Archive for the ‘selection’ category

March Madness – What Hiring Managers & Recruiters Can Learn

March 21st, 2014

march madnessIn business, we often find ourselves using sports metaphors to capture the essence of a situation, such as noting that a new hire “knows the ropes” (from expertise in sailing) or that someone has “jumped the gun” (referring to acting quickly without thinking things through, from the starter’s pistol in the world of track and field.)

With that in mind, it’s useful to consider that every year, as college basketball teams compete to see which is the best in the nation, America is fixated on March Madness. Hiring managers can learn a lot from basketball’s March Madness as they go through the process of recruiting and hiring new employees.

For example, when you see an underdog rising to the top during March Madness, you can view the process as comparable to when a new applicant uses hard work and talent to distinguish himself from the competition, notes a recent article by Tom Gimbel at Entrepreneur.

Applicants who may not immediately look like they are the best, at least on paper, can still rise to the top as HR managers get a chance to see them in action (during interviews).

The very process of screening through applicant resumes is akin to the weeding out period when poorly performing basketball teams fall by the wayside. You can look at your initial cuts (such as eliminating candidates who do not possess a college degree or lack experience using a particular application) in the same way that basketball teams are eliminated because they are ill-prepared to deliver the goods on the court, notes Gimbel.

Lester Picker, writing in the National Bureau of Economic Research, raises a question of bias that all hiring managers should keep in mind. He asked whether March Madness leads to “irrational exuberance in the NBA draft.”

The answer was that NBA personnel do not irrationally give too much weight to the most recent, dramatic and colorful data (players who make big, unexpected scores and teams who win unexpectedly). In fact, observing players giving an exceptionally good performance under all the hype and media attention is like watching a job applicant shine while under the glare of intense questioning by HR professionals.

Finally, when you like a promising candidate who is on the bubble, you are advised to follow up and make an offer before he is snatched up by one of your competitors. This is just like when teams identify a supremely talented player during March Madness and inundate him with lucrative offers.

Because sports metaphors like March Madness are so useful in describing the highly competitive world of recruitment and hiring, we should expect to see them remain as powerful tools amongst hiring managers and recruiters.

 

What Career Should You Choose?

May 30th, 2013

 

What Career Should I Choose

What Career Should I Choose

Looking to change careers? Want to predict your growth and earning potential? If so, check out this interactive chart from Rasmussen College that will help your analyze your options. It organizes occupations into four quadrants based on salary, anticipated growth, and number of jobs available

The data comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (as of April 2013). You can research each occupation by clicking on the dot.

Give it a whirl at Rasmussen College’s What Career Is Right for Me? page.

The Hiring Sciences Hunch

You may want to consider avoiding the following career paths.

  • Air Traffic Controller, Postal Service Employee, Millwrights, Railroad Operators

And, if you are undecided or looking to reinvent yourself consider the following professions.

  • Software Developer. Veterinarian, Biochemist, Physical Therapist, Financial Planner

I wonder where corporate recruiter fits into the mix. What do you think? Is recruiting a viable profession?

Intern Sushi: A Tool for Netting Interns

March 30th, 2013
Here’s the idea: Resumes are pretty useless when it comes to choosing interns. Actually, they’re pretty flawed in general, but they’re particularly bad for internships, where employers are probably choosing one or two candidates from a large list of applicants whose resumes are going to look pretty similar (because they don’t have much professional experience yet). Instead, with Intern Sushi, users are asked to create a profile that captures their personality and ambitions. That centerpiece of the profile is a short video, but users can include a portfolio of their work, too. They can also create content tailored to a specific opening, like a video cover letter outlining why they really really really want that internship.
Employers, meanwhile, can build a presence that isn’t just promoting a few openings, but instead the general company culture — so even if there isn’t an opening at the moment, a potential intern could still stumble on a company profile. Think, “Boy, I really want to work there,” and check back later. That’s one of the reasons Intern Sushi’s traffic continues to grow even when most companies aren’t looking for interns, said co-founder and CEO Shara Senderoff.

