Ask The Recruiter

What companies are laying off?

Dakotta Alex — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 15:08:26 -0400

In the recent wake of layoffs and downsizing now is the perfect time to find those refined hard to find candidates. If you already aren't checking the popular layoff sites (which doesn't cover all the companies) try checking the WARN notifications posted on the state sites.

For Instance:
http://www.edd.ca.gov/Jobs_and_Training/Layoff_Services_WARN.htm#ListingofWARNNotices

Every state has formal notifications, check yours out today.

Other great resrouces:

* » ClickZ (Digital Marketing Jobs)

    * » CNET (Tech Layoffs)
    * » FuckedStartups (Startups)
    * » LayoffBlog.com
    * » Paper Cuts (Newspapers)
    * » Seattle Post-Intelligencer(Tech Layoffs)
    * » Telonu Layoff Tracker & News
    * » Vault.com
    * » Websites dedicated to layoffs/shutdowns
    * » Xconomy.com (Boston Tech)
    * » TheWired.com (Tech Layoffs)

* » AskTheRecruiter.com

Job Hunting Scams

Dakotta Alex — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 04:10:24 -0400

Job Hunting Scams

In Times of Peril, Don�??t Hide in a Carrel

Just the other day I was replying to some emails and I had one show up in my inbox titled �?? Program Manager. I opened it without a second thought as I frequently receive job leads to pass on and apply to interesting positions and sure enough I did apply for this position directly. As I was skimming the details of the email I received, it seemed like a great dot com to be with �??selling at the biggest online auction eBay.com since 1999, and earned thousands of honorable mentions from our customers�?? I thought wow, that�??s pretty darn impressive for an organization I should check out their site to see what else is out there �?� guess I should have read the rest of the email (I�??ll attach it below).

Reading further, I noticed they attached forms requesting my �??Passport, Drivers License, Phone bill or other document that proofs your identity Employment Agreement should be signed, scanned to this email (or faxed 646-4969187).�??

I immediately started doing searches on the company and course found nothing but scam warnings and no history of the company even in archive.org and saw the message �??We're sorry, access to http://www.aucstrade.com has been blocked by the site owner via robots.txt.�?? So much for being the biggest online seller.

Moral of the story, do research on the companies you send personal information to.
Do not give out personal information (SS #�??s, ID #�??s, etc.) to people simply requesting it for an interview. Although there is many legit job agencies that make you fill out an application �?? make sure you know whom you are signing your information out to.

In times of peril, don�??t hide in a carrel �?? if you are on an active job hunt make sure you do your research when submitting personal information. There are many scammers who are preying on individual�??s desperation seeking employment opportunities.

Microsoft has a great write up on this (http://www.microsoft.com/protect/yourself/personal/resume_us.mspx)

The email I received:
�??info@aucstrade.com to dakotta

Hello dakotta,

Thank you for the interest showed to our company. I was glad to consider your resume. We would like to offer you one of the open vacancies in our company.

Our company was founded 8 years ago. We pursue different types of internet-trading. Our company takes the leading position in the field of ecommerce.
We have been selling at the biggest online auction eBay.com since 1999, and earned thousands of honorable mentions from our customers.
Our head office is situated in Berlin, Germany, but we also have branch offices in Latvia, France and Russia.
Our company has official registration at Minnesota Secretary of State (USA), 11W-468.
The business is absolutely legal and it meets all standards and regulations established in USA for this kind of companies.
We work as an escrow company helping American and European sellers and customers to strike bargains safely.

Unfortunately, most of the vacancies are already occupied, since we did not expect such a huge interest to our company.
But at the moment we have a vacancy of project manager/professional representative. Time difference between Europe and USA makes it difficult
for us to stay constantly in touch with our American clients, and therefore we�??d like to hire a person in USA who would help us to communicate
with our customers and process their orders.

You�??ll be in charge of taking and analyzing our customers�?? orders for buying/selling goods at Ebay auction, giving advice by email and phone,
as well as organizing payments. At first you�??ll be given an assistant, who will give you instructions regarding your work and answer your questions.
After training you will be able to process orders on your own and work on your own projects.

This job does not require any investments or upfront fees on your side. Your salary will consist of fixed $2500 part and commission $100
from every payment received due your efforts. This is a part-time job, it will take just 10-15 hours a week,
therefore you can do it without quitting your main job. As an employee of our company you will have an access
to our training programs and seminars. First of all we believe in teamwork. We are sure that the highest results
can be achieved only by smooth cooperation of our team members.

Our requirements for this position are:
1. USA citizens ONLY;
2. Over 21 years old;
3. Fluent in English (spoken and written);
4. A PC user (MS Office, MS Windows), Internet and e-mail skills;
5. Ability to state clearly (compose detailed analytical documents);

Additional skills are welcomed:
Associates degree or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
1-2 years of previous experience in an administrative support function.
Excellent organizational and time management skills.
Excellent oral and written communication skills.
Must be able to compose and operate correspondence.
Excellent telephone manner; ability to answer phone calls.
Computer skills, preferably Excel, Word.

If our offer seems to be interesting for you and you consider yourself to be the person we are looking for, if you are willing
to pursue new occupancies please read the Employment Agreement I�??m sending you.
Necessary documents that should be filled:
1. Employment Agreement
2. Personal information form (PIF)
3. Proof of your existence: Passport, Drivers License, Phone bill or other document that proofs your identity
Employment Agreement should be signed, scanned to this email (or faxed 646-4969187).
Personal Information Form should be completed and sent to this email in MS Word format only.
Thank you for your interest in our offer. I hope that I gave you full information regarding the vacancy,
but if you have any questions, feel free to ask me. I�??ll try to send you the answers as soon as possible.
Also, you may take a look at our web-site www.aucstrade.com . Thank you and hope for a long-term relationship.

___________________________
Justin Davis, First Assistant�??

How to find diversity candidates on LinkedIn

Dakotta Alex — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 19:17:15 -0400

Multicultural, Diversity, Heterogeneity the 'catch all' phrase every employer strives to be. In doing my online searches, I was looking for a way to track down more candidates via social networks that would not normally go back to check their industry job boards. I mean let's face it, you could be part of a guild or association but would you think to check there often if there was not much employer activity on it? Probably not.

You could essentially end up joining all these organizations and paying annual dues to have access to all the names on the directory or post on diversity job boards and wait for candidates to come to you ?? or you could search for free via their affiliated organization names.

I did a few quick searches to see what I would find. To my surprise I found that quite a few people actually list the diversity associations they are affiliated with.

Being that I work for the Los Angeles Times in the Online Media sector presently here are a few searches I've done on linkedin to gather up some diverse names. Don?t forget you can add this to your Boolean searches too!

Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA), National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), Native American Journalists Association (NAJA), National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ),

happy hunting,

Dakotta

Finding Resumes with Social Networking on Social Networks

Dakotta Alex — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 17:33:58 -0400

Finding Resumes with Social Networking on Social Networks

Yes it's been a while since I posted, but be rest assured I have a lot of great content coming soon!

Currently Top 10 Social Networking Sites

(Source: Nielsen Online, ranked by Unique Audience, December 2007. U.S., Home and Work) - and Amy Beth's blog :)

MySpace (2007) 60,104,000 (2006) 55,256,000

Facebook (2007) 22,574,000 (2006) 13,110,000

Classmates Online (2007) 10,748,000 (2006) 11,406,000

Windows Live Spaces (2007) 8,856,000 (2006) 8,703,000

AOL Hometown (2007) 6,853,000 (2006) 9,032,000

Club Penguin (2007) 6,358,000 (2006) 2,688,000

LinkedIn (2007) 4,804,000 (2006) 2,072,000

Reunion.com (2007) 4,090,000 (2006) 4,327,000

AOL Community (2007) 4,069,000 (2006) 5,213,000

Flixster (2007) 3,097,000 (2006) 744,000

A few Sourcing tips from them:

Your most valuable sourcing method is Site: So ???..

For AOL Hometowns use the Site:hometown.aol.com

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=site%3Ahometown.aol.com+resume

Same for Windows Live: Site:spaces.live.com (add info

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=site%3Aspaces.Live.com+resume

LinkedIN: Site:linkedin.com

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=site%3Alinkedin.com+information+architect&spell=1

It is better if you build the string in altavista (advanced) as opposed to google.

Happy Hunting :)

Grokker.com A recruiters 2nd Best Friend

Dakotta Alex — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 20:17:11 -0400

Okay, so here is a tidbit about me. I have 10 best friends, yup 10 best friends. So you?re probably wondering how that works right? Well I happen to have SME?s (Subject Matter Experts) for various parts of my life (Professional, Spiritual, Family, Social, Shopping, Academic, Reality, Sports, Travel, and Sounding Board) but they all act as my ?general council?. It?s known ?Wisdom is from the Council of many ? Unknown? What does this have to do with Grokker.com? Everything!

Every recruiter generally has a primary resource (mine happens to be Google) and now Grokker is my 3^rd!

Grokker is amazing to say the least.

It Slices Web Pages, It Dices Content and ?.

? provides federated content access to libraries and enterprises, presenting results in topically organized visual formats that make it easier to conduct actionable research across broad fields.?

Translation:

In Grokker.com, type in ?java resume Los Angeles? without the quotes.

You can sort by Date and Domain which make it 10x simpler. This is where Shally comes in and makes a cheat sheet for us :)

Does google have a new contender?

MySpace Generation Meet Old Space Generation

Dakotta Alex — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 04:35:59 -0400

MySpace Generation Meet Old Space Generation

I was having a conversation with a friend of mine who just graduated from his MA program and we were discussing the ramifications one would have if exploiting oneself online via MySpace, FaceBook vs. LinkedIn or Xing.

Given facts:
Most of us know anything we email out is already non confidential and anything we post online is there for ever! Check out http://www.archive.org and pull up cache on almost any website by date.

