In fact, a Forrester study found that, of U.S. adult social media users, 96% were on Facebook and only 28% on LinkedIn. Despite the much larger potential talent pool, many recruiters aren’t utilizing Facebook like they use LinkedIn.

While most people use their LinkedIn profile to promote job postings, ask for referrals and connect with candidates, many haven't considered using Facebook to do the same. But why not? Facebook has evolved quite a bit over the years, and is now evolving into a site that can be used for both personal and professional networking, with the introduction of lists and updated privacy settings.

Set up Facebook Lists and Privacy Settings

Lists and updated privacy settings allow Facebook users to keep personal and professional contacts separate from one another, and decide which information each group can see. For example, you can block job candidates from seeing personal information that isn’t available on LinkedIn, and can post jobs to them that none of your other connections can see.

The first step to setting up your Facebook account for professional networking is to create a list for each group of people you’d like to keep separate.

From your homepage, on the left column, find “Friends” and click “More” to bring up your current lists. Facebook has created lists for friends, family, coworkers, schoolmates, and friends who live near you. 

You can add a new list for job candidates by clicking “Create List,” adding a name for your list, and adding any members you’re already friends with on Facebook. You can also add people to this list as you “friend” more candidates. (For a video demonstration of this, check out our How to Recruit on Facebook Webinar, where we'll walk you through the process.)

Once your lists are set up, you should update your privacy settings to block certain parts of your profile from those lists. From your profile, click on the button under your timeline that says “Update Info” (if you still have the old profile, look for the button on the top right that says "Edit Profile").

Go through each section and edit your privacy settings so that your list of job candidates can't see anything personal, like your contact information, your friend list, etc. You do this by selecting the icon to the right of each item, clicking on "Custom," and choosing who can see your information, and who you want to hide it from (you can also see step by step instructions for this on our recorded webinar listed above).

Now you’re ready to start connecting to job candidates on Facebook, and they can’t see any of your personal information. Just make sure you add each job candidate to your specified list as you add them as friends. You can also use your profile to post jobs, just like on LinkedIn.

Post Jobs through your Personal Profile

Unlike LinkedIn, Facebook allows you to post jobs on your profile to specific lists. You can do this from your Facebook homepage, by typing in your message and selecting which list(s) you would like to send this message to. This allows you to make sure that job candidates only receive job-related information, while only friends and family will receive personal updates.

Another big advantage over LinkedIn is the engagement level and virality of Facebook. Job candidates can "like," "comment," or "share" your content, causing your message to be posted to their newsfeeds to potentially reach their entire network, as well as yours. You can also post jobs on your Facebook Company Page, just like LinkedIn.

Utilize Your Facebook Business Page to Post Jobs

LinkedIn has recently added the ability for users to "follow" a company, and have allowed companies to update their status–including the ability to post jobs on their LinkedIn company page for free, in addition to the paid “Careers” tab.

Facebook’s Business Pages also allow employers to post jobs to their profiles for free, as well as through a custom “tab,” both of which show up in their fans’ newsfeeds. Posting jobs on your wall for free works the same on Facebook and LinkedIn–just a status update. However, Facebook allows you to include a picture or video in the post to boost engagement, as well as a link to the job posting.

You can also use a Facebook job posting app to publish jobs to your page. This allows candidates to filter open positions, much like a job board. Candidates can apply for your job without leaving Facebook, or can be redirected to your ATS.

Jobs posted through an app can also be shared on other social networks, job aggregators, and through IM and email to increase your reach.

Each Facebook page comes with a robust analytical tool, Insights, which tells you which of your posts get the most interaction so you can improve your content, and how many people are sharing your content so you can gauge your reach. It also tells you where your likes come from so you know what is helping you build a Talent Community.

An important thing to understand about Facebook is that your content will only show to a portion of your page’s fans, and Facebook determines who will see your posts based on an algorithm called EdgeRank. Your posts will only show to 20-40% of your fan base, unless you advertise.

Advertising on Facebook

If you’ve used LinkedIn’s advertising platform for recruitment, you will find Facebook’s to be similar yet slightly more targeted; they allow you to filter by interests, location, demographics, workplaces, and more. To increase visibility, the ads show in multiple location–in the sidebar, in the newsfeed and on the sign out page. You can use ads to promote job postings, your Facebook Career Page, career events, or your career site.

