Employment (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2002; the Employment (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003 and the CRE statutory Code of Practice on Equality in Employment. Keep yourself up to date with the latest developments to ensure that you follow good practice and don't infringe the regulations.

6. Plan how to find and attract candidates

* Start within your organisation. Are there any employees suitable for promotion or re-assignment? Even if you are doubtful, it is important to advertise internally as a courtesy to staff who may wish to apply, and because they may have friends or relations who will be interested in the position.

* Check records of any previous applicants, whether unsolicited or otherwise. Draw on any appropriate contacts. For example, training organisations may be useful, whether you are looking for apprentices or MBAs.

* Decide whether to use the services of a recruitment agency to identify and shortlist candidates for you, weighing the costs incurred, against the time and expertise at your disposal.

* Consider whether e-recruitment techniques, using either a corporate website or an e-recruitment service would be appropriate.

7. Decide where to advertise

If you decide to advertise independently rather than use an agency, think through the options and decide which is most likely to reach the kind of candidates you have in mind:

* local job centre

* local or national press

* specialist publications, such as the magazines of professional bodies or trade associations

* Internet recruitment sites and mailing lists.

Research the costs involved and decide what you can afford.

8. Write the advertisement

Decide if you and/or other staff have the skills and knowledge required to draw up an advert. If your organisation has a personnel department they will probably take on this task, but do ensure that you are involved throughout the process. In the case of a senior post, or if you are recruiting in large numbers, you may wish to hire an advertising agency to draft the advert and place it appropriately. It is preferable to name your organisation in the advert rather than use a box number unless you have particular reasons for secrecy, as a box number could deter some applicants. Ensure that the advert provides the following details clearly and succinctly:

* duties and responsibilities of the job

* qualifications and experience required

* personal qualities sought

* location

* some indication of the salary range

* form of reply you require i.e. a CV and covering letter or completion of an application form

* the deadline for the submission of applications

* whether further information is available and in what form.

It is important to ensure that the advertisement complies with relevant legislation. Bear in mind too, that it will be on public display and ensure that it presents a positive picture of your organisation which will attract candidates.

If you are using an application form, check that it requests all the details you will need to help you assess the candidates. It can also be helpful to ask a colleague to complete the form from the perspective of a candidate to ensure that it is clear. Prepare an information pack to send out to those requesting further information.

9. Draw up a short-list

Decide how many people you wish to interview, probably five or six at the most. Ask other colleagues, including a supervisor or manager, to help you sift through the applications and take their opinions into account. Be as objective as you can, matching the candidates against the requirements you have defined. Look out for any unexplained employment gaps, and assess the quality of presentation and how well the replies are tailored to the specific job.

10. Reply to candidates

Contact those you do not wish to interview as quickly as possible. Treat them courteously, thanking them for their interest in your organisation and the position. You may wish to keep a few candidates in reserve, in case none of those on the shortlist proves suitable. Contact the candidates on the shortlist to check that they are still interested in the job and arrange a date and time for interview. Make sure that you provide directions so that candidates can find you and be clear about whether you are prepared to meet travel expenses.

11. Next steps

The following checklists cover the next stages in the recruitment process:

* Steps in successful selection interviewing

* Organising the induction of new recruits

How not to plan recruitment

Don't:

* assume you have a vacancy before reviewing the current situation carefully

* skimp on the preparation of an appropriate job description and person specification

* overlook suitable internal candidates

* ignore relevant legislation

Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO)

2008-02-20T00:11:00.000-08:00

See what Mike Moore has to say on RPO.

Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO)

RPO as a highly customized, fully integrated single-source solution in which expert consultants manage all of a client’s human capital requirements, either on-site from their location or from the provider’s. The goal is to attract the highest-quality talent while also bringing improved processes and efficiencies to the organization. To do this, providers leverage brand, leading-edge technology, proven diagnostic and metrics, and their global reach.

RPO is meant to be customized to what an individual company needs rather than a one-size-fits-all approach to the recruitment function. A good recruitment partner must be agile and prepared to scale its support as client needs fluctuate. When done correctly, it is clear that RPO helps build stronger teams, which positively affects customer satisfaction and improves business results. The right RPO partner will offer:

• Expertise and a solid track record. Companies are looking to leverage RPO providers who offer best practices when it comes to volume recruitment strategies.

• Speed. It is a constant challenge to find the right people as quickly as possible, so identifying strategies to reduce time-to-hire is
critically important to any company’s core business.

• High quality. Just about anyone can fill a seat, but a good RPO provider will deliver top-quality candidates with the expertise required and within the pre-defined parameters while also bolstering the overall recruitment process.