So many precautions have been mentioned in many forums seesawing back and fourth why joining these non-professional groups was not worth professional suicide. But I must ask, is it worth social suicide? I don't think so and here's why?

Grant it, if you join these communities and divulge your entire life including how you painted the town red last night chances are you set yourself up for being blacklisted, but what's wrong with moderating yourself and limiting the amount of information? Besides, statistics show people like people with a little mystery! (Okay, I made that statistic up, but it's true in most cases).

My point here is this. Take a gander at the number of subscribers on these networks:

Subscribers:
LinkedIN: 12 million +
Myspace: 55 million +
facebook: 30 million +
Xing - 14.1 million +

Which generation do you think will be running those boardrooms in 20 years and will be searching for talent on these boards? Those social networkers! Could social networking be your main meal ticket into your next job? It's already starting to happen now, so why not?

On a second note, it wouldn't surprise me if MySpace and FaceBook developed a better job model than Monster.com in the next few years targeting future business leaders in school then reeling and hooking them on social searching.

Moral of the story: Be wary of the leaders of today, but be prepared for the leaders of tomorrow.

ORGanize your contacts - Org Chart your candidates and contacts

Dakotta Alex — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 05:54:26 -0400

ORGanize your contacts
Org Chart your candidates and contacts

With the launch of the new org chart builder on Forbes (http://orgchart.forbes.com/) it confirmed my practices of what I?ve been doing for years. Building org charts of the resumes I?ve sourced from competitors of my clients.

In a nutshell, normally recruiters go out grab a resume, add it to their ATS and call it good, sometimes they add the info to their CRM and do the general follow ups or now they just invite them to be connected via LinkedIN or Xing, 60secondNetworking, etc.

Why not org chart them?

I?m not saying to org everyone, but if you?re working for a client and you?re working within a specific niche industry or selective competitors why not datamine the web, jobs boards, social networking sites, references, forums and plug them into your masterminded web? It would not only help you cross reference departments but allow you to do deep cold calling and researching within orgs.

There are many large recruiting teams in organizations which already build maps of their competitors, so why not start your own today?

Check out www.cogmap.com/ or just google / yahoo ?free org chart software? and start building your own contacts into a map you can utilize in a new way.

Psychosocial Factors: Creating a Well-Balanced Work Environment

Dakotta Alex — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 04:14:50 -0400

Psychosocial Factors: Creating a Well-Balanced Work Environment

A study published by the Surgeon General of the United States in 1966 warned US companies and industries of the dangers in creating workplaces filled with stress and unpleasantness. The study reported that 13% of workers from different industries were showing signs of stress that was affecting their health and well-being. By 1993, over 40% percent of workers reported they were under too much stress (Galinsky, Bond and Friedman 1993).

Today, stress at the workplace has become an even bigger problem. Taking a closer look at the roll of employees, training procedures, productivity expectations, and the number of tasks employees are supposed to accomplish each day can help you pinpoint areas of improvement.

MORE THAN JUST UNHAPPY CO-WORKERS

The unhappiness of co-workers is the end result of being involved in stressful situations in the workplace. While a certain amount of stress is expected, levels that cause health issues such as hypertension, cardio vascular disease, weakened eye sight, poor circulation, and other problems are unacceptable.

Workplace stress can occur for many reasons including:

� Unrealistic expectations of workers

� Poor training programs

� Downsizing

� Poorly defined job roles

� Poor communication between departments

� Unidentified job goals

It is important to realize that stress can build over time until all people in the workplace are affected and influenced by it.

Common signs of increased stress at the workplace include:

� Sick time used more often by employees

� Projects not completed within a certain time frame

� Employees finding other jobs

� Body language of employees

� Number of employee complaints has risen

� Lack of participation in company events

Taking notice of these signs is the first step in identifying the problems. Measuring each of these factors by calculating days lost due to illness, interviewing managers, and conducting exit interviews will help you target specific issues that need to be addressed.

EFFECTS OF WORKPLACE STRESS

The effects of workplace stress can be varied ranging from boredom to serious health issues. Workplace stress can make people hostile toward each other, perform poorly on the job, become emotionally distant, physically ill or injured, and in many cases, cause them to lose their loyalty and confidence in the company.

Because stress is usually compounded by time, number of employees, and the nature of the work being done, it is best to know where the workplace stress is coming from. Stress can also come from employees? personal lives, financial issues, or being turned down for a promotion.

Measuring the effects of workplace stress along with the symptoms will give you a better idea of where problems within the workplace structure exist.

COMMON SOURCES OF WORKPLACE STRESS

After measuring possible reasons for increased stress and their effects in your workplace, the next step is to find out where the stress is coming from. A stressor is an environmental factor that causes stress. Most workplaces have a few stressors, but when these stressors become out of control or multiply, then you need to look at eliminating as many as possible. Stressors include:

� Training programs

� Work schedules (overnight shifts, overtime, spilt-shifts, longer shifts of 10+ hours, ect.)

� Time constraints

� Employee expectations vs. employee reward

� Management involvement

� Competitive workplace and threat of downsizing

Training Programs

If your company has been using the same training program for 675years, it may be time to look at it closely to see where improvements or changes can be made. Many training programs do not include latest technology or procedures used on the job.

Work Schedules

The number of hours employees work during the day, the time of the day they work, and the amount of time they have off can affect job performance, overall health, and stress. Cutting back on long workdays, or overtime may be needed in order for employees to be more productive.

Time Constraints

Employees that do not have enough time during the day to get all tasks completed will be under a huge amount of stress. Looking at what is expected and giving employees enough time to complete their tasks will reduce stress and lower the numbers of sick day?s employees take.

Employee Expectations vs. Employee Rewards

If employees do not feel appreciated for the work they do, they will stop caring about their job, which will cause workplace stress. Research the number of promotions given, the number of bonuses, and other rewards employees are given for their hard work and dedication.

Management Involvement

While some companies promote too much management, others do not supply enough. Having a better understanding of what employees need, the current system in place, and ways to alter management styles can help you make suggestions that will reduce stress and make employees feel more valued.

Competitive Workplace and Threat of Downsizing

Since many companies have downsized in the past, many employees are worried about their job security. This can cause intense competition and stress at the workplace. Reducing this type of stress can be difficult because your company may need to downsize at some point.

In your company, you may have to tackle many of these stressors in order to help employees become more healthy, energetic, and happy in their job. It is important to be as proactive as possible in order to make changes.

BENEFITS OF ADDRESSING WORKPLACE STRESS

The benefits of addressing workplace stress are numerous. Not only will you improve employee/employer relations, you will also help the company look more appealing to those you want to hire. Other benefits include:

� Fewer work days missed due to injury or illness

� Higher productivity

� Higher retention of top performers

� Fewer new hires to train

� Less expensive than paying for additional medical coverage

� Less risk of downsizing

� Attract more innovative and diverse employees to your company

In many cases, it is easier to reorganize work shifts, job tasks, training programs, and other stressors than to keep ignoring them.

Some companies introduce mental health programs, gyms, and on site medical care for employee use. While these programs may help reduce the symptoms of stress, they do not address the stressors at the workplace.

TACKLING FACTORS THAT CREATE WORKPLACE STRESS

Identifying the risks is your first step. Conduct employee surveys, interview managers, and calculate physical risks involved in performing certain job tasks (anything from ergonomic office equipment to safely equipment used when lifting, packing, and moving heavy objects).

After have identified areas the need improvement, you should:

� Determine if steps are currently being taken to fix issues

� Research past solutions and their results

� Determine what else needs to be done

� Measure your results

� Review changes as they occur and at different times during restructuring to see the results and if they are appropriate (conduct additional surveys)

� Prepare an assessment report and monitor new processes from time to time to make sure they are working

USING CURRENT PSYCHOSOCIAL FACTORS TO PREDICT NEW ONES

You can never predict what the outcome of change will be. New problems may arise after changes have been made which you will have to address. Preparing in advance by thoroughly researching the causes of stress and increased health issues at your company will make it easier for you to alter changes once they have been made.

All companies should assess their workplace environment at least twice a year in order to see where improvements can be made. Staying in contact with employees and managers can help you track changes and find areas that are in need of change in order to create a positive workplace environment.

Understanding and Applying HR - Recruiting Metrics

Dakotta Alex — Tue, 22 May 2007 13:48:23 -0400

Understanding and Applying HR - Recruiting Metrics

by: dakotta j.k. alex

If you are not currently using Hr recruiting metrics to measure new hire quality or hiring manager satisfaction, then you should begin doing so as this information could be very valuable in explaining changes that need to take place in the recruiting system or simply offer ways to make a good system even better.

While you do not have to implement all of these metrics at once, choose one or two that will help your recruiting system immediately and work from there. Over time, you can add more metrics until an entire measuring system has been created.

The Big Five

The five recruitment metrics used by recruiters are:

Recruiting Cost ratio (this includes staffing costs and new employee salaries over the year)
Recruiting efficiency

New hire performance
Hiring manager satisfaction
Employee starts (difference between date of offer and actual start date)

Metrics like these can be approached in different ways. Understanding how your company operates and the individuals within departments will help you conduct your research.

Even if you don?t incorporate all five metrics into your recruiting analysis, it is in your best interest to choose metrics that will be valuable. Improving the recruitment process will not only save money, it will also build your company?s reputation which will attract more qualified candidates, diversity, and innovative employees.

Recruiting Cost Ratio

The recruiting cost ratio is simply a number used to describe how much money HR spends on recruiting new employees. This is a simple calculation:

RCR = (Total Staffing Costs / Total Compensation Recruited) x 100*

Total staffing costs include recruiter travel, events, cost for job fairs, paperwork, supplies, recruiter salaries, bonus? offered to new hires, and any other expenses your department needs in order to function properly.