While both networks have targeted advertising, only Facebook has Sponsored Stories, which allow your posts to get greater visibility. There are several types of stories you can sponsor:

• Page Like Story: When someone likes your page, his or her friends will see a story about it. This encourages them to like your page, as well.
• Check-in Story: When someone checks in to your office, his or her friends see a story about it. This is great if your candidates check in before their interview, because it may encourage their friends to check out your job openings.
• Page Post Like Story: When someone likes your page post, his or her friends see a story about it. This is particularly useful for promoting hard-to-fill job openings or career events.

Sponsored stories look more like content than ads, so they tend to boost engagement. This can be a great tool for referrals. Ask employees to post a story to your Facebook page, sharing why they love working at your company, and turn their post into a sponsored story that shows to all of their friends.

Between ads, referrals and job postings, recruiting tactics on Facebook are nothing new. It’s the same old story on a new medium. With 901 million members and growing, Facebook is the future of recruiting and a tremendous untapped resource for recruiters. So, go fishing where the fish are.

For more information on how Facebook stacks up to LinkedIn for recruitment, watch Facebook versus LinkedIn: A Social Recruitment Showdown.

Pedersen sees the consumerization of IT trend as an opportunity make people more productive by incorporating consumer elements into enterprise applications. Key points we cover in the video include:

• Users of all ages want their enterprise applications to reflect the user experience their consumer devices are able to deliver.
• Many of the consumer tools that are making their way into ERP (e.g. Yammer) are doing so because employees start using them on their own.
• The consumerized experience is changing the ERP user experience paradigm to one where users expect to be able to customize their experience down to the task level.

Whether addressing a trash crisis or upping the ante on efficient public transit systems, these changes are being led by everyone from government officials to frustrated residents and even guerilla gardening groups. Here are four cities with unique sustainability efforts–and what these creative efforts entail.

Songdo, South Korea

Literally a brand spankin’ new city, Songdo is an aerotropolis built atop South Korean swampland 60 miles from Seoul and seven miles from Incheon International airport. As part of President Lee Myung-bak’s 38-billion dollar stimulus package encouraging green and low-carbon growth, Songdo is the first city in the world to have all of its facilities meet or exceed Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) requirements.

Perhaps more impressive are the city’s contents, which includes the Northeast Asia Trade Tower (the tallest building in the country) and 40-percent open space, encompassing a 100-acre Central Park.

Medellin, Colombia

Though Medellin was recently awarded the 2012 Sustainable Transport Award alongside San Francisco by the Institute for Transportation & Development Policy, many people have an impression of Medellin (and Colombia in general) as a hostile and volatile drug cartel environment.

However, Medellin has made incredible advancements in their public transportation options, as well as linked its poorest neighborhood, Comuna 13, to its city center via a 1,300 foot escalator. Medellin’s mayor, Alonso Salazar, credits the escalator for dwindling crime rates in the historically violent neighborhood.

Additionally, Medellin has implemented several public transit options that are freshening its streets–things like ridesharing programs, a public bicycle program, vehicle exhaust emission control and sulphur content improvements. While these may be common components in most major cities, they represent significant progress for Medellin–once considered the most violent city in the world–from both sustainability and safety perspectives.

Naples, Italy

Naples has been long buried in toxic garbage–lining alleys, streets, and even surrounding Mount Vesuvius–and often attributed to the Camorra (a Naples-based mafia organization). But activist groups, residents and international organizations are taking major steps to conquer the problem. Angered residents taking unbearable circumstances into their own hands by diverting waste, recycling, and beautifying their communities.

A recent article published on Triple Pundit noted that, “Local activism, which takes the form of flash mobs, guerilla gardening, and innovative job creation, is certainly inspiring. But what is occurring in Naples could teach citizens around the world about how apathy from both government and business cannot be deterrents to revitalizing communities.”

And, in September, Vesuvius National Park surrounding Naples will be one of 94 world locations to participate in World Cleanup 2012. CleaNap, a Naples-based organization, will work alongside Let’s Do It World to collectively cleanse the park of litter and industrial and electronic waste.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

In a list of the world’s greenest cities, Philadelphia may seem like an outlier. In 2008, the U.S. Department of Energy declared Philadelphia a “Solar America City,” stating the city displayed “both a compelling need and an important opportunity to accelerate solar application.”

