Human Resources Mysteries: What's Does a Recruitment Agency Do?

For all those of you who have never worked with them, recruitment agencies are a great mystery. What do they actually do? Are they any good? What are they to start with? Companies?  NGOs?  Employers? Governmental organizations?  So many questions… So let’s clear the air a bit.

First of all, recruitment agencies are companies – basic and ordinary companies that have employees, that pay taxes and that make profit (or at least try to because the niche is very difficult and competitive). On the market there are a few global high rollers that are present in several countries (like Lugera & Makler, Adecco, Trenkwalder), a few small agencies that specialize on a niche, are good at it and actually make profit (like SAP recruitment) and several others which try to survive (but most of the times don’t).

A recruitment agency covers mainly two basic activities: helps candidates find a job and helps other companies find good candidates for the open positions they have. So they are a mediator on the market between candidates that search for jobs and companies that search for candidates. Most agencies (I use “most” because all of those we have worked with did it, but I can’t bet that all in the world are in the same situation) offer mostly free services to candidates and get paid by companies only.

To a candidate, a recruitment agency offers the following services (basic services are free):

-          Receiving their resume and inserting it in a database which helps search for candidates with a certain skill; for agencies operating on the same market, competition is huge because they end up eventually with a similar database, so winning the client gets tougher; also, small inexperienced agencies can’t compete with large ones which already have a huge list of candidates that they can search in minutes;

-          Helping the candidates build a professional resume (sometimes paid service);

-          Assessing the candidate’s skills by applying tests (IT, language, professional psychological tests) or during interviews;

-          Offering improvement suggestions (sometimes paid service) and offering to include them in training or coaching sessions (also mostly paid service);

-          Sending the candidate’s resume to employers who have open positions, according to required skills (free service mostly);

-          Offering the candidate feedback in case of rejection or mediating the salary offering process (mostly free service).

To a company, a recruitment agency offers the following services:

-          Search resumes in their database;

-          Post ads on suitable recruitment channels;

-          Interview and test candidates;

-          Propose the best candidates for the available positions;

-          Replace candidates for free if candidate leaves or is being fired (on candidate’s fault) within a certain time limit (3-6 or even more months depending on position);

 

How does the hiring process work?

1.       The client of the recruitment agency opens a position and offers it to one or several recruitment agencies, depending on internal requirements, policies or depending on the signed contract between the two parties;

2.       The client may be required to pay an advance fee (used for posting ads or for initial time spent on interviews). Fee is not returned. Depending on initial agreement, this fee may be skipped and a final success fee paid instead (only if agency manages to fill the position with the suitable candidate);

3.       Agency posts ads, selects resumes, interviews candidates;

4.       Agency offers a final list of top candidates to the client;

5.       Client interviews final candidates and offers one or several;

6.       If position(s) is (are) covered, taxes are paid and process stops; else, recruitment process starts again. If several agencies work on the same position, the first one to fill it gets the money. The rest just waste time.

A recruitment agency works just like any other company. It is a service provider. Its employees are recruiters (the people who do the actual recruitment and selection), sales people (who search for clients and sign contracts – sometimes in small agencies sales people are also recruiters) and support people (like finance people, building maintenance, drivers, any other internal position necessary for a company to work efficiently).

I hope the role of a recruitment agency is clear now.  For further questions, please feel free to comment upon this post.

Kind Regards,

Geo

Best HR Junior Blog 2012 - Nominations - Update

Dear all,

I come back with more details concerning my crusade through HR blogs. I must admit that I am really disappointed so far. I have been through almost 70!!! HR blogs registered on Technorati and Blog Catalog and the only blog that can be nominated for Top HR Junior Blog is the one below that I mentioned yesterday.

As for the rest:
- They had broken links, suspended accounts, free hosting service had deleted the content or were open for invited users only;
- They had only a few posts that promoted the company's product or service (HR software or recruitment services mostly);
- They had inconsistent posting - posts from July and then December;
- A lot of them were abandoned since 2007 or 2009;
- They were blogs with English description, but posts in other languages that not everybody would understand (Chinese included).

