How to Stimulate Innovation in Recruitment

How to Stimulate Innovation in Recruitment There was a wonderful piece in the satirical news site The Onion recently about the recent SXSW conference in the USA. The piece claimed that the word innovation had already been said 650,000 times, and drily noted the complete absence of phrases such as investment model and practical business strategy. When people think of innovation, they think of inventions such as the iPhone, or high-tech startups in Silicon Valley. This aura surrounding the concept of innovation, particularly the idea that it means doing something unique or radical, had led some recruiters that I know of to believe that innovation is impossible in recruitment. However, this certainly isnt the case! By applying critical analysis to innovation management, I will show how agencies can become innovative. What Innovation to Pursue: Despite their prominence, radical innovations are very rare. Innovation is simply change that occurs on a spectrum, from fine-tuning through to derivatives, enhancements, hybrids, next-generation and finally unique/radical. Most innovation is incremental typically small, ongoing changes to how things are done. Radical innovation is typically linked to extensive RD expenditure; as that is impossible for many recruitment agencies, focus should be on making incremental improvements. For example, one recruitment firm I know required their Terms of Business to be signed before they can work on a new clients roles. As they used to be faxed or scanned and emailed back, this caused delays, with a typical turnaround of several days. An employee suggested they implement an e-signature system, and now the majority of their ToB are signed and returned on the same day, eliminating waste. This was a simple process enhancement, which made a big improvement. Who Should Lead Innovation: The classical approach to change strategies was that innovation and change had to be carefully planned and managed by senior management. Today, many authors believe that most change efforts are led by the employees themselves in a bottom-up process. As a result, management should act as facilitators to the innovation process. Management needs to be open and receptive to employee ideas and encourage them to look at how they do their jobs, and identify areas for improvement. Voice systems need to be put in place to allow ideas to be heard. How to Do Innovation: Incremental innovation happens through empowering employees to be entrepreneurs at their job level intrapreneurs. Employees should be given a clear brief on what their jobs responsibilities are, and encouraged to take ownership of those areas of responsibility. Empowerment means encouraging and allowing people to take action: if an employee has a good idea, they should do it. If they cant, then the team should do it. If the team cant do it, but someone else in the company can, then that person should do it. If it still cant be done, then it is either a people or resource issue this is when management needs to be involved as it will probably require strategic change. At an agency I know, an employee was put in charge of the companys social media accounts. These had been poorly managed and showed few results. He investigated some free social media management tools, and asked his boss to send him on a training day to learn how to use them better. Their social media accounts now get fa r more reach and often bring in good candidates. When to Do Innovation: An innovative culture is about encouraging continuous improvement this is often called Kaizen. Incremental innovation doesnt stop; the internal and external environment keeps changing. In its most basic form, Kaizen can be broken down to four steps: identify an area for improvement, implement the change, analyse the change, and do it again.The final step is crucial to successful implementation of Kaizen: many people have low tolerance for change and after making a change, fail to continue to monitor and act when new inefficiencies are found. For example, most recruiters use LinkedIn, and this led to a large change in working processes. However, LinkedIns functionality has evolved over time, and features which were available free are now only available on premium accounts. As a result, agencies that have paid for premium accounts tend to enjoy better results on LinkedIn than those who only have free accounts. There is clear scope for improvement here, but many agencies are blinded by history: LinkedIn worked for them in the past, so they fail to acknowledge the need for further change. Where to Do Innovation: One of the greatest risks of innovation is change for changes sake. Change can go wrong, particularly if the change isnt well suited to the business. Innovation needs to be targeted, which requires detailed analysis of the business. It may seem an obvious point, but any strategic choice involves trade-offs. What is your business model? Contingency, RPO, contract-only, permanent-only? Choosing to be a contract-only agency, for example, will limit future options and set the context for ongoing change. What are your processes? Does your company scale through human growth, or technological growth? These (and many more) are the questions to ask. Once you have a strong understanding of your company, you can plan where best to focus your efforts. An agency I know is led by an ex-software developer, and as a result they choose to focus their innovation efforts on building bespoke tools to automate and improve candidate searches. Whilst incremental innovation is typically employee-driven, sen ior management can help by creating guiding strategies to focus innovative efforts where they will have the best effect. Conclusions The purpose of this post is to consider how established, small-to-medium agencies can make innovation play a key role in their businesses. A guiding framework to do this can be summed up as follows: Acknowledge that incremental innovation is very achievable Managers become facilitators of incremental changes Create a culture of empowered intrapreneurship Establish continuous improvement as a guiding philosophy Guide efforts to where they will have best effect. However, despite what gurus and consultancies claim, there is no one best way to change. Every company is unique, with different people, processes, histories and cultures. Using the guiding framework above can help agencies bring innovation into their culture, but how to do it is entirely contextual there is no silver bullet to change, and it requires commitment, hard work, introspection, and dedication.