In Mayor Mike Nutter’s 2008 inaugural speech, he vowed to make Philadelphia “the nation’s greenest city.” Currently in its third year of a six-year plan initiated in 2009, Philadelphia is well on its way to achieving many of its initial 14 target goals. These include lowering city government energy consumption by 30 percent, diverting 70 percent of solid waste from area landfills, and doubling the number of skilled green jobs.

Helping the city reach its goals is the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), whose Wayside Energy Storage Project will replace electricity drawn by the subway system with energy captured through regenerative braking, which is then stored in batteries. Wayside, a public-private partnership will curtail electricity use by an estimated 1,500-1,600 megawatt-hours per year.

These cities illustrate a range of approaches to sustainability. They show that change begins at a local level, and that private, public and nonprofit organizations can accelerate that change. Cities like Medellin and Naples prove that any city can achieve sustainability in the face of incredibly challenging circumstances like violence or filth. In a time when environmental consciousness is not only admirable, but necessary, cities like these can pave the way the world over.

What creative ways have you seen cities approach environmental challenges? Feel free to share your comments below or email me at ashley@softwareadvice.com.

Photos of Songdo, South Korea courtesy of welix.

Photo of Medellin, Colombia courtesy of Medelin's Office of the Mayor.

Photo of Naples, Italy courtesy of the author, Ashley Halligan.

Photo of Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) courtesy of K. Ciappa for GPTMC.

1. How is your product different from your competitors?

Most talent management solutions share a core set of functionality that covers standard talent management processes (recruiting, performance management, learning management, etc.). Even so, pricing varies widely because of what are often subtle differences across these functional areas.

“One product with ten features may be $1,500, another $150,000–and they’re both going to have the same types of features,” affirms Sarah White, Founder & CEO of Sarah White & Associates, LLC. “The difference will be how they execute.”

Ask your vendor for their take on how they differ from their competition. But try to get beyond the marketing rhetoric and uncover what really distinguishes one product from another–and determine whether those differences matter to you. Be sure to:

• Prioritize your needs. Even if a particular vendor’s solution doesn’t address everything on your list, if it addresses your top priorities better than competing solutions it might be the best choice.
• Consider the future. One critical area of differentiation is how robust a feature set a product has in particular areas. Whatever your needs are today, keep in mind what you’ll need tomorrow. For instance, if you’re planning on aggressive growth, a solution with a richer set of tools for recruiting and onboarding could be a wise choice.
• Don’t ignore the user interface. This is another area where products differ significantly, and it’s important. Regardless of a product’s capabilities, if it’s difficult to use, it won’t be used effectively–or used at all. Get a product demo, and poll your end users for their impressions of its usability.
• Be realistic about your support needs. Vendors differ tremendously in their levels and quality of support, both pre- and post-implementation. If you anticipate needing more handholding or, for instance, a lot of custom implementation work, prioritize vendors that will provide it.

2. How can your product improve my processes?

The primary goal for many talent management buyers is process automation. Automating key talent management processes can improve efficiency, and for many organizations–especially smaller ones–that’s sufficient. However, as HR Technology Advisor, Steve Goldberg cautions:

“Any company that is spending money on an HR tech platform–if they’re only thinking about automation, they’re doing themselves a major disservice.”

That’s because rolling out new talent management software offers a unique opportunity to refine your processes, not just automate them. Ask the vendors:

• Can you help me map out my existing processes and pinpoint areas that your product can help me improve?
• Do you have examples of clients successfully using your product to enhance their processes?
• Does the software help users adhere to talent management best practices?
• Does the software support managerial decision-making around processes, such as by tracking key metrics and presenting relevant data and action items through dashboards?

3. How will you help us be successful?

Choosing the right tool for your organization’s needs is only the first step. The end game, of course, is being successful with that tool–however your organization defines “success.” As independent HR technology consultant Tiffani Murray explains:

“To check the box that says you've implemented a jazzy new HR technology is one thing, to actually have an organization that is using it en masse successfully is another.”

It’s important to work with your vendor to establish appropriate metrics of success, which might include, for instance, user adoption, integration with other technologies, or meeting process improvement goals. There are no guarantees that you’ll be successful–and it’s certainly not entirely in the hands of the vendor–but some questions you can ask include:

• Is there someone in your company proactively focused on helping me be successful, not just reacting when things go wrong?
• What are the points of escalation if I’m not getting the support I need?
• What resources do you have for helping me drive adoption across my organization?
• Beyond your usual support offerings, do you have someone who can help me do more with the product (e.g., integrate with third-party products, customize the product in unusual ways, etc.)?