So, coming back to my only nomination so far...I will start with a blog that has been recommended to me by a user on Blog Catalog. Main topic is recruitment and selection (but not only), writer Lars Schmidt and what impressed me the most about it is the great response that it has from readers. Please find details below:

BLOG	http://amplifytalent.com/
Author	Lars Schmidt
Criteria	%	Details	Total
Total number of posts	15%	37	5.55
Google Page rank	10%	3	0.3
Total number of comments from readers	15%	178	26.7
Blogger's HR relevant profile	20%	14	2.8
Number of posts with advice that can be actually applied practically	25%	30	7.5
Number of months the blog has been live	5%	8	0.4
Consistency	10%	10	1
	100%		43.25

I will come back during the next days with more nominations (I hope!).

Regards,
Geo

Best HR Junior Blog 2012 - Selection Criteria

Dear all,

Please find below the selection criteria for Best HR Junior Blog 2012. Criteria applies mostly to new blogs as this is what we are selecting here. We can't ask for hundreds of posts or for an amazing social media presence. Criteria below applies to a new blog being live for a few months only, but having great potential for the future.

The column Details and Total are filled in only as example for you to see how the total score is calculated.

So, please start sending nominations to georgianaflorina@gmail.com
Looking forward to receiving as many nominations as possible.

Take care,
Geo

Criteria	Comments	%	Details	Total
Total number of posts	Shows commitment to the readers	15%	65	9.75
Google Page rank	Shows level of SEO effort put into the website	10%	2	0.2
Total number of comments from readers	Shows that they have managed to attract readers	15%	16	2.4
Blogger's HR relevant profile	Number of years of actual HR experience that the author/s has in the field of HR (showing that they know what they talk about from real practice, not quoting from books); if blog has multiple contributors, an average of all years will be used;	20%	5	1
Number of posts with advice that can be actually applied practically	Shows how useful the blog actually is to readers, we are seeking for practical advice, not personal opinions	25%	60	15
Number of months the blog has been live	Shows consistency and commitment	5%	11	0.55
Consistency	Shows number of active months (10 - no months missing from blog start date; 7 - maximum 3 months missing; 4 - maximum 6 months missing)	10%	10	1
		100%		29.9

HR FAQ Carnival - First Edition - December 25th, 2012

Hello everybody,

Merry Christmas and all the best to you and your loved ones - A Wonderful and Happy New Year.

The very first edition of the HR FAQ Carnival is now live.

We are happy to introduce the first articles published.

First, it's Jennifer with a sensitive and hot topic - the use of software that monitors employees at work. Is it good, is it bad? Find all about it here on the "Do More With Software" Blog.

Then we have Bill who recommends an article about "Innovative Technologies For Employee Training". Always handy nowadays, right? Must keep up with our fast changing times.

And last but not least Nick offers us valuable advice about how to improve our online presence as future employees - how to remove all unprofessional pictures and information and how to become desirable to all those recruiters out there searching our internet profiles. Read it all here: "Carefully Cultivate Your Online Profile".

Until next edition,  thank you very much for your submissions and take care,

Geo

Resume Advice: I Worked as a Taxi Driver - Do I Write That in My Resume?

Recently I have been taken to work by a taxi driver who started asking me questions about the company I work for when hearing about my destination. I didn't mind and I replied and when he heard that I work in the Human Resources Department he was so happy and asked for advice about building his resume.

His question was - if I apply for the position of Help-desk Analyst should I mention that I was a taxi driver in the UK for a few months or it affects me in a negative manner? My reply was - write in your resume relevant information for the position you are applying for.