Total compensation recruited refers to new hire employee salaries or hourly wages for that year.

If you add these numbers and end up with a low percentage, then you are on the right track to becoming a more efficient department. If the percentage is higher than if should be, then you should look at where the department is spending money and the types of positions that were filled in order to justify costs or in order to find ways to cut costs in the future.

Recruiting Efficiency

This is another metric used to determine how efficient HR is about recruiting new hires and balancing expenses. After figuring out the recruiting cost ratio, you should subtract 1 from the percentage to figure out how efficient the department is.

Recruiting efficiency numbers should be high in order to be considered efficient.

Becoming more efficient may require hiring more employees during the year to justify costs, cutting costs by traveling less, or not participating in those job fairs that cost too much and yield little in respect to new hires. Tracking how people find your company is an excellent way to judge venues that are successful and those that are not.

These metrics may be good starting points if you haven?t been using metrics to measure the recruiting process so far. Understanding how much is being spent on recruiting and the success rates will give you a good idea on where improvements should be made.

New Hire Performance

When gauging new hire performance, it is important to be consistent and maintain a record of all new hires in each department. In order to do this, you will need assistance from the hiring manager.

Before implementing this metric, discuss grading systems with hiring managers and decide on a universal system. This can be a grading system or a point system. Make sure all managers understand the system and are willing to use it.

The best time to evaluate new hires is between 90 and 180 days after they started working for the company. By compiling new hire performance data, you will be able to see how well new hires adjust, if additional training is required, or if more information needs to be passed on to the new hire during the recruitment or orientation stages.

If you notice, for example, that large a number of new hires leave the company before their evaluation period is up, then you need to find out why they are leaving as this will effect the company?s reputation over time. There are many reasons when new employees leave:

� Incorrect information given during recruitment stage

� Inadequate training

� New hires not given the position they were originally hired for

� Policy changes implemented after new hire started

� Shift changes after new hire started

� Family/personal issues

These are all possibilities that will have to be investigated.

Tracking new hire performance will also give you perspective into the types of personalities that stay with the company and those that don?t. This may help when recruiting others.

Hiring Manager Satisfaction

Understanding what hiring managers expect from HR recruiting is important because it is up to recruiters and managers to help new hires adjust to their new positions. Grading recruiters on their efforts is a way to judge the recruitment process overall.

If a hiring manager is not familiar with the grading system used to determine overall satisfaction, you should inform all hiring managers the criteria used in rating satisfaction so each manager will be able to give accurate feedback.

You can help hiring managers in a variety of ways with feedback:

Create a questionnaire before implementing a manger feedback policy. Ask managers what they are looking for and what they expect. Use this information to discuss a grading system or other system that will provide accurate feedback.

Make sure all managers are on board before implementing this system.

Ask for new hire feedback by sending periodic questionnaires that include criteria chosen by you and the mangers. This will make giving feedback easier because managers already know what to expect on the questionnaire.

Use a simple grading system and spend a few minutes with hiring managers periodically interviewing them on the pros and cons of the current recruiting process.

While it is difficult to make all managers happy, you will be able to compare responses and see similarities which can be used to make changes to the current recruiting system.

Employee Starts

This refers to the time between signing a contract to the actual start date for new employees. The time between should be as short as possible, otherwise the cost of holding a position becomes very expensive. This time can be calculated very easily:

Time = (Actual Time to Start / Contracted Time to Start) x 100*

If the percentage ends up being over 100, then too much time is lapsing between contract signing and the first day of work. Monitoring this time can help make the recruiting process more efficient. By having a more accurate idea of start dates, recruiters will be able to manage their time and be able to interview more or less candidates, fill other positions while waiting for the ideal candidates, or be able to pursue other hiring venues.

Metrics in a Nutshell

Recruiting metrics can help make HR departments more efficient. It is important to not only gather data using metrics, it is also important to devise a plan using the data to create a better recruitment system. This may mean monitoring recruitment spending, time between hiring and actual start dates, and implementing changes based on hiring managers evaluations.

All in all, recruitment metrics were developed to help make the recruitment process as efficient as possible and enable companies to hire qualified candidates that could make a difference within a company.

*All calculations found on www.staffing.org

Why Does the Honeymoon End? (New Hire Evaluations)

Dakotta Alex — Mon, 14 May 2007 14:36:57 -0400

Creating and Implementing New Hire Evaluations

It can happen to any recruiter at any time, seasoned or new. Hiring an employee who turns out to be less than what you expected is a pitfall of the human resources field. When this happens, you will begin processing what has happened by asking yourself what went wrong in the recruiting process, how might a person who is less qualified slip through the cracks? Were they misleading? Did you miss important signs?

There are probably a few reasons why the wrong people get hired from time to time. But when this happens too often, you will have to implement new metrics to measure new hires, persuade managers to tell you what they are looking for in their employees, and use this information to avoid hiring those who may not be what your company is looking for in the future.

Benefits of New Hire Evaluations

It is surprising how few companies track the progress of new hires. According to an article published by HRMetrics.org, less than 20% of all companies evaluate new hires, which have decreased from 30% in 2003. While this task can be overwhelming at first, it provides a wealth of information you can use when recruiting, tracking employee progress, and evaluating recruitment methods. There are numerous benefits to tracking new hires. You will be able to track the following:

Time it takes for a new hire to become acclimated to their new position

Get a better understanding of what managers are looking for in new hires

Evaluate personality/work performance

Determine if new hires were given an honest depiction of what they would be doing

Gain a better understanding of the work environment

By gathering this data through questionnaires, interviews, and observation, you will be able to use the information when recruiting. For example, if a new hire was not given an accurate job description, then you will need to change this information is presented. This is a small fix that may prevent the hiring of those who are not qualified for a position.

When to Conduct New Hire Evaluations

This is perhaps the trickiest part of measuring new hire performance. You may need to ask managers how long they expect new hires to take until they are able to perform all duties required. This can be anywhere from 30 to 90 days. Companies that track new hires usually have a ninety day evaluation period. This is usually enough time for new hires to become comfortable in their new working environment.

There are many issues that can affect employee performance including:

Work environment
Managerial style
Work commute
Personal issues
Employee conflict

While you cannot control these issues from affecting employee performance, you can take them into consideration and try to not allow them to taint your research. Waiting longer than three months to perform a new hire evaluation will allow the work environment to affect your data. If the work environment is hostile and the new hire finds themselves isolated, their work will begin to suffer. It is unfair to judge the performance of the new hire when they are under additional stress.

Each new hire will go through a ?honeymoon? period where they are learning about the inner workings of the workplace, meeting people, and learning how to perform their jobs. Usually after a ninety-day period, employees have made a few friends, understand what is expected of them, and should be performing job duties effectively.

How to Conduct New Hire Evaluations

There are a few ways to conduct new hire evaluations. You can create a short questionnaire that managers have to fill out that basically state if the new hire is meeting the expectations of the department. Before sending the questionnaire, you should ask the manager to outline what they expect from their employees. This will give you a better idea of whether new hires are meeting them or not.

You can also create a list of criteria and ask managers to rate them in order from most to least importance. A sample list looks like this:

Goals
System compatibility
Capacity
Motivation
Knowledge and skills
Performance
Experience
Customer compatibility
Work group compatibility
Organization compatibility
Change/learning posture
Development areas

�HRMetrics.org

If the manager is considered difficult to work for by other employees, or you determine they are asking too much from their employees, you should proceed with the new hire evaluation questionnaire, but keep in mind that the evaluation is only one piece of information you should gather.

You should also send a questionnaire to the new hire. Ask them questions about their overall job satisfaction, if the job was different than what was explained in the recruitment process, how they are adjusting, and ask them to rate their performance.

Being able to hear from the manager and the new hire will give you a larger measurement of how the new hire is adapting to their position. You may need to schedule a follow-up interview with managers and new hires if you receive two different types of evaluations. Resolving these issues early will help create a more positive work environment.

When New Hire Evaluations Go Unanswered

If it inevitable that your emails asking for new hire evaluations will go unanswered from time to time by both managers and new hires. This can be for a variety of reasons that include workload, vacations, procrastination, or an emergency that needs to be handled. You should wait a week before sending a follow-up email. This is an acceptable amount of time.

Sending a follow-up email is very important. It shows that you are serious about your work and want to gauge how each employee is performing in a company. While you will have many other duties to perform, sending a follow-up email is important and will not take more than a few minutes.

You may have to visit the manager or new hire personally to see how the new hire is performing if you don?t receive a response from your email. Sometimes this approach is better for those who may have a lot to say or forget to respond to emails. Once you have worked with managers and others long enough, you will be able to judge how to approach them on these matters.

What to Do with the Information Gathered

Once you have gathered your information, add it to the new hire?s employee folder. If your company has procedures to follow concerning follow-up interviews, probationary notification, or additional training, you should follow the protocol. If the company does not have any of these procedures, you may want to ask what your next step is. Talk to a supervisor to determine the best course of action.

After you have performed a few new hire evaluations, take a look at the information gathered.

What does it say about the recruitment methods used?
How many new hires have left the company before their evaluation period was up?
What are the criteria managers use to evaluate new hires? Is it the same criteria you were given?
What are possible improvements that can be made in terms of recruiting?
What are some of the weaknesses in training that need to be addressed?
Are new hires happy?
What is the percentage of new hires that meet expectations and the percentage of those who are not?

This information can be used during the recruitment process in order to adequately provide a job description that can be used to determine who is qualified and who is not when a job opening becomes available. This will help prevent future hiring mistakes from happening.

Bringing inN0v8ive Thinkers into the Fold

Dakotta Alex — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 05:51:01 -0400

BRINGING INNOVATIVE THINKERS INTO THE FOLD

by: Dakotta J.K. Alex

If you noticed that a lot of the people you have been interviewing over the past few months or years for employment with your company have been, well, average, you may want to take a look at your screening metrics, interviewing procedures, and the company?s hiring philosophies. ?Innovative? is a buzz word in recruiting lately, but where are the ?innovative? people and why aren?t you interviewing them?

