If you've been in the recruitment business long enough, you know that Job Fairs are a necessary evil. You have to leave your office for the day, schlepp all your materials to the site (if you see one more hotel ballroom with blue velour drapes you are going to pass out), eat a delicious boxed lunch and chit-chat with people you probably will not see again. HOWEVER....we all know that Job Fairs are a common means of recruiting...especially at the entry level.

For the recruiter, it offers the opportunity to meet the highest number of prospects in the shortest amount of time; for the student, it offers a "freebie" opportunity to meet with hiring employers. Its a win-win if you take away the boxed lunch!

The key is to do your homework or you as the recruiter will end up wasting your time. Usually, about 50% or more of the attendees at job fairs are "window shoppers" who are just browsing to see what's available. For the student, even the 2-3 minute greet & exchange is a real interview. You are being evaluated whether it is 30 seconds or 30 minutes. If the employee has done his homework correctly, he or she knows what the employer is looking for. There is no sense standing on line 30 minutes to meet with the Xerox rep for a job in tech support when they are only looking for sales reps. Browse the table first, pick up some literature and then decide if you need to come back to that table. Job Fairs have a set of rules and protocols all their own. Both the employer & employee can easily figure out how to work the system and thereby double or triple your productivity and effectiveness.

Average percentage of recruitment advertising/attraction budget devoted to source:
General job boards 27%
Organization's Web site 15%
Employee referrals 11%
Campus recruiting 10%
Newspapers 9%
Niche job boards 8%
Commercial résumé databases 7%
Career fairs 7%
Other 4%
Social networking technology 3%

Note: Survey of 73 large employers.
Source: DirectEmployers, Booz Allen Hamilton

Ok- take a look at a few things- Social Networking Technology is on this list- and I'm guessing it's here for the first time. Secondly, lowly newspapers at 9% .

My predictions: next year will see new items such as keywords next year will the the decline of general job boards directly in proportion to an increase in Organization's Web site.

Your to-do: Evaluate your own budget against this. But first, rank the list according to where you've found your top talent for the year!

pushy, ain't I?

I've been reading with interest about the Xerox turnaround and today's WSJ interviewed Anne Mulcahy, the former saleswoman turned CEO credited for "managing one of the most adroit
corporate turnarounds" since IBM.

Her strategy-- 2 important priorities- her customers and ... you know them... you love them... her employees-- and not in that order! Build confidence, build enthusiasm and then take it to the customer. Her message "take care of your employees as if your life depended on it." Even if Wall Street loves you, if your employees don't feel that sense of loyalty and commitment, you've won the battle but lost the war.

That's a message worth sharing. Keep reading.
I heart you all.

Would you commute farther? Would you work longer hours? Would you change jobs? And, would you even consider a pay cut? Well, according to 150 people surveyed by the web site Dogster and Simply Hired,

70% think that a workplace that accommodates their four-legged friend would be an important employee benefit
66% would work longer hours, if allowed to have their dog at work
55% would travel a greater distance to their jobs
49% would make a change
32% would take a 5% pay cut
11% would take a 10% salary reduction

Andrew Wilson, general manager of TechBooks in Falls Church, VA says, "I would definitely work longer and commute farther than his current 40-minute drive if he could bring his shiba inu to work. He might even consider working for less money, he says. "Rather than waiting for the big dog smile at the end of the day, it's nice during a stressful workday to be able
to look over and see your dog."

A Wall Street Journal article pointed out that some owners overestimate their dog’s ability to handle strangers and new situations and often times hand off responsibilities for their dogs to other people. And, dogs being dogs can sometimes engage in disruptive or embarrassing behavior. To this end, guidelines are important to enjoy your best friend’s company at work:

• Owners should keep dogs on a leash
• Dogs should understand the basic command “sit” and stay”
• Must be well groomed and able to socialize around other dogs and people
• Dogs should be housebroken
• No noisy toys or “jingly” collars
• A sign in owners work area that a dog is in their office

Let us know your thoughts, what would you sacrifice?

more about integrated marketing plans and how companies are using it to their competitive advantage.

GE AND WORLD HEALTH DAY
How to make a Buzz

Typically, GE has relied on traditional media such as newspapers, tv and magazines. (Sound familiar, it shouldn't ---their budget was 1.1 BILLION!)

But now, like everyone else, they're looking to expand their efforts and, to that end, created their own internal team to come up with new ideas. (I guess BRANDEMiX was busy that day.)

The purpase was to bring the company's efforts to change healthcare, both as a buyer and provider. They wanted to keep the message upbeat and promote themselvs as a company looking to contain costs and sponsor healthy living. It is entitled "Healthcare Re-Imagined".

Here's some of what they did. I think its of interest to all because these same ideas, on a smaller scale, can be used for event marketing, college campus recruiting and any other Special Initiatives that warrant fast, integrating recruiting ideas.

• Performance artists dressed in monogrammed outfits and appeared at a radiology conference in November. Portraying "molecules" they carried plastic balls through the streets, hotel bars, lobbys and other places where attendees gathered.
• They lined theatre seats in broadway with photos of theatre celebs and what they do to keep healthy.
• They handed out free water bottles with logos and captions "Drink this much every day to stay healthy"
• They promoted it on online "culture" sites such as Daily Candy to reach "hipsters" who don't normally interact with GE.

Needless to say, integrating new and traditional media makes for a very powerful campaign.

Happy Easter!

Almost 10 years have gone by since Dr. John Sullivan blew me away with his article entitled "How To Hire The Next Michael Jordan." I read it in Fast Company in 1998 and it blew me away.
How_to_Hire_the_Next_Michael_Jordan.pdf

I was reminded of it on Wednesday interviewing the President of a Company worried about his turnover and compensation strategies. He said he was concerned about his bench strength and worried about his scouting capabilities.

Fortunately for me, this is 2006 and we have the internet and I found the article and re-read it and laughed because it still sounded new. That is a bad thing.

Dr. Sullivan has built his career on recycling this advice because it is so seldom listened to.

From Coincidence Hiring to Continuous Hiring
What are the chances that the best person you're seeking to hire is reading a job posting or newspaper or even looking for a job on the one day that you've selected to advertise. It's a cooincidence if you find someone. Hiring must be continuous. I have adopted this mantra and paraphrased it until, I thought I invented it.

From More Money to "WOW"
Michael Jorday was underpaid. Engaged employees will work for less because of their passion and belief in what they're doing.

From Interviews to Future Views
10 years ago John said that interviews were over. Just tell the applicant what its like and make sure they'll be a good fit. Today I call it culture-recruiting. Find people that fit your culture by promoting your culture all the time.

Anyway, there are so many jewels here that it's worth taking a fresh look. I wish I still looked that good after 9 years.

It's so great to spend time keeping up with the latest cleverness in the world of cyberspace. Today's AHA moment goes to Heinekin.

But before I go on- you need to know about Google Earth- if you don't know about it or have it (and great news- they have it for MAC computers now so there's no excuse) its a series of satellite photos of our planet that are linked together to truly creative the armchair voyager, voyeur, whatever!

Spend the night visiting all your fav places: Eiffel Tower, Great Wall of China, or just hang out at the Huntington Train Station.

Now, my first introduction to it was through my son Evan. A future entrepreneur himself, he said that it will open up the availability of selling your rooftops for the purpose of advertising. I thought THAT was a great idea.

But now back to Heinekin... they've put together a scavenger hunt using Google Earth. It's so CLEVER! And I'm sure if I understood German it would be even better. But no worries, just check it out! Danka Schein.

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www.iHeartHR.com
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