In his case, he was applying for a position requiring fluent English. I told him to mention the taxi driver position, but the emphasis should be on "UK", not on "taxi driver". We hire people speaking great English and if he mentions that he has been working in the UK, this obviously shows that he knows some English, the level needs to be determined later on, but this information will at least convince us to call him for an interview.

So, write in your resume all the information relevant for the position. If the position is that of Gardener, you have never worked before as professional gardener, but are passionate about gardening and your own garden, mention that and put less emphasis on your other positions as bartender, flight attendant or whatever. Mention those to avoid questions like "What did you do during these two years that don't appear in your resume?", but don't offer too many details.

Focus on the position requirements and offer as many details as you can on those.

For example, if you are Computer Science Graduate, work currently in Finance, but hope for a position of Software Tester, mention your studies, offer some details relevant to the position you want, and also mention all the extra training that you have done by yourself or the books you read, anything relevant showing that you are preparing for the position you want. Mention your current position only by name, time frame and compress your current responsibilities if not relevant in 1, maximum 2 lines, just to show that you are working, but that's it. They will ask if they want more information.

The purpose of the resume is to buy you an interview. If you give too much irrelevant information, chances are they won't even bother to read it. Don't lie in your resume (NEVER!!), because information can be verified, but limit the volume of irrelevant information.

Good luck and take care,
Geo

Best HR Junior Blog 2012

Hi everybody,

We are launching now the first edition of the "Best HR Junior Blog" Awards - Best HR Junior blog of 2012.

I got the idea while browsing through the web in search of lists with best HR blogs. I was disappointed to see that most of them include only old blogs with years of posts and tradition. No chance for a new ambitious blogger to be in there. It's a pity so we decided to start such a series to offer new HR bloggers the chance to shine.

So, here are the rules for 2012:
- you can nominate yourself if you think you deserve a spot or you can nominate a blog you follow for a while and like; nominations are received at: georgianaflorina@gmail.com (for Geo Mihalache);
- nominations are accepted until January 31st, 18.00 EEST (GMT +2);
- nominated blogs will be registered and shown here as they come;
- results will be shown here on February 18th 2012;
- we will select one "Best HR Junior Blog 2012" and add the next 9 positions to be displayed here as finalists;
- blogs can't be older than January 2012 and younger than July 2012 (meaning that all blogs started between January and July 2012 - included - can be nominated);
- blog must be HR related only - we don't accept blogs that write about everything (HR, IT, food, travel, etc.) - all posts must have some connection to HR;
- consistent blogs only are accepted - meaning that you must have at least one post each month (minimum 6 posts); however, the more, the better as it will give us a chance to see how good you are;
- original posts only are accepted - no copy - paste from other blogs;
- practical advice that people can actually use earns more points;
- location of blogger is not important as long as the blog is good and useful.

Criteria of selection:
- number of posts - the more, the better;
- practical usage of information in posts - ideas than can actually be put into practice from your posts earn you more points;
- number of valid comments - this means that people are interested in your posts;
- clean design - posts are easy to navigate, you have a clear menu and the user can easily find what he wants, you don't suffocate the user with commercial ads;
- willingness to actually help people - a blog that aims at people not at money.

I will come back during the following days with more details concerning the criteria - I will publish a clear list of criteria with percentages so that rating is transparent for everybody.

So, please start your nominations.

Kind Regards,
Geo

How To Create an Effective Employee Engagement Survey

Employee Surveys are used in a lot of large and small companies. Their objective is to evaluate employee engagement, motivation, company strengths, weaknesses and to offer the employees a simple (and most of the times anonymous) tool to express their opinion and suggest improvement ideas.

