It’s an exciting challenge to start a new job – especially if it’s your first experience of employment. There’s loads to remember and lots of people to get to know – and one of the most important people you’ll be meeting is your Human Resources manager, because their main aim is your welfare. You’re an…
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Top 15 Most Popular Blog Posts of 2011
In case you missed any of thse most popular posts on Undercover Recruiter, here they are for your reading enjoyment. Just like last year, the most popular topics are by far social networking, personal branding and interviewing. Our readers also like infographics which you will see featured in the list a few times. A huge…
There’s no question the software industry is growing by leaps and bounds, and with it comes a need for top software talent. As a result, the recruitment industry has grown dramatically, and over time, has come to require more complicated tools (from the likes of LinkedIn and more) that make it easier to track down candidates. Yet this evolution has become a double-edged sword, as it has created an industry plagued by non-technical “headhunters” who rely on “spray and pray” techniques to find the needles in the haystacks.
Sounds peachy right? Well, maybe not for one important side of this equation. Today’s technical talent is faced with a barrage of unsolicited, unpersonalized and poorly targeted emails that seems to be pissing them off. Some report up to 12 emails and voicemails a day, and others are even contacted through their work phones– all by headhunters they have never talked to, and seemingly don’t even take the time to look at their CV.
So while your company may be working with a recruiter, there’s a big question of whether they’re actually attracting or repelling the best talent, all while representing your company. There are however a few like Scott Ruthfield who do seem to get it, “Any success we’ve had recruiting in Seattle has come from building long-term relationships with candidates and companies, doing deep technical and culture-fit dives, and listening closely, not just talking.” The recruiters that seem to attract developers actually cultivate relationships, but they still need better technology because while today the divide between supply and demand is bad, tomorrow it will be worse.
With such a lack of efficiency, it’s not hard to imagine that the recruiting industry could even be largely displaced by 2020 by more effective means. “Social recruiting” is a hot topic today, and many companies focus on media channels such as twitter, facebook, hackathons and blogging. Perhaps more potent is another strategy in this vein where companies reward their employees for actively recruiting talent to their company through their own social channels. The idea that you could pay $3k to an employee for finding that candidate rather than $30k to a recruiter is not lost on companies today, nor is it lost on a few startups actively trying to create structure around this interaction. Not only is it more cost effective, it’s widely known that the best filter for candidates is existing developers, both for their technical and cultural analysis. The trend across the board appears to be that creating environments in which technical talent is actively engaged with the process.
My prediction is that as the signal to noise ratio recruiters and developers face will worsen, and their relationship will continue to degrade unless the talent discovery and targeting software evolves to become more effective. Tomorrow’s recruiting industry will be run by fewer, more efficient recruiters with a personalized touch and technical background. Their discovery and targeting will be powered not through algorithms processing stale information from passive candidates, but by services that talent actively engages with to indicate interest in problem spaces and companies. As for the recruiters sullying your company’s good name and ticking off the talent? They’ll be long gone. Maybe then our developers’ inboxes and phones will finally be safe.
Be sure to also check out Social Media in Recruitment – How Far is Too Far?
Manny Medina is the CEO of GroupTalent, a platform that matches employers and developers. Follow Manny on Twitter @GroupTalent.
Image credit Eneas
Most common words on British LinkedIn profiles? I’m thinking words like jolly good, smashing, spiffing, whippersnapper, old chap, balderdash, and tickety boo old bean. Not so I’m afraid, the British contingent on LinkedIn have succumbed to corporate buzzwords just like the rest of the world. LinkedIn now has 500 million members worldwide (20+ million of those in…
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Top 10 Android Apps for Your Job Search
On this blog we recently featured a brilliant post which highlighted iPhone apps that aid job seekers out there, this post highlights apps for the competing Android operating system!
Job seekers need every bit of help they can get to navigate today’s difficult job market. The economy is in the doldrums, and the employment landscape is extremely competitive. As you know the old days of grabbing the newspaper, looking up the “Help Wanted” or employment classified ads and simply placing a phone call to set up an appointment for a job interview are few and far between.
A modern-day search for employment involves a lot more than just scanning the job boards and submitting a resume. Potential employers, recruiters and human resources departments know exactly who they are looking for. They are looking for individuals who pay special attention to detail on their job search. Hiring managers can tell if a job applicant has done his or her homework about the company and the position they are applying for.
Tech-savvy job hunters already know that the Internet is a vast depot for job vacancies, yet there is no central job repository or clearly established protocol for conducting a job search. The job application process these days demands different strategies and plans of action. Some of the new paradigms that job seekers must adopt include online social networking and instant availability.
Thanks to the proliferation of Internet-connected smartphones, job seekers can now take their job search on the road and be immediately notified of the results their efforts are bringing. A smartphone powered by the Android mobile operating system can be transformed into a powerful job hunting device with the right applications. From resume writing tools to interview tips and from networking to organizing, the following Android apps will help you get the job you deserve:
1. LinkedIn
The premier online social networking platform for business professionals is an absolute must for all job hunters. LinkedIn is the only social network that truly connects employers and recruiters with job applicants. Hiring managers conducting a background search may want to spy your Facebook page, but serious employers will really consider the social worth you’ve amassed on LinkedIn.
