tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-334098092024-03-07T22:15:33.494-08:00RecruiterGuy - A Day In The Life of A Recruiting StrategistA blogger Recruiting change by thinking bigger one update at a time. Huge fan and practitioner of mobile marketing and social networking for recruitment.
Associate Director of Talent Attraction at AT&T and responsible for leading the social and digital recruiting strategies - yeah... it is a rockin' gig.RecruiterGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08831406797755016279noreply@blogger.comBlogger44125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33409809.post-79522726224908679042010-04-14T07:57:00.001-07:002010-04-14T07:57:53.250-07:00Postling Along...
<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><p>
<img width='176' vspace='3' src='http://www.postling.com/images/logo_header.png' hspace='3' height='68' border='0' alt='Postling!' align='right'/>So I've been watching the likes of <a href='http://recruiterguy.postling.com/'>Postling</a>, <a href='http://www.yiid.com/'>Yiid</a> and <a href='http://onlywire.com/'>Onlywire</a> since I started using <a href='http://ping.fm'>Ping.fm</a> quite some time ago. The beauty of being able to easily manage multiple social media profiles via a single site or tool is always appealing - especially if you've multiple platforms or very segmented audiences that you're addressing.</p>
<p>
Truth be told, I'd signed up for <a href='http://recruiterguy.postling.com/'>Postling</a> some time ago and ended up letting it fall off my radar until a friend and colleague asked if I'd seen it. Since his opinion and thoughtstream is one that I respect and he felt it was worth mentioning, I felt it most definatly warranted me putting it through a test run. Hey, I like to think I know a smart person when I see one!</p>
<p>
So throughout the remainder of April I'll be posting here and there through the <a href='http://recruiterguy.postling.com/'>Postling</a> tool. At present I have it set up to push blog posts through Blogger, Wordpress, Typepad, Tublr and Squarespace. I've also set it up to ping my Facebook and Twitter accounts with status updates. Handy? You bet. Effective? We'll see.</p>
<p>
One of the other things I'm interested in toying with a bit is the tracking features that <a href='http://recruiterguy.postling.com/'>Postling</a> offers. From the "Dashboard" I'll have a look at my most recently published comments and posts as well as the ability to filter just comments shot back at me. But the item that I'm really interested in is the Bit.ly tracking integration.</p>
<p>
So far my only complaint about <a href='http://recruiterguy.postling.com/'>Postling</a> is the lack of ease found in searching out topics within the community and that I haven't seen a mobile app come out just yet. But hey, I'm betting they're working on it.</p>
<p>
I'll pump these posts through manually to my blog as a Drupal CMS platform seems to be the only integration so far. What will also follow will be a more detailed review when I'm done playing.</p>
<p>
Additionally I'll likely hit <a href='http://onlywire.com/'>Onlywire</a> in the same fashion in May for anyone interested. For now though, I'm simply <a href='http://recruiterguy.postling.com/'>Postling</a> along one update at a time.</p>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">RecruiterGuy - www.recruiterguy.net</div>RecruiterGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08831406797755016279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33409809.post-36622189365088338552010-04-14T07:54:00.001-07:002010-04-14T07:54:27.883-07:00Postling Along...
<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><p>
<img width='176' vspace='3' src='http://www.postling.com/images/logo_header.png' hspace='3' height='68' border='0' alt='Postling!' align='right'/>So I've been watching the likes of <a href='http://recruiterguy.postling.com/'>Postling</a>, <a href='http://www.yiid.com/'>Yiid</a> and <a href='http://onlywire.com/'>Onlywire</a> since I started using <a href='http://ping.fm'>Ping.fm</a> quite some time ago. The beauty of being able to easily manage multiple social media profiles via a single site or tool is always appealing - especially if you've multiple platforms or very segmented audiences that you're addressing.</p>
<p>
Truth be told, I'd signed up for <a href='http://recruiterguy.postling.com/'>Postling</a> some time ago and ended up letting it fall off my radar until a friend and colleague asked if I'd seen it. Since his opinion and thoughtstream is one that I respect and he felt it was worth mentioning, I felt it most definatly warranted me putting it through a test run. Hey, I like to think I know a smart person when I see one!</p>
<p>
So throughout the remainder of April I'll be posting here and there through the <a href='http://recruiterguy.postling.com/'>Postling</a> tool. At present I have it set up to push blog posts through Blogger, Wordpress, Typepad, Tublr and Squarespace. I've also set it up to ping my Facebook and Twitter accounts with status updates. Handy? You bet. Effective? We'll see.</p>
<p>
One of the other things I'm interested in toying with a bit is the tracking features that <a href='http://recruiterguy.postling.com/'>Postling</a> offers. From the "Dashboard" I'll have a look at my most recently published comments and posts as well as the ability to filter just comments shot back at me. But the item that I'm really interested in is the Bit.ly tracking integration.</p>
<p>
So far my only complaint about <a href='http://recruiterguy.postling.com/'>Postling</a> is the lack of ease found in searching out topics within the community and that I haven't seen a mobile app come out just yet. But hey, I'm betting they're working on it.</p>
<p>
I'll pump these posts through manually to my blog as a Drupal CMS platform seems to be the only integration so far. What will also follow will be a more detailed review when I'm done playing.</p>
<p>
Additionally I'll likely hit <a href='http://onlywire.com/'>Onlywire</a> in the same fashion in May for anyone interested. For now though, I'm simply <a href='http://recruiterguy.postling.com/'>Postling</a> along one update at a time.</p>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">RecruiterGuy - www.recruiterguy.net</div>RecruiterGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08831406797755016279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33409809.post-20078366325535157622009-06-17T12:08:00.001-07:002009-06-17T12:08:26.115-07:00Mobile Marketing | Social Recruiting Summit 2009 #socialrecruitingCheck out this SlideShare Presentation - my presentation and partnership with Michael Marlatt about mobile marketing and recruitment at the Google hosted Social Recruiting Summit 2009<div style="width:425px;text-align:left" id="__ss_1597816"><a style="font:14px Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;display:block;margin:12px 0 3px 0;text-decoration:underline;" href="http://www.slideshare.net/RecruiterGuy/mobile-recruiting-social-recruiting-summit-2009?type=presentation" title="Mobile Marketing | Social Recruiting Summit 2009 #socialrecruiting">Mobile Marketing | Social Recruiting Summit 2009 #socialrecruiting</a><object style="margin:0px" width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=mobilerecruitingsocialrecruitingsummit2009-v6-16-090617102206-phpapp01&stripped_title=mobile-recruiting-social-recruiting-summit-2009" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"/><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"/><embed src="http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=mobilerecruitingsocialrecruitingsummit2009-v6-16-090617102206-phpapp01&stripped_title=mobile-recruiting-social-recruiting-summit-2009" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><div style="font-size:11px;font-family:tahoma,arial;height:26px;padding-top:2px;">View more <a style="text-decoration:underline;" href="http://www.slideshare.net/">Microsoft Word documents</a> from <a style="text-decoration:underline;" href="http://www.slideshare.net/RecruiterGuy">Chris Hoyt</a>.