Altering Hiring Metrics

One of the reasons you may not be interviewing the candidates you want is because the hiring system you?re using may be outdated or unsuitable. You may need to look at what makes a candidate worthy of that phone interview or face-to-face meeting. While innovative candidates may not be suitable for all positions within a company, having a few criteria that are ?outside the norm? for judging potential employees will give you more leeway during the screening process.

Begin by going over your current hiring procedures and ways that you screen potential employees. Ask these questions:

Where can improvements be made?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the current hiring system?
How can the system be improved?
What types of candidates respond to the current hiring system?

After asking these questions, find ways to change or alter them in order to attract candidates that may have something new to offer your company.

Understanding the Innovative Candidate

There are many definitions for innovative people. They have been called brilliant, creative, off the cuff, and people who think outside the box. For many companies, hiring innovative people is a great idea, but when it comes time to interview and choose innovative candidates, many recruiters can?t tell the difference between innovative and inexperienced.

By defining what your company is looking for when hiring creative types, you will be able to make this distinction faster and easier. When going through a pile of resumes, you should:

Separate resumes that are unlike the standard resumes
Give resumes of those who are fresh from college a second glance to see if they have had experiences that match the job description
Carefully read personal statements to see what candidates write about themselves
Call references to learn more about candidates that seem interesting

Innovative candidates may have travelled more often than other candidates, may have won awards or interned with well known companies, may have worked for younger companies, or they may have other job experiences that are unusual.

Increasing Innovative Candidate Response

Candidates that have the ability to be creative, and can use problem solving and critical thinking skills are not going to be attracted to conservative companies that don?t appear to embrace new methodologies or taking on new projects. In your initial job description, you need to include the company?s need to hire those who ?think outside the box?. This will attract the types of candidates you will want to interview.

But it doesn?t stop with a job description. If you don?t mention that your company is looking for new voices or a fresh take on an old product in the interview, innovative candidates will walk. Even after you hire a candidate, you should mention how much the company embraces new ideas and change. Other ways to improve candidate response includes:

Expressing an appreciation for innovation in the workplace on the corporate web site
Cite past innovations your company has achieved or those who have worked for the company in postings and on the web site
Create ?brand recognition? for your company. This means writing about your company in a positive way, and speaking about how creative the company has been in handling certain situations, in development of new products, ect.
Mention innovative people who have made a difference in an industry or field and explain you are looking for similar people on the web page or job description

Determining if the Company Wants Change

As part of your recruiting metrics, you should determine if your company wants to hire more people who are creative and full of ideas. Ask management what they are looking for when filling vacant positions. In some cases, many in management may want a person who has fresh ideas, while others just want to maintain the status quo. While neither position is wrong, make sure you are on the same page with those who will be working with the new hire.

In some cases, innovative people may be suited for some positions, but not for others. Ask which positions need to be filled with innovative people. This will help you when the time comes to write a job description.

Many times, hiring outside the company will help in acquiring more creative individuals. If your company is hesitant to do so, suggest taking referrals from other creative people in the company. This will alleviate some of the hesitation surrounding outside hiring. While you should still conduct internal interviews, don?t exclude the possibility of finding an innovator from the outside.

Also tap into employee referrals from managers. Many times, managers meet potential candidates but don?t send their names on to you because they are unsure which types of people the company is recruiting. Make it known to managers and others that you welcome individuals who don?t exactly ?fit the mold?.

Interviewing Innovative Candidates

Altering your interviewing metrics may help when interviewing those who are different from the rest of the pack. Choosing a different set of questions, asking more about past experiences on and off the job, and asking questions about what the candidate hopes to achieve from working for the company are great ways to get to know the candidate.

Questions should be:

Conversational instead of Q and A type questions
Open-ended to allow candidates to explain what they mean
Include scenarios that candidates will be able to elaborate on with past work experiences
Not limited to work, questions about education, hobbies, ect.

This line of questioning will allow you to see how passionate a candidate can be about their career.

This is you chance to see how the candidate thinks, how they handle themselves under pressure, and how much they want the position by watching the way they talk, react to questions, and by listening to what they have to say.

Retaining Innovative Employees

One of the best ways you can retain an employee is to follow up with retention managers to make sure the new hire is allowed to be creative on the job. If not, chances are the new hire will become a former employee. While recruiters have little say in the actual day-to-day tasks of employees, you can still make recommendations to managers and others in order to help retain those you recently hired.

Conclusion

In a perfect workplace, there would be a diverse group of people that worked together to improve goods and services offered by a company. While some companies come close to this ideal, many do not. As a recruiter, you have the ability to bring in different candidates that will be able to offer a company a lot in terms of loyalty, ideas, and expertise.

While you may not need to adjust hiring metrics too much, allowing for small changes could make the difference between hiring someone capable and hiring someone brilliant.

The Secret Handshake : Why Networking Is Vital

Dakotta Alex — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 03:35:16 -0400

The Secret Handshake: Why Networking Is Vital

By: Dakotta J.K. Alex

The old maxim, ?It?s not what you know, but who you know,? really is a good way to sum up the importance and relevance of networking in the life of the job-seeker. Thus, it would not be a stretch to say that networking is the most important activity for a job-seeker to get a handle on to achieve success while searching for a job.

You may have already realized during your job search exploits that there are more jobs available than are listed in your local paper. This is because a majority of job openings are simply never advertised. They are held back by the business owners or left up to the job-seeker to take the initiative and contact the HR department or some other internal contact. Other times, the one who may have a position open is keeping the position for just the right candidate and doesn?t want to deal with dozen of applicants who simply do not have the qualifications. But what if you do have experience or qualifications that this job requires? Perhaps, someone you know may have heard about this position.

Let?s put it another way. The actual percentage of jobs that are openly advertised is between five and twenty-five percent. This means that there are scores of unadvertised openings that can be discovered only through talking to as many people as possible and letting them know that you?re currently looking for employment. Since you may know ?someone who knows someone? you could be a better position than those who limit themselves to ads in the classified section.

The relationships that you build through networking can help you in a number of ways: 1) those in your network may have information about hidden employment opportunities; 2) you may have contacts that can help while researching your career plans; 3) you can be inspired and motivated by some of great personal contacts you?ve made; 4) if your contact works for a company you have an interest in, you could gain valuable inside information regarding in-house opportunities that have not be released to the public yet.

According to U.S. Labor of Statistics, around 85 percent of those seeking jobs successfully find what they?re looking for due to networking and direct contact with business they chose. Approximately 60 percent of all jobs are actually found by job networking. The Wall Street Journal has reported figures as high as 95 percent of the total amount.

A network of professional and personal contacts that can provide support, information, and job leads provides a powerful edge for any job seeker. But a question remains: Should a job seeker concentrate more about the quality of his network or the quantity of those who make up the network?

Quality Vs. Quantity

Should you keep your network small and made up of quality professional and personal connections, or go for a larger number of contacts who are relevant to your search efforts but may or may not be what you would consider quality contacts? In other words, should pay more attention to the quantity or quality of your networking relationships? If you?re unsure, let me cut through the uncertainty. The fact is, you should really do your best to develop both aspects of your network, but doing this is far from simple. Time is the key factor here. You must have time to both build and more importantly maintain those relationships; to make them quality contacts takes even more time. Unfortunately, most of us only have so many hours in a day to devote to this. Therefore, one aspect or the other may suffer for it.

Under natural time constraints, we all understand that there can never be an exact balance of quality and quantity but this does not mean you should not strive for the balance. It is true that the more people you know, the less you will be able to get to know them.

So how can you find a clear balance of quality connections with highly relevant people and maximizing the number of people in your network? Everyone has different requirements when networking. In order to make the most of your efforts, you need to find out what sort of relationship quality will be enough to accomplish your job-seeking goals. Then you can then build the numbers based upon this information. Of course, there is no one right solution all the time. Your specific needs will have to be revised when the context changes. Any strategies that you find help you build those stronger, quality relationships and reach out to more people should be time-sensitive, allowing for the constraints of your schedule.

Quality Network - Though it may be obvious by now what a quality network is, it will be good to go over a few more points. A purely quality-based network will be small and limited in scope. Many people have networks made up of close friends, family members, and occasionally old acquaintances. Your time and attention is fixed upon maintaining these intimate relationships and using them to gather information about opportunities. Even if your quality network is made up of business contacts, they will be those that you?ve invested considerable time in, cultivating them into strong relationships.

Even if you started a relationship as a chance meeting with an executive at a social function; you have not left it there. You?ve worked to make them much more. By focusing on the quality of your networking contacts you have sacrificed the range that larger numbers could afford you. For some, this is preferable because it is easier to manage a smaller list of contacts.

Quantity Network - Creating a network that is based on numbers involves the extension of your contacts. A primary way that you can do this is to ask those who are already in your network if they know other people that may have relevant information that you can use on the job hunt. This works on both the personal and professional levels. Not only can you ask your friend or neighbor if they might know somebody, but you can ask co-workers as well. That?s right; you just ask them. Most people will be helpful and maybe point to some potential leads.

As you continue to branch out and locate more contacts, you will need to keep their relevance in mind. This will help you determine how they can be used and what effort you will need to take in the development of a relationship. Some contacts will just be a means to gain information regarding other prospects that will, in the end, be more valuable to your employment-seeking efforts.

Once you have a strategy for taking names and making new contacts, you can keep adding them indefinitely, but you should keep in mind that the more people you have to manage, the less time you will have to carry out other networking strategies.

