5 for Friday: Overcoming Workplace Adversity Edition
We run into a lot of stressors in our worklives — annoying co-workers, unreasonable recruiters demanding bosses. and This week’s 5 for Friday rounds up links about overcoming workplace adversity.
- Ask The Headhunter: How to Overcome Missing Job Requirements. PBS: “What do you do when the employer interviewing you has four requirements, you meet three of them and you know that you’re the best person for the job? How can I turn this kind of situation into a job offer?”
- 5 Ways to Overcome Workplace Stress. Toronto Star: “(Multi-tasking is) not something that should be extolled or encouraged. It’s actually a bad habit to get into, and people would be much more productive if they stopped doing it.”
- 5 Workplace Irritations That Can Actually Boost Productivity. Forbes: “These irritants provoke different facets of your brain, subsequently igniting a flame far quicker than if they weren’t present.”
- 5 Interview Red Flags for Employers. About.com: “Have you ever met a candidate who was never responsible for anything that went wrong at work? I have. They’re a sight to behold as they blame coworkers, bosses, a lack of resources, and the lack of skills in their team members for every failure they describe.”
- Surprise! A Job Search Can Build Self-Esteem. Huffington Post: “I know people typically think that engaging in a job search can beat you up and be tough on the ego. But I’m here to say not so! For those in professionally unhealthy situations, it can be an uplifting exercise that helps immensely.”
The post 5 for Friday: Overcoming Workplace Adversity Edition appeared first on MonsterWorking.
Why Investing In Administrative Staff Is An Investment In Your Company
Are you interested in boosting company profits? Improving employee productivity and morale? Increasing employee retention and reducing sick days?
If the answer is yes, read on.
The secret to achieving these goals is to provide solid and professional development opportunities for your administrative staff, one of the most powerful and untapped secret weapons in your company. Here are four ways to invest in your administrative staff to help achieve company goals:
1. Invest in Training. Invest in supplemental in-house classes and workshops in both soft skills (communication) and hard skills (technology).
2. Support Event Attendance. Support and fund the administrative staff to attend at least one professional meeting or conference per year. After their participation, ask for a short presentation to the staff about the conference and what was learned.
3. Promote Networking. Provide regular opportunities for networking and the sharing of information among the administrative staff. Supply the space and the food.
4. Value Their Opinion. The most powerful question you can ask a member of your admin staff is: “What do you think?” Then listen.
In most companies, the administrative staff is a traditionally under-trained and under-served group of extremely bright and resourceful women (the profession is 95% female). They have succeeded in their roles in spite of the lack of support and training rather than because of it. This is true coast to coast, in companies large and small.
As a trainer of assistants, I hear regularly from staffers whose companies have never offered any training for the administrative staff. Managers will argue that they cannot quantify the return on investment (ROI). I argue that these staffers are the backbone of your company and that supporting them to develop their skills is very smart business.
The benefits of providing professional development opportunities for the admin team go far beyond the actual knowledge that the staff gains. Your staff will feel a sense of ownership in your company and a feeling of loyalty since you are demonstrating your belief in their talents and respect for their value. This feeling of respect is the antithesis to feeling like a number and that you are “a dime a dozen.” On top of all that, the most important benefit of providing training is self-confidence and self-esteem, which are priceless.
While compensation has always been an excellent incentive for employee retention, the number one motivator for the administrative staff costs nothing. It is respect. If you doubt this, just ask them and give them license to be candid without repercussion. Training is a strong demonstration of respect.
Job satisfaction for your admin team has everything to do with feeling valued and respected for their role in the company. Saying “please” and “thank you” goes a very long way (cost: $0). Adopting a zero-tolerance policy on bullying goes even further (cost: $0). The ROI of publishing this policy on your company’s website will come back exponentially, especially if you back it up with action.
When you support these strategies, keep in mind that you will be saving even more money by not having to replace staff who quit or having to pick up the slack for staffers who are out on medical leave from stress-related illnesses caused by bullying.
The most profoundly meaningful investment you can make in your staff, and in anyone for that matter, is to believe in them enough, trust them enough and support them to learn. Knowledge is power, and it is also a bottomless source of loyalty, commitment and profits.
Why Investing In Administrative Staff Is An Investment In Your Company is a post from: Glassdoor Blog
Related posts:
- How To Honor Your Administrative Professionals
- Why Company Culture Matters To Your Career & Company
- How to Interview The Company: Part 1
#FindBetter Wednesdays: Your Advice for Career Success
We asked our social media connections to contribute their best tips for career success, and the results have been exciting and inspiring. We reached out via tweets hashtagged with #FindBetter and our Facebook page, and we’ll be rounding up the best and most popular advice each week.
This week we asked:
What’s your best tip to stay sane during a difficult work week?
Popular responses included: enjoying a good post-work book or workout, organization and prioritization, maintaining personal positivity by smiling, and giving others positive encouragement.
If you could do one thing differently when you were younger to help your career now, what would it be?
Popular responses included: taken Spanish as a second language, attended a better university, done an internship, started community college right after high school, entered the military, stayed away from people who didn’t support my goals, and taken school more seriously.