</div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">RecruiterGuy - www.recruiterguy.net</div>RecruiterGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08831406797755016279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33409809.post-30435736805999524472008-09-02T10:49:00.000-07:002008-09-02T10:49:25.580-07:00Official Google Blog: A fresh take on the browser<p><a href="http://www.google.com/googlebooks/chrome/" target="_blank" title="Google Chrome Comic Release" mce_href="http://www.google.com/googlebooks/chrome/"><img src="http://www.recruiterguy.net/images/google.png" mce_src="http://www.recruiterguy.net/images/google.png" alt="Google says, Go!!" title="Google says, Go!!" vspace="3" width="200" align="right" border="0" height="236" hspace="3" /></a>The day has arrived where Google has announced what some of us have been -hoping- suspecting was on the horizon... It's move into the browser business. While I'm a fan of <a href="http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/" target="_blank" title="FireFox" mce_href="http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/">FireFox</a> and am enjoying watching what AT&T will do with <a href="http://www.pogobrowser.com/demo.html" target="_blank" title="AT&T's Pogo Browser" mce_href="http://www.pogobrowser.com/demo.html">Pogo</a>, I'm intrigued by this announcement and what it might mean for internet users everywhere. Welcome to the browser game it's newest player, <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/fresh-take-on-browser.html" target="_blank" title="Chrome" mce_href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/fresh-take-on-browser.html">Chrome</a>.</p>Get the rest of this blog entry over at <a href="http://www.recruiterguy.net/index.php/recruiterguy-blog/Chrome-will-be-Gold-for-networking....html">http://blog.recruiterguy.net</a>.<br />Get the official Google Blog release here:<br /><a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/fresh-take-on-browser.html">Official Google Blog: A fresh take on the browser</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">RecruiterGuy - www.recruiterguy.net</div>RecruiterGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08831406797755016279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33409809.post-79939230706324096102008-06-04T11:56:00.001-07:002008-06-04T11:56:24.328-07:00On the phone with friend from Toronto - I miss Canada a bit, I think.<div class="blogger-post-footer">RecruiterGuy - www.recruiterguy.net</div>RecruiterGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08831406797755016279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33409809.post-76696142619566682592008-03-18T06:00:00.000-07:002008-03-18T06:01:30.733-07:00Where is RecruiterGuy?Some of you have messaged me asking where updates are... Just so ya' know - RecruiterGuy posts are primarily made here: <a href="http://www.recruiterguy.net/">www.RecruiterGuy.net</a><br /><br />Thanks!<div class="blogger-post-footer">RecruiterGuy - www.recruiterguy.net</div>RecruiterGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08831406797755016279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33409809.post-45771985233649853322008-02-24T20:05:00.000-08:002008-02-29T20:06:36.299-08:00Nothing is Permanent Except Change...<p>One of my favorite quotes about change comes from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heraclitus" title="wikipedia: Heraclitus" rel="nofollow" target="wikipedia"><span style="color:#ff0000;">Heraclitus</span></a> who said, <em>"Nothing is permanent except change."</em> (of course don't get me started on why he's one of my favorites.) The scenarios that this famous quote can be applied to are, of course, limitless. So I'll do my best to stay focused in regards to my point.</p><p>I'm a fan of change. To be completely honest I've had more than one occasion where I'll have a project (both personal and professional) only half completed but will already have in my back pocket a lengthy list of what needs to happen in it's 3rd revision. Is this productive? I'm not sure - but it's certainly not boring. How do I combat this in arenas where I have unwaivering timelines? I simply make it a point to surround myself with people that balance my racing mind and hunger for updates with strong detail driven minds and an almost OCD'ish drive to complete things. </p><p>About a month ago I got a wild itch to begin a new blogging project that, to be honest, wasn't even completely laid out in my head. What you now see over at www.recruiterguy.net is the 'in progress' result. I've changed direction (surprise!) a few times but feel that it's at least got enough meat to throw up and play with while live. Some folks that I've spoken to felt that I should have waited to publish the site until it was 100% complete. I thought about this for a few days and decided against it - what if one of you dear readers posts or submits and idea that comes to you while seeing something on here that is in development... It would have gone otherwise without mention and we certainly can't have that. Then again, there is always the notion that a living blog such as this will never be 100% complete. Officially, anyhow. </p><p>So simply speaking to my new blogging/networking toy - I'm working on it. And as with anything else I touch, feedback is always welcome. Here is a list of just a few things I've incorporated over the last few days - keep in mind, these items may not be here in a week...</p><ul><li>Audio feeds for all blog entries (working toward W3 on this)</li><li>Ties with various social network identities</li><li>Strong Google Tools Integration</li><li>Dynamic blogrolling</li><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia" title="wikipedia: Wikipedia" rel="nofollow" target="wikipedia"><span style="color:#ff0000;">Wikipedia</span></a> Integration</li><li>Photoblogging component</li></ul><p>I know these don't seem like much in bullets like that - but I've a specific direction I'm heading and these were vital to get set up first. Sure I'm obsessive with change - but I do have some ideas that have to be mapped out, ya' know. </p><div class="blogger-post-footer">RecruiterGuy - www.recruiterguy.net</div>RecruiterGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08831406797755016279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33409809.post-47910709301261558932008-02-11T06:05:00.000-08:002008-02-11T06:13:30.351-08:00How to have a great blog?Over the last few weeks I've had some questions (both online and in person) about blogging. Questions that were simply related to how to get a blog off the ground or to get some readership generated.<br /><br />Let's be clear before I go any further, though... I'm in round 3 of my blogging experience that has been going pretty strong since 2001. I've changed domains and topics and interests and even online names. In fact, of all the blogging I've done, this is the first round where I share my real name and location, etc. (an interesting challenge might be to see who can find me under my old nics...) <br /><br />So if you know me in person, you know that I've been blogging long before I became the unofficial official <a href="http://www.recruiterguy.net/">RecruiterGuy</a>. Either way - to answer a few questions that I've been asked recently about blogging I thought I'd just share some wisdom from <a href="http://clearblogging.com/">Bob Walsh</a>.