How to make quantity work for you - The sheer amount of exposure to multiple individuals particularly on online networking sites such as LinkedIn and Ecademy will ensure that you have an exponentially larger area potential coverage by possibly hundreds of contacts that can help you find the right position in a company or other corporate setting. With a large networking list, you have more people who can potentially scout out a job for you and let you know about it. If you?ve taken the time to develop your quantity network relationship strategically, and targeted key players who can influence many of the other lesser contacts, you can use numbers to gain a decisive advantage and find what you want much faster and effectively.

How to build a quality network with quantity - You should start by building a core group of quality contacts and use them as a base to expand the quantity of the network, while striving to keep the quality of contact in check along the way. This provides the best of both: the range of a quantity-based network with the strength and reliability found in quality contacts.

Jobs in America

Dakotta Alex — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 02:29:51 -0400

I know it's been a couple of weeks since I've posted, but I wanted to let you all know I'm getting my content in gear!

In the mean time, I received an interesting email. While I can't take credit for it, it does have some merit.

Smith started the day early having set his alarm clock (MADE IN JAPAN) for 6am. While his coffeepot (MADE IN CHINA ) was perking, he shaved with his electric razor (MADE IN HONG KONG ). He put on a dress shirt ( MADE IN SRI LANKA ), designer jeans ( MADE IN SINGAPORE ) and tennis shoes (MADE IN KOREA ). After cooking his breakfast in his new electric skillet
(MADE IN INDIA ) he sat down with his
calculator ( MADE IN MEXICO ) TO SEE HOW MUCH
HE COULD SPEND TODAY. AFTER SETTING HIS WATCH
(MAD E IN TAIWAN)
to the radio ( MADE IN INDIA ) he got in
his car ( MADE IN GERMANY ) filled it with GAS from Saudi Arabia and continued his search
for a good paying AMERICAN JOB. At the
end of yet another discouraging and
fruitless day checking his Computer
(Made In Malaysia ), Joe decided to relax for a while! He put on his sandals (MADE IN BRAZIL) poured himself a glass of wine ( MADE IN FRANCE.! ) and turned on his TV (MA DE IN INDONESIA ), and then wondered why he can't find a good paying job in

AMERICA ....

LinkedIN or LinkedOUT?

Dakotta Alex — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 02:39:43 -0400

LinkedIN, EAcademy, MySpace.com, Xing, Facebook, Orkut, Ryze, tribe.net, ecademy.com, spoke.com, jigsaw.com yes we've heard it all.

I am an advocate of LinkedIN, well actually I used to be an advocate of LinkedIN until I needed customer service. In 2003, I was hesitant to get on the bandwagon of LinkedIN because at the time I started a networking application in 2002 (http://www.60secondNetworking.com) ? see (http://www.seattle24x7.com/people/dakotta.htm) anyhow, I didn?t get the proper funding and well it is on life support still, which basically got me started on LinkedIN.

On my LinkedIN adventure I ended up meeting a great person (Vincent Wright). You don?t know LinkedIN if you don?t know Vincent Wright. I personally feel he?s a pillar which helped LinkedIN gain its membership because he runs hundreds of helpful LinkedIN specialty groups like LinkedIN Recruiting (which I moderate).

Well years go by and here I am in 2007, LinkedIN and the direct competition LinkedIN and the competition (Ecademy, Xing, Ryze) so what is it about LinkedIN that has be writing this blurb? Customer Service. It seems that users could be restricted due to anything that linkedIN views as excessive, what is this excessiveness and why does it take so long to respond? Could customer service be the doom for LinkedIN?

I started checking out alternative networking nodes and something that has caught my eyes is ZoomInfo and it?s been converting it?s collected data into a community now by allowing users to ?Create your own Web Summary?. Could ZoomInfo be the next LinkedIN?

Take these 2 second Polls:

What % of your hires are from LinkedIN?

http://www.vizu.com/poll-vote.html?n=21362

What % of your hires are from Social Networking?
http://www.vizu.com/poll-vote.html?n=21363

If you haven't linkedIN with me, please do!

http://www.linkedin.com/in/dakotta

Should Temporary Staff be Trained or Coached

Dakotta Alex — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 19:22:38 -0400

"Everyone is business today must be a trainer and mentor, not just the training department."

- Gregory P. Smith

Training is a value addition to the mankind. Imparting any skills to a human being is a contribution to the society. Moreover, there are hundreds of examples in the Corporate world where the permanent employees also have ungratefully left the organization after getting trained on various skills, at high costs.

Providing training to temporary staff can be a blessing in disguise, because they can take up those positions in the organization, which fall vacant due to attrition (rampant these days ).

Consider the every day possibilities:

What if I stop watering my plants, coz the morning dew kills them?
What if stop cleaning my house, coz it will get dirty anyway?
What if I stop savoring the present moment, coz soon it will be the past?
What if...
What if...

I could go on...but the fact exists that the quality of 'today' depends on the training given 'today' to the employee you have 'today'.

A phenomenon is a phenomenon, an entity is an entity, irrespective of its being temporary or permanent. More than merely ROI calculations, Training should be seen as an effective empowerment tool. Every one should be given opportunities to add value to himself /herself.

As the adage goes, if we give a fish to a hungry person, we give him merely a one time meal. But if we can train him for fishing, we provide him meals for all his life.

With such a high awareness and conviction that our HR colleagues have expressed on this subject, time is not far off when the process of "training" might get replaced by "coaching".

An additional two factors to consider:

1. The state of the company itself in terms of financial stability and pipeline density. If these are not healthy, a company may de-prioritize spending on temp staff, quite justifiably. These companies are forced to manage cash and business very tightly.

2. The Value-system of the Management short-term focused or long-term focused. There are many companies that has a Value-system to extract (exploit is a very strong word!) maximum out of people, in every transaction; concerned only on numbers like revenue per employee?? etc. These companies, albeit being in a position to afford training, may not do so.

Being an HR professional, I am convinced that Training is an investment and not an expense at all. It helps to look at training as a deliberate strategy, tuned with the Vision, than look at it as a bench-time activity or need-based activity.

Remember - Telling is not Training ...

We as educators in the corporate world need to clear our perceptions as to what are we exactly attempting to do when we train and relay information. Some issues to be aware of is:
1. How much can we expect an adult to learn, and consequently change his performance quotient?

2. How is adult learning different from child learning?

3. Do we have clear learning objectives when we begin with a training session? What do we expect at the end of the session? Are we realistic? Sometimes I observe we are highly ambitious. We expect performance levels to change after a one day seminar.

4. Some practical tips / case studies to highlight ?learner-centered and performance-based? as compared to ?instructor-centered and content-based.?

5. Three major factors influence how much and how well we learn: ability, prior knowledge, and motivation. How can trainers compensate for learner deficiencies in these areas?

A wise man once said:
TOGETHER EVERYONE LEARNS MORE
TRUST EMPOWERS ALL MEMBERS
TAKING EXCELLENCE ANOTHER MILE
TOGETHER EFFECTIVE, APART MISERABLE
TOTAL EFFORT BY ALL MEMBERS

Don't be a Jackass, use 'Recruiter Etiquette'

Dakotta Alex — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 04:08:10 -0400

'Recruiter Etiquette' - something that is not STRESSED enough in the field of recruiting! You send a resume to an open position ? no response (okay, so their ATS does not have an auto responder ? fair enough), but then you send the resume directly to an individual. How could they not have two-seconds to respond and say, Hey Dakotta, thanks for sending me your resume, I?ll look it over and get back to you about the position. Or if you had 10 seconds, hey Dakotta, got your resume, but it doesn?t look like you?re a fit because you?re missing this.

What really frosts my cookies is when you go in for an interview and you never hear feed back. C?mon, working in HR you know where that gets you. This isn?t really a rant as it is etiquette 101 .. okay it?s a RANT. If you receive correspondence, reply to it. If you see someone, close out with them. I could only imagine if an employee doesn?t have time to close with a fellow HR person how they could treat other complex positions or clients.

I think I speak for a large number of candidates when I say get back to your clients!

Etiquette, in a general sense, refers to conventional rules of social behavior or professional conduct. In a business context, etiquette means a set of rules that guides personal interaction to ensure a comfortable atmosphere that invites mutual respect and communication and helps one through the social dynamics of the job search process. Etiquette is much more than just minding one?s manners ? it requires outward action as well.

The key element of the recruiting process includes courteous and professional communication. Recruiters work in a competitive environment and depend on networks to win at business. They have the ability to build and maintain strong relationships. While operating in the business world, good etiquettes should be exercised to get driving results.

A recruiter?s etiquette is vital because a rude or discourteous behavior can damage working relationships and tarnish great results. Recruiters can avoid the pitfall of rude behavior by maintaining professional demeanor, exercising sound judgments and keeping a larger picture in mind. Rudeness in recruitment doesn?t pay, it is less purposeful and results from high stress levels, lack of training, or carelessness. Maintaining work-life balance strategies and managing time can decrease stress, boost up performance, and combat rudeness.

Shape up and treat candidates courteously! These candidates you talk with could be future hiring managers. Something I did that helped expand my network in Seattle was start my own tech list called WATechJobs (http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/WATechJobs/). I also started a California list because of the number I clients I was working with out there (http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/CAtechjobs/). These lists were primarily grown with all the tech candidates I built relationships with by following up and gaining a referral network with. Even if a candidate did meet the qualifications when they applied or didn?t receive an offer I would always turn that into an opportunity to say: I?m sorry it didn?t work out, I?ll let you know of any future positions that will come up. Do you know of anyone else that might be interested in ? position? Also may I add you to my networking list? I would be happy to send you more leads via that list.

Remember, it is the recruiter?s job to develop a respectful relationship with all the candidates who apply for jobs in their company.

Many recruiters should brush up their people skills from the simple courtesy, to the all important follow-through. It can help the recruiter to go a long way towards making their recruitment experience successful.

