At last, someone confessed to reading the BRANDEblog.

I'm engaged, inspired and ready to write.

Today's journey started with an email from SHRM about the internet becoming the leading source of hiring. Hmm that was interesting. So I followed the article back to the root directory which was from a Booz Allen study. The facts were based on a small sampling (77 respondants) but the statistics include

• the quality of applicants sourced on the web is getting higher
  
• the percentage of candidates sourced from the web is growing is getting higher (51%)
• employee referrals are still the best, least expensive way to get candidates
• but aha- the company's own website is growing in importance!

As search engines become more sophisticated, and job aggregators like Indeed.com and Oodle.com are pulling jobs from corporate websites, your own corporate careers portal is a great place to spend a bit of extra money in pumping up the quality and messaging.

Then I met with the Smart Talented folks from Newsday/CareerBuilder and got a REALLY GREAT article on the 2006 Outlook for Online Recruitment Advertising. (Thanks Jeff).

Newspaper ads are down, job boards are up, Craigslist is sweeping the nation- and niche boards are doing really well. Online recruitment advertising tripled in 2005. A bit more on Craigslist- it has 17.5% market share in LA (Monster is 9.9%). In fact, by listings, its the second largest job board, second only to America's Job Bank.

But there are new strategies too!

Mkt10- matches jobs with job seekers only when they have the credentials
JobKabob- another match-maker
H3.com- The external, automated employee referral game where everyone's a winner.

It makes Jigsaw, LinkedIn, and resume databases seem like yesterdays news. (It is.)

There's so many tech trends to include in devising a ubiquitious way to stay top of mind with top candidate choices that it looks like I'll need to spend more time reading at home.

February 22, 2006

Before I joined BRANDEMiX in January 2006, I felt as if my career was at a stand still. After being with a company for over fifteen years, I was not thinking anymore, not challenged and with no career advancement in sight. Working at BRANDEMiX has given me the opportunity to really challenge my talents, learn new skills, as well as develop relationships by networking at my first SHRM conference. BRANDEMiX believes in developing talent by giving you the tools (training) necessary to reach your full potential. It’s an environment that fosters career growth, values your opinion, and empowers you to be better -- here, talent truly matters!

Posted by Dawn @ 9:45am

OR...
HOW WE CULTURE-RECRUIT AT BOOT CAMP

We’ve all seen the movies- the newbies get off the boot camp bus and are greeted by the screaming and yelling of their new sergeants. That couldn’t have been too pleasant.

But, as everyone in HR already knows, it’s all about the culture and even the army is catching on. According to a recent article in the WSJ, new recruits arriving to the base camp are now thanked for making an important commitment and contribution in a time of war.

They’re taking surveys asking about how they enjoyed the food ans was there enough for seconds.

They’re being mentored instead of chiseled into fearsome GI’s/ Everyone’s on board with giving new recruits the best chance to succeed. The metrics? Seems retention has increased almost 10%

Way to go.
hup two three four

Many of you are aware of our convenient Midtown Manhattan location. We're located directly across from Madison Square Garden and the Long Island Railroad. That means that we're first in line for concert tickets and totally unaffected by any subway transit strike.

Our offices are on the second floor of a prominent hotel. Initially I thought this would be great for room service (there is none) but soon found out there were many advantages to be had.

1. The lower level of the hotel is used to film the Maury Povich show and an ESPN show called Quite Frankley. We can get tickets any time.

2. The lobby is often home to large sample sales- most notably- Andrew Marc outerwear (once a year) where I picked up a brand new coat for winter at 60% off retail!

3. There is a concierge who can get us theatre tickets to Broadway shows and tours (at hefty prices).

4. The bellmen sometimes let me use their carts when I am bringing in new office furniture and heavy supplies.


However, even I didn't know how lucky we are to be here until Monday.

It was the dog show and guess where they stayed?

Clearly a case of Best in Brand joining with Best in Breed!

Bow WOW

YOU KNOW YOU ARE LIVING IN 2006 when...

1. You accidentally enter your password on the microwave.

2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.

3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of 3.

4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.

5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that
they don't have e-mail addresses.

6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if
anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.

7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the
screen.

8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't have the
first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and
you turn
around to go and get it.

10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your coffee.

11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. : )

12. You're reading this and nodding and laughing.

13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this
message.
14. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.

15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't a #9 on
this list.

IT'S A NEW GENERATION, HOW ARE WE GOING TO FIND AND KEEP PEOPLE THAT MATTER?

Lou Adler’s article “How To Use Advertising To Attract Top People” shows how that is not only true in life, but in advertising as well!

The one thing to keep in mind is that your audience was not all cut from the same cookie cutter. Since the job description is your primary marketing tool, it has to be well-written and convincing. It has to reflect how different groups (age, race, gender) respond to advertising.

Some ideas to consider for more effective advertising:

1) STOP USING TRADITIONAL JOB DESCRIPTIONS AS THE BASIS FOR YOUR ADS. You can’t just put in a mundane listing of the job description. It needs to be compelling and challenging.
2) STOP USING A CLASSIFIED AD MENTALITY. The key here is to target the up-and-comers…not the down-and-outers! Get out of the ‘80’s recruitment mindset.
3) MAKE THE JOB COMPELLING. Your ad should clearly demonstrate the job stretch & importance to the company in the title and first paragraph. The up-and-comers in each group (age, race etc.) will decide whether to keep reading in the first 10 to 20 seconds!!!
4) DON’T START WITH THE PART NUMBER. Applicants will opt out of reading immediately!
5) THE FIRST TWO LINES ARE CRITICAL. Hello, hello.
6) TRACK YOUR RESULTS. You should be tracking your responses because if its not working; why bother?
7) USE INSTANT MESSAGING, PODCASTS AND ALTERNATIVE COMMUNICATION CHANNELS. Why not use the latest means of communications? Time to move on! Three year olds are using computers.
8) USE CREATIVE TITLES TARGETED TO YOUR AUDIENCE. “Stand Up and Be Counted” might work if you’re looking for an Accounting Supv…it’s better than “A/P Supervisor” in 10pt Center!
9) USE SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION TECHNIQUES. The best people sometimes use either Google or Yahoo! Search engines before career sites or job boards!
10) MAKE IT VIRAL. If you do all of the above, or at least some of it, people will refer other people to your jobs. Great ads describing great jobs that up-and-comers want to hear about delivered right to their doors are the key to hiring the right people.

So the key here is NOT to fall into the “black-hole” of recruiter technology. If everyone uses the same tools to find the same candidates, everyone will wind up finding average candidates! Use technology more creatively if you want to win the war on talent!