According to Heather Kinzie, in her article about recruiting based on corporate culture at ERE, using the screening phase to figure out if the candidates are a good fit for your culture and clients is a good investment: “Pay now or pay later … either way you’ll pay.”

The HR consultant describes Corporate culture  as the “norms” shared by employees in an organization that control the way they interact with each other, with other stakeholders and with customers.

Here’s a brief summary of her tips to recruit based on corporate culture:

Vision & Mission

Where your organization is going and how it plans to get there. Take the time to educate yourself in these subjects and make sure you are communicating them to your candidates. Ask your candidates tell you why and how they believe they “fit” within the company plans.

Organizational Values

The things the company is not willing to compromise along the journey. If you see behaviors that are at odds with your corporate values, the individual will probably have a hard time fitting in.

Work Environment

Dress code, office spaces, group/staff spaces, ability to telecommute, group thinking sessions, meeting protocols, etc. Whenever possible, allow the candidate to talk with staff during the screening process, and encourage questions about the work environment.

Leadership Style

Consider what types of leadership styles are being used most of the time: autocratic, democratic, and laissez faire. Engage with the candidate about these issues. Tell stories, offer examples, etc.

Organizational Structure

How your departments, programs, or offices are organized, what type of power/authority is delegated to them, etc. Talk to your candidates about what they see as the pros/cons of your structure and it may give you some insight.

Personal Qualities of Workforce

The qualities of the current workforce play a big part in the culture because they are the ones living and breathing it. Is the staff a group of high performers or entitlement whiners? Are they competitive or complacent? Are they social or hermits? Remember your new hire will needs to compliment this team.

Read the full article at http://ere.net

It is a statistical fact that 9 out of 10 individuals who attempt professional recruiting fail. That’s right: 90% failure rate. Most of us work on a contingent basis, which means we are working for free unless we make a placement. Let’s stop and define “work” in our model: I’m talking about 50+ calls a day and 3-4 hours of talk time minimum. Not to mention preparing candidate profiles, updating applicant tracking systems, industry research, returning emails, sending emails, and dozens of other necessary tasks. I’m talking about 10+ hour work-days all the while consciously aware of the measured risk that you will not make a placement on every search you work. And the compensation plan is always weighted heavily on production. It is just an absolute fact: if you don’t produce (make placements) in our business, you will not make any money in our business.

In his article at Ere.net, Chuck Hutsell agrees that the main reason US recruiters are moving to corporate jobs is stability: instead of chance of a much higher income which some “third party” recruiters will make, they settle for a regular income in a corporate job. But he points out the truth of entrepreneurship: Mediocre = Broke. “So they run to the other side of the fence and promise to take shots at every third party recruiter that ever calls them wanting to do business. They are now empowered with a false sense of superiority because they are the gatekeeper to what we need in order to survive — the beloved job order!”, says Hutsell, that leads a team at SBR specializing in the attraction, recruitment, and placement of “A talent” IT professionals in the United States.

He agrees there are no laws saying a third party recruiter can fill a position better than a corporate recruiter, but he proposes both of them work together with no fences stating:

The reality is that if you aren’t a client, you are probably a source. You see, I just don’t believe in fences!

What about your company? Do your work with recruiting firms? Why?

Read the full article at Ere.net

Last week, an article about job candidates being asked for their Facebook passwords so that potential employers can examine their personal activity started a flaming discussion about online background checking on applicants.

As Carol Schultz wrote on ere.net, companies are doing background checks for years, but we think privacy concerns are different now in socialnetwork era.

According to Schultz “It is all in how you approach the problem. If you are going to demand access to a candidate’s personal and private Facebook profile (or any other private information, for that matter), you had better make that clear in your job ad or prior to setting up an interview”. She believes creating a proper expectation before the candidate comes through your doors.

The major issue in this subject is that candidates feel like they have to say yes to the company request since they need a job.