Local Resume Writing - How to Write a Good One

Local Resume Writing - How to Write a Good OneMany people get confused when they start to think about what type of local resume writing will be the best option for them. The best way for them to get the information they need is by first determining what their needs are and then following a specific format. It's important to make sure you get it right the first time.The ideal approach to take when you're considering all things local is to begin by taking some time to get to know your prospective employer. From here, you can start narrowing down the list of individuals you want to contact, either by name or by location.One perfect example of this would be if you're seeking an accounting job in Madison, Wisconsin. What does this local resume writing look like? Well, for one thing, if you want to get more specific, you could state that you're looking for someone with experience in accounting.If you do this, then you could try to go for a local resume that includes a description of your d esired experience. Again, if you're looking for someone with accounting experience, you might include the words, 'Accounts Clerk.' If this is the case, you can probably get away with leaving out a few of the buzzwords, which is good because there are lots of terms out there that we don't use in everyday life that the company uses.This being said, if you do decide to use terms other than the ones you have listed above, you can still be safe, since you can still use your local resume as a guide. As long as you give the company your full name and where you live, you should be alright.When you're choosing how to approach the company to see if you get hired for a local resume, it can be beneficial to make your statement into something general. Whether you write about 'good writing skills'online marketing experience,' or 'Excellent customer service skills,' this will help to establish yourself as someone who is interested in doing the job.Regardless of the format you choose, one thing you 'll notice is that you'll find that some companies make it clear to new hires that you're looking for a local resume, and others do not. If the job posting mentions hiring locally, this is probably the approach you should take.Finally, before you go about writing your local resume, make sure you follow the guidelines outlined above, and see what results you have. Doing your research and gathering information, and then taking action is the best approach to take when looking to hire someone for a local resume writing project.

LinkedIn Profile 16-Point Checklist - Classy Career Girl

LinkedIn Profile 16-Point Checklist Theres a lot happening on LinkedIn, and if you are just getting started, it can be slightly overwhelming. Thats why here at CCG we have put together a LinkedIn Profile checklist to help you get started on the right track. The truth is, your dream career is probably waiting for you on LinkedIn and there are so many opportunities people arent taking advantage of because they just dont know how. Here is our 16-Point Checklist for your LinkedIn Profile: General Requirements: 1. You have over 100 connections. 2. You have a professional photo. 3. Your profile has a keyword strategy in place. You have a unique LinkedIn Profile  URL in place. Headline: 4. You have a benefit-oriented headline that grabs attention. Summary: 5. Your summary includes an overview of your skills, talents, and how you can add value to a company. 6. Your summary includes previously quantified results at other companies, with numbers whenever possible. 7. Your summary includes how you can be reached. You have one piece of media in your summary. Experience: 8. You have two pieces of media such as relevant videos, images, presentations or articles quoting you in your experience section. 9. Your experience includes results, numbers, and accomplishments (Challenge, Actions, and Results) in your experience section. Social Proof: 10. You have at least three recommendations. You have been endorsed at least 15 times. Networking: 11. You are a member of at least 25 groups. 12. You post relevant articles and tips on your profile at least once per week. 13. You follow at least five companies you are interested in. 14. You message at least one person you know and at least one person you don’t know on LinkedIn each week. 15. Every month you introduce two new people in your network. 16. Comment on a post in at least one group once per week. [RELATED: What to do on LinkedIn after you set up your profile] Comment below with your LinkedIn Profile URL link so we can connect! Photo: Sheila Scarborough