4. Can I get a reference?

Talent management vendors will supply you with a lot of information to help you choose the right product. You should supplement that information with some unbiased perspectives from organizations that have recently evaluated or implemented those products, or have been using them for some time.

In talking to these references, your goal is to uncover any hidden “gotchas”–things the vendor never mentioned or perhaps didn’t even know about, and things you never even thought to ask. Some tips:

• Ask the vendors for specific customer references–ones that are similar to you, and that are using the same tools you will.
• Find some references on your own. Any references a vendor provides you will have been vetted. Do some research and find more. As Murray explains, “There are many groups out there that can provide insight and where you can post questions and get answers from those who have gone through implementations with various vendors.” Ask companies why they chose–or didn’t choose–particular solutions.
• Take everything with a grain of salt. What works for one company or talent management process may not work for yours.

Only You Can Answer The Most Important Question

In the end, it’s not just about the product you’re buying–it’s about trust. “You’re going to enter into a long relationship with this vendor,” says White. “Is this someone you’re going to want when things get stressful and challenging? Is this someone you’d be comfortable calling–and that you feel comfortable will get back to you?”

Of course, these are questions only you can answer. Just remember: whichever vendor you go with, you’re signing on a new business partner.

In hindsight, what points in talent management software selection would you spend more time on? What questions do you wish you’d asked?

Feature image by: Stefan Baudy

But I have bad news if you think BYOD decreases help desk costs. It doesn’t.

"There are a lot of suggestions out there that BYOD reduces costs. In reality the costs are shifted to other areas.” — Richard English, strategic consulting director for Avaya Professional Services.

While the trend diminishes costs for traditional service desk tasks such as asset management, businesses should increase spending for security. Sensitive corporate data is highly vulnerable to theft on employee-owned mobile devices. Here are four strategies help desk administrators should implement to protect your company against BYOD-related risks and common IT headaches.

1. Encrypt All Data

According to one study, 31 percent of corporate employees who use a laptop for work will connect to their company’s network through a public Wi-Fi connection, which is most likely unencrypted. No BYOD policy can fully prevent that from happening.

To curb this security risk, IT groups should distribute and manage Virtual Private Network (VPN) solutions for all mobile devices, says Michael Buckna, a unified communications engineer at voice-over-IP provider Enterprise Systems Group. These tools–such as those offered by Cisco Systems and Golden Frog–encrypt transmitted data regardless of where or how it is accessed through mobile devices.

Establishing guidelines for remote access is also critical. “This can a be a real challenge with varying operating systems–iOS, Android and so on. Help desks should create a set of standards for what they are going to support and allow access to, or they will end up having to backtrack,” Buckna says.

2. Have a Plan for Lost or Stolen Devices

Imagine one of your employees stops at a coffee shop over the weekend. They sit quietly tapping away at emails, until they get up for just a minute to grab a refill. In an instant someone swipes their device.

Brandon Hampton, a director for MOBI Wireless Management, describes stolen devices as a “worst case scenario.” Look what happened last month when one Howard University Hospital contractor’s laptop was stolen. The company ended up contacting more than 34,500 patients to let them know their medical information was inadvertently exposed.

Hampton says IT teams should have a specific action plan in their BYOD policy for dealing with this contingency. This should include such steps as changing email, Dropbox and other passwords if they were installed on the device. Also, BYOD-ers should agree to install remote wiping and locking tools. Hampton suggested using a mobile device management (MDM) solution.

3. Monitor and Control Network Use

Help service desk managers should also use MDM to keep a lookout for network bottlenecks and ensure compliance with BYOD policies.

Granting BYOD users network access on two or three devices is great for productivity, but this can also tax networks. Axios Systems Executive Vice President Markos Symeonides recommends IT teams integrate service desk software with an MDM that delivers real-time network use data. These systems track when a device signs in, what users access, and whether it’s configured with the appropriate security software.

“MDM populates the service desk product, but the service desk is responsible for actually making sense of all that information and acting on it,” Symeonides says.

Another option is a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) solution, such as Xangati's, which equips IT teams with tools for monitoring network, server and storage performance. It identifies a device causing a slowdown and automatically notifies an agent. Depending on the issue, they can then triage the issue to the appropriate response team.