What’s the best bit of career advice you’ve ever had?
Popular responses included: do what you love and the money will follow, be proactive about generating career experience, be patient with yourself during the first few months of a new job, ask questions and listen.
More #FindBetter tips we found helpful:
@GalloMontreal Don’t be shy to share you are unemployed, and looking. You never know who will help you
@Corneliocmc “There is no success that is final, and no failure that is fatal”
@PeterShanksUU Establish a network and raise your visibility; and “work, work, work”
@StratfordGreg I networked the hell out of all my contacts, both on and off line: Wasn’t afraid to step up and ask
@Ask_Dan Make a lasting impression. People should look around & still see you, even after you’re gone.
@CremRecruitment Research your potential employer and preparation for any interview is the key to success
@ghasley Don’t discount opportunities that move you in a new direction. It’s a fast paced world and you need to move with it!
@domwalton: Confront obstacles – the longer you leave them in place the larger and more burdensome they become
Do you have a career tip that’s brought you success? Use the hashtag #FindBetter on Twitter or comment on our Facebook page to share it with the Monster community.
The post #FindBetter Wednesdays: Your Advice for Career Success appeared first on MonsterWorking.
How To Write An Effective Job Ad
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, especially when it comes to a job listing. If you want to attract the right employees, then you have to view the job ad as a marketing tool rather than merely a help wanted ad.
“A spec should be an advertisement for your company,” says Mark Jaffe, president of Wyatt & Jaffe, the executive search firm. “It should be a net in which you catch the right fish rather than a screen designed to filter out people.”
Often times when companies set out to find talent they use the help wanted ad as a way to discourage unqualified people from applying. They’ll use phrases like “must have” or “minimum requirements” and set specific years of experience. They figure by being very specific they will weed out the under-qualified and speak to the qualified. A few weeks later when the position sits unfilled they wonder what they did wrong.
“If the whole focus is on weeding out the unqualified, it prevents people from applying because they find the job boring,” says Lou Adler, author of The Essential Guide for Hiring & Getting Hired. “The ad should emphasize what is in it for the candidate.”
According to recruiters and human resources experts, the person reading the advertisement has to envision doing the job rather than making sure they meet all the qualifications. Instead of focusing on a job title, Pat Sweeney, human resource manager at Old Colony Hospice and Palliative Care, says the ad should include four or five active words that describe what the person will actually be doing. If you want somebody that can communicate technical terms then say that, says Sweeney. If you are looking for someone that can teach a new computer program, list the program in the ad. She also says it’s a good idea to stay away from any jargon, which can easily be misinterpreted by job seekers unfamiliar with the terminology.
Before a company can even start to craft a good job posting, it has to first figure out what goal it is trying to achieve by filling the position. According to Jaffe, the company has to ask itself what it wants the new hire to accomplish and how success will be measured. Instead of worrying if the candidate needs to have a VP title or ten years of experience it has to focus on how the objectives will be met. “You don’t want someone with a mechanical engineering background applying for a marketing role, but you also don’t want to eliminate an unlikely candidate that might bring wonderful experience to the table,” says Jaffe. He says the job posting should be like something the job seeker tries on. “‘I like the way I look,’ is what the qualified candidate should be saying,” after reading the spec, he says.
Companies also worry about going afoul of labor laws when writing job ads, and that’s why they list objective criteria like an MBA or five years of experience in their ads. But, according to Adler, if a company is looking for an accountant, stating the person will be in charge of upgrading the accounting system by year end meets the labor law requirements. “Increase sales by 10% is equally objective as five years of sales experience,” says Adler.
Long gone are the days when companies would place help wanted ads in newspapers, which had limited space. In today’s world, all of the postings are found online, which means employers don’t have any space constraints. Because length isn’t an issue, companies also have ample space to make a job posting that isn’t boring. After all, the whole idea behind the ad is to sell the company and the job to the best candidates possible. Because of that, it’s a good idea to put some flair into your ad. When Adler was tasked with finding a controller for a Los Angeles-based company, he made it creative by putting Oscar Winning Controller or Director of Accounting in the headline. In the advertisement instead of saying the candidate needs to have a degree in accounting, 15 years of experience and previous management background, he described the tasks the candidate would be in charge of during the first year. “Companies should emphasize the employee value proposition,” says Adler. “Highlight the work they will be doing and minimize the skills.”
How To Write An Effective Job Ad is a post from: Glassdoor Blog
Related posts:
- Get Noticed: Write A Cover Letter That Makes You Stand Out
- How To Write An A+ Resume
- 5 Tips For An Effective Thank You Note
5 Questions You Can (and Should!) Ask Your Boss
Leading employees is a two-way street. Leaders share information, and employees who are engaged ask questions. Here are five questions that will elevate engagement, involvement and respect for your efforts.
What Are Your Expectations?
Leaders who are newly promoted or haven’t developed this habit sometimes forget to share their expectations out loud. Unless telepathy was on your resume, that doesn’t bode well for your understanding of what needs to be done, how, and in what time frame. If the leader hasn’t given this much thought, the question will prompt the discussion and provide value for you both.