How to Prepare Your Social Media for a Job Search

How to Prepare Your Social Media for a Job Search If you are ready to begin the search for a great job, chances are you have a lot on your mind! You have to get your resume up to date and impressive, create the perfect cover letter, find out who is hiring and prepare for those tough interview questions. Even though you’ve got a lot on your plate, don’t overlook management of your social media accounts. More and more potential employers are turning to social networks  to check up on prospective employees, and what you’ve got online could determine whether or not you land the job! Know where you can be found Sure, you have a Facebook account or a LinkedIn profile, but you might not be aware of everywhere you appear online. Maybe you signed up for a dating site a few years back and have forgotten all about it, or maybe a family member uploaded some crazy pictures of you at your last family reunion. While you certainly need to be concerned about the social networking sites you use on a regular basis, old profiles need to be addressed too. If you can’t remember every site you’ve ever signed up for (and who can?), try doing an online search of your name, any screen names and/or your email address. If you find your name attached to a profile or website that you’ve never heard of, email the webmaster of the site and ask them to remove you. You can almost bet that your potential employers are going to run a Google search on you, and you don’t want to lose out on an amazing job because you didn’t take the time to make sure there was nothing bad about you online â€" especially if you didn’t willingly sign up to the site! Keep pictures G-Rated When you upload a picture online, you are sending a message about who you are. Even if you delete that picture, it may have been saved by countless others, circulating the Internet unbeknownst to you. This is why you should always be careful about the pictures that you post, even if you’re celebrating because  youve  recently graduated from college. Avoid posting pictures in which you are scantily clad, obviously drinking alcohol or engaging in any illegal activities, and any pictures that you wouldn’t want your future boss to see â€" because chances are he or she will. Facebook has a tendency to change their privacy settings quite often, and most people don’t care to read the latest updates. The next time you log onto your Facebook page take a look at your privacy settings and make sure that your settings are private! If you don’t have anything nice to say… Chances are you don’t upload photos to Twitter like you do on Facebook, but you do have to watch what you say. Unlike Facebook, if your Twitter account is public anyone and everyone can see your tweets, regardless of whether or not they have their own account. If a potential employer sees you tweeted something inappropriate, illegal, politically incorrect, or anything else that could be deemed offensive they may not hire you. For example, if you’re a recent college grad who is applying for jobs, a potential employer isn’t going to be too pleased when they see a tweet where you talk about how you cheated your way through your Philosophy class, or how you “embellished” your resume a bit. Even if your Twitter account is protected, that doesn’t mean you’re in the clear. Many employers will request to follow potential employees on Twitter. Sure you’re free to deny their request, but that doesn’t send them the best impression of you! Don’t insults/diss past employers If you’ve ever been unfairly fired or just had a bad employment experience, it can feel very good to vent your feelings on your blog or through some other social media platform. However, potential employers are sure to find these kinds of tirades and it can make them worry that you’d do the same thing to them. Vent to a trusted friend (in private) instead. If you’re filling out a profile on a job search website and you’re trying to explain why you were “let go” from a previous position, be extremely careful not to sound angry or bitter toward the company, even if they did wrong you. Keep your explanations vague and political. Saying “The position was not the right fit for my personality” sounds much better than saying “My boss and I could never see eye to eye.” If all else fails… If the temptation to post pictures of yourself partying or to blog about how awful your last job was is too great to resist, then at least take control of your online escapades by keeping them anonymous. Use a separate email address or screen name for personal online activity and don’t mix it with your work name or email. Remember, though, that it’s best to resist if you can, because today’s savvy employers often have a way of finding what you don’t want them to find.

Why Include a Writing Resume Reference Page?