In Short:

Get back to your candidates!
Network with all candidates!
Build a job list serve for your company or yourself.

Changes Taking Place In The Job market

Dakotta Alex — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 11:54:08 -0400

Today the job market requires people who are multi-talented and multi-skilled. Technology has played a big role in inventing such a need. Take the case of tax professionals. One of their basic jobs was to help the salaried class to fill out the details of their income tax return. With the availability of various user friendly tax calculating software, an increased number of people can now fill in their details without the need to consult a tax professional. This has seriously undermined the traditional role played by a tax consultant. The focus has now shifted to professionals who can deliver tax planning and advisory services according to individual needs.

The above example is being repeated in all fields. Gone are the days when a single skill set would help you to get your dream job. Good communication skills, strong analytical skills and ability to work under the pressure of deadlines are some of the requisite skills that make an appearance in the various vacancies advertised and posted. For e.g. in the good old days, there wasn?t any specific criteria for being a counter sales staff. Good language skills and the ability to convince the customers were considered adequate. However, nowadays it has become essential for the counter staff to keep themselves updated with the knowledge of the latest products that are available. For instance, counter staff working in a car showroom have to keep themselves updated with the latest models of cars, the features and technical specification of various models etc.

A person aspiring to get a job in today?s market also has to be aware of different cultures and practices followed in various countries. The advent of the net has shrunk the entire world into a global village. A customer sitting in India can bag projects from clients in USA. In such a case it will be necessary for the Indian company to understand the needs and expectations of the American customer and deliver the projects accordingly. An Indian firm specializing in content writing has to use ?color? instead of ?colour? while delivering a project to a US client. Thus jobs nowadays require that a person should be well read and keep good knowledge of his immediate surroundings and also the world around him.

The advent of the Internet has also seen a large number of jobs being off shored to countries like India, South Africa etc. This also changes the work culture in these countries. Take the example of a call center; most of the call centers service American clients. The time difference between USA and India is about nine hours. In such a case, the Indian center will receive maximum calls after it is midnight in India. As a result the call centers have brought the culture of working in night shifts that was hitherto reserved to industries like manufacturing etc.

Another noticeable change taking place in the job market is that most of the jobs created are in the service sector. The United States Department of Labor for instance reported that education and health services added around 60,000 jobs in August and the finance and related sector created 26,000 jobs in US alone. This trend can be observed round the globe. As per a report that appeared in the Associated Press, service sector makes up for two-third of the US economy. Even in a developing country like India, the service sector has been the star performer. This is perhaps also a reason as to why the number of employees engaged in the service sector has shown a steady increase in the past decade. For e.g. as per ILO, the number of people employed in the service sector in the world has increased from 34.5% in 1995 to 38.9% in 2005. This is against the employment level in the industry sector that has remained stagnant at 21% between the periods from 1995-2005. The interesting fact to be noted is that females constitute 45% of the workforce in the service sector, which is higher than other sectors such as industry and agriculture.

Another noticeable change has been the increased participation of adult females in the workforce. For e.g. the share of employed adult males has seen a decline of 1.3% in the decade between 1995-2005. On the other hand, the share of females has increased from 51.7% in 1995 to 52.2% in 2005. It has also been noticed that the service sector has seen the largest share of working women. Females constitute 45% of the workforce in service sector.

Mergers and acquisitions are becoming the order of the day. Whether it is the bitter acquisition of Arcelor by the Mittal group or the Citigroup?s US$2.7 billion takeover of KorAm bank in South Korea; the fact is that most of the mergers leads to job cuts. A report by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas states that most of the tech job cuts can be attributed to mergers and acquisitions. The report puts the number of job loss due to mergers and acquisitions at 24,821 in 2006.

Another major but relatively less noticeable change taking place in the job market is that the labor force in many of the developed countries is shrinking. Directorate for Employment and Social Affairs (DELSA) works for OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development). DELSA states that due to ageing population, OECD countries will face a major shortage of labor force. For e.g. according to World Economic Forum, UK labor force will start to shrink in 2010, declining further during the 2020s and only easing in the 2030s.

On the other hand, the World Economic Forum states that In India, on the other hand, the number of working-age people will increase by 335 million by 2030 ? almost as much as the total working-age population of the EU and the United States combined in 2000.

This fact makes one thing clear: Expect a lot of migration and major upheaval in the job market in the years to come.

How business and social networking sites are changing the way we find jobs

Dakotta Alex — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 12:40:53 -0400

[This image represents how we network and how we're connected to each other.]
-------------------------------------
'70% of successful job searches depend on personal contacts' -Career Development Center of Hollins University.

The above fact emphasizes the need for having and creating personal contacts and networking. In an age, where job seekers outnumber the available jobs, it has become imperative to be at the right place at the right time. But how will you know where to be at and at what time? Someone has got to inform you. And this is where 'networking' assumes importance.

Networking is not a new age phenomenon. The Western world came to know about Indian spices through networking. Trade between the Indus valley civilization and Mesopotamia can be attributed to networking.

The rise of the Internet saw the traditional avatar of networking donning new clothes. While traditional networking allowed making contacts via our acquaintances, online networking allows us to contact people with whom we share something in common. For e.g., online networking allows you to contact someone who shares the same hobby as you or is engaged in the same profession. You can directly approach the person on your own.

The Internet has also led to an increase in the networking phenomena as it offers instant connectivity. All it takes is browsing through a few web pages and one can reunite with school chummies; get reconnected with old colleagues and what more even find out what happened to one's ex-flame.

Business and social networking sites are changing the way of searching and finding the latest vacancies that exist. More and more people are logging into the virtual world and making appropriate connections to land that dream job. According to comScore Media Metrix social networking site MySpace.com registered record 50 million visitors in May. It also grew by 318% between February 2005 to February 2006.

Thus, business and social networking sites are witnessing a phenomenal growth rate. But how are business and social networking sites changing the way we find jobs? Social networking makes sure that you are among the first who gets the whiff of the latest job posted. Networking allows the easy and free flow of information. It also makes sure that the information is forwarded at a lightning speed. For e.g. you are a resident of Kentucky looking out for a job as a paralegal. You comb the local newspapers, swamp innumerable law firms with your resumes and make sure that your profile is visible on all job sites that you can possibly think of. And the result- you are still looking for a job. And then a miracle takes place. You are registered with one of the social networking sites. Among your many contacts is an acquaintance with whom you have befriended just because you both are diehard fans of the LA Lakers. He knows about your quest for a job. One day he mails you that his sister's brother-in-law has a vacancy- they are a legal firm who are in need of a paralegal. Two days later, you are going out for what will be the first day of work. This is the power of online networking.

Business networking sites allow you to get in touch with high-end executives and business professionals. It is often noticed that many times jobs are not advertised. They are filled in through recommendation and referrals. Business networking sites allow you to get in touch with people who are directly involved in the decision making process. Many business-networking sites allow one to paste profile and get connected to people who share the same skill or who are employed in the same profession. These connections can be successfully harnessed to get a job.

Networking also helps one stay in tune with the demands of the industry. For e.g. you are a software engineer, currently working on .net platform. You are a member of a social and business-networking site. A high school friend of yours, [with whom you got reconnected through a social networking site] who is also a recruitment consultant informs you that nowadays the focus has started shifting to Java. An IT expert in your business-networking site confirms this fact. Now, you can start upgrading your skill set, so that you can get a bigger pay packet.

Many networking sites also offer offline events. Attending such events is a good way to create new relationships with people who can help you in further career advancements. Networking sites also give an opportunity to contact people who can answer career related queries.

Some networking sites also give opportunity for people to write endorsements about those with whom they have worked. This recommendation can be used for getting better job opportunities. Also there are many business-networking sites that focus on a particular field, industry or profession. Making connections with people who are from the same industry or profession allows one to remain aware of the latest job vacancies; trends and changes taking place in the job market that will help to steal march over others. This is because online networking lets one foster relationships with innumerable people and who can say, when one of them will help us strike gold?

Many business-networking sites also post jobs on their sites. So, you get one more online option to look out for jobs, i.e. in addition to the job portals. Online networking also helps you to build relationships before you can actually ask for a job. And that too without facing the recruiter. It is always better to break the ice in the virtual world before meeting in the real world. This is particularly beneficial to people who are somewhat apprehensive about talking to strangers.

Many of the recruiters also use networking sites for finding out potential employees. In an interview, there is always a chance of the candidate lying about his capabilities, though, the availability of sophisticated software and the various developments taking place in the HR field makes it very easy for the recruiter to spot the lies. In an online networking site, the relationship is established and trust is built over a period. Hence, the recruiter is able to decide the true capabilities of a person. This is also perhaps the reason why more and more recruiters are choosing the 'networking' way instead of posting jobs online.

Business and networking sites are thus revolutionizing the way people are getting jobs. More and more people are becoming aware of the power and benefits of online networking. Online methods should be judiciously combined with traditional methods to make sure that you do bag that coveted job.

Check out these online professional social networking sites:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_networking_websites
http://www.LinkedIN.com
http://www.60secondNetworking.com
http://www.ecademy.com
http://www.ryze.com/

Check out these online social networking sites:
http://www.friendster.com
http://www.myspace.com
http://www.orkut.com
http://www.facebook.com
http://www.classmates.com

Check out these traditional networking organizations:
http://www.rotary.org/
http://www.uschamber.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_professional_organizations
http://www.google.com/Top/Society/Organizations/Professional/
http://dir.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/organizations/professional/

,,,,,,

Building an International Recruiting Department

Dakotta Alex — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 16:22:24 -0400

The international business community is closer now than ever before. This presents numerous opportunities for companies to pick from the cr�me of employees from the world over. Political and geographical boundaries hold little resistance if an employee has the right qualifications and experience and a company offer great opportunities for growth and expansion. For a company that wants to have the best employees it needs to consider building an international recruitment department. The basic requirement is to understand how important this department is to the company and to make focused attempts to make it successful. Too often international recruitment departments make halfhearted attempts and this leads to less than desirable results.