How Can I Help?
When your boss is clearly overwhelmed, an offer to help take some of those things off his list will be well received. However, asking this question before taking the initiative to simply do some of things on his list will also prevent double work and leave you perceived as a valuable resource.
Which One Comes First?
If your boss is a stereotypical “Type A” over-achiever, she may overload your plate without even thinking or knowing it’s been done. A well-timed question to clarify priorities will prevent a miscalculated choice and the ensuing consequences. The question might sound like this: “Thank you for these projects. I will add them to the ones you shared yesterday. Just so I’m clear, which one takes priority?”
How Far Can I Take This?
Most bosses crave employee initiative and yet, if you’re new to the team, or new to your boss’s style, or they’re new to you, probe for more information before you step on toes. Asking how far you can go before checking back in will also prevent finding out later what it looks like when their inner control freak comes out.
What Drives You Nutty?
Finding out what drives your boss nutty is the same as asking for their pet peeves. Consider these the ditches on the side of the high performance road. You wouldn’t drive off into the ditch on purpose, but when working with your boss, if you don’t ask where they are, you might not even see them and find yourself there having to ask for help or apologize.
Employees who assert themselves with their boss often build exponentially greater amounts of respect and rapport. In each question, maintain a tone of sincere interest and curiosity. After all, the goal is to truly find out the information, not challenge the way in which it was delivered or what was delivered, and this information will then increase the strength of your relationship and the team.
Monica Wofford, CSP, is CEO of Contagious Companies, Inc. and a leadership development expert who training, coaching, consulting, and assessments for managers who’ve been promoted, but may not have been prepared. She is the author of Contagious Leadership and Make Difficult People Disappear and may be reached at www.ContagiousCompanies.com.
The post 5 Questions You Can (and Should!) Ask Your Boss appeared first on MonsterWorking.
10 Reasons Your Cover Letter Sucks
A strong cover letter could be your ticket to moving a step further in getting a new job. This relatively concise piece of information has the ability to place you steps ahead of other candidates, highlight your achievements, and showcase your personality – but no one ever said creating one would be an easy task. Writing a knockout cover letter might even be one of the most challenging parts of the hiring process.
It’s hard to nail down just one challenge that accompanies writing cover letters. Unfortunately, many poor cover letters have allowed outstanding candidates to be passed over by hiring managers. While writing your cover letter might be a scary task, doing it successfully is essential to getting hired.
Don’t let your next cover letter be a flop; consider these 10 mistakes before you hit send:
1. It’s Riddled with Errors. There are many things the errors on your cover letter will express to a hiring manager: lack of attention to detail, carelessness, and even disinterest in the position. Your cover letter deserves to be triple checked for poor grammar, punctuation, and overall structure. Pass it along to your mentor or friends to ensure you haven’t missed anything.
2. It Lacks Focus. What are you attempting to convey to the hiring manager? Writing about your professional experiences can be challenging, and it often causes job seekers to create unfocused cover letters. To write a more direct cover letter, consider creating a layout encompassing your main points.
3. It’s Too Long. Respect the busy schedule of a hiring manager by utilizing brevity in every cover letter you create. Write short and succinct paragraphs to allow for a more easily read document. Sift through unnecessary details and only present the most beneficial information for the job at hand.
4. It Doesn’t Set You Apart. Your cover letter is your chance to leave your mark on a hiring manager. Rather than reiterating what they can read on your resume, use this as an opportunity to share why you’re better for the job than any other candidate. Use a strong, purposeful statement of what you can bring to the position, and how you can positively benefit the company as a whole.
5. It Fails to Highlight Your Skills. While you certainly don’t need to highlight every single job you’ve had during your career, your cover letter should talk about your skills and experiences most beneficial to the company. Your cover letter isn’t for sharing your personal life or specific needs.
6. It’s Missing Information. Job listings often require certain information from applicants. By failing to share the necessary information in your cover letter, you’re essentially removing yourself from the hiring process. Why would a hiring manager choose you over a candidate who went above and beyond to provide the correct details? Double check the qualifications needed for the position prior to sending it.
7. Your Tone is Off. While a cover letter is a professional document, it also gives your potential employer insight into your personality. Don’t rub a hiring manager the wrong way with long-winded bragging. Be sure to leave out arrogance, unprofessional information, and keep the company’s culture in mind.
8. It’s Generic. Customization is key in every part of the hiring process. Submitting a generic cover letter presents you as an average candidate. Your cover letter is an opportunity to stand out and truly speak to a hiring manager – don’t settle for generic.
9. You’re Not Qualified. No matter how you twist and stretch your skills and experiences, you might not be the right candidate for the position. Applying to a position you’re under qualified for is an all-too-common part of the job search. Keep in mind this not only wastes the time of the hiring manager, it also uses up the time and energy you could be spending on applying to position you’re more accurately matched.
10. You Don’t Have One. Just because a cover letter wasn’t mentioned in the job listing, doesn’t mean it’s OK to skip it – they’re never optional. Your cover letter is an important opportunity to convey points you can’t in your resume. Omitting this document leaves you at a fault.