Intern SushiSpring has sprung. Kids are busting out their cargo shorts and sun dresses and heading to the quad. Plans are being hashed out to get to Spring Break to catch those DJ Pauly sets. Epic! And, yes, some of our more industrious youth are starting to fish for those coveted summer internships.

Meanwhile, many employers are starting to bait the traps for summer interns. Enter Intern Sushi. Intern Sushi allows employers to list internships in advertising/PR, TV, film, fashion, sports, publishing, art, music, theatre, web, technology and other industries. Interns create digital profiles that capture their personalities and ambitions. The spotlight of the profiles are short videos that can include a portfolio work, too. Interns can also create a video cover letters explaining why they’re interested in a specific employer.

The idea is to give interns a way to standout seeing as their resumes are typically fairly lean. Employers benefit by getting a snapshot of the applicants’ personalities before scheduling interviews. The basic service is free for both employers and interns, but the startup offers premium services to interns with features like early application periods and functionality geared towards the parents of interns. The company has also announced that it is planning a premium business product too. My guess this will be geared towards enhanced employer branding.

The Hiring Sciences Hunch

I am not willing to concede that resumes are dead. Sure, resumes have their flaws. However, I do agree with Intern Sushi CEO, Shara Senderoff,  that traditional resumes are generally useless when it comes to selecting interns. Interns have such a limited body of work that we generally end up focusing on education and interests. Intern Sushi presents that data employers need to take the next steps.

Put aside compliance fears and Intern Sushi could be the best use of  video interviewing yet. And, Intern Sushi has even started to manage the process of hiring interns by offering what appears to be light applicant tracking. This is a nice touch. While growth depends on a classic two cheek kiss, the need for both employers and interns to sign up, Intern Sushi is a great idea and has attracted some reputable brands. Will Intern Sushi duke it out on their own or could they be a good acquisition for Indeed or LinkedIn? Either way, Intern Sushi belongs on your fish finder.

Tips on Avoiding Bad Hires

February 15th, 2013
With advances in technology, human resources managers and recruiters have access to streamlined methods to locate and recruit potential job applicants. However, almost half of all new employees are not meeting the requirements of their jobs in the first year and half of employment, according to data from hiring managers reported in research carried out by Leadership IQ.
The hiring system is failing, according to a recent article in Business Insider, which cites statistics showing that a bad hiring decision can cost an organization from 20 percent to 200 percent of an employee’s annual salary. What’s more, bad hires result in lowered office morale and hinder productivity. Once bad hires get involved in office politics, it can be more difficult to fire them.
The problems only get deeper: workers who see their top managers making mistakes in hiring people can lose respect for the company and its procedures. They may wonder if the company has lowered its standards or if hiring managers are just asleep at the wheel.
Recruitment and applicant tracking systems certainly have made it far easier to manage a tidal wave of hopeful job candidates.  Recruiters and HR personnel should always still be aware that hiring is a constantly evolving space. Old methods employed by hiring managers may not work as well anymore to truly secure the best talent in any given industry. While harnessing the latest trends, like social media, can be benificial to finding promising candidates, empoloyers need to make sure that there is room for human judgment as well through all stages of finding new hires.
Savvy job seeks may employ less than truthful tacticts if they are desperate to get a foot in the door at your HR department. Software helps disorganized applicants churn out stellar-looking resumes.  However, aspiring workers can hire a resume consultant to bolster their appearance with the latest keywords that HR departments use to help them select which resumes are worth looking at and which ones are destined for the garbage can.
Once a manager has a set of resumes to examine in-depth, the filtering process may have problems. Some HR workers, frazzled by the workload they face, may select applicants at random from the stack of “good” resumes instead of evaluating each one on its merits. Or, even if they do take time to give each filtered resume a fair shake, they might focus on past experience rather than seeing which applicants can think on their feet and solve problems during an interview.
It’s also important to remember that extroverted people tend to do better in interviews, and a biased interviewer may not see that a less gregarious person is far more qualified for a position. If you are going to use keywords to filter resumes, make sure that you aren’t accidentally omitting terms that you do want to see. For example, using only the word “manager” might keep you from seeing a narrative resume that talks about how a person managed people or worked in management.
Once human resources managers and recruiters recognize the need to change the way they discover, filter and evaluate job applicants to fill key positions in their organizations, they will be well on their way to limiting the amount of bad hires they make.  This requires both utilizing the best technology available to filter incoming applicants, as well as employing savvy hiring managers to make integral decisions when required.

