The Internet makes talent communities inevitable In recent weeks we’ve seen a lot of outpouring of grief over the now dead SOPA legislation. The law’s critics claim that, if passed, the law would end the Internet as we know it, threaten our way of life, and confirm the Mayans were right. We periodically experience this... [full article »]

The Role of Recruiters in Social Media Recruiters often struggle with social media because the medium does not lend itself well to traditional recruiting practices. Recruiting is typically a highly transactional process — the recruiter collects information from a candidates, decides if there is a fit, and moves on to the next step. It’s essentially... [full article »]

Social media gets a lot of press. There seem to be millions of articles offering advice on how to succeed with social media, in business, in fundraising, starting revolutions, and of course, recruiting. A lot of that advice is as useful as a bicycle for a fish — since it’s often anecdotal or the wisdom... [full article »]

The March 16, 1998 issue of Fortune showed a picture of one Roberto Ziche, a software engineer, and his bird, Reika, a little lime-green and red parrot. Demand for tech talent so outpaced the supply then that his employer had agreed to his demand to let Reika hop about Ziche’s office all day, jumping from... [full article »]

Regulations are strangling job growth Businesses are sitting on about $2 trillion in cash. That’s enough to fund 27 million jobs, or reduce unemployment to near zero. So what’s keeping them from spending? The economy is slowing from what was already a very tepid recovery. But even with greatly reduced expectations, job growth coming out... [full article »]

Recruiting strategies around social media are evolving. We’re seeing more emphasis on talent communities and less on broadcasting jobs over social networks. But anyone who’s building a talent community would do well to learn from the recently departed Democratic congressman from New York. The congressman created a large community — more than 82,000 followers on... [full article »]

Texas Adds Over 700,000 Jobs The line was “Go West, Young Man” — and it was true for a long time. That’s where the money and the jobs were: California. Well, it hasn’t been true for a long time. Over the last 10 years Texas has added 732,800 private sector jobs, including over a quarter... [full article »]

Build Social Capital to Succeed with Social Media “The Whuffie Factor” is a book about using social networks to build your business. The concept of whuffie (rhymes with whoopee, but don’t confuse the two) refers to social capital built through connections among and between people in communities of shared interest. This creates a sort of... [full article »]

Charlie Sheen’s recent firing by CBS was likely well deserved. It followed a very public war with his producer and widespread publicity about his bizarre behavior and personal life. But scratch the surface and the decision seems illogical. His behavior today is no different than when he was hired for the show. The show is... [full article »]

We need jobs, and lots of them: unemployment is dropping but it’s a long road back to the days of 5% unemployment, and we’re not going to get there for a very long time. So where will the jobs come from? The old standbys of healthcare, IT, and education, will continue to add jobs, but... [full article »]

What it takes to get your jobs retweeted Tweeting jobs is an increasingly popular approach to broadcasting jobs. Ideally the jobs are retweeted, increasing exponentially the exposure one would get from the initial tweet. Tweeting is a social networking tool, so this can be a great way to tap the power of social media. Get... [full article »]

Are you a good-looking man or woman? Depending on how many X chromosomes you have, this could be a good thing if you’re looking for a job. A new study shows that good-looking people are more employable. Well, men at any rate. Women are out of luck. The study done in Europe and Israel shows... [full article »]

I returned from the HR Technology expo — a place to look at what’s new, what’s improved, what’s interesting. Well, that’s what it used to be. Now it’s déjà vu all over again. Not much seems different from the past few years. Ten, even five years ago, HR technology was exciting. Now the industry has... [full article »]

You have a great candidate who seems ideal for the job you’re looking to fill and you start researching her online. You land on her Facebook page where you see a picture of her and your spouse or partner, which suggests that they’re more than friends. What do you do? You shred the resume and... [full article »]

Lately there have been a lot of keystrokes generated about the social media bubble, starting with a blog post on Harvard Business Review. A bubble suggests that something has greatly inflated value, e.g., the housing bubble, or the dot-com bubble. The original post claims that social media cheapens relationships, giving people the illusion of having... [full article »]

In recent weeks there has been a lot of news about SB 1070 — The Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act — enacted by Arizona. The law brings into focus the need for immigration reform, but other than that, the reaction to the law has been hysterical, over the top, and often grossly... [full article »]

A lot of employers that have started using social media are doing so without fully understanding the opportunities and challenges associated with it. The tendency is to treat social media as a mechanism to broadcast jobs; in other words, as an advertising medium. This reminds me of an interview I heard some months ago, with... [full article »]

Looking for a job as a recruiter? After a long lean period, things are looking up. The long night has ended and we’re still here. It’s over. After two years of layoffs the economy is now creating more jobs than it’s losing. In March, the economy created 162,000 new jobs. The Dow is 70% of the... [full article »]

Recruiting often requires creativity, especially when candidates are hard to find. But sometimes creativity results in strange or weird approaches to recruitment. Take for example this recruiting video from a hospital in Canada. The video follows a woman who goes to drop off her resume at the hospital. There, she ends up singing and dancing... [full article »]

In the movie “It’s a mad, mad, mad, mad world” a bunch of people are trying to find a fortune buried under a “big W.” The movie ends badly for just about everyone, with no one getting the money — which had been stolen to begin with. The parallels between that movie and the current... [full article »]