Building an International Recruitment Department

The hub: It is crucial to create a hub for the international recruitment department that can coordinate recruitment that is taking place in various parts of the world. This central administrative part of the international recruitment department would also set up a basic norm for qualifications and experience for employees, to avoid any confusion. It is also important that the executive in charge of the actual recruitment process understand the cross-cultural differences that exist in different work scenarios and address them accordingly.

Using Sub-contractors: It is a good idea to consider taking on local sub-contractors or recruiting agencies to do the basic spadework and interviewing of candidates. This way you are assured that you understand the qualification process and experience of the aspirants. These sub-contractors would have a better understanding of the way the educational system works as also the local companies for which the individuals may have worked. Furthermore the use of sub-contractors allows you to focus on candidates who meet your specifications and the basic elimination process is handled by the local recruitment companies.

Getting access to the right resumes and candidates is the first step and contacting a good resume sourcing company is advisable. Such a company will not only be able to provide information about candidates you would be interested in recruiting but also help you locate top notch executives you may be interested in. Furthermore such a company will be able to work with your international recruitment department to provide it tailor made recruitment solutions.

Creating Local Presence: Even if you are a multinational company known well in many parts of the world it is crucial to create a certain image of competence and stability in the country you want to recruit from. It is an enormous step for employees to give up their jobs in their homeland to move to another country and a new company. Ensuring that you are taken as a serious contender in the international business community would require a certain image to be projected. You may consider taking on a local image management company that could work and coordinate with your company's recruitment and public relations department.

Creating an advertisement campaign that assists in brand recognition by aspirant employees would be useful to make your presence felt in various countries and to be taken as a serious employer. For a company that is making a clean start-up this is especially important as their will be little background information that people can go by, and to take a serious decision like moving to another country requires plenty of assurance on part of the employing company.

Understanding Local Culture: It is important to make an appropriate offer to the interested employee so as to get his or her attention and interest. This would include a comprehensive package of compensation, added benefits such as insurance, a residence, etc. You would like to offer competitive pay packages and assure the individuals of great opportunities of growth and promotion.

Joint Venture: Going into a joint venture with a local company makes international recruitment easier as you have a home base to which candidates can relate to and rely on. Also this kind of a business venture would provide a sense of stability and reputation for the international company and make international recruitment far easier. Furthermore you can consider doing basic training before sending employees to foreign destinations. This way you know that all employees have understood a standard format for work and are at the same level of understanding. Of particular importance are company policies for following a certain system of work, correspondence, etc. Without this kind of on-job training there may be confusion when employees begin work without really knowing how things are done.

Direct Employment by Off-shore Entity: A company with an international recruitment department may consider allowing an off-shore entity to handle direct employment. Outsourcing of recruitment has become a popular technique of recruitment in recent times. These off-shore companies specialize in the practice of understanding the needs and requirements of companies and translating them in a manner that is utilized in the recruitment of employees. Before direct employment is done it is vital that you ensure that the off-shore entity understand all aspects of the job offered including what the move to another country will entail for the individuals. The advantage of direct employment by an off-shore company is that it can take on recruitment at any level from freshers and college graduates to executive levels. Such a company may also have programs in language, etc, that will help the individuals settle easily in their foreign posting.

Expatriate Policies: One of the chief areas of concernin international recruitment is expatriate policy. It is vital that the department of international recruitment of a company is in complete picture over the legal and administrative aspects of expatriate policy of the country. The new employees would require assistance in this regard and the employing company should be ready with standard procedures that would make the process as simple and easy as possible. The last thing you would want an employee to worry about is being asked to leave the country due to incomplete papers or procedure in the expatriate policy.

Cross-cultural Issues: The department of international recruitment would need to take into consideration issues of cross-cultural differences that would help the new employees to settle down effectively in the work community and otherwise. An introduction to cultural practices of the country to newcomers followed by assistance in case of any hiccups in this department would be useful. It is essential that the human resource department of the company work hand in hand with the international recruitment department in this regard.

The success of an international recruitment department is based on its managerial capabilities, ability to co-ordinate with off shore recruitment agencies, creation of an appropriate image for the company and human resource management.

Google Recruiting 101

Dakotta Alex — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 02:05:19 -0400

    Currently, Google is both the most utilized search engine and largest public information database. Google is an important access tool and its toolbar plays a key role in the job market; specifically, helping employers search for the right candidate.

    Employers do not submit their offers and job descriptions to Google, as it is an independent company, serving only to find things that are already posted on the internet. In short, Google is not an agent; but, through its innovative search functions, has replaced the need for many roles in the job searching process.

Approximately 80% of all Internet searches are answered using Google toolbars, Google.com, and a network of sites licensing the Google search results (such as AOL, Netscape, iWon, Compuserve, Alexa, and many of others). Google is an astounding search engine where one adds the url for free. One needs to just type in the URL and submit it to Google. Google also gives the option of providing 'Comments'. Comments can include keywords and comments about the content of the page that is being submitted. This function is useful because one can submit the URL of those pages which are specifically related to careers and employment. For e.g. if an advertising agency, is interested in hiring a copywriter, it can submit the URL of that page which specifically lists out this requirement. This will make sure that candidates interested in copy writing respond to the job posting. Usually, it is observered that job seekers often keep visiting the career and employment section of websites belonging to big and famous companies like Microsoft, Shell etc. However many of them are not aware of job vacancies existing in small and mid ?size companies. This is because many are not even aware of the existence of such companies. Hence adding URL to a site which is used by millions is advantageous for small and mid ?size companies to attract good talent.

Also there is another important feature that sets Google apart. An editor quality rating system is being used by various search engines like LookSmart, AltaVista & other Yahoo affiliated search engines that considers subjective evaluations of editors and then determines the ranks of sites. However, Google does not have such a system and therefore it enables a user to have all types of files on the site. Google gives one absolute freedom of choice, indexing almost anything. Alternatively, Google ranks sites according to some predetermined standardised algorithms, only there is one really interesting factor ? the site is ranked partly depending on the number and quality of sites that have linked back to it.

The system was started by the PhD students at Stanford University, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, who formulated a new algorithm for searching. This concept is known as PageRank which is unique to Google as opposed to other search engines. It is a trade mark poperty of Google. The patent of PageRank is exclusively granted to the Stanford University and hence cannot be used by other search engines. Under PageRank, the inbound links to a site are used to determine its importance to the user. The logic behind PageRank is that if the page cotents are of high quality, other websites will automatically give a link to that page or website. But that does not warrant indulging in link farms and getting links from any website. Google pays attention to the website that is providing the link. For e.g. a website dealing with etymology gets links from sites like say Oxford dictionary the PageRank of that website will increase.But if that same website for the sake of enhancing its Page Rank gets links from a website belonging to an automobile manufacturing unit, it might lead to a lowering of the Page Rank if the trick is detected by Google. By emphasizing these new standards for what is relevant in a search, Google is configured to crawl and index the Internet efficiently, bringing back more topical search results in the 24 million-some pages available on the net. Currently, it uses such a process to successfully answer tens of millions of queries per day. Google has thus become a platform to assist those seeking jobs, as well as those seeking job candidates. The shared interest between the two parties is mutually met through such a service and, more importantly, is easy, free, and effective.

Recruitment through Google has become a hot topic. An article in quintcareers.com reads Alice Hanson, a Seattle-based recruiter who worked for a large software company recently described how she finds candidates: "The first thing I do is go to Google and look for resumes that are posted to the Internet. These are the first people I call because they are free," she explained. " It also states that recruiting guru Dr. John Sullivan calls Google "the best-funded recruiting machine on the planet."

Another proof of Google's rising dominance in online recruitment is this: "Put 100 Web-savvy computer users at their own computer and ask them to find a job on the Internet. Almost 80 percent of them will go to a search engine, such as Google, Yahoo, MSN, AOL or Ask Jeeves. Need proof? Do a search for 'jobs' on Google and notice what Web sites monopolize the bulk of the Sponsored Links. Yep, Internet job sites." Says HRSEO, a marketing firm specializing in solutions for human resources. Specifically, Google toolbars allow users to employ specialized functions that make searching for important things (like jobs and resumes) much easier; for example, if a recruiter logs on with certain search keywords and search for 'resumes' he can scan other resumes and see the candidates and the qualifications.

The commands generally used to search in Google, that are listed further down in this article, can help the recruiter to search Title, Text, Employee Directories, Virtual Communities, Subject, Country Code, plus many more. Moreover, it enables the recruiter to tap into the hidden job market to find their passive candidates. This not only helps the recruiter and its organization to search effectively for their candidates, but also give them all the information about other HR Website Strategies and the tactics of other great recruiters.

Because search engines employ different algorithms, it is right to assume that any two-search engines never achieve the same results, content, and speed. Each has different indexing strategies, search options, matching techniques and ranking schemes. However, it is not necessary to use more than one search engine in every instance; in the cases that it is sufficient to gather the most topical results, and not make an extensive sweep; Google (as opposed to Google in combination with other search engines) is the best tool for the job.

Google Toolbars in Recruitment: A Detailed Study

Google Services and toolbars are an effective way of searching for the right candidate for an organization. The services and tool bars include Google Base, Blogger, alerts, Orkut, Gmail, Google code, language tool, Google reader, Google sitemaps, Google Web API, Google Desktop, Picasa, Google Talk, AdWords, Google Analytics, Google Answers, Google Catalogs and many more.

Exploring each tool's uniqueness and recruiter-specific usefulness:

1.Google Alerts - for tracking lay-offs, funding, company growth, and recently posted jobs.
An effective way of getting email updates of the relevant Google results of the Job news, their web links, the profile of the candidates and other queries are through Google Alerts. This service monitors developing job news or information, details the current competitor, industry, or upcoming companies with its various opening in the job market, and provides the latest information about a celebrity or event like job fair, seminars, and recently posted jobs.