<br /><br /><blockquote><strong>Be Thankful<br /></strong>When you find that someone has referred to one<br />of your posts and start seeing traffic from that link, drop them a thank you email.<br /><strong>Be Interested<br /></strong>Show an interest in the people who are writing about your blog.<br /><strong>Be Respectful<br /></strong>Give credit when someone else's post sparks your creativity.<br /><strong>Be Helpful<br /></strong>If you see a wanton typo or broken link on a post, drop the<br />blogger a short friendly email pointing it out...Don't trash those who made mistakes on your blog - we all live in glass houses.<br /><strong>Be Organized<br /></strong>It's easy to lsoe contact with people in the blogosphere.<br />Make the effor tto keep their contact informatino handy and to keep in touch with them.</blockquote><br />Bob maintains some interesting blogging and authored a great book, "<em><a href="http://clearblogging.com/">clear blogging</a></em>" that has tons of great info for beginner bloggers and certainly isn't short on quick and easy lessons on how to get started blogging.<br /><br />Of course, I'm always working on a few of these pointers myself as I collect my own content from around the blogosphere and reorganize it here but... you get the idea.<br />Thanks for the great addition to anyone's library, Bob!<div class="blogger-post-footer">RecruiterGuy - www.recruiterguy.net</div>RecruiterGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08831406797755016279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33409809.post-86638528282548279272008-02-08T07:19:00.000-08:002008-02-08T07:23:49.233-08:00One Ring To Connect Them All...Well it's no secret that I'm in love with social networking. It's definately no secret that I'm so addicted to the social networks and blogosphers that even my dogs have their own 'myspace-ish' page over at Dogster. (which incidentally led to Sci-Fi's new "relationship")<br /><br />A friends list on any social network can be a powerful tool or a powerful waste of time depending on how it's managed. Let's look at two quick examples; MySpace and LinkedIn. Now granted these are very different social spheres but I'm keeping it simple. (I'm still only on my 2nd cup of coffee!)<br /><br />On MySpace we see that the majority of people networking there are networking for personal enjoyment. Yes, there are many marketing aspects to many of the people posting there, but the large majority of the people on MySpace are 'myspacing' because it's all about personal time.<br />So the friend requests fly quick and accumulate and stack up and become pages and pages of faces on each persons profile. You'll even find contests to see who can have the most friends.<br />Of course there isn't anything wrong with this, it is 'social' networking, and it's supposed to be fun.<br /><br />Then we take a look at LinkedIn and we see a different type of networking. We see a site that revolves around your career and what you're willing to share about your resume. Once again we know that there are the exceptions to the rule here but it's easy to see how this network is different by the lack of neon backgrounds and dancing animations or blaring music on every page load. (not that there is anything wrong with seeing 400 dancing squirrels singing about peanut butter and jelly as a background of a webpage - you know who you are.)<br /><br />What happens when we start treating our social network sites that are created for a niche as though they all are the same network? What happens to the credibility of our LinkedIn network when we suddenly add our 400 MySpace friends? Does LinkedIn lose it's effectiveness or does it's power become extended?<br /><br />I use many different blogs and network sites - and I recognize that each is created with a particular niche in mind. My LinkedIn network, for instance, is closely guarded. If I've 100 connections it's because I've met them all or am following them closely online or in the news and hope to meet with them or network with them in the future. So someone I've not heard of won't get an acceptance to me if it's generic by request and I don't recognize them.<br /><br />Fast forward to a future 5 years from now where everyone has adopted 'power invites' for network sites. Perhaps a single social networking site will exist that lets us 'tag' or 'catagorize' our contacts so that we can quickly send messages along the lines of IM's to our professional circle and a 'poke' to our college buddies or even an 'announcement' about hot tickets on sale to the local garage band. Maybe each page is completely customized on both the account owner (what they show - giang background images, strobing music videos, etc.) and the visitor (what they care to see - no loud music, no customized format)<br />Interesting idea.... and I'm certainly undecided on if I think it's a good direction. But the pros and cons are most definately debatable.<br /><br />Until then I'm left to wonder how those 'power invites' are working out for people - unless they're just using them for one-way communication or self promotion and have missed the definition of 'networking' I'm challenged to understand the benefit.<br />It's downright soul-less, IMHO.<div class="blogger-post-footer">RecruiterGuy - www.recruiterguy.net</div>RecruiterGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08831406797755016279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33409809.post-87176797608637852752008-02-03T17:36:00.000-08:002008-02-03T18:27:46.285-08:00Google Fan? Straight Up...I received a few emails this week from blog readers asking where my old blog went... the one that was color coded like <a href="http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=&q=at%26t+recruiterguy&btnG=Google+Search">Google</a> (gosh, was it?)... the one that had the <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=recruiterguy+blogging&btnG=Search">Google</a> language links... the one that even linked to a few <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=recruiterguy&sll=37.020098,-91.230469&sspn=72.481569,85.078125&ie=UTF8&mrt=kmlkmz">Google maps</a>.<br /><br />The answer to that question is easy - I've been working on a new one. It will be ready soon and will have a neat surprise for those of you that surf a few of the different channels I'm always on.<br /><br />But the other question in most of those (I say "most" - there were only 7) was WHY I'm so in love with <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=recruiterguy+social+networks&btnG=Search">Google</a>. Okay.... I'll answer this by asking - Who isn't?<br /><br />Alas, I know this isn't really an answer. So let me enlighten my friends with why I love Google so much.<br />So here are a few reasons that just pop into my head because I use them mainly for work nearly every single day. Yes, I said <span style="font-weight: bold;">EVERY</span>.<br /><ul><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Razor Sharp search technology</span><br />Whether it's simply searches you're conducting or something much more complex, Google does it. Everyone knows about AND, OR, INCLUDE and EXCLUDE. But very few are aware of DATE:, FILETYPE:, INFO, and one of my favorites, SITE:<br />Example: site:www.recruiterguy.net will return results only from www.recruiterguy.net<br />Example: filetype:doc will bring back results that are in MS Word format.