• Cost control. Savings can be spread across an organization when recruitment efficiencies occur or when variable cost models are employed. An upfront diagnostic can identify many of the hidden flaws in the internal recruiting process, while mutually agreed-upon metrics can ensure that the results are achieved both on time and on budget.

• Technology-supported strategic objectives. The right blend of HR expertise with leading-edge technology support (not vice versa).

• Global oversight. Companies insist on maintaining and reinforcing control of their recruitment function, and we find this to be particularly true for international clients. With this in mind, a good RPO provider will honor that need while also adding value, improved communication, and strategic insights every step of the way.
• Pan-Country and/or global capabilities. An RPO partner with a large global footprint can scale to meet demands that change over time.

WHEN WILL YOU BE READY?
While each company faces unique challenges with its industry, geographic footprint, and sheer size, there are a few definitive signs that it might be time to consider outside support of your recruitment function. Here are a few points to consider:

Your company has immediate plans to hire high volumes of employees—from a few dozen to hundreds or more—in three to five months.
These imminent volume hires are for highly specialized roles (engineering, finance/accounting, healthcare, etc.).
Your organization requires these volume hires to be strategically placed across multiple geographies.
You work for a start-up organization or are planning to relocate.
Your company faces a significant shift in business strategy and/or plans to launch new products or services.
Merger or acquisition plans are on your company’s horizon.

An RPO might be right if you face complex recruitment challenges requiring long-term strategic and day-to-day tactical support. RPO in one market is gaining momentum.

My Favourite Quotes

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1/1
"Anything in life worth having is worth working for." - Andrew Carnegie

1/2
"Success often comes to those who dare to act. It seldom goes to the timid who are ever afraid of the consequences." - Jawaharlal Nehru

1/3
"Success is never ending, failure is never final." - Dr. Robert Schuller

1/4
"I just love when people say I can’t do something because all my life people said I wasn’t going to make it." - Ted Turner
1/5
"Great thoughts speak only to the thoughtful mind, but great actions speak to all mankind." - Emily P. Bissell

1/6
"Obstacles are those frightful things you can see when you take your eyes off your goal." - Henry Ford

1/7
"It takes a strong fish to swim against the current. Even a dead one can float with it." - John Crowe

1/8
"You will never find time for anything. You must make it." - Charles Buxton

1/9
"Remove failure as an option." - Joan Lunden

1/10
"There is no one giant step that does it. It's a lot of little steps." - Peter A. Cohen

1/11
"Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you will land among the stars." - Les
Brown

1/12
"Some of us have great runways already built for us. If you have one, take off. But if you don't have one, realize it is your responsibility to grab a shovel and build one for yourself and for those who will follow after you." - Amelia Earhart

1/13
"Work like you don't need the money. Love like you've never been hurt. Dance like nobody is watching." - Mark Twain

1/14
"What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve." - Napoleon Hill

1/15
"There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure." - Colin Powell

1/16
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

1/17
"Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance." - Samuel Johnson

1/18
"The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will." - Vince Lombardi

1/19
"The man who follows the crowd will usually get no further than the crowd. The man who walks alone is likely to find himself in places no one has ever been." -
Alan Ashley-Pitt

1/20
"It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently." - Warren Buffett

1/21
"Champions aren't made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them - a desire, a dream, a vision." - Muhammad Ali

1/22
"Dwell not on the past. Use it to illustrate a point, then leave it behind. Nothing really matters except what you do now in this instant of time. From this moment onwards you can be an entirely different person, filled with love and
understanding, ready with an outstretched hand, uplifted and positive in every thought and deed." - Eileen Caddy

1/23
"The critical ingredient is getting off your butt and doing something. It's as simple as that. A lot of people have ideas, but there are few who decide to do something about them now. Not tomorrow. Not next week. But today. The true entrepreneur is a doer." - Nolan Bushnell

1/24
"Whatever you vividly imagine, ardently desire, sincerely believe, and enthusiastically act upon must inevitably come to pass!" - Paul J. Meyer

1/25
"Keep away from small people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you too can become great." - Mark Twain

1/26
"For anything worth having one must pay the price; and the price is always work, patience, love, self-sacrifice. No paper currency, no promises to pay, but the gold of real service." - John Burroughs

1/27
"To be successful, you must decide exactly what you want to accomplish, then resolve to pay the price to get it." - Bunker Hunt

1/28
"You just can't beat the person who never gives up." - Babe Ruth

1/29
"When you get right down to the root of the meaning of the word 'succeed', you find it simply means to follow through." - F.W. Nichol

1/30
"Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, 'What's in it for me?'" - Brian Tracy

1/31
"If you don't set goals, you can't regret not reaching them." - Yogi Berra