Why Include a Writing Resume Reference Page?Whether you are applying for a job or simply want to get yourself out there as a writer, the inclusion of a Writing Resume Reference Page is important. If you want to be hired for the job, it is always important to give relevant information on your resume.To get a good reference page, write the best possible summary about yourself, your company, and what you can do for them. You will need to include your experience and training and describe your skills and abilities that will help your prospective employer is impressed with you. A writing resume reference page can be an effective method of obtaining the information that you need.The world of employment has become more competitive and this is especially true in today's jobs market. Today's employment market is extremely competitive because employers require a lot of qualifications. Any sort of employee who doesn't have the experience and skill that an employer wants is going to be overlooked . It is important to get an interview, but it should be based on qualifications.When you apply for a job, whether online or by contacting the Human Resources department, it is important to know what it takes to get the job. The previous employer needs to be mentioned if the job you are applying for requires at least one year of work experience. There is no reason to rush into a job without knowing how much experience you need.Before you begin looking for jobs, make sure that you have your resume and cover letter. In most cases, people will receive an instant response when they send their resume by mail. A lot of resumes will be rejected due to improper wording or typos.If the application has been sent to a Human Resources department, such as a Human Resources department or a Human Resources employee, then you will want to get your resume on file with the employment review board so that you have it when they need it. While your resume might not be directly sent to the hiring manager, it still has a lot of value.The purpose of a writing resume reference page is to use your information and qualifications as a way to get a job interview. Make sure that the information you included is in line with the position that you are applying for. The information you provide should be based on actual skills and abilities.Employment References is easy to find online and you can get many choices from which to choose. Use these sites to make sure that the information that you provide will be useful to your potential employer. It is never too early to start looking for employment and remember that you are the only person who can make or break your chances of getting hired.

Job Search Resources for College Grads - CareerAlley

Job Search Resources for College Grads - CareerAlley We may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners. Finding your first job marks the beginning of your and, while youre probably just hoping you get a job, you should prepare for the long haul (working that is, not job search) and try to pick a job that suits you best. Finding a job right out of school is difficult these days. Not that many opportunities and too much competition. Seize the day and get a leg up on your competition. You should also take a look at The Four Legs of Job Search because you need to balance your search and ensure you dont focus on a narrow set of resources. For those that follow my blog, you will be familiar with the Job Search Marketing Toolkit. Your toolkit should include everything you need for your job search. This post focuses on tools for college grads and entry-level job searchers. Lots of stuff you will need to get your career going and find a job. Resumes: Powerful New Grad Resumes and Cover Letters: 10 Things They Have in Common A great article with lots of resources advice and links provided by Quintcareers, the ten tips offer advice on targeting your market and leveraging your college career experience. The page has additional related links on the left hand side of the page as well as some additional links at the bottom of the page. Student New Graduate Resume Answers This article, from 1st-writer.com, offers examples, how to make your resume look good (even though you dont have experience, what to include and so much more. On top of this, there are a bunch of related links for your use. Entry Level Resumes The first and most important thing you will need is a resume. Take your time with this as your ability to get your foot in the door is heavily dependent on the content and look and feel of your resume. There are so many choices these days. This resource, from Collegegrad.com, provides a list of links to help you get started (or to improve on what you already have). Cover Letters: Almost as important as your resume, cover letters help get you in the door. A bunch of resources. Cover Letter Checklist for College Grads From collegegrad.com, provides a short list for ensuring youve got it covered: Student Cover Letters Yes, it is a student resource site but is great for recent grads as well. Cover letters are key for getting your foot in the job search door. Job Search Resources: Experience Thousands of jobs! A good place to start, especially if you are looking for entry-level jobs. This is a job search engine that focuses on helping you build your career. Monster College This is Monster.coms college focused career site. Their tag line Its time to graduate into your career says it all. Top of the site has links for Entry Level Jobs, Internships, Career Advice, Hired 101 and so much more. Center page has links you will be interested in, such as Top 25 Cities for Finding Entry Level Jobs. Right hand side of the page has your basic search, a place to join and more. There are forums to join as well. Internmatch.com Find Your Focus is their tag line. Internships, Jobs, Resources and blog. 40 Job Hunting RSS Feeds for Recent College Graduates This is a list of resources from DegreeDirectory.org and includes the top job search sites, business sites, tech jobs and medical industry links. The page also has a list of related links on the left hand side of the page. Certainly worth adding these sites to your list (as well as the RSS feeds). Job Hunting for College Grads: A Survival Guide Nothing like good advice. This article, from CareerCast, provides some solid advice. We are always eager to hear from our readers. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or suggestions regarding CareerAlley content. Good luck in your search,Joey

Top Tips for Leveraging Your Smartphone for Your Job Search - Part 1 - CareerAlley