The effectiveness of any survey you may decide to apply in your company depends on a series of simple factors:
- proper communication: tell the employees that a survey will be conducted (offer details concerning purpose, length, expectations), tell the employees that the purpose is to offer them the possibility to speak their mind and that it will NOT be used against them;
- sharing the results - always share results and keep employees updated - otherwise, the second survey you send will be ignored;
- sharing the action plan - tell the employees that you have prepared an action plan and keep them updated on the way it is being implemented; involve some of them in the implementation plan where possible;
- employee involvement in decision making - involve employees where possible in the creation of the action plan; if they receive the action plan already made, chances are they will not embrace it; if they come with some of the ideas, for sure they will help implement them;
- time frames - try not to organize surveys every month - everybody will get bored and eventually stop opening your emails; a large survey once a year is more than enough; also, give the people plenty of time to open the survey and reply - depending on the number of questions, try to give them 2-3 weeks for 20-30 questions and up to one month and a half for over 60-70 questions; also, remember to consider people on vacation, business trips or sick leave - give them a chance to speak their mind too.
- reminders - people tend to forget all about tasks that are not urgent; reminders once a week or once in 2 weeks help.

In terms of questions, please find below a few ideas. You can use them as they are, delete some or add more.

Engagement Profile 

All in all, I am satisfied with [Company name] as a company.
I am proud to work for [Company name].
I plan to continue my career with [Company name].
I would recommend [Company name] as a place to work to a friend or colleague.

 
Attitude Towards Client/Company 

Client problems are dealt with quickly.
I believe that our professional excellence differentiates us from our competitors.
I feel personally responsible for my clients' satisfaction.
We convert our clients' suggestions and complaints into improved services and/or deliverables.

 
Communication 

I am well informed about what is happening in [Company name].
I have a good understanding of the overall strategy and objectives of my business area.
I have been adequately informed about the results of the past employee survey and actions have been taken in response to the survey findings.
I see a clear link between my objectives and the objectives of my business area.
In my day to day job, everyone is encouraged to openly express his/her opinions.
The leadership of my business area has communicated a vision of the future that motivates me.
There is open and honest two-way communication in my business area.
I can easily get the information I need to do a good job.

 
Compensation & Benefits 

My compensation is in line with my role and the market.

 
CSR 

I feel [Company name] is committed to being a responsible corporate citizen (e.g. working with communities and charities like Naandi/Planet Finance, reducing our environmental impact, working with our clients on sustainability issues, e.g. Green IT).

 
Ethical Business 

[Company name] shows a commitment to ethical business decisions and conduct.
I feel that [Company name] encourages diversity.
I feel that [Company name] gives opportunities to everyone.

 
Main Motivators 

I am motivated a lot by ... Average time spent at work
I am motivated a lot by ... Bonus and rewards system for holidays (Christmas, Easter, etc.)
I am motivated a lot by ... Bonus system for results recognition
I am motivated a lot by ... Budget for travelling
I am motivated a lot by ... Company headquarters
I am motivated a lot by ... Conditions for physichal recreation
I am motivated a lot by ... Conditions of periodical recreation (trips, parties, etc.)
I am motivated a lot by ... Conditions of serving lunch
I am motivated a lot by ... Degree of information upon company results
I am motivated a lot by ... Degree of responsibility on the job
I am motivated a lot by ... Feedback from direct manager
I am motivated a lot by ... Good initial training (Induction)
I am motivated a lot by ... Internal opportunities to develop your career
I am motivated a lot by ... IT support
I am motivated a lot by ... Meeting efficiency
I am motivated a lot by ... Opportunites to develop technical/specialist skills
I am motivated a lot by ... Other material benefits (car, bonuses, etc.)
I am motivated a lot by ... Overtime compensation system
I am motivated a lot by ... Promotions system within the company
I am motivated a lot by ... Quality of collaborating with HR
I am motivated a lot by ... Quality of collaborating with IT
I am motivated a lot by ... Quality of collaborating with other departments
I am motivated a lot by ... Quality of collaborating with top management
I am motivated a lot by ... Recognition of my results
I am motivated a lot by ... Recreation spaces
I am motivated a lot by ... Respect the employee is treated with
I am motivated a lot by ... Safety of position
I am motivated a lot by ... Salary increase system
I am motivated a lot by ... Salary level
I am motivated a lot by ... Support offered during the activity
I am motivated a lot by ... The Office
I am motivated a lot by ... The way knowledge is transmitted within the company
I am motivated a lot by ... Training system offered periodically
I am motivated a lot by ... Transportation facilities
I am motivated a lot by ... Work atmosphere
I am motivated a lot by ... Work itself