<br />Example: date:3 will bring back results that are dated within the previous 3 months.<br />All very useful to a recruiter, eh?<br /></li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Power Searching for Images</span> (face recognition!)<br />What a great way to find elusive Album Art for downloaded music! Uh... I mean... what a great way to find album art... uhm... nevermind.<br /></li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Blog Searches</span><br />Quickly search the entire blogosphere for information based on the keywords you enter. Looking for that blog by that crazy cat, RecruiterGuy, but can't remember where it was on the www? Just do a quick search via <a href="http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch?hl=en&safe=off&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tab=wb&q=recruiterguy+at%26t&btnG=Search+Blogs">Google </a><a href="http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch?hl=en&safe=off&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tab=wb&q=recruiterguy+at%26t&btnG=Search+Blogs">blogsearch</a> to get a whole list of where he's hanging out.<br /></li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Traveler Searches</span><br />Sure, I know how to check the weather to help me decide if I need to bring my golf clubs on a lengthy recruiting trip but... did you know I can also check my flight status and get departure times and any issues that could be causing delay?<br /></li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Maps!</span><br />Oh... the maps. This feature alone is it's own post... nay, it's own page. I've just found a creative new way to track my running using the maps. An example of <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=recruiterguy&sll=37.020098,-91.230469&sspn=72.481569,85.078125&ie=UTF8&mrt=kmlkmz">RecruiterGuy's Google Maps</a>.<br /></li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">GoogleTalk</span><br />Another great communication tool from <a href="http://www.recruiterguy.net/">Google</a>. I average about 4 conversations a week from job seekers or recruiters looking to join our team. (and my daughter sends me quick updates when I'm on the road.)<br /></li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">NewsGroups</span><br />Sure, usenet paved the way back in the late 70's but Google's tweaking the future. Of course, truth be told - Usenet postings from the early 80's can be found archived in the Google Groups. Showing off? Yeah, probably a little.<br /></li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Picasa</span><br />Image editing made super simple. Even upon installation this great little app scans your entire computer for all images - and makes them available with just a few clicks for edits and uploads to an entire online album that, yes, it also starts and hosts for you.<br />Did I mention that it makes movies from your images?<br /></li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Blogger</span><br />Okay - yeah, it's just an easy blogging tool that is really user friendly. But as mentioned just above - Picasa effortlessly transfers images straight to your blog.<br /></li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Analytics</span><br />In depth tracking tool for multiple sites. You need only stick in some quick html before the [/body] tag of your templates and off you go. Of course, it's still got a little ways to go as it's not so friendly with MySpace and other social sites... but it'll get there, I think.</li></ul>I could literally go on and on and on... but I'll spare you. <a href="http://www.twitter.com/therecruiterguy">Google</a> is literally something that I, as a recruiter, use every single day. I can't imagine having to work through a day without being able to quickly map a location, get directions, source a resume, or search the blogs and newsgroups over morning coffee.<div class="blogger-post-footer">RecruiterGuy - www.recruiterguy.net</div>RecruiterGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08831406797755016279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33409809.post-60071163615378703632008-01-29T04:28:00.000-08:002008-02-03T18:28:51.358-08:00Strong... Recruiter Strong.I don't know how else to describe it. I'm running on very little sleep because I've got so much going through my head at night that my brain just won't rest. But I'm not tired.<br />I'd venture to say that I got about 3 hours of sleep last night... with a combined 9 hours over the weekend - but I'm not dragging.<br /><br />I'm excited about this years <a href="http://www.recruiterguy.net/">recruiting</a>.<br />I'm excited about this years <a href="http://recruiterguy.wordpress.com/">recruiting</a> team!<br />I'm very excited about all of the great things we're able to do this year in terms of reaching out and touching job seekers directly as opposed to just waiting for job seekers to find us.<br /><br />My team is almost full as I've just made my final decision on who will fill our California <a href="http://www.myspace.com/attjobs">Recruiting</a> slot and am working on the final details for our Detroit <a href="http://www.facebook.com/people/Chris_Hoyt/645377035">Recruiting</a> opening.<br /><br />The best part about being short staffed? (okay, really the ONLY good part...) It's making the offer to fill it.<br />Most of us that love <a href="http://twitter.com/therecruiterguy">Recruiting</a> usually love <a href="http://www.recruiterguy.net/">Recruiting</a> for several different reasons. I don't know any Recruiters that love what they do for any single reason. But I also don't know any Recruiter that doesn't absolutely love the part of their job when a person is visually or audibly excited when we extend a job offer.<br /><br />There's nothing like being part of a forward thinking <a href="http://www.last.fm/user/RecruiterGuy/">Recruiting</a> team in a forward thinking company. It's exciting to add to a person to that team that is as hungry and motivated as the other members.<br /><br />So today... I'm Recruiter Strong.<br />100mph - and missing nothing... except maybe some coffee.<div class="blogger-post-footer">RecruiterGuy - www.recruiterguy.net</div>RecruiterGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08831406797755016279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33409809.post-32433360593938578002008-01-19T18:15:00.000-08:002008-02-03T18:29:29.460-08:00Hiring Event -> COMPLETE!We've just finished the AT&T Hiring Event here in El Paso for the Senior Consultant Sales Jobs and are pleased to announced that we were able to conduct nearly <strong>50 job interviews on the spot</strong> with interested and prescreen qualified El Paso job seekers!<br /><br />One of the best parts about being a <a href="http://www.recruiterguy.net/">recruiter for AT&T</a> is getting to go into the field and meet the people that apply for our jobs at <a href="http://www.att.jobs/">www.att.jobs</a>. Getting to shake their hands and talk to them, see a smiling face, and answer questions in person - all great fun!Of course, conducting job interviews is also one of my favorite things... but it takes a back seat to the job offers. Nothing is better than offering someone a job after they've gone through the sometimes strenuous hiring process.<br /><br />This is one recruiter that loves field work... almost as much as the 'e' side of his job.