Creating a strong cover letter may be a challenging, but it’s worth the time and energy. Leave a positive first impression on hiring managers by going out of your way to create a concise, focused, and customized document.
10 Reasons Your Cover Letter Sucks is a post from: Glassdoor Blog
Related posts:
- Is Your Cover Letter Compelling?
- Get Noticed: Write A Cover Letter That Makes You Stand Out
- Four Cover Letter Secrets That Will Open Doors
Glassdoor Shaking Up Social Recruiting At ADP’s Meeting Of The Minds In Las Vegas
Now through March 20th Glassdoor will be at booth #9 at the beautiful Wynn Las Vegas for ADP’s Meeting of the Minds conference, showcasing proven social recruiting solutions which help employers bring in top talent.
If you’re at the event, come check out how job seekers are finding your company on Glassdoor, what they’re seeing, and what you can do to complete your Glassdoor company profile for free. If you’re not in Vegas this week you can still cash in on the connections already researching your brand and join the conversation with a Free Employer Account.
Plus when you visit our booth you’ll have a chance to win $200 by signing up for a Free Employer Account! We’re looking forward to seeing you there!
Glassdoor Shaking Up Social Recruiting At ADP’s Meeting Of The Minds In Las Vegas is a post from: Glassdoor Blog
Related posts:
- Recruiters Descend In To Vegas For Annual Recruiting Trends Conference Glassdoor Booth #106
- VIDEO: Glassdoor Rocks #SHRM12 With Sweet Social Recruiting Solutions
- Glassdoor Is Headed To The Recruiting Conference; Booth 200
Cool Jobs: NCAA Tournament Edition
The NCAA basketball tournament begins this week and as athletes across the country are sharpening their game skills, it’s a great time to do the same with your job hunting tactics. March is a key time for hiring, according to the Huffington Post. Become a part of the madness and excitement in sports careers by working directly with athletes and playing a key part in their championship endeavors.
This week, we are sharing 10 of the coolest jobs from cool companies hiring in sports careers.
1.) Sports Travel Agent – Worldtek Travel & Event Management (Park City, Utah): Provide unsurpassed service in planning travel for athletes at Worldtek Travel & Event Management as Sports Travel Agent.
2.) Sports Trainer – Absolut of Dunkirk (Dunkirk, N.Y.): Evaluate & provide therapy to patients as Sports Trainer at Absolut of Dunkirk.
3.) Entry-Level Sports-Minded Marketing – Revolution Rapport (Florence, S.C.): Join Revolution Rapport’s Sports Marketing team in Florence, SC.
4.) Sports Coordinator – City of Oxford (Oxford, Ohio): Plan & organize events as Sports Coordinator at City of Oxford.
5.) Athletic Trainer – Boston University (Boston): Work with student athletes as Athletic Trainer at Boston University.
6.) Head Boys’ Basketball Coach – Crawford Central School District (Erie, Penn.): Become a basketball coach for Crawford Central School District in Erie, Penn.
7.) Basketball Coach – Oak Park Unified (Oak Park, Calif.): Coach the girls’ Junior Varsity team at the Oak Park Unified school district.
8.) Industrial Athletic Trainer – The Industrial Athlete, Inc (Vernon Hills, Ill.): Provide services to athletes as Athletic Trainer at The Industrial Athlete, Inc.
9.) Grounds Athletic Field Specialist – North Orange County Community College District (Anaheim, Calif.): Maintain athletic areas North Orange County Community College District as Grounds Athletic Field Specialist.
10.) Certified Athletic Trainer – Take Care Health Systems (Georgetown, Ky.): Develop & implement Occupational Injury Prevention Programs at Take Care Health Systems as Certified Athletic Trainer.
The post Cool Jobs: NCAA Tournament Edition appeared first on MonsterWorking.
3 Secrets To An Influential Resume Summary
Writing a resume ‘summary of qualifications’ that stops employers cold and makes them realize you’re the right candidate can be challenging. After all, you’re good at what you do, but can be tricky to boil down your ROI to concise statements in hopes of standing out.
For most people, writing a summary of qualifications is such a major task that they look around at other resume examples to get ideas.
Here are some insider tips to creating a summary that exemplifies your personal brand in just a few words – making employers take notice:
1. Lose the Boilerplate Language. Today, every professional is self-motivated and results-driven (and if they aren’t, they’ll be spending the majority of their time job hunting).
Copying generic summary phrases from other resumes is one of the worst sins you can commit, because it’s a sure way to tell employers that you’re identical to everyone else.
Shake things up instead by making a list of your top value-added skills employers need. Do you complete projects faster or more accurately than colleagues?
Have you been promoted quicker, due to your business acumen or leadership skills? Are you able to spot new business opportunities and close deals that are lucrative for your employer?
This list will give you ideas to use in writing your summary—concepts and skills unique to YOU that most likely won’t show up in the resumes of your competition.
2. Pull in Quantifiable Facts. Employers aren’t hiring just to have a potential source of help – they need the ROI you can deliver. So show them your value in figures and metrics from throughout your work history.