 
Management 

All in all, I am satisfied with my manager.
I am encouraged to be creative and innovative in my work.
I am sufficiently involved in decisions that affect my work.
I get the necessary support from my manager to be able to carry out my assignments.
I trust my manager.
I trust the senior leadership of [Company name].
My manager clearly communicates what is expected of me.
My manager deals appropriately with poor performance.
My manager encourages me to contribute, re-use and share knowledge.
My manager is an effective leader.
My manager is committed to providing high quality services to our clients.
My manager supports and practices high standards of ethical conduct.
My manager supports my professional and personal development.
My manager treats me with respect.

 
Performance Evaluation and Recognition 

I understand how my performance is measured and evaluated.
In my business area, poor performance is dealt with appropriately.
My last performance review was conducted in a fair and reasonable way.
Outstanding performance is recognized appropriately.
Throughout the year my manager gives me useful feedback on how I can improve my performance.

 
Professional Development 

All in all, I am satisfied with my opportunities for professional development in [Company name].
I have the training I need to do my job effectively.
New employees receive the training necessary to perform their jobs effectively.
The training I receive in [Company name] allows me to develop my competencies for my current and future roles.

 
Team work 

There is good collaboration and teamwork within [Company name].
I feel that I am part of a team.

 
Tools 

I have the tools, equipment and support I need to do a good job (technology, equipment, knowledge database, templates, methodologies, quality processes, helpdesk).

 
Work-Life Balance 

I am able to balance the needs of work and personal life.


In terms of statistics, try to use the Likert scale for answers. It looks like this:

1- I stronlgy agree
2 - I agree
3 - Neutral
4 - I disagree
5 - I strongly disagree

If you have only a small number of employees and a small number of questions, processing the data internally is simple and you can do it even on paper with paper surveys and then insert the data in a small spreadsheet. However, a large number of employees (let's say 100+) requires a huge amount of time and effort to process all surveys. A dedicated software or even an external company can help you. Just for your information - I work in a company with 120 000 + employees throughout the world and our survey has over 80 questions - imagine the amount of data there! We use an external provider.

In terms of interpreting the results, add the positive answers on each question (or area).
I.e. Calculation of Engagement profile in your company - see how many employees answered with 1 (Strongly agree) and 2 (Agree) to questions 1 up to 4 above. The highest the score, the better.

Your action plan should focus on the questions/areas with lowest results. Try to ask people what's wrong and why did they give low ratings - maybe they didn't understand the questions or maybe there's a problem in your company that you don't know about.

All in all, I strongly recommend employee surveys. If you need my help with anything, please feel free to ask. I am going right now through my third yearly survey and we do it seriously.

Take care,
Geo

Motivating Your Employees - Opening the Johari Window

A good manager is the one that people know and trust, the one that people are not afraid to share ideas, thoughts and fears with, the one that shows not only strengths but also weaknesses. Good communication is a critical key in a team. Only when your teams knows you, they will trust your decisions even when you are not allowed to share all the details with them.

A good tool to build engagement and motivate your employees is opening the Johari window.
What on Earth is that you may ask?

Well, you can find a lot of great details about it on Wikipedia if you want to go in further detail. It's a concept developed by Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham in the US, in the 50s. I will not detail it too much - I will just tell you that from the table below which represents the Johari window, you need to start opening the Hidden area, the area which includes all the items you know about yourself and that others don't and would be useful to know for the well-being of your team.

The Johari Window

All nice so far, but what to do exactly to open this area?
I will tell you what I did. I created a set of open questions, some work-related and some personal that we all answer during our weekly meetings.