<br />Mucho thanks to everyone that came out today and for all of the "Hey <a href="http://www.recruiterguy.net/">RecruiterGuy</a>" emails I've received this week. I'm here in El Paso for the remainder of the weekend and then I'm off to Oakland, CA to interview some people to fill a position on my team.<br />Will <a href="http://www.recruiterguy.net/">RecruiterGuy</a> go to Mexico tomorrow?... Hmmmm.... only pictures will tell.<div class="blogger-post-footer">RecruiterGuy - www.recruiterguy.net</div>RecruiterGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08831406797755016279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33409809.post-55790752052784942712008-01-18T18:13:00.000-08:002008-02-03T18:30:06.948-08:00RecruiterGuy Checking In!Just a quick blog to say that we're on day 3 of our <a href="http://www.recruiterguy.net/">AT&T Recruiting</a> Road trip and still in El <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Paso</span> looking for Senior Consultants to interview at Saturday's big event. We'll be out at the 1575 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Resler</span> location and hoping to see lots of people that are interested in joining the teams in our fast-paced call center.<br /><br />I've taken quite a few pictures since we've been on the road and am working to get them all updated. I'm using the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">BlackBerry</span> to snap them all so some are obviously going to be much better than others. Of course, I've found that using the blackberry to quickly upload them to my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Facebook</span> page is infinitely easier than using <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Picassa</span>. Either that or I just haven't figured out how to take full advantage of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Picassa</span> yet.<br /><br />We've just wrapped up a terrific meeting with the team at the Fort Bliss offices where soldiers and military families go to look for work in the El <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Paso</span> area. It was terrific to see that they had <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">flyers</span> of our <a href="http://www.att.jobs/">AT&T Hiring Event </a>posted in their office and that they were getting some attention from those going by.<br /><br />Being a veteran myself, it's always great to find myself partnering with military organizations. I'm really looking forward to our turnout tomorrow and hoping that I see some referrals from our Fort Bliss relationship.<div class="blogger-post-footer">RecruiterGuy - www.recruiterguy.net</div>RecruiterGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08831406797755016279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33409809.post-831813646179773082008-01-14T13:43:00.000-08:002008-02-03T18:30:42.707-08:00Just waiting to fly...Sitting at gate B7 in Detroit...<br />I'm surprised with the amount of work I've managed to get completed today - of course, this includes the job offer that is to be extended in the morning. That's right... the competition was stiff - but the job has been filled.<br /><br />Pending acceptance, I've managed to finally fill the Detroit <a href="http://www.recruiterguy.net/">Recruiter</a> position - hey, don't laugh, the competition was tough! I'm excited about what this means to our team as we've some terrific opportunities around the country and this additional resource will help us communicate them to everyone.<br /><br />The plane has just pulled in to the gate and to be honest, this <a href="http://www.recruiterguy.net/">RecruiterGuy</a> is pretty beat. I'll have some work to catch up with on the flight home as well as a minimum 3 mile run I promised a very good friend of mine today when I get back.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.recruiterguy.net/">RecruiterGuy</a>, signing off after a productive day on the road!<div class="blogger-post-footer">RecruiterGuy - www.recruiterguy.net</div>RecruiterGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08831406797755016279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33409809.post-13943941490616684762008-01-13T19:03:00.000-08:002008-12-09T08:49:47.514-08:00Dinner with RecruiterGuy...<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" style="margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; clear: both; float: right; width: 192px; height: 144px;" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_uj8dKJHDF6A/R4rRFwFmwWI/AAAAAAAAACs/jlIZLN-7o3w/s320/recruiterguy_dinner.jpg" border="0" />Ahhh, the glamour of recruiting. :-)<br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> So I'm sitting here in my office (at home) catching up on weekend emails and deciding how to organize the blogs and social network efforts for the next two weeks - and I notice the dinner that I 'plonked' down in front of myself...<br /><br />It would seem that I got so wrapped up in answering quick inquiries about job locations, duties, and of course the spots I've available on my team, that I forgot to grab a bite to eat. Now those of you that know me, know that this is NOT my usual motes operandi. I'm big on quality of life and keeping personal life and health up front.<br /><br />Now normally I wouldn't have thought twice about the following - but over the course of the last 30 days or so, I've had a number of people tell me that my job sounds like something that most would kill for. That my work and the recruiters on my team get to be involved in so many different markets and projects and travel and and and and... that ANYONE would kill for the job.<br /><br />Okay, this is flattering - and does fall in line with that romantic idea that most have of 'recruiting'.. but it should be clear that while there are the occasional perks and fun locations to go to... most nights are no more exciting than a bowl of Chicken Spaghetti and a domestic beer.<br />So as I closed out a few emails and got ready to get some nourishment into my body, I got a chuckle out of what lay in front of me - so yeah, I took a snapshot of it....<br /><br />Love my job? Absolutely!<br />Passionate about it? Of course! Why else would I be checking emails and working calls to 5 different states and potential job seekers between Girl Scout Cookie Sales and Honey-do's throughout my Sunday?<br /><br />Glamorous? Nope.<br />Awesome? Yep.<br />For everyone? Ha!</span></p> <div style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" alt="Posted by Picasa" style="border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">RecruiterGuy - www.recruiterguy.net</div>RecruiterGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08831406797755016279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33409809.post-48924657993535188432008-01-01T18:43:00.000-08:002008-01-01T19:23:19.266-08:00New Year... New Recruiter?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mentaltwist.com/imagestorage/recruiterguy.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 150px;" src="http://mentaltwist.com/imagestorage/recruiterguy.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a href="http://www.recruiterguy.net/" target="_blank">RecruiterGuy</a> here... I thought long and hard about what my first blog post of the year would be. I thought long and hard about what direction I would take with blogging and micro-blogging and audio-blogging and yes - even video blogging this year.