4. Install Anti-malware/virus Infrastructure and Educate Users

Malware creation hit record highs last year with a reported 26 million new strains in circulation. This malicious software can wreak havoc on your company’s security if an infected smartphone, tablet or laptop is connected to your company’s network or email.

To combat these threats, IT teams should equip devices with anti-virus and anti-malware systems. These functions are sometimes wrapped into VPN or MDM software. Others, such as the Junos Pulse Mobile Security Suite or ThreatMetrix, can be installed separately to fight exposure to viruses, malware and spammers.

Buckna recommended help desks provide ongoing information on how to identify phishing techniques, poisonous apps and other virus-spreading tactics. IT should also regularly distribute information about widespread malware and virus outbreaks, such as the NotCompatible predatory app that targeted Android users earlier this month.

The New Help Desk Investment

All of these strategies add up to a significant shift in help desk operations and spending. The cost can seem daunting, but the decision now isn’t whether to make the investment but rather how much risk you are willing to take by doing nothing.

What other suggestions do you have for minimizing the impact of the security risks inherent in BYOD environments? Please leave your thoughts below in the comments section.

Photo courtesy of Carlos Luz.

The reality may be a little closer to the current standard practices of renting an apartment—with a couple of notable exceptions.

Industry insiders tell us that while things are going to change a lot for some high-end apartment communities and their tenants, many of us will still be filling out paper applications. But we may get to pay our rent and submit maintenance requests, online. And while searching for that great new place, expect to be courted with apps and mobile-friendly websites.

Here’s a step-by-step look at the apartment rental process and what’s changing—or, perhaps, staying the same.

Marketing a Vacancy

The transition to online listings from newspaper ads is one of the biggest changes in residential marketing in the last decade. Unless a property is renting to a distinctly senior, non-tech-savvy crowd, there’s no reason to place a print ad ever again. Instead, navigating the wide variety of online listing sites and choosing the best option for your property is the new challenge. Selection of a community apartment listing site should be based in part on user friendliness of the site’s mobile component.

Property management firms now need to invest in things that might not have mattered before—like professional photography that showcases their properties from the best possible angle, website development that displays well across browsers and mobile platforms, and mobile-specific apps that showcase property amenities and allow users to submit requests for more info or to be notified of a newly-vacant unit.

Property managers have no choice but to invest in all forms of mobile marketing, or risk missing out on prospective residents who have a distinct preference for seeing properties on their smartphones or for searching exclusively for listings online, or can’t travel to view an apartment in person. Additional expenditure on social media marketing and targeted online advertising replaces newspaper display ads and will be increasingly important to drive attention to an individual property in a crowded marketplace.

On-site Leasing

The often-evoked visual of a leasing agent conducting an apartment walk-through with an iPad and wrapping up the transaction by handing the prospect the tablet so they can fill out their application is happening in some high-end apartment communities in markets like New York City, but don’t expect such an experience in suburban Topeka anytime soon. There are markets that cannot justify the cost.

The less-flashy alternative is the increasing popularity of the online leasing portal, a place to submit application and credit information. These options are becoming widely available as a way to weed out serious prospects from looky-loos, and automated input is a huge time saver for property managers. Expect such submission of details to become common and widespread within the next two years.

And the idea that an apartment could be rented without an in-person visit? The demand for such a service is still growing, and is particularly popular among college students, foreign relocation prospects, and professionals moving for work assignments. Online video tours, detailed and updated photography, and extensive descriptions are three ways to capture this market.

After Move-in

Perhaps the greatest change in how property management and residents interact with the aid of technology comes after the boxes are emptied and the first month’s rent check is cashed.

Site managers are observing that tenants don’t want to talk to their management staff after move-in, preferring to handle rent pay, maintenance requests, and information sharing in a manner similar to online banking transactions.

Both apps and secure Web portals are vital tools for the property that wishes to offer such features for residents, though a majority of properties in the U.S. are still handling rental payments via checks or direct deposit. The financial crisis led to more renters wanting to pay rent via credit card, which influenced some movement toward online remittance options. But future-focused property firms will need all of their resident information, maintenance forms and bill pay in one highly mobile platform to satisfy tenant demands.

The change to a mobile request and follow-up adds a new dynamic to maintenance, allowing for easier tracking and scheduling. It also opens up the opportunity for customer satisfaction input. After an apartment problem has been cleared up, properties can ping the tenant via email and ask for feedback, creating customer loyalty and a record that closes the loop on the complaint.