At the end of each regular weekly HR meeting where we discuss important items for our department, I bring out a set of 5 questions that each of us has to answer (refusal is of course an option - nobody is forced to do it, but answering allows us to know each other better and allows the ladies in the team to know me better and understand my decisions).

5 questions in a session are enough because answering them (we are 4 people) takes us around 15-20 minutes, so that's enough for one session. You can use our ideas or create your own questions - the idea is to start communicating with each other and share thoughts and ideas, know each other better, know what you like or dislike and understand your fears and reasons for being proud - the purpose of the exercise is to bring the team together and create stronger bonds.

Ideas of questions to use:
1. What I like most in this company is that...
2. What I would improve in the way our team works is.....
3. What I like about you best is ... (here each member of the team tells each of the others what they like best)
4. The positive items that I bring to this team are...
5. What I would improve about myself is.......
6. I find it difficult to work with people that...
7. I would like you to support me when...
8. The most difficult thing about my work is...
9. During week-ends I love to...
10. I find balance in life doing.....

The list is practically endless - you can put in it whatever you can think of. Just make sure to insert personal details as well not only work-related; the team is stronger if the members have personal connections as well, not only work-related. And use it as often as you can. You will be surprised to see how many new things you discover about each other.

Take care,
Geo

Non-Financial Motivators

As HR Manager in a fresh company (by fresh I also mean new subsidiary of a larger one) your main job besides monitoring the market and drowning your managers in reports is thinking really really hard about how to motivate the company's employees. Simple as it may seem, it's a huge task if your budgets don't include salary increases and bonuses as often as the people may like and also if your managers keep shouting "Mind the costs, please!. We are planning to be a profitable company, not a non-profit humanitarian organization."

What can you do then? Well, put your thinking caps on, start reading HR books, browse HR websites and contact your fellow HR friends in need. Ideas will surely pop-up. Here are a few from my side:

• Thorough recruitment process - start from the beginning; verify candidates' motivation to make sure you have no surprises later on; how can you verify that? ask them what they know about the company, about the position, where they have seen the job posting, how they have prepared for the interview, what are their short term future plans concerning career development; if they have no idea about the position, the company and they are just desperate for the job or want to be promoted in 4 months, forget about it. They don't want your company or your position. One more thing, don't conceal any information when making the offer - tell the candidates all about the salary, the benefits, about the difficulties they will encounter, about shifts, any contract clauses - you don't want them to find out one month after they are hired. They will quit and you will start recruitment all over again. Better avoid that and hire a candidate that is prepared and willing to accept all the conditions.
• Detailed training plan for each new joiner - this means the best Induction you can think of and then a clear training path later on. By Induction I mean details about the company, the position, Human Resources procedures that might affect or help them, the team, the manager, job description, personal objectives. A proper induction can take even up to a week leaving the employee confident about coming to work and knowing where to go to get details or have a problem solved. Then, personal training plan can be discussed with HR and with the employee's manager allowing the employee to select a certain career path in the company and having all the instruments he/she needs to achieve that. 
• Proper information channels - an engaged employee is an informed one; an employee who knows nothing about the company doesn't care too much about its status. Make sure employees receive enough information about company results, company plans, clients, perspectives. Knowing the big pictures allows each employee to understand his/her role in the business. Displaying an org chart for the employee to actually see their place is also useful to keep them informed. This way they also find out the structure of the organization and can imagine their future career path.
• Proper communication between manager and employee, between top management and employees and between colleagues and teams; employees need to feel like part of the whole and need to understand what's going on around them. If they can be involved in decisions affecting their work or at least consulted, even better. Channels you can use for communication: regular newsletters, short emails from time to time, larger scale meetings where all employees are allowed to come and meet the managers, scheduled meetings with top management allowing each employee to speak directly to the "big boss", printed bulletins and reports, company intranet with plenty of news, internal boards with printed materials displayed, employees being invited to other company subsidiaries to meet other teams and exchange information.
• Support offered - make sure each employee has someone to rely on at first - at least for a while. A Buddy program which includes connecting an old employee with a new one who can go to the first with various issues anytime can facilitate proper integration in the company.
• Regular performance evaluation -  each employee needs to know what their job is, what their objectives are and how they've done throughout the year; two meetings each year are OK. Employees need to know when they have done a good job and also what's there to improve; rewards like salary increases or bonuses can be added, but we're discussing non-financial motivators, so I'll skip that. Simply telling the employee how they are doing makes them feel appreciated and allows them to know that someone cares about their job. 
•  Internal promotions - making sure that as many positions as possible are covered from the inside; making sure that employees are involved in trainings that prepare them for that; making sure that all open positions are published internally first and that the recruitment process is fair and transparent.
• Fair recruitment process for external candidates that are being recommended bu employee for the job - hiring someone's friend or family is OK but only if they pass the same recruitment process like everyone else and they get the position in a fair manner. Employees need to trust HR and management.
• Work environment - try to make sure as managers and as HR representatives that employees have all they need to perform a good job; if the company can't afford all that, at least make sure that you show the employees that you have done your best. Listen to them, encourage them, talk to them first and try to avoid disciplinary actions and any other negative motivators unless absolutely necessary. Try to make the environment as pleasant and open as possible. A dictatorship doesn't work for most employees.Terror and intimidation as well.
• Allow employees to have time for their families and personal life. You need balanced individuals in your company not robots. Only balanced and happy individuals have an open mind and not only perform a good job, but are also open to innovation.
• Facilitate good communication between departments - allow employees to know each other, team buildings are not always expensive, but can do wonders. Also, employees working together from different locations work better if they have seen each other at least once. You don't need each department to work perfectly separately, but your entire company as a whole to achieve great performance.
• Encourage employees to be task oriented not time schedule oriented. Where possible, allow those who are efficient and finish their job (well done of course) go home earlier.
• Remote work - where possible allow employees to work remotely from time to time - this increases engagement because employees get time for themselves and can solve family matters in the mean time (mothers who don't have a babysitter available can work from home for a few days); also, they save money on transportation to work.
• Always reward results - not necessarily with bonuses. There are a lot of ancient methods that still work - employee of the month board, public congratulations during a meeting with the entire team, a day off, asking the good employee to train others, etc.

Here are just a few items that we have implemented in the company where I work.
Any new ideas from your side are welcome. Please post them as comments.

Kind Regards,
Geo

For Recruiters : How to Use LinkedIn for Free to Get Good Candidates

On my current position as HR Business Partner in a large multinational IT company I have been several times responsible with the recruitment of specialized candidates. Shortly after I was hired they asked me to find a few Linux guys that also spoke English plus French/Italian. Trust me this is not that easy to find.

After posting the ads several times on the best paid job portals and waiting for the candidates to apply I have realized that they weren't going to come to us that easily. I have realized that good IT guys are also a bit weird (please forgive me, guys, but like all geniuses, IT ones are out of the ordinary too) and are not actually open to new positions once they are engaged in a project unless you go to them and convince them that what you can offer is better.

I was desperate for CVs and at that moment I have discovered the magic of LinkedIn. I had very low knowledge of Linux, but I managed to find my good candidates. How can you do it and more than that - for free? LinkedIn offers great possibilities for job posting and searching, but as all large and famous portals, they cost a LOT. So, how can you do it for free?

First of all, register with LinkedIn. Fill in your profile as accurate as you can. A sloppy profile will always be rejected by groups and partners. Be professional and spend the necessary amount of time to fill in your information. It will be worth your time, trust me.