<br /><br />And I said to myself, "<a href="http://www.recruiterguy.net/" target="_blank">RecruiterGuy</a>," (that's what I call myself) "Don't kick off your New Year blogging with a long and verbose promise about how you'll blog this year. Don't simply post all the job titles that you'll be hiring for, all the locations that you'll be working in, and the usual verbiage about the benefits and competitive wages. Nay, <a href="http://www.recruiterguy.net/" target="_blank">RecruiterGuy</a>," (still talking to myself here, right?)<br /><br />"Keep it real this year. Post, dear self, about what everyone else is dreading.. denying.. even neglecting. Post about your resolutions for 2008!"<br /><br />So here they are... RecruiterGuy's professional and personal New Year resolutions for 2008.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">RECRUITERGUY'S RESOLUTIONS</span><br /><ul><li>Every Sunday - Call a different friend or family member, just to talk. (when you run out - just cycle through the list... or go make new friends to bug each 7th day of the week.)</li><li>Treat my body as well as I treat <a href="http://mentaltwist.com/imagestorage/recruiterguy-car.jpg" target="_blank">my classic sports car</a>. Example: Better fuel in equals better performance.</li><li>Perform 150 weight/strength training sessions and 150 cardio/misc. sessions by end of year.<br /></li><li>Make an attempt to speak my wife's primary and secondary <a href="http://www.fivelovelanguages.com/learn.html" target="_blank">love language</a> every day.</li><li>Have a minimum of 52 "<a href="http://www.askevelyn.com/family_game_night.htm" target="_blank">Game Nights</a>" with my daughters.</li><li>Take my guitar playing seriously.<br /></li><li>Take FULL advantage of <a href="http://labs.google.com/" target="_blank">Google</a> and <a href="http://www.office2007.com/">MS Office</a> and <a href="http://www.blackberry.com/" target="_blank">Blackberry</a> software to simplify and organize my life.</li><li>Get my music library in tip-top shape.</li><li><a href="http://www.recruiterguy.net/" target="_blank">Blog</a> once a day.</li></ul>Okay - so for better or worse, there they are. I've been thinking about them for a few months, err.. weeks.... okay! I just gave them some serious thought last night! GEEZ!<br />Regardless - these are goals that I think are attainable. These are items that over the last year I made enough comments to myself about that they stood out enough in my 11:45pm note scribbling frenzy to get some resolutions documented. (Because if you make them AFTER 12am on 1/1 they don't count, right?)<br /><br />So here we go. Into 2008. I am <a href="http://www.recruiterguy.net/" target="_blank">RecruiterGuy</a> 2.0!<div class="blogger-post-footer">RecruiterGuy - www.recruiterguy.net</div>RecruiterGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08831406797755016279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33409809.post-66015194215331194582007-04-02T21:03:00.000-07:002008-01-14T21:05:14.417-08:00Your Resume and the Fruit FlyFrom time to time I'll speak to groups about how to work on their resume. Lord knows I've seen enough to recognize a good one - at least in format, right? ;) Here are some of my quick tips on how to keep your resume in tip-top shape:<br /><br /><strong>The Attention Span of a Fruit Fly</strong><br />You typically only have 10-20 seconds of a Recruiter or Hiring Managers time.<br />It's not fair - but it's true.<br /><br />Keep it short and sweet - customize that resume if you know what job you're trying to be considered for. Translation: Don't give a generic resume that doesn't focus on your incredible accomplishments as a Rocket Scientist to the folks at NASA.<br /><ol><br /> <li><strong>Diversity & Organizations</strong><br />If it's nothing else it's a buzzword!<br /><blockquote>"Job seekers should pride themselves in sharing information about their diverse affiliations and community involvement with potential employers. Sharing this information helps to demonstrate leadership and a commitment to the communities in which they live," Granville says, <a href="http://www.diversityinc.com/" title="DiversityInc.com" target="_blank">DiversityInc.com</a>.</blockquote><br /></li><br /> <li><strong>Get Current and have options for your electronic resumes – At least in your format!</strong><br />MS Word, .TXT, even HTML = Go<br />PDF = No-Go<br /><br /><o p=""></o></li><br /> <li><strong>Everyone Likes an Action Movie!</strong><br />Both employers and search engines scan documents for key words and phrases that describe a candidate's skills and abilities. Don't worry about repetition as long as it is not gratuitous.<span> </span>Start sentences or bullets with words such as <strong>founded</strong>, designed, <strong>organized</strong>, completed, <strong>implemented</strong>, created or <strong>built</strong>.</li><br /> <li><strong>Your Honor, I have proof!</strong><br />To move your career to the next level, your resume should read like an argument with supportive evidence. "I am good at X because I have experience in Y and Z."</li><br /> <li><strong>Kill the fluff</strong><br />Kill items that don't identify the direct impact you made for the company.<br />"References available upon request." Can go away - we all know you have them and if we want them, we'll simply ask you</li><br /></ol><div class="blogger-post-footer">RecruiterGuy - www.recruiterguy.net</div>RecruiterGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08831406797755016279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33409809.post-91356587088134363362007-03-30T21:01:00.000-07:002008-01-14T21:02:50.448-08:00Wait! There is hope!!Okay - this must be why we do it.<br /><br />AWESOME job fair held at a small community college just outside of the same metroplex where Job-Fair-of-Lacklusterness was held earlier in the week. We had people lined up and waiting for our team with great questions and what seemed to be an honest interest in getting onboard as quickly as possible.<br /><br />And let's talk about the appearance of the job seekers today...<br />I could count the pairs of sneakers I saw on one hand. We spoke to professionally dressed students as well as local adults (it was open to the public) that had come in during their lunch hour. Each person that approached the booth was polite, articulate, and patient. Most notable - no one ran by the booth and tried to swipe a handful of giveaways without anyone noticing... at least that I noticed. :)<br /><br />In addition, it wasn't just the job seekers at this event that impressed me. What was really a hit was the level of networking that took place by the employers that were present. I swear, it felt like it was a room full of Recruiters rather than some folks in the office that drew the short stick and were told to sit at a table all day at the local CC.<br /><br />Refreshing indeed.<div class="blogger-post-footer">RecruiterGuy - www.recruiterguy.net</div>RecruiterGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08831406797755016279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33409809.post-43406178592534383072007-03-28T21:00:00.000-07:002008-01-14T21:01:28.652-08:00Another Lack-luster Job Fair...Why do we do it? Why do we (recruiters and staffing professionals) continue to drag our collateral, tablecloths, job fair booths, and pamphlets or flyers to job fairs?<br /><br />I suppose it's because we hope that they'll start to make a comeback. I guess we think that if we stick it out, those BabyBoomers that are getting ready to plummet from the workforce will hit the fairs in search of new work as they enjoy their retirement checks or scramble to make up for lost income they didn't think they'd miss.