What are your thoughts on background checking? Do you Google your applicants? Have you ever searched you candidates on Facebook or Twitter?

Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal posted an article about innovative recruitment.

They told the stories like Union Square Ventures, that instead of asking for résumés, asked applicants to send links representing their “Web presence,” such as a Twitter account or Tumblr blog. Applicants also had to submit short videos demonstrating their interest in the position.

“We are most interested in what people are like, what they are like to work with, how they think,” says Christina Cacioppo. She is an associate at Union Square Ventures who blogs about the hiring process on the company’s website and was herself hired after she compiled a profile comprising her personal blog, Twitter, LinkedIn, Delicious and Dopplr.

According to WSJ, companies are increasingly relying on social networks such as LinkedIn, video profiles and online quizzes to gauge candidates’ suitability for a job. While most still request a résumé as part of the application package, some are bypassing the staid requirement altogether.

IGN Entertainment Inc., a gaming and media firm was also in the article, talking about Code Foo, a program in which they taught programming skills to passionate gamers with little experience, paying participants while they learned. Instead of asking for résumés, the firm posted a series of challenges on its website and asked candidates to submit a video demonstrating their love of gaming and the firm’s products.

Read the full article here or watch their video about online recruitment below.

Some of the numbers are very interesting:

• Linkedin has over 135 million users world-wide
• 77% of LinkedIn users are over 25
• The average household income of LinkedIn users is USD 109,000.

Check out their tips to make your profile more relevant and visible to recruiters and headhunters.

Click on the image

In december, the 5 finalists and the winner of the R$15.000,00 prize will be announced. Read more on Campus Party blog.

Now what?

It’s time to start thinking about your next steps and if you want to do more than just arrive early and answer the questions properly, Careerealism has some tips on proactive job interview strategies that can increase your chances to stick out in the crowd in the right way.

Here are some of them:

1. Confirm your interview.
Not very many candidates do this, yet it’s these little acts of professionalism that matter.

2. Develop a rapport with the people who interview you.
Don’t just answer questions asked of you, ask them questions too and get a lighthearted conversation going!

3. Ask if you can have a tour of the office/building/plant, etc.
This is a great way to show that you have strong interest in the company. Take notice of things you see and ask questions about them.

4. Make it clear you are interested in the job and the company and not “what’s in it for me?”
Employers want individuals who care about the company. If it doesn’t come up in the interview, ask if you can learn about the company’s values and mission statement and talk about how it aligns with yours.

5. Send personalized thank you letters to every person who was in the interview.
Personalized means personal and unique to each person who was in the interview. Many candidates do send separate e-mails to each interviewer but the content is the same. Recruiters are likely to forward the ‘thank you messages’ and you don’t want to get caught in the Copy/Paste, right?

To read more about it, visit Careerealism.

If you are a recruiter, what do you think about their tips? And as a job seeker, what do you think?

Recently, Seth Godin wrote some tips for getting a job in a small company.

According to the american entrepreneur, today your best chance to get hired is from companies you’ve probably never heard of and when the hirer is also the owner, the rules are very different.

Here are some of his tips:

1. Learn to sell. Everyone has sold something, some time, even if it’s just selling your mom on the need for a nap when you were three years old. A lot of people have decided that they don’t want to sell, can’t sell, won’t sell, but those same people need to understand that they’re probably not going to get a job doing anything but selling.

2. Learn to write. Writing is a form of selling, one step removed. There’s more writing in business today than ever before, and if you can become a persuasive copywriter, you’re practically a salesperson, and even better, your work scales.

3. Learn to produce extraordinary video and multimedia. This is just like writing, but for people who don’t like to read. Even better, be sure to mix this skill with significant tech skills. Yes, you can learn to code. The fact that you don’t feel like it is one reason it’s a scarce skill.

Do you agree recruitment follow different rules when is conducted by the owner? And what do you think about his tips? Would you give extra points to a candidate with those skills?