After you have created your profile (don't forget your picture to build your trust) search for groups. I have searched during my recruitment projects for keywords like "Linux", "SAP", "French speakers" or "Francais" for groups in French, or for various groups where IT recruiters met and posted ads. When you have a group you are interested in, apply to become member unless it is an open group where you can post ads and comments without joining. Don't give up if some groups don't accept you. Headhunters may be considered spammers sometimes and some groups focused on technical issues only may not want you.

When you get accepted - and I got accepted in most groups I applied for - post a job ad in the Jobs section or in the Discussions section if you ask for advice or are looking for connections or more than just CVs. All the jobs and discussions are sent periodically (daily or weekly) to all the members of the group on their email (unless they have unsubscribed from group news). The more groups you join, the better chances you have to reach a larger audience. Also select the most active groups or those with more members - LinkedIn offers you this information when you search for groups.

I am allowed to be member of maximum 50 groups, but that's OK as you can step out of a group and join another or rejoin the first one again anytime.

Good luck with the recruitment of difficult positions and please remember you can come back to me with questions anytime.

Kind Regards,
Geo

Career Change at 30+?

Have you ever been in a point in your life where you felt like saying "Enough! I need a huge change!" ? I have...a few months ago...I will mention the resolution towards the end but until then, the story...

I am HR Business Partner for a multinational company in the IT field. Lots of work, crazy deadlines, pressure, tens of people to work with every day, 10 years in the field, tons of paperwork, legal requirements to fulfill and be very careful about (otherwise huge fines for the company), awful reporting, annoying meetings after hours with partners on a different time zone, 14 interviews/day sometimes when needed, fussy top management with crazy requirements that pressure you but  which you can't discuss with others, days when you need to smile to everybody even if you feel like grabbing a gun...

I am also Computer Science graduate still passionate about IT, databases and web design. Two separate fields, IT being the one where I run for cover during my bad HR times. I leave the office to drown myself in web design and online marketing to forget about everything. Until one day when I decided I had enough of HR and looked towards Software testing. I decided I wanted to start fresh and I had the courage and the power to do it.

I started reading all I could find about software testing: Agile, black box, white box, software development life cycle, I grabbed my old SQL books, I searched for tests, for all the online courses I could find, I even ended up with a few diplomas and then I decided I was ready to apply to a new job - a Junior Tester job which required only general testing knowledge and a degree in IT - I had both. I went there for a test, I passed it, they invited me for an interview, they asked me all they could think of and I replied to most of the questions.I refused to lie and change my CV with my current career path hoping that my knowledge and motivation would convince them. Unfortunately no - my 9 years in HR proved them that I am not the suitable candidate. Was knowledge enough? NO. Was the degree enough? NO. Was motivation and determination enough? NO. My past haunted me and got me rejected. I was obviously overqualified and they didn't need me in their team. I was hard to shape on such a different position.

So, is a career change possible at 30+ ? Yes, but awfully hard. And the later, the more difficult. And if you have a clear previous career path and you occupy a top/middle management current position, forget about it.

How can you increase your chances to have a career change at 30+?

- Start your own business. Nobody will tell you at the interview that you are overqualified for the job; this is the best option;

- Go for a specialist position on your new chosen path rather than for a junior one; of course, register for trainings before and be prepared;

- Get prepared - do as many trainings as you can and gain some experience - as much as you can;

- Prepare a CV according to the position you apply for - mention all your old jobs, never lie or conceal information, but don't offer too many details and focus on the items that recommend you for the new position;

- Get some recommendations in the new chosen field (a trainer, a teacher, a colleague working in the field) and place the contact details in your CV; 

- Not having a job at the moment of the application helps but it's silly to quit a safe job for a possibility;

- Be confident and determined and if you really want the change, don't give up.

And now, the resolution I promised earlier - I am still in HR with a new member in my team taking some of my tasks and realizing that I actually like my job and don't need a career change. The others rejected me for being overqualified. But this is my story. As for you, do more of what makes you happy and never give up.

Regards,

Geo