This example of an Operational Safety Manager resume summary provides a quick snapshot of consistent value, backed up by metrics:
“Safety advocate and operational leader who influences profit (up to 20% single-year increase) by fostering productive, engaged employees. Hands-on manager with strong financial acumen, delivering regular cost, efficiency, and volume forecasting improvements throughout 80,000-square foot plants.”
As shown here, quantifiable achievements in your resume summary help to quickly distinguish you from other candidates – even in a crowded field with hundreds of applicants.
3. Drop Names. Marketing copywriters have known for years that name-dropping gets attention. Now, you can take a cue from these professionals to amp up the volume in your resume summary section.
If you’re in a sales leadership role, you can mention names of major clients, with a line such as “Closed high-value deals with Apple, Cisco Systems, and Oracle.”
Even if client names are confidential, your summary can use the information in a different way, such as “Created millions in key partnerships with Fortune-ranked corporations in the technology industry.”
Not in sales? You can still reference the names of partner alliances, past employers, or vendors to show collaboration and leadership skills, as in this example:
“Senior Vice President commended for turning around performance through sourcing negotiations with Baptist Health System, Medical Center of Austin, and the Mayo Clinic.”
In conclusion, your resume summary isn’t the place to be modest and toned-down in describing your brand value. Instead, consider boosting its effectiveness with well-placed, strategic information on your specific value-add to employers. – Originally posted on onTargetjobs by Laura Smith-Proulx
3 Secrets To An Influential Resume Summary is a post from: Glassdoor Blog
Related posts:
- 3 Resume Secrets To Make You Shine
- 10 Great Keywords To Use On Your Resume
- How to Replace Deadly Resume Phrases
Changes to Wisestep Job Posting Policies
Attention Recruiters !
We have made a few changes to our Job posting and publishing policies in the last few days based on the feedback from our members. Our Support team has received many complaints about inaccurate and in many cases misleading job posts. Some recruiters were using our Free Job ads for publishing things that were not quite jobs or employment opportunities. We've cleaned up and removed the jobs that did not qualify with our new critieria for posting a job.
Here's a quick guide on what Jobs will not pass through
Jobs that are NOT ALLOWED :
a) Work from home / Virtual worker/ Telecommute jobs or variations of these
b) Commission only jobs
c) Adult companionship seeking jobs.
d) Jobs asking for applicants based on Religion, Age, Gender, Visa status or sponsorship
e) Business or franchisee Job Opportunities. Train and Place Jobs will also not be allowed.
f) Don't mention your email address or Phone Numbers in the Job post
Finally we reserve the right to remove your Job post at our discretion for reasons that may not be mentioned here but that we think may be offensive or unacceptable to our users.
We are keen to offer our members a professional and relevant experience in their job seeking experience and we hope that all Recruiters will use as much of our Free Offerings as possible to make their search for Talent easier and faster.
Here's a quick recap of what you can do for FREE ON Wisestep.com
a) Unlimited Job Posts
b) Publish your jobs on your Social Network Feeds of Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter
c) One Click Job sharing on upto 50 Linkedin Groups
d) Built in Applicant Tracking System
e) Build your own Jobs page and plug it in to your Website. Convert Passive Visitors to Job Applicants
Do write to us with your feedback on support@wisestepmail.com or share in your thoughts in the commenting section below
Thanks for your support
Team Wisestep.com
Recruiter Signups touches 10,000 mark !
Over the past many months, Wisestep.com has put together a combination of unique Recruitment tools that we hope have tremendously improved their productivity and helped them hire quicker and faster.
As more and more people spend time on Social Media, Recruiters need to use tools that help them reach people where they are most likely to be found. On Social Networks. IF you are not making your jobs visible on Social Media, you are losing out on some easy to get referrals and Job applications.
At Wisestep.com recruitment is inherently Social with Jobs being easily shared on Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter (with a few more to follow soon).
We've also added the ability for you to share jobs on Multiple Linked in Groups with a single click and flag it as a job or as a discussion depdnding on the preferences of the moderator of the group. If you haven't tried this out yet, you are still spending probably an hour doing something that should take less than a couple of minutes.
Some of the enthusiasm with which recruiters use our tools by the number of shares is also visible on our Recruiter home page.
As we continue to add more cool features that helps you hire faster and makes you look goo, we ask all our users and supporters on supporters to do us a favor: Please don't keep us a secret. Tell all your friends and colleagues about us. Like us on Facebook!
You can be Famous too!
Do you have great career and professional insights? Ever wondered why you can never get them published? We say, you deserve your chance to fame.
If you feel that you have a few thoughts to share - career development tips, job market trends, recruitment and hiring outlook, and all that jazz - write a short 400-word article and mail it over to us. We’ll go through it, select the best entries for the week, and post it on Wisestep as a Featured Article.
Your article will be reviewed by our Editorial Panel, and if selected, added to our Columns Section. Talk about exposure! It will even get a place in the Wisestep Homepage for a week. These articles will be visible to people who really matter - Industry Leaders, potential Contacts, Employers and Recruiters - and generate discussions which can positively impact your Career.