<br /><br />NEWSFLASH: The trend continues. General job fairs just aren't generating the leads that they used to.<br /><br />Yesterday's job fair was one that I have attended in the past in numerous cities around the country over the years. Sadly, this event was in a large metroplex area but generated no more than 150 job seekers that were just cruisin' on through. The media had been saturated, the markets and niches all touched - yet the trend of less response each go around seems to continue.<br /><br /><em>Note to self: </em>Get more active in virtual job fairs.<br /><em>Note to job seekers:</em> Get more active in virtual job fairs so RecruiterGuy can find you.<div class="blogger-post-footer">RecruiterGuy - www.recruiterguy.net</div>RecruiterGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08831406797755016279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33409809.post-80774951333789997772007-03-23T20:58:00.000-07:002008-01-14T21:00:08.941-08:00Team Builder or People Watcher?What a week!<br /><br />I've had meetings to help arrange for recruiting assistance for local hiring from teams all over the country. With some open house events coming up in just a few weeks, I'm usually pretty excited when I've the opportunity to pull teams together that don't usually get to see one another.<br /><br />Is it because it's just good to see those team members from time to time? Well, yeah - we've some terrific people on our teams. But that's not the main reason.<br />Is it because I'm just excited to help people accrue enough frequent reward miles to send their entire extended family to Disneyland at the end of the year? Nah, not really - but that's always nice.<br />Could it be the amazing relationship that is formed at the fun happy hours afterwards? Hmmm... okay - no, but that's definitely right up there.<br /><br />I'll tell you what it is (because I know you're just dying to know!) I really enjoy pulling different teams together and experiencing the interaction and the differences.<br /><br />Of course, this goes much deeper than the differences in personalities, local cultures, and processes and practices - I always enjoy watching staffing people and recruiters interact with job seekers that are from a different part of the world or country. There is an interesting buzz when you've company representatives from California, Illinois, and Connecticut all talking to job seekers from South Texas. They dynamic, while subtle, is always interesting. The job seeker's reactions to strong Eastern or Northern accents, the interviewer's adjustment to completely different speech patterns or speeds, etc.<br />Again - subtle. But interesting and fun to be engaged in.<br /><br />So rapidly approaches the next big event to get some large scale hiring done. Next week is all about preparing media and getting the word out - of course, that's always fun too.<div class="blogger-post-footer">RecruiterGuy - www.recruiterguy.net</div>RecruiterGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08831406797755016279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33409809.post-56850763730521991922007-03-21T20:56:00.000-07:002008-01-14T20:57:06.860-08:00Web2.0 - Web3.0 - Web3.doh!Well in case you've been living in a cave, Web2.0 (at least the version numbering of the Internet) began about 2 years ago. I'm not too sure about the person taking the fame of numbering the Internet, but it has obviously caught on - and is advancing.<br /><br />While we've seen one of my favorite-to-read guys Seth Godin announce that he has already envisioned Web4.x where we sacrifice 90% of our privacy for a completely plugged-in, interactive and networked existance - I'm not ready to bite just yet. His vision of the future of the Internet truly puts the "web" in www.<br /><br />Don't get me wrong, however. I see tons of value in a job seeker doing a career search online and instantly knowing which of his personal contacts have already worked or interviewed for said employer. A quick PM or e-mail and you've got some skinny on that company or vague job posting that otherwise could have cost you valuable time in updating your resume or a day at work to go interview.<br />But at what cost? Privacy be damned?<br /><br />Online networking tools continue to thrive and show value - especially in the world of recruiting. While I'm still toying with the clumsy, cluttered, and awkward interface of the virtual reality program Second Life (when I've nothing else to do - <em>which reminds me, if you've seen Second Life, you've GOT to check out First Life</em>) I still find greater nuggets of recruiting goodness in LinkedIn. Of course, I'm not the type of recruiter that is adding anyone that simply sends a request.<br /><br />My LinkedIn profile and network is sacred and not just an extended contact list for me. I think smart use of LinkedIn and similar networks is a strong step forward to Web3.0. And in my humble opinion - those in a race to simply add everyone to their network that a LinkedIn toolbar suggests or that are looking to simply have the largest network to spam (yeah, I said it) are just steering us toward a WebX.doh.<div class="blogger-post-footer">RecruiterGuy - www.recruiterguy.net</div>RecruiterGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08831406797755016279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33409809.post-84399877494864067392007-03-14T20:55:00.000-07:002008-01-14T20:56:11.035-08:00THAT's What I'm Talkin' About!Whenever I place an ad in a paper, I try and make sure that it's going to be easy to understand in whatever market or niche I'm publishing. If I'm running an ad for bilingual jobs, I might place my ad in both English and Spanish. If I'm looking for strictly Polish speaking workers I may put media in place within the Polish community that is just presented in Polish.<br /><br />Why should my blog be any different? So in an effort to broaden my scope a little bit (and just to see if I could get it working) I've taken advantage of yet another great tool that Google provides - language translation.<br />You'll see the new addition on the right of the blog and find that it will not only translate the content of the page you are viewing but will continue to translate for you as you navigate throughout and the site and beyond. Not that you'd want to leave this blog anyhow, right?<br /><br />Right?<div class="blogger-post-footer">RecruiterGuy - www.recruiterguy.net</div>RecruiterGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08831406797755016279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33409809.post-12249120167175475202007-03-12T20:54:00.000-07:002008-01-14T20:55:12.389-08:00Job Fairs... Still Worth It?I remember back in the day when I would go to a job fair and gladly write the check or hand over the credit card and not even flinch at the 4 digit sum I was paying. Of course, this was because I knew I was going to run in to many, if not tons, of people that came actually looking for work.<br /><br />You know the type - dressed in a suit (and on the rare occasion they weren't it was because they raced from their current job to get there) with a fresh resume in hand. Current contact information on the resume included more than one number to reach them and if it had an email address it wan't one that revealed something a little to personal about them. <em>(WhipsAndChips@ and ThickIndaBooty@ are still two of my personal favorites to have come across my desk in the last 5 years.)