The New England territories of JobsInTheUS, JobsInME, JobsInNH, JobsInRI, JobsInMA, and JobsInVT, will continue to expand our network of business and trade association partners in 2009.
Through the successful JiUS Connects pilot program, affinity partnerships were formed with the NH Lodging and Restaurant Association, RI Hospitality Association, and the Greater Nashua Chamber of Commerce in 2008.
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An associate in the office yesterday mentioned that this was the Month That Won’t End. Boy was she right! For many of us who’s work calendars are tied to corporate 5-4-4 calendars, you know what I mean. For us, the year end was effectively last Friday, the 26th. This means that during one of the busiest family times of the year, we were all scrambling around to wrap up our month end and year end reports, and laying out the new table cloth as we set the table for 2009. Not the best week for the increased focus necessary to hit all our deadlines and make sure all i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed. But, as we do, we did it.
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Check out my guest post on Punk Rock HR: CLICK HERE TO VIEW
If you haven’t been there before, Punk Rock HR is a tremendous blog, hosted by Laurie Ruettimann, the creator of Human Resource Management Today at HRMToday.com, another terrific place for HR professionals to network, learn, and share!
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As I was entering the title for this blog, it occurred to me that this will likely be the first in an ongoing posting stream on this matter. As I deepen my research into social media and its value to employers, I will continue to share what I learn, dispell myths, and promote best practices. I had originally posted the following comments as a reply to a LinkedIn question about this topic. If you are LinkedIn, you can see that question here, and comment for yourself. Though I’d also prefer comments to this post, here.
One of our Rhode Island Outreach Consultants has been working closely with the Workforce Development Specialist at the RI Hospitality and Tourism Association to help connect employers and job seekers in that industry. Together, they’ve developed and delivered presentations at netWORKri offices across the state to job seekers focused on Transferring Skills to new careers.
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There’s a tremendous blog out there hosted by J. William Tincup called www.jpie.com. During the month of December, he has been profiling recruiting bloggers of the world, and today was my lucky day to be featured. It’s a brief segment about why I started the blog, why I keep doing it, and what’s coming in the future.
Have a look at: THE JASON BLAIS BLOG STORY on JPIE
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Disclaimer: For those that may be offended by scenes of gratuitous self promotion: please read no further as you may be exposed to content that you find offensive.
If you have a few minutes please help promote this blog by following these steps:
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I’ve been researching Skills Inventories and Skill Sets in relation to job functions for an upcoming seminar I’m developing. If you’d like to share your input on what I’m working on, please check out some more detail in this forum at HRM TODAY, the Social Network for Today’s HR Professional- free plug Laurie, no need to send money 
If you’re not familiar with this resource, take a look around, it’s a great place to peruse.
As more and more companies offer “free” job boards, develop new tools for job seekers, and rely more heavily on internet marketing, how are they competing and why?
For employers, a job board has no value without there being a large quantity of highly qualified job seekers willing to work in their industry and region. I’ve seen some of the slickest job boards out there, all the bells and whistles, promoting themselves as THE location to advertise XYZ jobs. The problem is that when you open the job board, all the jobs are located in one or two metro areas.
In 2003, a friend of mine had opened his own real estate office. He had worked for a national realtor for only two years, and was upset about the commission structure. Within 1 year, he had 26 agents working for him- more than any other office in the greater Portland area. The housing market was booming, as was the commercial market. In 2005, he invited me to get on board- get my license and start making real money. This time for the real estate market is very comparable to the job board market of 2006 and 2007.
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A friend sent me a link recently to a top 10 list for the top 10 Biggest Interview Killers for job seekers. The website provides all types of resources for job seekers and career changers, called JobChangeSecrets.com, http://www.jobchangesecrets.com.
You may be aware of some of these tips already, but taken in total, they do provide a very good overview of how to prepare for and succeed in an interview. I’d suggest it’s very much worth the read. I won’t give away all of the tips, out of respect for the author, bud did want to share one that I feel strongly about, one that our company, JobsInTheUS, often preaches to job seekers and employers:
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Okay job seekers, here’s the best kept secret in Digital Resumes: YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT THE RECRUITER IS GOING TO SEARCH FOR! Searching a resume database to find a candidate is often very similar to searching any other database- you enter a key word or phrase that you’re searching for, and the database spits out results that match your search. Sounds simple, right? While working in the field speaking with job seekers, I am continually amazed at how little direction is provided to them from “resume experts” on this extremely fundamental concept.
Last week I presented a webinar focused on Employment Branding to more than 150 companies through a great resource called GoToWebinar (free plug- it’s a great and easy to use web conferencing tool).
I also provided the same presentation to a group of HR professionals at the Seacoast Human Resource Association, SHRA, in Portsmouth, NH, a local chapter of SHRM.
I presented a webinar on October 16 on the topic of EMPLOYMENT BRANDING (which I’ll be presenting two more times this mont in-person with the NHLRA and with the Seacoast HR Association). Over 160 HR, Recruiting, and Hiring Professionals attended the webinar to learn more about the benefits of building and Employment Brand, the process of developing that brand, and some basics to analyze the brand penetration.