What are the biggest changes you see coming to the property management market as the world goes mobile for its technology needs?

Photo courtesy of John Snape.

Mobile point-of-sale (POS) devices present an opportunity for retailers to deliver a better customer experience and alleviate lengthy checkout lines. One AisleBuyer study reported 64 percent of shoppers found associates more helpful when on the floor with tablets.

In the past week, I spoke with three retailers that have recently deployed POS solutions on Apple’s iPad to learn what they would tell those considering a similar move:

• Stacey Barnes, co-owner of GoodyTwos, a toffee shop in Scottsdale, Arizona. Barnes deployed ShopKeep POS in her store a month ago.
• Jerry Hancock, CEO of SubZero Ice Cream. His ice cream franchise has over 16 stores, and began rolling out Olympus POS via iPads in January.
• Garth Schmeck, owner of Cyclopedia of Redding, a bike studio in California. Schmeck has used the Square card reader & register app since June, 2011.

Here are their five tips for retailers ready to move to iPad POS solutions.

1. Start with a Modest Hardware Investment

Today, a retailer can purchase an iPad 2 for as low as $399–a relatively inexpensive option compared to traditional terminals. But the retailers I spoke with cautioned others from going out and buying a dozen iPads. Instead, start small and scale up only when necessary.

“We made a direct one-for-one exchange of cash registers for iPads,” says Hancock. Barnes did the same, switching out her two cash registers for two iPads. As growth necessitates additional terminals, retailers can hop over to an Apple retailer and be up and running the same day.

Schmeck is currently thinking of purchasing additional hardware, as he’s looking to expand his reach from the store walls. “I would just need to purchase another device, and the salesman would be ready to sell wherever needed,” he says.

2. Upgrade Your Infrastructure

While mobile devices are often capable of processing payments on cellular networks, the reliability of these networks are dependent on the retailer’s location, the building, network congestion and other unexpected factors. Wi-Fi is a better option, and is supported by the least-expensive iPads.

You may need to modestly invest in infrastructure. Barnes says that when they moved from their first store to a larger facility, they upgraded their bandwidth and wireless connection to meet their expanding back-office and checkout needs.

If you’re not satisfied with the speed or reliability of your current Internet provider, investigate your options, (business cable, DSL, T1 lines, etc.). In addition, make sure your wireless router:

• Accommodates multiple concurrent connections reliably;
• Isn’t prone to interference;
• Supports (and you implement) WPA or WPA2 encryption; and
• Meets Payment Card Industry (PCI) standards for card-based transactions.

3. Hire Help for Deployment and Management

The retailers I spoke with mentioned the usefulness of outsourcing the set-up and management of the technology. Hancock partnered with mobile device management provider MokiMobility to lock-down devices and centralize sales and inventory data throughout its stores.

While GoodyTwos only has one location, the owners chose to work with a local reseller to ease their POS deployment. “My time is limited. It was helpful to have an expert set everything up,” says Barnes.

A reseller can focus on migrating data, setting-up merchant services accounts, and ensuring the deployment goes smoothly. Resellers can also help with integration of previous systems, like QuickBooks for accounting.

4. Integrate the iPad with the Selling Process

Another statistic from AisleBuyer’s mobile shopping survey: 57 percent of customers view retailers using mobile devices as innovators. Using an iPad POS system presents an opportunity for retailers to provide a unique shopping experience that can drive loyalty.

Schmeck has used his device to help customers research custom bike builds. When ready, he quickly transitions and helps the customer pay via the card-reader sled. “Some customers are going to be shocked at first,” Schmeck says, noting that customers can be surprised by the system’s flexibility.

By further integrating shopping and checkout, retailers can adjust customers’ mindset at the point of sale. Other store owners should similarly utilize the iPad’s to integrate shopping and checkout.

5. Involve the Customer at Checkout

Hancock chose the iPad because he needed “a system that was not only durable, but had the needed speed-of-service.” But in addition to being a great device for the point of sale, it has the ability to make checkout a little more fun (and the bill more palatable).

Schmeck walks customers through the process, showing them the iPad as he rings up the total and has them electronically sign at the end. Similarly, Barnes has made it a point have customers sign and finish the transactions themselves. In downtimes, she even has customers briefly use the iPad themselves to create a unique in-store experience.