</em><br /><br />I recently attended a few major job fairs hosted by some pretty major career boards. One or two may have even been <strong>monster</strong>ous while a few others were <strong>career builders</strong> for those on the hunt for employment....<br />Most were in different markets from one another and at each I was searching for various ranges of skills and experience - so this isn't an isolated issue.<br /><br />Sadly, one thing was a simple guarantee at each event. In my humble opinion I'm just not getting the <em>"bang for my buck"</em> that I used to.<br />Now I'm not saying that I expect everyone to show up in a suit nowadays, but something other than worn out sneakers and a wrinkled t-shirt might tell me you're serious. Heck, if you've been hit by a wrinkle grenade on your way to the event, would it be so hard to clean up a bit?<br /><br />And don't get me wrong - there are still job seekers out there that are taking the fairs and expos seriously, but they seem to be the minority.<br /><br />While at an event in Chicago less than a week ago I found that there was a wonderful caliber of candidate on average, but just didn't have the volume of job seekers I'd have liked to have seen for the dollars I paid.<br /><br />I think I'm leaning toward the growing opinion that some of the companies throwing the career fairs are just a little to proud of thier name and just a little to used to recruiters paying whatever is asked and not thinking twice. I just don't see the justification in some of the larger job boards out there charging upwards of $3,000 for a 6 foot table and then <em>maybe</em> getting 500 heads to walk through.<br /><br />This year (and man, it's been a busy one so far!) is the year of niche events and my own orchestration of events, I think. And though I said I was giving it some hard consideration last year, barring any exceptions, I truly think I'm done with the larger generic job fairs where I'm paying more than $2 per potential job seeker.<br /><br /><em><strong>I want my "bang for my buck" back! </strong></em><div class="blogger-post-footer">RecruiterGuy - www.recruiterguy.net</div>RecruiterGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08831406797755016279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33409809.post-74350268149693343142007-02-21T20:54:00.000-08:002008-01-14T20:54:29.030-08:00My Office Is Bugged!!So I'm on the phone with a peer in the industry and we're talking about finding people who will have passion about their work and passion about their company. This, of course, launched us into a debate about which is more important and - if at all - which creates or encourages the other.<br /><br />I'm of the belief that when someone that is passionate about what they do is matched with a company that is passioniate about supporting it's people that the end result is a driven employee that is passionate about thier company. Now granted there are lots of other issues here to look at in the larger scope of "passion" for people and company, but darned if a quick search for others opinions didn't find this recent post that is almost exactly part of my conversation with my peer...<br /><blockquote><a target="_blank" href="http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/2007/02/dont_ask_employ.html" title="HeadRush Blog"><em>Kathy Sierra said:</em><br /></a>People ask me, "How can I get our employees to be passionate <em>about the company?</em>" Wrong question. Passion for our employer, manager, current job? Irrelevant. Passion for our <em>profession</em> and the kind of work we do? Crucial. If I own company FOO, I don't need employees with a passion for FOO. I want those with a passion for the work they're doing. The company should behave just like a good user interface -- <em><strong>support people in doing what they're trying to do, and stay the hell out of their way.</strong></em> Applying the employer-as-UI model, the <em>best</em> company is one in which the employees are so engaged in their <em>work</em> that the company fades into the background.</blockquote><div class="blogger-post-footer">RecruiterGuy - www.recruiterguy.net</div>RecruiterGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08831406797755016279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33409809.post-47717665820449108682007-02-05T20:53:00.000-08:002008-01-14T20:53:16.978-08:00When Does Your Interview Start?I've just returned from a whirlwind tour around the country this week in an effort to do just about everything a recruiter is supposed to do. Today is, of course, the day that I get all of my paperwork and expenses in order from said trip. Included in my "administrative catch-up" today is to get a blog entry done. (JT - you reading this? Your emails reminding me that I haven't blogged are not without notice.) :)<br /><br />So on my trip I was lucky enough to encounter many interesting people. And as happens on any typical trip as a recruiter - we meet those that we'd love to hire, and those that we wish we'd never seen. Today, dear readers - I address those that we wish we'd never seen.<br /><br />I must wonder if job seekers realize when their job interview actually begins? Do they know that when they're speaking with a recruiter or representative of a company that the 'interview process' has actually already begun?<br /><br />Last week Joe Blow walked up to me as I was speaking to potential candidates and asked me some questions about a new job title I'm recruiting for. His first mistake - he was interrupting me while I was addressing another job seeker.<br /><br />Now because the particular title Joe is interested in is within the Customer Service arena, I've taken particular notice of his interpersonal skills displayed thus far.<br />To follow his interruption, Joe continues to tell me what a great candidate he is for the job and would like to know just how far back the background checks might go and what exactly we are looking for when we conduct them.<br /><br />When I give Joe the standard response to background check questions and assure him that not everyone is removed from consideration because of something on their record, he continues to pressure me to see how far back the check might go.<br /><br />"It's a standard background check, sir. I'm really not at liberty to speak in much detail about the amount of time it pulls from your history, but I can assure you that anything received is looked at on a case-by-case basis and you're not simply dismissed."<br />I tried to then steer the question toward his qualifications and interest in the job at hand.<br />"You can't legally check too far back, can you?" he asks.<br /><br />"I'm not aware of a limitation in regard to the length of time that can be addressed" I respond, "but we can talk about any concerns you may have with any thing that does result from the check."<br /><br />"You don't have a clue, do you?" Joe says. "You don't even know at all, I'll bet."<br /><br />"I assure you," I reply, "I'm aware of the process and procedures that we use to conduct our background checks."<br /><br />At this point, Joe has become a bit aggressive and hands me his resume and decides to move into his self-promoting sales pitch of what a wonderful fit he'd be for this customer facing job he's interested in. He says that he knows he's a bit rushed today but that he'll be great for the interview.<br /><br />I hope he's not waiting by the phone - in my mind, his interview is complete.<div class="blogger-post-footer">RecruiterGuy - www.recruiterguy.net</div>RecruiterGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08831406797755016279noreply@blogger.com