2. Google Blog Search - search any and all blogs for candidates, using keywords.
Google Blog search, an important Google toolbar searches for any and all the blogs for candidates that match the company's profile. An appropriate keyword(s) is needed to make the search effective

3. Desktop Search - search for resumes in your outlook or internal folders as well as correspondence from your clients.
Google Desktop Search is an effective tool that is used by employers to search for the resumes of passive candidates on the web. With the help of Google Desktop Search, recruiters can find emails and instant messaging conversations with precision and speed, in near-real time. This wonderful tool can easily search for email clients and instant messaging applications through plug-ins that teaches the user of Google Desktop Search to find content in more places. This way, an employer or an employee can find the emails for further contact in their outlook or internal folders. Here, the user gets Google Desktop Search combined into and integrated with the Google search function. The searched email results are then threaded and can be sorted by date or relevancy. The user of the tool can also get a direct link to replying, forwarding, and opening messages. Essentially, it helps the employer to communicate with the interviewee or the candidate without further loss of time, making communication easier and faster. Further, the Google Desktop Search index can be protected with encryption that enables the HR to prevent information from leaking out from his company, making it safe to use.

4. Google Directory - section of the web to specific categories (popular resume posting sites); locate special work associations here.
Google Directory is that section of the web that highlights specific categories, from which the user may elect to search. The employment section gives an account of various jobs and openings in the companies. The Google Directory is a popular resume-posting site.

5. Google Finance - track stock, finance news, company profiles, management teams, blog posts, discussions, and more.
Google Finance is a wonderful tool that details the current market summary and the business headlines of the domestic and international market.

6. Google Scholar - Locate scholarly and industry papers, and get potential names for your next headhunt.
Google Scholar locates scholarly papers, resources, and other scholarly literature. From a single place, one can search for professional societies, preprint repositories, universities, list of companies and their vacancies, and varied job postings. With this tool, the user can find key papers in any area of research, for example, recruitment of candidates.

7. Google Specialized Searches - narrow your search with special filters; examples include the U.S. Government, Linux, BSD, Apple Macintosh, and Microsoft.
Google Special Search is an important service that narrows-down the search and makes the task of finding candidates easier for any recruiter. It gives them a variety of options that are important to employers. It also allows the recuiter to narrow his search (beyond what is listed above) to options, including resume search and candidate profile.

8. Google Page Creator - create your own web page for posting open positions.
Google Page Creator is another tool with which a recruiter can create the web page of his company for posting his job opening in various fields.

9. Google Blogger - share your expertise, knowledge, tips, post jobs. Build your network by building a steady readership.
This service has made weblog publishing much easier. One can easily post jobs, search for the required jobs through Google Blogger.

10. Google Gmail - organization at its finest.
Google Gmail is a new kind of webmail that helps in working with multiple search. It is built on the idea that a user never has to delete mail; in addition, it allows users to search their mail as they would the internet, using the Google search bar. Currently, users are given about 2.7 gigabytes free storage, though the count grows every day. In addition to normal features, the chatting option allows Gmail users to communicate in real-time; this can be a big help to recruiters, as it is important to see how applicants think on their feet when unprepared.

11. Google Groups - Build your own online list, or join one of many. You can even set a Google alert looking for special keywords.
With Google Groups, you can join groups pertaining to varying topics in the skill sets you are looking for.

Track your favorite topics. By using the new star feature, you can keep track of your favorite topics at a glance.

Finally, if you don't find a group that fits what you are looking for, then you can easily create your own group. By creating this mailing list or discussion forum around a topic you're interested in you can start to invite candidates of a certain caliber.

12. Google Language Tools - helps working with international clients or jobs. This nifty translating program will translate the pages instantly (over 240 languages are available).
Google language toolbar helps you to interview foreign candidates as well; it translates the text into any required language and thus helps in smooth correspondence.

13. Google Toolbar - search much quicker from your navigation pane and best of all, when you locate the searches you can have it highlight the words you were searching for.
Google toolbar has the 'Google search' incorporated in it. Therefore one need not keep visit the Google search website. Furthermore, Google also allows the search to be terms to be highlighted. For e.g. if you search for 'Tips on networking ' naturally, the Google search engine will highlight the term 'Tips on networking' wherever it appears in the content of the web page. This helps you to locate the information in a quicker and hassle free manner.

14. Google Site Flavor Search - Type in site:sampledomain.com and search the domain for specifics (find out who works in that org).
Site-flavored Google search delivers web search results that are customized to individual websites. You have to fill out a profile describing your website's content, and when you add a site-flavored search box to your site, it will be easy to locate you! Your users will get search results that are 'flavored' and attuned to their interests.

15. Google's Orkut.com - one of the fastest growing innovative social networks online.
Orkut.com is one of the fastest growing innovative social networks online maintained by Google. Here, users list their personal and professional information, creates relationships amongst friends, and joins communities.

16. Google Answers - doing research or sourcing, need help? Google answers help you with a minimum charge.
Google Answers is a way to get that help from researchers with expertise in online searching. If a recruiter wants to employ a candidate and wants to know more about the background of the company where the candidate is presently working he can easily take help of Google Answers for authentic information.

17. Google Search History - When logged into your Google account, it keeps a record of all your searches (use this to refer back to prior search strings you might have used).
Google Search History keeps a record of all the searches done by a user when they log into their Google account. In this way, a recruiter keeps a track of the candidates they have approached while surfing the net.

18. Google base - very efficient in job posting and help both online job seekers and recruiters.
Google base is an excellent site for checking new job postings. This site was officially launched on 16^th November 2005. Online job seekers can search jobs here by type of position, location, industry, job function and education. Google base works just like any other job search engines and enables one to find positions that other companies have enrolled on Google base and listings from some job sites. Members of Direct Employers Association in the US can directly post job requirements from their corporate web sites to Google Base. This online job site is user-friendly where one can look for jobs and candidates that isn't listed anywhere. CareerBuilder, a Google's launch partners comments that "feeding our jobs to Google Base further extends our distribution network, providing employers with added support in marketing their open positions."

19. Google Page Rank- helps in understanding the ranks of the web pages by the advertisers or recruiters.
The Page Rank option in Google can rate any website from 1 ? 10. The page ranks depend on various factors like keywords, keyword in URL, and reciprocal linking. This toolbar helps the job seeker as well as the recruiter to determine the importance and the quality of services provided by the site or the company, which can serve their purpose.

Google has also designed Pop-Up Blocker plug-in that will help the serious searchers to do tension free web surfing.

20. Google Adwords - An effective tool to place advertisements.
The Google AdWord service allows the recruiters to place ads on any Google search page, Gmail, or AdSense page when a key phrase is displayed. It is one of the largest sources of income made by Google Inc. worldwide. The advertisers and the employers have to pay Google per click, as per conditions of the company.

21. Google Public Service tool - helps in finding employees from the educational fields.Google Public Service Search is another tool bar that offers free site search for educational institutions and non-profit organizations worldwide. Unlimited queries can be made with high levels of customization. It enables the recruiters to search for employees from college and university after verifying their profile. Searching for particular information of a company with Gmail gives the exact information without giving an irrelevant result.

22. Google Calendar ? Be able to coordinate schedules with co-workers and candidates. With Google Calendar you can see your coworkers schedules right next to your own and even decide who can see your calendar and which details they can view. Promote various events, set up automatic event reminders, and have your mobile phone set up with notifications.

23. Google Notebook - Use this to organize your recruiting notes. Use the Clip function to add text from research done without leaving the browser window. Organize your required notes and divide them into sections. Best of all have one account and use it in the office or at home.

Helpful Tips Regarding Searching

Now that we know of the various tools, we also have to learn the unique methods of searching for an effective outcome. Here are some tips:

1) To search effectively, one should concentrate on using specific keywords or key phrases. For e.g., if one is interested in getting resumes of chemical engineers, one should type 'Resumes of chemical engineers' in the search box.

2) Google can accommodate 32 words within the search query. Hence, try to keep the query limited to 32 words.

3) If the recruiter wants to find code word URL in Google, he should use URL: position AND IBM. Title should be written like this: title: position AND Clerk. Link should be placed like this: example: link: dell.com. Further if one searches for host of a particular URL, he should write; host: mit.edu to get an effective result. To search for pages in a domain like .com, or .org for example domain: .org AND Graphic Designer should be written to get an effective result.

4) The following symbols can also be used for making the search more useful:

Operators	Meaning
*	This is termed as a wild card. It helps in getting more search results. For e.g. if one is searching for a content writer's job, then one can type 'content writer's job'.* Doing so will also list content writer's job, content writer's position, content writer's title etc.
""	These are termed as double quotes. These are used if one is interested in finding specific things. For e.g. if one is looking for resumes of engineers residing in Ohio, one need to type "engineers in Ohio"
+	This tells the search engine that you are interested in pages having both the terms. For e.g. you are looking out for person who is a web designer as well as graphic designer, you can type in the search query as 'Resumes web designer+ graphic designer'
-	This tells the search engine that you are not interested in a particular term. For e.g. if you are interested in hiring only content writers and are not interested in technical writers, you can type in 'Resumes of content writers-technical writers.'
~	This symbol is referred to as Tilde. It is used for finding synonyms of the same word. For e.g. if you are interested in hiring science teachers, you can type in the search query as 'resumes of science~teachers'. This will provide you with results for science teacher as well as science professors, science tutors, science educators etc.

These are the effective methods used in Google for general search or the search for candidates by the recruiters or online job search. Seeking jobs via search engines like Google can feed the job seekers with lots of opportunities that are mostly ignored by other job seekers.