Besides, you can even use your Article to drive traffic to your website. Add a couple of links that track back to your blog or website. We’ll even provide a Badge which you can add to your website, bragging that you were featured on Wisestep.com.
The rules are simple. Jot down your thoughts, and send as many articles as you wish to editor@wisestepmail.com. Just make sure your work is original and previously unpublished.
So, get started; and let the creative juices flow!
The Wisestep.com Team
Now Post your Jobs on Linkedin Groups
One of the best sources for top talent is industry-specific Linkedin Groups. Posting each Job, Group by Group, is hard work though. But, what if you can post all your Jobs directly on your Linkedin Groups at a single mouse-click?
Try out Wisestep’s new Linkedin Groups Publish feature. This service now allows you to Post any specific Job onto Linkedin Groups of which you are a Member. You can even select specific Groups to publish each Job in. After all, it doesn’t make sense to Share a Java Developer job on a Group for HR Professionals!
Social Recruitment is smart. We just try to make it smarter.
Power your Linkedin Job Publishing with Wisestep!
We knew we were good. RASBIC says we are the Best!
We've got great news!
Wisestep bagged a bunch of prizes during the RASBIC Awards Programme held on February 16, 2012. We had applied for three categories, and we did have our heart in our mouth when we headed for the venue last week. But then, the jury loved our features so much, that they gave us Awards in all three categories. We were judged the best in:
- Best Use of Technology in Recruitment
- Best Social Networking Recruitment Effort
- Best Innovation in Recruitment
Well, we're still reeling from the surprise.
But, it’s a warm feeling, all the same!
But, we do owe a lot to the Wisestep community as a whole!
We wouldn't have been able to make it without your support and generous feedback.
While we are doing good, we will try to get even better, and bring you the latest tools and technology which will enable you to take on all your hiring requirements.
Looking forward to hearing from you. Add a few comments, or send in your responses to support@wisestepmail.com.
Until then,
The Wisestep.com Team
The Future of Social Recruitment in 2012
With all the hype about Social Hiring, we should probably question the sustainability of the whole process. The spatial dimension of social networks are already cluttered with information, from photo updates to endorsement requests. So let's stand back and ask a few questions.
Does job posts and career opportunities get the visibility they deserve?
Does the overabundance of jobs make it, in fact, harder for candidates to find and apply for the right jobs?
Can recruiters and hiring managers find able and qualified candidates from amongst the throng of responses they recieve online?
Does sharing email IDs and Linkedin profiles on an online forum compromise on your privacy?
Most importantly, can social media sustain itself as a viable tool in recruitment and hiring practices without stumbling on its own largesse?
Social recruitment has integrated itself into hiring practices across the world. And there's no denying its value. However, what we need, at the moment, are dedicated career networks which can exist outside of, yet not independent from, the bigger social networks. This is what Wisestep aims to be.
Before we jump into wild and exagerrated assumptions, let us quickly assess how far Wisestep will be able to override the concerns we had shared above.
Visibility of Job Posts
Wisestep is a community of Professionals who share the common goal of furthering their careers. Hence, jobs and business opportunity will get precedence before much else within our network. Jobs posted on Wisestep are listed in a comprehensive Job Search Page, where candidates can look up opportunities that suit their qualifications. They are also published on over 35+ other websites and job aggregators, enhancing their online visibility. Recruiters can further improve their reach by sharing these jobs over their online networks. An easy job share feature allows you to send Job Alerts to individual Contacts, or post them directly on your own Profile. You can even set up a Publisher Settings to manage and track your online publishing.
Job Seekers' Ease of Access
Wisestep is dedicated to connecting Job Seekers and Passive Professionals to job opportunities that suit their professional profile. A faceted Job Search option allows you to narrow down the options and find just the right jobs you were looking for. Wisestep also has an intuitive algoritmh which can automatically suggest the best jobs to suitable candidates. By analysing your career goals and your professional profile, Wisestep will be able to recommend Jobs which match with your career ambitions. We can even recommend Jobs and Career Opportunities your friends will be looking for, allowing you to refer them to the right positions. Finally, even if you're not actively seeking a new job, you can always subscribe to our Job Feeds, or set up Job Alerts, so that you will get great opportunities delivered right in your inbox.
Finding Relevant Candidates
Recruiters unanimously agree that referrals are the best source for high-quality candidates. Wisestep is based on a social referral system, that can take referrals beyond your workplace, into cyberspace. Employers and recruiters can now share their Job Posts with the online Contacts on Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter. These Contacts can now Refer their friends, who are qualified to take up the job, with a single mouse click. Being part of your professional network, you can be sure that your referrers will just suggest the right candidates to take up jobs with your clientile. The referral scheme runs much deeper. Whenever someone opens a friend's profile on Wisestep, they will find a list of current jobs the person will be qualified for. While this process leads to more referrals, it also helps in pre-screening the candidates even before they are referred. Once you recieve an application, you can now search for the Candidate's profile on Wisestep to get the lowdown on his/her professional history.