"It's been great to be able to have customers take a picture in the store and immediately share it on social media," remarks Barnes.

Final Head-Smacking Tips

In addition to the tips above, these retailers had other great pieces of advice. Schmeck mentioned that many of these systems offer receipts be sent via email, but to provide a printed option, too. (“Some customers just don’t want the email,” says Schmeck.) In addition, Hancock emphasized that retailers treat an iPad POS solution search like any other retail software selection project.

Above all, my interviews brought to light that retailers should lean on and reach out to other merchants that made the transition to the point of sale via the iPad.

What other suggestions would you have for retailers moving to the iPad platform? Please leave your thoughts and any additional tips in the comments.

Thumbnail image created by Kai Hendry.

But the role is full of misconceptions and unexpected challenges. I spoke to some experienced recruiters to learn about the mistakes they made earlier in their careers and what insights they would offer to new recruiters just starting out.

1. Recruiting Doesn’t Only Happen Behind a Computer

While recruiters can use the Internet as their primary tool for finding candidates, using it exclusively could limit their access to a wider, more diverse pool of candidates.

Jonathan Weems, a technical recruiter who’s been in the field for five years, says his biggest mistake as a new recruiter was assuming he could always find the best candidates online. He stresses that new recruiters need to network offline just as much. His advice: look for new groups and communities where you can engage in-person to find more people with the skills and qualifications you’re seeking.

“Also talk to employees within your own company, find out where they came from, and start building relationships internally,” says Weems.

“Those relationships are just as important as the ones you develop with job seekers, and you can leverage those co-workers as another channel for finding candidates.”

2. Use Multiple Tools to Source Candidates

With so many job boards and posting apps at a recruiter’s disposal, it’s easy for one to get overwhelmed by all the tools and technology. New recruiters sometimes fall into the trap of relying entirely on one or two tools–and using them in the same way–simply because they’re familiar with them or have seen some good results.

If recruiters are consistently achieving great results with a particular tool, like Monster or LinkedIn Recruiter, by all means they should continue using them. But failing to leverage other tools, could cause recruiters to miss out on a larger pool of candidates.

“Get out of your comfort zone and diversify the types of sites you use, the approach you use on the site, and the way you tackle a search,” adds Weens.

3. Use the Internet, Don’t Watch It

According to a Jobvite social recruiting survey, 89% of companies said they would recruit in social networks in 2011, and 55% would spend more on social recruiting. While companies are beefing up their social recruiting efforts, I think one could argue that recruiting has always been very social.

“The best people who are [recruiting] online were probably pretty good at it when social recruiting wasn’t really an issue,” says Lance Haun, editor of SourceCon and community director for ERE.net.

“They’re naturally social and they’re trying to have conversations with people. It’s just an extension of what they’re doing in real life.”

Even though recruiting apps can automate daunting tasks like posting jobs to multiple social networks, recruiters who don’t actively engage with job seekers are failing to take full advantage of those platforms.

“With all the active status updates and the constant stream of information on social sites, it’s easy to treat the Internet like TV and just watch it,” says Miles Jennings, CEO of Recruiter.com. “Successful recruiters don’t watch the Internet and social networks–they use them as tools to do more of what they do best: talking to people.”

4. Understand the Job You're Recruiting For

Experienced recruiters say that finding candidates with the right credentials and experience isn’t always the hardest part about recruiting–it’s understanding the job that needs to be filled and the business requirements for that position.

For example, without any real-world experience as a software engineer or insurance claims processor, it can be tricky for a recruiter to know what to seek out in candidates for those positions. Beyond identifying relevant keywords to hunt for in candidate resumes, recruiters need to understand the business and what the hiring manager is really seeking in a candidate.

You can press the client to get more information about the position, but it’s more important to understand the business you’re recruiting for,” adds Jennings.

“It's that hands-on knowledge that gives you the capacity to understand what hiring managers want, and gives you the ability to have a real conversation with a candidate as opposed to a job-req-qualification information dump.”

Recruiters can start by engaging with professionals in the field they’re hiring for to learn as much as they can about the profession. Go to lunch with them, ask questions, shadow their day-to-day activities on the job and take notes, because the things you observe will give you a better understanding of the kind of candidate you should look for.

What other tips, challenges, or misconceptions should they know about? I think we’ll begin to see a lot of newbie recruiters out in the field pretty soon. And the more we can prep them, the better.

