Recruiting Animal

How to get a true job description

From: Staffing Talk (edited)

These 6 questions will get you an accurate Job Description.

1. What single statement best describes your role?

2. Which activities absorb most of your time?

3. What challenges prevent your best work?

Translation: What gets in the way of you doing your job?

4. What single statement reveals your vital purpose to the organization?

Translation: What is the most important thing that you do?

5. Which of your contributions have the greatest value to the organization?

Translation: What's the best example of your work -- related to your key job function?

6. What are the hidden challenges of delivering this value?

Question: How is this different from Number 3?

Comment: It's presumed that you are going to get this information from someone who is currently in the job. This probably means that her boss, the hiring manager, would not be able to tell you.

Recruiting on CraigsList

Stephen Nehez asked:

Does Craigslist really work for advertising white collar jobs?

Heidi Awan: In my experience CL can be a great inexpensive resource for all types of candidates. You do however have to weed out a few bad apples.

Linda Doliner: I got my current job replying to a craigslist ad. I blogged about it here: http://ow.ly/jX3uN

Kathleen Williams: Depends on the market.

Stephen Nehez Automotive engineering - Southeast Michigan. Probably gonna take me an hour or two to upload ads.

Kathleen Williams: You are going to be inundated with applicants from the auto industry. I'd seek passive folks there. I've had 3 jobs in that market in the past year and have been completely buried in resumes....many of which won't help you.

Stephen Nehez: How about for finding recruiters?

A Stupid Article

@animal It's becoming yesterday's news already, so don't belabor it too much.

— Karen Siwak (@ResumeStrategy) June 8, 2011

@animal Of course I'm going to listen. And then I'm going to tweet "I told you so".

— Karen Siwak (@ResumeStrategy) June 8, 2011

Facebook vs Linkedin

Recruiting Animal Show - August 17, 2011

Jason Ginsburg of BRANDEMix sez Linkedin is in trouble.
Facebook will destroy it by 2013.

His article on ERE

BRANDEMiX on Twitter

Jenn Pedde disagrees with Jason

2nd Feature: Background Checks -- Jane Doe tells us how a renegade ex-spouse can a hurt a job hunter (starts at 45 min mark)

 

PLAY - Full Show - Facebook v Linkedin

PLAY - Old Job Hunters

PLAY - Social Media Numbers

 

 

Better Job Descriptions

From: How To Hire an Assistant by @JasonFried (edited)

This is a problem with job listings: They don't describe an actual day's work. They're heavy on general skills but not specific actions.

We decided to go in a different direction. Instead of a list of skills— this software, that many years of experience, "team player," etc.— we wrote a list of 26 things that this person would have done in a week had he or she been working here.

The list included things such as "Booked two hotel rooms and two flights for out-of-towners"; "Packed up and shipped out about five copies of Rework to various people"; "Coordinated with Abt Electronics to schedule installation of four flat-panel TVs"; and "Researched and recommended local floral arrangers for weekly flowers for the office."

This way, whoever was applying would know exactly the kind of work he or she would be expected to do. (You can read the job posting here).

 

Jobvite

Jobvite, Inc. - Profiles - ERE Vendor Watch.

How To Write Job Postings

Based on info from The Ladders via Venus de Micro.

Format
- Killer headline to grab attention.
- Company Description (honest and modest beats arrogant and inflated)
- Detailed Job Description (leave out the crap words like efficient and effective)
- List of Requirements
- List of Preferred Qualities (leave out this subjective garbage)
- List of Deal-Breakers (qualifications to buzz off)

Details count. A great job description is very detailed to help people decide if the position is right for them.

To keep the losers out, put the most important requirements in bold.

If you can't mention the name of your firm use a descriptive term in the Headline like “Fortune 500 Pharmaceuticals” or “Prominent International Bank”.

Adjust your tone and vocabulary to the level of candidate you want. (Talk down to the simple folk).

If the job doesn’t require a specific location, say so.

Put how-to-apply instructions and essential requirements at the end of your job description, right above the “apply” button. Make it hard to miss.

Stock Option Scandal at Monster

ERE has the story

Cheesman RecruitingFlyed

animalized version. original here.

Jobster: It won't be as exciting without Don JGo. But they have strong brand recognition and a decent amount of traffic. I wouldn't count them out.

Monster. Neil Bruce (of Monster) asked to sit down with me today. It's part of their charm offensive. They're building bridges with the blogosphere.

The role of SEO in recruiting. Well, you have a mix of tools for recruiting today: social networking, SEO, Facebook has an ad platform. I don't think any tool will be the primary tool.

Video Resumes. How many employers are going to sit through 2-3 minute video resumes? When someone is further along in the process, maybe.

But, employers should definitely create videos about what it's like to work in their companies. Deloitte gave their employees cameras to record whatever they liked. It doesn't have to be Bergman to be beneficial for the company.

Job Boards. I admire Jobing. They are doing some video and blogging on the site. And acquisitions. I also respect Indeed because they have stayed true to their vision.

Predictions for 2008. I don't want to say the Recession word but... you will see a lot of companies acquired and shut down.

ERE Survey Disses Craiglist Ads

As a source of high-quality candidates:

Love it: 31% (81 votes)
Like it: 19% (48 votes)
Dislike it: 28% (72 votes)
Never posted: 22% (57 votes)

Details here. Note: Kawasaki loved it

I’d heard about the extraordinary effectiveness of Craigslist, but now I “know” this is true. Now you know that there are highly-qualified diligent candidates in the Craigslist talent pool. (abbreviated version)