The Matter of Privacy
Wisestep exists as a community of professionals outside of other social networks. So, you can always control who views your Profile and what information you share. Recruiters have a separate log in to secure their identity and post jobs for their corporate entity. With Wisestep, you needn't post your phone numbers or email addresses on a public forum – an act fraught with the danger of identity theft. Instead, Job seekers can apply directly to posted Jobs, and submit their CV's through a secure social channel. Recruiters, on the other hand, will be intimated personally of all responses they recieve via their corporate Email Address.
Social recruitment can, and will, sustain itself by transcending its boundaries while building on its specificity of providing hard-wired hiring solutions. That's what we hope to do as well.
For another great year of transformation,
The Wisestep.com Team
A Brand New Wisestep for a Brand New Year
We are delighted to announce the launch of our new and enhanced version of our User Section for professionals and job seekers. The revamped User Section will help professionals build their career network, search and share job opportunities with greater ease and efficiency.
Over the past year, the Wisestep team had been relentlessly collecting feedback from users and professionals, the world over, on how we can improve performance and user experience. The new User Section reflects our commitment to your professional cause.
The redesign gives the User Section a smoother Web 2.0 look and feel. Bolder headers, crisper content, and a sleek design, makes it easier to navigate and a pleasure to use.
Users can now log into their Wisestep Account directly, or from Facebook or Linkedin. They can also expand their professional clout by bringing in friends and contacts from their social networks, through an easy one-step process.
The new User Section comes with a comprehensive User Profile. You can now add all your career-related information on a single, easy-to-view page. Update your Profile with relevant information to make yourself more attractive to potential contacts, and prospective employers.
Job sharing had always been the cornerstone of the Wisestep experience, and it will remain so. Go through our dedicated Job Search page to get a exhaustive rundown on the latest jobs in the network. Use the Faceted Search option to search for jobs, in a specific industry, company, locality, and lots more. Find just the right jobs you were looking for all along.
Found a career opportunity your friends would love? Referring them is easy, and gets done in a minute. Inform them by Email, or through your online networks. Also, keep an eye on jobs offering Referral Rewards. These jobs, marked out with a yellow tab, will fetch you a cash reward if a friend you suggested does get hired! Wisestep can even suggest the best Job Deals, offering the highest Referral Rewards in your locality on any specific day.
What makes Wisestep better than ever is how it can now search for and suggest just the right jobs for you. Fill in your Career Goals, and get notified whenever we find an opportunity that will help you move ahead in your career. Get recommendations for jobs your friends would love. Or subscribe to job titles you are looking forward to take. It's a lot more simpler with Wisestep.
With close to 100,000 professionals, experts and industry leaders on board, you can be sure you will meet the right people on Wisestep. We, in our small way, will just try to make your career networking an easier task. Log into your Wisestep Account, or Sign Up today, and give it a try.
Hoping to help you build a better career in 2012.
The Wisestep.com Team
Wisestep now Enables you to Recruit directly from your Website
Recruiters and hiring managers go to great lengths publishing their jobs in jobs sites, and via social networks. They search long and hard for referrals and scour resume databases for one ideal match. But what about finding candidates right from your corporate website? It's a task which most HR professionals conveniently neglect.
However, the Careers Section on your company's website is a vital tool in attracting and acquiring talent. Jobs posted on your website, are within your own domain, giving them greater credibility and visibility. They will stay there, right at the top, until you choose to remove them yourself. You can even edit a job post, or repost them conveniently.
Moreover, candidates applying through your website usually make a much better fit. These candidates have proven their interest in working with your organization. They had, after all, visited your website to find opportunities at your firm. Such interested candidates will remain loyal and engaged workers, lowering attrition levels within your organization.
A website updated with the most recent job opportunities is a sign of a professional, and well-managed organization. However, it's a task easier said than done. HR executives often have to chase their IT guy to upload recent openings onto their corporate website. So what happens when your company goes into a hiring spree? Can you really afford to lose out on top candidates with a proven interest in your company?
Wisestep offers you a feasbile solution. Try out the Wisestep Careers Page service.
Wisestep Careers Page allows you to integrate a customized careers section onto your corporate website. Design your own careers page – choose the layout, font, and colors to match your corporate brand. Now, in one simple step, you can copy a HTML code and integrate it within your company's website.
Your new careers page will be automatically updated with all jobs you post on Wisestep. No need to wait for your IT guy any longer. These jobs will also be published on 30+ other jobs sites and search engines. You can even share these jobs with your online friends and contacts over Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter. You job posts can now get a broader reach than ever before.
Wisestep also makes it easier for your website visitors to apply for your jobs or refer suitable candidates. Instead of sending over an email, candidates on your careers page can apply directly to job posts. They can fill in their job application form, attach a CV and a cover letter, and send over their applications right from your website. Even better, passive job seekers can select from their friends and followers on Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter, and send over job referrals directly.
Even you employees will now find your hiring process more engaging and transparent. Add the Wisestep App on Facebook, to get your jobs listed on your Facebook Page as well. Now your employees and job seekers can view all job openings on your company's website or your Facebook Page and refer candidates right away. You can even offer them a Referral Reward for successful hires. Our efficient and intuitive Applicant Tracking System will keep track of all referrals you receive.