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Okay, so if you’ve read my recent posts, you’ve seen that my company hosted 4 career fairs last month- one each in ME, NH, RI, and AL. All were a success, if you count success as providing an opportunity for local businesses to meet face to face with job candidates. I am proud that we did them, and believe we offered a benefit to a great many job seekers and employers in the markets we serve.
That being said, I’m still rather dismayed about some of the attitudes and behaviors of the employers who say they’re looking for great talent, but do not engage job seekers and are not fully prepared for the occasion.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I really don’t fault any employers make the effort to be there. The problem, as I see it, is much more interwoven in our business culture. Rarely, if ever, are decision makers present at such events. That being the case, the entire value of the face to face meeting is watered down and almost completely lost. Also, in many cases, the people sent to staff the booths are fully informed on the skills and experiences required for the specific openings. Again, I don’t believe this is the fault of the people staffing the booths, or of the HR dept in general. It has merely become status quo… good enough.
And adding on to the discouragement for some of the job seekers (trust me, I heard from dozens directly, and hundreds through our survey forms, so I’m not making this stuff up- while the majority of attendees ranked the event very well, some of the higher level seekers felt disappointed by the occasion), is that once they do have a good conversation at this type of an event, they are sent home to fill out an application online.
My goodness!!! Let’s place decisions on the most fundamental pieces of a company in the hands of online resources! FOR REAL?! This sometimes seems like some type of Orwellian nightmare… Oh, yes, I liked you, and think you’d make a great candidate, but our computer will prescreen you and let us know if we should follow up.
I spoke with a company last year that really drove this point home for me. One of their long term employees moved out of state with her husband who was in the military. After 2 years, she returned to the area and tried to get her job back. It was mandatory for her to now go through an online application and screening resource administered by a third party. You know where I’m going with this… SHE FAILED TO GET THROUGH THE PRESCREEN! Her manager, who was relaying this story, was very clear that she was an excellent employee with a great track record and work ethic. Now, because the decisions about this 3rd party administrator are made at the corporate level, this manage CAN’T HIRE THE BEST PERSON, and has no recourse to circumvent the system.
Okay…so maybe its just early on a Tuesday morning… but that’s what I think I think!
You just gotta love the connective power of the internet. I recently exchanged thoughts regarding employment branding with a recruiter in India, through the LinkedIn space. While that in and of itself is pretty amazing to anyone over 30, who grew up in a world without the internet and cellular phones, it’s the content of our conversation that I thought was more interesting.
This recruiter had asked a question about how you find good talent to work for companies that don’t measure up to the industry standards in regards to things like employee benefits, compensation, appreciation, etc.
This is a question and challenge that I face daily. Even in India, this recruiter is able to get the employer to understand the theory behind building an employment brand, and how that affects their ability to attract top talent, though when it comes to implementation…. well, let’s just say the theory loses its importance and shine. I have spoken to many employers across New England about this very same issue, and have seen the very same wall put up when it comes time to actually create and develop the employment brand.
Ultimately, the idea that a company has to promote its strengths specific to the employment market in order to attract the right type of candidate is well accepted. Unfortunately, and somewhat surprising to me, most employers don’t put in the time and energy necessary to create, develop, and communicate this employment brand. While I can preach about the value of attracting better candidates- increased productivity, increased customer relations, decreased turnover costs, decreased customer service complaints, decreased employee dissatisfaction, decreased cost of employee retention programs (if you attract the right people, you don’t have to pay as much to keep them)-, I cannot FORCE employers to put branding up on the priority list, and assign the necessary resources to make it a reality.
To the recruiter from India’s point, how do you expect to get good talent if you don’t keep up with industry standards? Well, there actually is a way to do this. In fact, it’s as easy as understanding your own employee’s engagement to your company, understanding EXACTLY what kind of employee is best for your company, and communicating in the right spaces with the right message to reach the right people and motivate them to apply. If you don’t pay as well as other companies, but you have a very good mentoring or training program, you’re ideal candidate will be different from someone who has the best pay in the industry, with no real mentoring or training program.
What we see from many employers is that they don’t take the time to really assess the profile of their best potential candidates. It’s easy to go with the flow, and say you want someone with the best skill level, best education, and teamwork attitude. But is it true? Does your business need someone who works great in a group environment… or do you really need someone who can be left alone to get their job done reliably and without interruption? Do you need to attract people with the very best skill level… or would those people FEEL overqualified and uncomfortable in your milieu if they were hired- can you train those hard skills? Do you really want the person with the best education, or will that person disrupt the current environment in your workplace?
I always remind employers that the person they hire tomorrow will have to work with the people they employ today. That sounds elementary, but there is much more to consider in that statement than you might first think.
I’d love to hear your comments on how you identify the best candidates and attract them to hire, if you don’t offer the best salary or best benefits, etc. Click HERE to add a comment. Thanks for sharing!
If you’re in the majority of businesses out there, you handle most or all of your recruiting in-house- no recruiters or staffing agencies in your hip pocket… or wallet. That is, you write your own job postings or advertisements, you research and make your own media buys, and you handle the pre-screening and interview process. If your company attends career fairs, you and your team conceive the design for your displays and staff the booth in hopes of meeting your next great hire.
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