2. Best Resume Tips
That old staple of the job search process, the resume, is still one of the most important factors when it comes to landing a job. Sticking to a single resume for all applications is not recommended; job seekers should keep different versions of their resume handy and be able to quickly modify them as needed. The Resume Tips app is a great pocket reference guide to remind resume writers not only about the golden rules, but also savvy tips and warnings.
3. Job Search by Indeed.com
The most widely downloaded job search app in the Android marketplace aggregates and organizes millions of job openings that can be searched intuitively.
4. Monster Job Search
Monster has been one of the premier Internet job boards since the early days of the dot-com revolution. The Monster Android app has many exclusive listings not found anywhere else, and it allows job seekers to instantly apply for a job with just a couple of screen taps.
5. LinkUp Job Search Engine
With so many applicants for each vacancy, several companies choose to keep their job openings on their own corporate websites instead of listing them on an Internet job board. LinkUp’s Job Search Engine allows users to search and apply for these discreetly posted openings by category, company, keyword, or location.
6. Evernote
This wonderful app is a favorite of journalists and researchers, but it has proven very useful for job hunters. Evernote records, categorizes and organizes everything, from notes to online clippings, and from audio recordings to photos and videos. Evernote is great for making post-interview notes and recording contact information.
7. ResumeMaker On-the-Go
Job seekers should never find themselves without resumes on their Android devices, but should that awkward moment ever arrive, ResumeMaker On-the-Go makes it simple to craft a spiffy resume directly on a smartphone.
8. ResumeBear
It seems like eons ago that employers used to send a polite note to job applicants that a resume had been received. The massive amount of resumes flying around in cyberspace these days has made that courtesy practically impossible, leaving job seekers in the dark about whether their resume has been viewed at all. ResumeBear is a tracking tool that sends a notification to Android users the moment that their resume is opened.
9. RealTweets Job Networking
Can you find a job in 140 characters or less? Many employers and hiring managers swear by Twitter’s lightning-fast message delivery and social networking functions. RealTweets Job Networking delivers job search-related tweets to Android devices in real-time.
10. Hire*a*Droid
All the major online job boards like SimplyHired, Indeed, CareerBuilder, and LinkUp can be searched at once with Hire-a-Droid. This nifty app channelizes all search queries into a clean, standard format. Users can submit their resumes right from within the app, and prior job queries can be saved so that familiar keywords such as “bilingual administrative assistant” can be turned into a job agent.
With so many apps to choose from, career success is right at the fingertips of Android users. Have we missed any other Android apps that can be helpful to job hunters? Please let us know!
Isaac Bullen is an Android user and probably one you could call a fan-boy, he currently works in digital marketing in the UK on behalf of a range of clients specialising in everything from healthcare news to fiduciary management. His spare time is consumed learning to cook, reading endless blogs on Google reader and cycling.
The other day, my colleague told me a crazy story about a candidate who was instructed to log into her Facebook account during an interview so the hiring manager could see it. Surprisingly, the candidate – in relaying her story to my colleague – seemed more concerned with whether or not she would be hired than she was with what many would consider an abuse of power and invasion of privacy.
The whole thing left me wondering: When it comes to using sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn for recruiting – what we call social recruiting – how far is too far?
With so many nuances, and so many (as yet) unwritten rules, how can recruiters best utilize social media to source quality candidates and assess whether they would be a good fit? Thankfully, there are some best practices emerging to help recruiters know when they’ve pushed the proverbial envelope too far – as happened with my colleague’s friend.
Beyond learning the hard way what works and what doesn’t, hiring professionals are discovering a new line of recruiting applications and tools designed to help them rise above the same old hashtag to better identify, connect with and place viable candidates.
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Live Happier by Doing What You Love
Discovering what you want to do in life is, for many people, a life-long pursuit. From the time you graduate college you start asking yourself what career would best suit your interests and skills, but often you choose something different than your instinctual response to that question, either out of necessity or concern for security.…
LinkedIn has over 135 million members internationally and the average household income of a LinkedIn user is over $100,000 annually! With just a little bit of effort you will see how the powerful social site can help you market your personal brand and your business far more than you imagined.
Our friends at MindFlash have enrolled you in a basic LinkedIn boot camp training to give you the fundamental tools necessary to use the site for all your business and personal marketing needs.
If you want to learn more about LinkedIn, check out our London based LinkedIn workshops.
It is a known fact that when it comes to employment, being hired is not always dependent on what you know but often times it’s who you know that can be your biggest asset. That’s why you always hear people talking about the importance of networking. LinkedIn is an excellent website created specifically for professional networking but some users just aren’t using it to its fullest potential.
In comparing your LinkedIn page to a sandwich your resume would be the bread and your profile page would be the meat. The bread might come first, but the meat is the star of the show. Try adding your LinkedIn profile link to the bottom of your resume and encourage potential employers to check it out when you submit a cover letter or get interviewed.
Your profile not only illustrates your experience but it also shows people you may have in common, provides a complete work history, links out to other things you’ve done, lists recommendations from former colleagues, and much more. Your LinkedIn page is your opportunity to expand your resume and get all of your great accomplishments that may not fit onto the resume.
Here are some tips to help beef up your LinkedIn profile and impress your future employer.