Wisestep adds a new dimension to your company's website. Now, with an interactive social referral system, you can finally turn your website visitors to job applicants and referrers.
How Wisestep Enhances your Employee Referral Program
Even the best-run organizations find it difficult to establish a cohesive Referral Program. Noticably, only a small fraction of the employee base regularly engage in such schemes. The main reasons cited by employees for low participation include:
Low Awareness: Employees are either not aware of job openings in the company, or the presence of a rewarding referral program.
Difficulty in Participation: The referral process is long and time-consuming.
Lack of Transparency: Employees are not informed of the status of their referred candidate during the hiring process.
The concept appears simple enough; but, it's anything but simple to execute a world-class Referral Program. Most corporate referral programs struggle to meet 30 percent of their organizational hires. Any failure to optimize the performance of a tool as efficient and effective as an ERP is a failure nonetheless, even if it generates hires inline with industry averages.
Here's where Wisestep can step into a fray.
Wisestep integrates the userability and permeability of online networks into your company's Employee Referral Program – allowing greater internal participation, and higher number of referrals.
The first step towards a successful corporate Referral Program is through improving awareness among the employees. All job openings in the organization should be displayed in a space easily accessible and visible to all employees. With Wisestep, recruiters can update all their latest job posts to their coworkers by sending over individual emails.
Similarly, all jobs posted on Wisestep will also be displayed on over 30 other job sites and search engines. Recruiters and hiring managers can also share these posts on their online profiles or send them over to individual friends and contacts. Moreover, by adding the Wisestep App on Facebook, all new job opportunities will get displayed on the Jobs Section of the Company's Facebook Page.
Jobs on Wisestep can also be labelled with referral rewards. These jobs can again be shared over social media, leading to a greater number of applications. Any click-backs leading to a hired candidate can later be rewarded as advertised. Wisestep intuitive Applicant Tracking System will keep track of all referrals, referred links and ensuing applications.
It is important to realize that while referral programs are probably the best in talent acquisition, most efforts end up in mediocrity. A few simple steps, and Recruiter's Account on Wisestep, can transform yours to a potent world-class corporate referral program.
You are just 3 Persons away from your Ideal Candidate
It might seem surprizing; but it is evidently proven. And that was way back in the sixties – when internet was unheard of even in sci-fi circles. So, no one would be surprized to hear that internet and the Facebook revolution have brought the world even closer together.
Facebook recently released certain stats, one of which made particularly fascinating reading:
We found that the degrees of separation between any two Facebook users is smaller than the commonly cited six degrees, and has been shrinking over the past three years as Facebook has grown, and now stands at 4.74 between any two Facebook users, no matter where they reside in the world.
This would mean that there are hardly 5 people connecting you to any other person in the world. This number falls significantly when the two people in question are within the same country. There are only three degrees of separation between any two members of the same country.
It is a pool of 800 million candidates, all of whom you know within five people.
Here's where a Social Referral can make all the difference.
As a recruiter, you can post a Job on Wisestep for free. You can now share this job with your network on Facebook. You job post will now be visible to all your friends and contacts. Now, few of them might decide to share this post on their profiles, or inform a few other friends personally. Your second degree contacts will be from a range of feilds and industries. And chances are, one of them will surely know a person who will be just about right for the job.
It's easy from there. Your ideal candidate gets a Referral from a friend. And they could send over their resume, directly to your inbox with just a few mouse clicks.
So what are you waiting for? Your new hire's just three persons away!
5 for Friday: Professional Networking Edition
Professional networking, both online and in person, is a great way to make contacts that can mentor you, aid in your job search or become clients for your business. It does take skill, however, to do it properly. This week’s five for Friday offers a few ideas and suggestions.
- Top 7 Career Benefits of a Strong Network. Undercover Recruiter: “Let your network be your secret weapon when it comes to your career. It’s never too late to begin building a vast network of beneficial relationships.”
- Network the Hell Out of People: 6 Expert Tips. Inc.com: “There are a lot of people out there who can help you, but they won’t just ring the doorbell. You need to find those relationships, and then cultivate and nourish them, to keep them alive and healthy.”
- A How To Guide: Networking to Expand Your Sphere of Influence. The Savvy Intern: “’Always be the worst musician in the band.’ This quote is attributed to musician Pat Metheny, but the metaphor crosses all industries and career choices. Simply put: if you find you are the smartest, most dynamic, most entrepreneurial, or the best blogger in your current circle of colleagues – expand your circle, now. By meeting new contacts with fresh ideas and thought processes, your sphere of influence – both in terms of quantity and quality – will grow rapidly.”
- Networking to Find a Job. The New Agenda: “Soon your network will go viral. People will begin to let you know when they hear about jobs. It’s amazing. When you get your job, remember to let everyone in chain know. They will appreciate knowing they were part of your success!”
- “You’re Creeping Me Out!” The Dark Side of Social Networking. {grow}, A Blog from Schaefer Marketing Solutions: “Nothing says “I’m using you” like friending me, then immediately asking how you should go about getting my close friend, Mr. New Media Celeb, to endorse your forthcoming project.”
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