Thumbnail image by laughlin.

Applicant tracking systems (ATS), in particular, streamline and automate many recruiting tasks. From online applications and candidate tracking to video interviews and social recruiting, an ATS is essential for recruiting in the 21st century. And with affordable cloud-based systems, it’s easier than ever for small and medium businesses to upgrade their recruiting toolbox.

However, there are things even the most sophisticated applicant tracking systems can’t do. Here are three key components of a successful recruiting strategy that your applicant tracking system won’t do for you, and offer some ideas on what you can do instead.

1. Find Talent

ATS vendors are introducing more effective tools for finding candidates for your open positions. Their tools are integrating better with social media, increasing referral capabilities and running more powerful searches.

Though an ATS can help you source, Ternynck argues you need to look beyond your ATS for candidates.

“Applicant tracking systems were created to automate the process of tracking applicants. They’re not designed as a sourcing platform.”

In short, they’re not going to do your sourcing for you; they won’t get candidates in the door and in front of your hiring manager. The day an ATS can find talent–and accurately determine which candidate out of 10,000 is worth interviewing based on an algorithm–is the day you’re out of a job.

Recommendation: Don’t rely solely on a built-in sourcing application to find talent. Stay active in the channels you’re sourcing from, and focus on connecting with people rather than searching for candidates. Use your ATS to organize and track promising people you come across.

2. Automate Candidate Engagement

Your candidates aren’t interested in interacting with your ATS. They don’t want to spend hours searching through your job database and completing your online application. They’re getting tired of sending their resume and cover letter to an anonymous destination, then getting at best a one-line confirmation that their information was received. They want more touchpoints throughout the process, and don’t understand why you’re not providing them.

In terms of functionality, applicant tracking is to recruiting what order tracking is to sales. Tracking an order doesn’t close the sale–it keeps business processes organized, ensuring things don’t fall through the cracks. Similarly, an ATS help you keep on top of open positions, candidates and their status. But it is up to you to engage candidates and cultivate relationships that lead to hires.

Ternynck argues, “Automation is not the right way to engagement,” citing that too heavy a focus on process is going to drive candidates away.

A “high-touch” candidate experience isn’t easy to deliver. Recruiters in small companies often wear too many hats, and recruiters in large companies are juggling open jobs, hiring managers and candidates. However, according to Susan Thayer, Senior Technical Recruiter at Demand Media, you don’t have much of a choice. “You have got to be organized enough to make that candidate a priority–because they’re your reputation. It can be as simple as an email.”

Recommendation: A simple email goes a long way toward creating a sense of touch for candidates. But recruiters have found automatic responses much easier than writing personal emails for every Tom, Dick, and Harry. Find a balance between the two. Craft quality automated responses for “we received your resume,” “the next steps are,” and “you’re not a good fit.” That way, you’ll have more time to spend on personal notes and phone calls to your more promising applicants.

3. Fix Broken Processes

Some companies assume that implementing ATS will somehow repair their broken recruiting strategies. However, introducing automation to a strategy that is flawed can make things worse, not better.

While ATS can improve execution of your recruiting strategy by automating certain tasks, strengthening weak points in your strategy requires more than shiny new tools.

“The very notion of applicant tracking and automation goes against employment branding,” says Ternynck.

Recommendation: Before buying ATS, first work on any process issues. Focus on the things you can fix. If job descriptions are slapped together haphazardly, establish consistency in formatting and content. If hiring managers don’t supply you with detailed feedback immediately after candidate interviews–thereby bottlenecking recruiting cycles–schedule debriefs after every interview. If senior leadership is rarely in the office, work with them to reserve one or two days a month as “Interview Days.”

A Shift in Focus: Enhancement vs. Automation

Rare is the flawless recruiting process. As conversations around candidate experience and employment branding continue to gain momentum, it’s apparent that technology alone will not enhance your recruiting strategy.

What do you think? Are we relying too heavily on technology to do our recruiting for us? Have we over-automated? Leave a comment, and share your thoughts.

Feature Image by:Martin Cathrae

With so many college facility managers and design teams working on sustainability projects, we’re seeing some highly creative solutions come about. We’d appreciate your nominations for colleges in the seven categories below to recognize the schools that are leading the change.

Once we compile responses from students, faculty and industry professionals, we’ll interview the leaders at these institutions about their initiatives, and we’ll publish a report profiling the innovative achievements of these schools.

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