Social networks are so hyped right now among recruiters that it is hard to separate their real value and purpose from often overblown marketing promises. By creating a social network specifically for your organization, you can differentiate yourself from the crowd, build your brand, and find most of the candidates you need without any other... [full article »]

Top-notch job candidates are tired of the recruiting mess we have created in the U.S. I would guess that well over half of all recruiting functions are dysfunctional. By that I mean they have no standard process for dealing with candidates, treat some candidates much differently than others, respond sporadically to requests and phone calls,... [full article »]

When people are stressed and economic pressures rise, both candidates and recruiters are tempted to act in ways that may not be ethical. While I have never met a recruiter who thought of themselves as dishonest or unethical, many candidates feel that they have been told less than the truth and have been disrespected. We all... [full article »]

Warning bells are ringing. The emerging economy will be quite different from the one we have come from. There are signs of change everywhere. General Motors breaks down, and Tesla, Phoenix Motorcars, and Detroit Electric begin to make electric cars, changing the paradigm about what a car manufacturer should look like. Companies like IDEO... [full article »]

Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric, created a stir at the SHRM conference in New Orleans this year by stating: “There’s no such thing as work-life balance. There are work-life choices, and you make them, and they have consequences.” Organizations worry about being perceived as offering a good balance between work and personal time. Many career... [full article »]

We live in a world of pictures, movies, and sound. The printed word is being replaced and expanded by cheap, easy access to video websites like YouTube as well as sites such as Hulu.com and Veoh.com. According to Gartner, Inc., the world’s leading information technology research and advisory company, more than 25 percent of the content... [full article »]

This recession has been merciless to recruiters. I don’t have any statistics, but anecdotal evidence indicates that thousands of recruiters have been laid off and that hundreds of recruiting agencies have closed their doors. Sometimes the recruiters who been laid off have just been unlucky enough to have worked for an organization that is failing or... [full article »]

There is a lot of confusion and uncertainty about social networking and its role in recruiting. Conferences and seminars are everywhere. ERE recently held a conference on social media at Google, and there are dozens of articles here on ERE and elsewhere that are touting the benefits of social networks. There are hundreds of social... [full article »]

A positive candidate experience translates directly into more referrals, more hires, and better quality candidates. The experience most candidates have with an organization usually starts in one of two ways: they either receive a call from a recruiter or a friend who tells them about the organization, or they go to the career site for... [full article »]

Unemployment is an ugly thing. It not only injures people financially, but socially and emotionally. I was reading a fascinating article by Arthur Brooks entitled “I Love My Work.” He chronicles what happened to a small town in Austria in the 1920s when the local factory closed and most men were unemployed. Despite... [full article »]

Many contract recruiters wish they had taken that internal recruiting position offered to them two or three years ago. As in every recession, being an internal employee is viewed with envy. It seems only logical that as layoffs and cutbacks greatly reduce the number of contract recruiters, the interest in being a regular employee... [full article »]

What makes a good candidate different from a bad one? What defines a high quality candidate? I can’t count the conversations I have had with recruiters on these questions, and few have had answers. For as long as I can remember, recruiters have focused on cost as the primary measure of their effectiveness and... [full article »]

Subtle as it may seem, there is Grand Canyon of difference between a database of prospective candidates and a community of talented prospective candidates. Recruiters frequently tell me they have a talent community, when further investigation reveals that they have a huge database of people they do not know at all. These databases have been built... [full article »]

What does a modern recruiter need to be good at? Is it all about knowing how to leverage social media, or are the traditional skills of cold-calling, screening resumes, conducting interviews, and closing candidates more important? I have just been at the Australasian Talent Conference in Sydney, Australia, for the past week and what was... [full article »]

Mark is a hard-working, top-notch recruiter for a Fortune 1000 company. He is located in Silicon Valley, one of the hardest-hit areas in this recession, with unemployment approaching 11% — much of it among educated professionals. Over the past year, despite the recession and corporate layoffs, he has survived and has even hired a few people.... [full article »]

Technology in its broadest sense, along with discovery, is the driver of new work and jobs. Each new discovery, every new software tool or programming language, every new product creates new jobs and requires new skills. As people began to unearth bones as they plowed fields in England, the science of paleontology emerged. As computers... [full article »]

Over the past several years there have been a number of articles written about the role of a chief talent officer. Each of these articles has pointed out the need for someone to have responsibility for developing and implementing a comprehensive strategic approach to people. The current economic situation just underlines the need for organizations... [full article »]

I am always looking for trends, new ways of doing things, or emerging practices that are changing, or at least influencing, the way we attract, source, assess, and recruit talent. Some of them will most likely slip into history with little impact, but others will become the new way we do things. Twitter is a recent example... [full article »]

Past talent initiatives have generally not aimed at people, but at improving efficiency, managing work flows, and ensuring quality. Now, service, innovation, and relationships are seen as the enablers of increased profit as the spotlight moves away from manufacturing and production. HR has the opportunity to shine or be replaced by some other function as... [full article »]

Even when times are really tough, most organizations are still recruiting. And, given the times, the people they are recruiting are critical to product design, service delivery, and ultimately profitability. Keeping these people engaged from day one is the challenge. Other employees are not upbeat; many are feeling overworked and under-appreciated; and everyone has a... [full article »]