Top Tips for Leveraging Your Smartphone for Your Job Search - Part 1 - CareerAlley We may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners. Job search is often driven by time is of the essence (as in those who apply later in the process will not get an interview). For every job opening there are potentially thousands of individuals who are qualified. While the primary requirement is that you are a good fit for the job, it is only those qualified individuals who get their resume and application submitted within the first 100 responses that tend to get an interview (and ultimately, someone of this group will get the job). Knowledge is power and timing is everything. Waiting until you get home from work (or whatever activity is keeping you away from your computer) will most likely keep you from getting the job. So what can you to do to be prepared to send your resume from anywhere? Your Smartphone is the answer. Give yourself the tools to send your resume on the fly from your Smartphone. This is a three-part article focusing on the three basic tools you will need to manage your job search documents from your smartphone: Part 1 How to access the most recent copy of your resume, cover letter and other job search documents. Part 2 How to edit your documents from your smartphone should you need to add a little tweak at the last minute.Part 3 Smartphone apps that will let you attach your document(s) and email them from anywhere. This article assumes you have the basics: a smartphone and a WiFi or cellular connection. Part 1 How to Access Your Resume and Cover Letter from Anywhere: You will need a cloud storage account where you can save your documents. The good news is that there are quite a few free services (with limited storage unless you want to pay a fee) you can use to do this. Most of them will work across your various devices (desktop, smartphone and tablet). Ive listed a few of the services below (there are plenty more Ive not listed). There are a lot of similarities across these applications, so your decision about which one to use should be based on what works for you. Here goes. Dropbox Probably the best known cloud storage services (and one of the first to offer this service), Dropbox works across almost any operating system (smartphone and desktop). Setting up an account is easy, and once youve signed up, loaded the app on your smartphone and desktop, the rest is easy. On your desktop, Dropbox will look like another drive and it is simply a matter of saving or copying your documents to a Dropbox folder in your account. Dropbox is available for Android, iOS, Mac and Windows. From you smartphone, you can open your documents from within Dropbox or a number of editing apps (like Pages, Quickoffice, Evernote and more). Depending on your smartphone, you can also email your resume from within the app. More on editing apps and emailing your documents below. Google Drive You will need a Google account to use Google Drive (no different than any of the other services) and, like Dropbox and the others mentioned below, Google Drive will work across most desktop and smartphone operating systems. One advantage to Google Drive is that any documents you edited and saved using Google Docs are now saved in Google Drive. If you already use gmail or other Google services your account will be integrated. It is not as easy to email a document from within Google Drive as compared to Dropbox, but you can also open your documents in many of the popular editing apps (depending on your smartphone operating system) as well as create a new document. Box The basic functionality in Box is similar to Dropbox. You will be able to open a doc in a selection of applications on your smartphone or email the doc as well. You can use a web interface on your desktop to upload existing docs or to create new docs. Box starts you out with a higher free storage limit. You can create new documents in Word, Google Docs, Excel plus a few more on the web interface, although I did not see a way to edit docs on your smartphone from within the app (more on that in Part 2). Evernote Evernote is so much more than a cloud storage app. It is a way to capture and organize just about any piece of information. Evernote basic is free, however, if you want to be able to access documents without a cellular or wifi connection you will need to pay the annual fee. If you can get by with just accessing stuff when you have connectivity, the free version works just fine. Similar to the the other options above, you can open and edit your documents in a variety of applications. You can also email your document from within the app and, like the other options, there is a web interface, desktop version and smartphone version. While the other apps are primarily focused on cloud storage/access, Evernote extends well beyond that functionality and supports a variety of apps and uses. Other Choices There is (what seems like) an endless list of similar services. You can also take a look at SkyDrive (a Microsoft product) and SugarSync. Parts 2 and 3 will cover editing and emailing the documents youve saved to your favorite cloud storage app. One word of advice, should you feel the need to test emailing a document before reading Part 3, it is best to test the app and email the doc to yourself first. This way you can get comfortable with the functionality Career Tip of the Day:8 Tips for Printing Your Resume Professionally Suggested Reading:Job Hunting and Careers Guide Resume Online Marketing Book We are always eager to hear from our readers. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or suggestions regarding CareerAlley content. Good luck in your search,Joey Google+ what where job title, keywords or company city, state or zip jobs by What's next? Ready to take action? Choose the right tools to help you build your career. Looking for related topics? Find out how to identify and land your dream job. Subscribe and make meaningful progress on your career. It’s about time you focused on your career. Get Educated Contact Us Advertise Copyright 2020 CareerAlley. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy + Disclosure home popular resources subscribe search