avoid hiring bad employeesWith advances in technology, employers have access to streamlined methods to locate and recruit potential job applicants. However, almost half of all new employees are not meeting the requirements of their jobs in the first year and half of employment, according to data from hiring managers reported in research carried out by Leadership IQ.

The hiring system is failing, according to a recent article in Business Insider, which cites statistics showing that a bad hiring decision can cost an organization from 20 percent to 200 percent of an employee’s annual salary. What’s more, bad hires result in lowered office morale and hinder productivity. Once bad hires get involved in office politics, it can be more difficult to fire them.

The problems only get deeper: workers who see their top managers making mistakes in hiring people can lose respect for the company and its procedures. They may wonder if the company has lowered its standards or if hiring managers are just asleep at the wheel.

Recruitment and applicant tracking systems certainly have made it far easier to manage a tidal wave of hopeful job candidates. Recruiters and hiring Managers should always be aware that hiring is a constantly evolving space. Old methods employed by hiring managers may not work as well anymore to truly secure the best talent in any given industry. While harnessing the latest trends, like social media, can certainly be beneficial to find promising candidates, employers also need to make sure that there is room for good old fashioned human judgment through all stages of finding new hires.

It’s good to keep in mind savvy job seeks may employ less than truthful tactics if they are desperate to get a foot in the door at your HR department. Certain resume software solutions can help disorganized applicants churn out stellar-looking resumes.  Job seekers can also hire a resume consultant to bolster their appearance with the latest keywords that HR departments use to help them select which resumes are worth looking at and which ones are destined for the garbage can.

Once a manager has a set of resumes to examine in-depth, the filtering process may also have problems. Some hiring managers, frazzled by the workload they face, may select applicants at random from the stack of “good” resumes instead of evaluating each one on its own merits. Or, even if they do take time to give each filtered resume a fair shake, they might focus on past experience rather than seeing which applicants can think on their feet and solve problems during an interview.

It’s also important to remember that extroverted people tend to do better in interviews, and a biased interviewer may not see that a less gregarious person is far more qualified for a position. If you are going to use keywords to filter resumes, make sure that you aren’t accidentally omitting terms that you do want to see. For example, using only the word “manager” might keep you from seeing a narrative resume that talks about how a person managed people or worked in management.

Once hiring managers and recruiters recognize the need to constantly evolve the way they discover, filter and evaluate job applicants, they will be well on their way to limiting the amount of bad hires they make.  This requires both utilizing the best technology available to find and filter incoming applicants, as well as employing savvy hiring managers to make integral decisions when required.

SayHired: Applicants Pitch Your Products

January 19th, 2013
SayHired: Applicants Pitch Your Products by Hiring Sciences

SayHired: Applicants Pitch Your Products by Hiring Sciences

SayHired, another Bay Area-based recruiting start-up that received a round of funding in July 2012, has a rather unique pitch. Candidates apply to positions by recording responses to pitch prompts or employers can set their own screening questions. The responses are analyzed by SayHired’s engine for the qualities that the employer values most for the position. Responses are then ranked on a scale of 1 to 100 for each individual characteristic. Once processed, the scores are released to both the candidate (nice touch) and the employer.

According to the SEC filing issued in July 2012, SayHired has been in business for 5 years. The editorial staff here at Hiring Sciences found some older collateral from SayHired that indicates a small pivot from their original messaging referring to automated reference checks and phone screens but the general idea seems to remain the same.

As for pricing, SayHired provides the first 25 screens for free. Each additional screen is $.60. Apparently, you can upload candidates to screen via Excel. There is no mention of applicant tracking system integration on their site. A more in depth product review could be interesting and we’ll contact SayHired if we go down that road at some point.

The Hiring Sciences Hunch:

As always, we commend the entrepreneurs and innovators like SayHired that are willing to try something new in the recruiting technology industry. Depending on the accuracy of the scoring algorithms and true ease of use, there may be a good opportunity for adoption in high-transaction hiring environments like call centers, hospitality, insurance sales, etc. These type of employers seem to be the target for SayHired and we like tools that serve traditional industries that are often overlooked by new solutions that purely market to technology companies.

On the other hand, SayHired may in reality have a long road to hoe. Their target employers aren’t necessarily the early adopters and often are not often sophisticated IT buyers. Perhaps SayHired will postion itself as an acquisition target for one of the major pre-employment screening companies or they could be a good fit as an additional revenue source and add-on for a staffing software play like Bullhorn or JobScience. A large RPO or cash flush global staffing outfit could also be interested in putting SayHired in their bag of tricks at some point as an efficiency tool and service differentiator.

If you are interested in learning more about SayHired, visit their website at: http://www.sayhired.com/welcome

Developer Auction: New Posterchild of the Technical Recruiting Bubble

January 12th, 2013

Developer Auction

The recruiting technology industry has undeniably inflated and officially crossed over into bubble status. Just take a look at Developer Auction, one of the latest of 482 companies tagged with “recruiting” or a similar term on Crunchbase. Launched to “disrupt” the recruiting industry, Developer Auction allows software engineers to create a profile and auction themselves off to venture funded tech companies. To go a step further, Developer Auction awards developers 20% cash back ($3000-$6000+) when they get hired through the platform essentially sharing their service fee (15% of the winning bid) with developers.

Developer Auction shows employers (all cash-rich, venture-backed tech startups in a few cities) a list of elite, vetted engineers that are looking for new opportunities and allows the employers to bid on talent without having to maneuver through a protracted sourcing process. For software engineers, Developer Auction is like an online speed dating service where all the potential matches are hotties but instead of a good figure or charming sense of humor the suitors have a stocked fridge, free lunches and a collegial environment that are reminiscent of the good ‘ol days on the quad at Stanford and MIT.

The idea is unique and essentially digitizes contingent recruiting but with a giant waft of exclusivity. The developers that get vetted and ultimately chosen for the bachelor style developer auction are all from Facebook, Google, Apple, Twitter, Zynga, Stanford, and MIT. It makes sense. Developer Auction is giving elite start-ups in uber-competitive markets access to what they covet most to boost brainpower and company valuation.

The Hiring Sciences Hunch

At Hiring Sciences we love to see new models and encourage further innovation in the recruiting industry. The idea of the reverse funnel created by Developer Auction is thought provoking for sure. But, we can’t help feeling a little “icky” about they’ve created. One of our editors keeps calling the service Developer Kardashians and thinks it reeks of the kind of elitism that insulates technology companies from the real world. He went to public school so it’s probably just his insecurities showing through again. Finally, while the service is certainty different from other sourcing solutions out there, it’s far from being disruptive to the recruiting industry or even technical recruiting yet but we’ll keep an eye on Developer Auction.

If you are interested in learning more about Developer Auction, visit the site at: http://developerauction.com/

Developer Auction was launched in order to disrupt the recruiting industry, and provide a better and more efficient way for talented developers to get exposed to exciting job opportunities at funded tech companies.
As serial entrepreneurs & software developers, we know that the smartest people are already employed, and that they receive numerous emails every month from recruiters and prospective employers that often go ignored due to the enormous amount of time that it would take to interview and negotiate with each company. We thought – “there has to be a better way”.
By reversing the funnel, and having companies submit offers based on work history & experience, we hope to shorten the hiring cycle, maximize efficiency and create transparency in a market that is currently anything but. To go a step further, we even offer developers 20% cash back ($3000-$6000+) when they get hired through our platform.
We believe that we can more effectively match developers with great companies, while driving down financial and “lost opportunity” costs for start-ups.

5 Simple Ways to Make Job Advertisements Work Better and Improve the Job Seeker Experience

November 22nd, 2011

NOW HIRINGJoel Passen, Head of Marketing at Newton Software, describes 5 ways that corporate recruiters can improve their job postings and online application process.  Read the full post here and learn more about Newton’s award winning cloud-based applicant tracking software for corporations.

Read the full post here

Attention Alabama Employers: How does the latest legislation impact your Affirmative Action and OFCCP requirements?

October 11th, 2011

Alabama Employers: How does the latest legislation impact your Affirmative Action and OFCCP requirements?

Attend a regional seminar led by National and Regional experts regarding the often challenging and confusing AA / EEO / OFCCP requirements.

Participants will receive 3 hours of CE credit for your PHR or SPHR certification

Wednesday, November 2, 2011
1:00 P.M. to 4:30 P.M.

THE WESTIN HUNTSVILLE

6800 Governors West, NW Huntsville, AL
T 256-428-5425    F 256-428-2001

Meeting Room – Mediterranean V & VI

Ticket price: $25

Seating is limited – RSVP today!

Parking available

Register for this seminar HERE

Here’s what to expect.

  • How DOL and the U.S. Congress have woken the sleeping ADA giant, and why plaintiffs’ attorneys and the EEOC are excited
  • What impact the Alabama immigration law will have on your business, and which provisions are likely to withstand judicial challenges
  • Your company’s obligation to solicit race and gender data
  • The proposed OFCCP guidelines on compensation analyse
  • Guidelines for self-evaluation of compensation practices for compliance with EO 11246 with respect to systematic compensation discriminatio
  • How to leverage Applicant Tracking technology for compliance, data tracking and storage

Sponsored by:

3 Easy Way to Treat Applicants Better

March 25th, 2010
Companies don’t intentionally treat applicants poorly. Many don’t have the resources to create a positive experience for job seekers.
So, how can companies improve how they treat job applicants and, at the same time, convey a positive brand image despite limited resources?

Companies don’t intentionally treat applicants poorly. But, many don’t have the resources to create a positive experience for job applicants.  So, how can companies improve how they treat applicants and, at the same time, convey a positive brand image despite limited resources?

This is a helpful presentation but, assumes that you already use applicant tracking software.  If you don’t already use some sort of recruiting software, this presentation also has a nice plug in it.

EEO/OFCCP Reporting and Tracking: 2010’s The Elephant in the Closet

January 13th, 2010

elephant_in_room2Six months ago, one of our software engineers at Newton asked, “Why are you guys so obsessed with this EEO/ OFCCP compliance stuff? Is it that important?”

The answer was straightforward. I’d done some homework. The EEOC received more than 95,400 charges of job bias in the private sector in 2008, up 15.2 percent from 2007 and 26 percent from 2006. Given the number of layoffs, the amount of Federal stimulus pumped into the economy, the increasing diversity of the workplace and the EEOC’s new litigious administration, this is a issue facing employers of all sizes.

Last week, the 2009 EEOC report was published. They announced that 93,277 workplace discrimination charges were filed with the agency in 2009. That’s an average of nearly 256 claims filed every day. The 2009 data shows that private sector charges alleging discrimination based on disability, religion and/or national origin hit record highs while age-based charges reached the second highest level ever. You can read the entire report here: http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/1-6-10.cfm

Statistics don’t generally lie, the trends are clear. And, with the appointment of Jacqueline Berrien as head of the EEOC, employers should expect a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that is much more focused on enforcement and litigation. Some experts are even concerned that her administration may push the commission further in an anti-employer direction.  None of this bodes well for companies that are still ignoring EEO/ OFCCP compliance issues.