How Recruiters Review Resumes

In a post on Electronic Recruiters Exchange (ERE.net), a network and forum of corporate, third party, and executive recruiters, Matt Charney wrote a sarcastic yet realistic view of how employers read job seekers resumes.

The post was one of the most commented posts of the forum in 2009. There is a lot of input and comments from all types of recruiters.

If you are a job seeker, it’s worth reviewing.

Matt discusses the numerous companies out there trying to make money off of unemployed job seekers as well as a detailed time slice of how recruiters choose to review your resume in 10 seconds or less… no matter how much you paid a “professional resume writer”, you still only get 10 seconds.

By the way, if you are looking for a job, one of the best way to find a job is through networking with recruiters. ERE is the top US network and community for all types of recruiters. I suggest you take a look, or follow the articles, or join their group on LinkedIn.

Keep building your Referral Network… It is the #1 way to find your next job.

Is the US facing a Talent Exodus?

For the last 50+ years the US has been importing the top intellectual minds from developing countries, through offering subsidized education, the promise of full-time employment, and a better standard of living… ie ‚ÄúThe American Dream‚Äù.

As these Top Immigrant Intellects completed their degrees, masters programs, and PhD’s, US companies snatched them up with lucrative visa policies and wages that provided a very high standard of living, compared to their home countries. Today, many of these immigrant intellects are among our brightest doctors, scientists, researchers, engineers, and other professionals.

This government and corporate funded intellectual importing policy has been reliant on the promise of a better standard of living, full-time employment, and immigration support. In return, these professionals have returned the favor by staying in the US, becoming integral to one of the United States greatest strengths, our intellectual capital.

Many US colleges and universities are already seeing a slowing in international enrollment, due to post 9/11 immigration issues. While this is disheartening, there is an even bigger concern… a potential and immediate US Talent Exodus.

Unfortunately, the chapter of importing, educating, and retaining the top international intellects might be over for the US, at least onshore.

Are we already witnessing the beginnings of Reverse Migration?

The Great Recession has splintered the promise of a full-time job and better lifestyle. Employees of all levels and all industries have been let go, including many of these Top Immigrant Intellects, that we have invested so much in. A recent Business Week article detailed the account of many High-skilled techical workers leaving the US.

In “The World is Flat” Thomas Friedman, discussed the equity of lifestyles that is dramatically lowering the attractiveness of leaving these countries. As more and better paying professional level jobs are being exported from the US, the attractiveness of leaving home and family for a foreign land and culture has weakened.

The standard of living in many countries, such as India and China, has dramatically increased in the last 10 years. This not only decreases the willingness of individuals to leave their countries to come to the US, but also, and more importantly, increases the possibility of individuals migrating back to their home countries, immediately after their education, or worse mid-career.

If the US economy continues to decline or goes into a inflationary period, these prized immigrant intellects might find more reasons to leave than to stay.. Just when we need them the most!

Many of these professionals are deeply embedded within our US labor force, often holding senior research, engineering and management positions in companies across all industries. In February 2009, IBM announced layoffs in the US and Canada, but offered the option of “international relocation” if employees would be willing to move to Brazil, India, China or a dozen other lower-wage countries.

What will happen to the US “War for Talent” if we let these 10+ year professionals walk out the door?

If this happens, the biggest losers will be small to midsize US businesses. Global enterprises will continue to thrive, through outsourcing and off-shoring, but what about small and medium size businesses?

What affect will this have on the US entrepreneurship that we so much strive on? Most would agree that the greatest innovations are coming from small organizations, without the procedures and policies of global enterprises. If small and medium size business loose their innovators, where will we be from a talent pool?

I certainly don’t have the answers…

What are your thoughts? Please add your comments below.

Social Media Recruiting- Is your company saying “We don’t care!”

You NEED a Social Strategy! Even a basic one!

Your top recruits are already using sites like LinkedIn, FaceBook, and Twitter.
They’re out there looking for you!

What are they finding?

We are here!
We are a great company to work for!
Come, see for yourself!

or

We don’t get it!”
We don’t care!”

Even if you have a company presence on LinkedIn, Twitter, or FaceBook, Do you know what it says? Or who wrote it?

Social Media Recruiting is “Social”. (That’s the hardest part to understand)
It’s not about writing the bigger check than you competitors.
And, it’s not JUST about how many hires you generate. It‚Äôs about getting your message out and engaging your Top Recruits, on their terms, on the sites they use, how they want it, when they want it.

It’s not about writing a check to the site with the best ads on the SuperBowl! Or most aggressive sales people.

What good does it really do if you have a $20,000 “Branding Presence” on a national job board, when you know your Top Recruits never visited those sites?

What’s you message on FaceBook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, where your Top Recruits are? Do you even know?

If you don’t have a social strategy, don’t be surprised when it gets harder and harder to attract and retain to top candidates.

At the moment, social media sites may not be the primary driver of candidates applying for jobs, but they can definitely make the difference during the “Why Work With Us” phase of recruiting.

Social media sites like LinkedIn and FaceBook are quickly becoming the go-to portals for all kinds of information, including company information, product research, consumer reviews, etc. LinkedIn now even embeds company information from BusinessWeek and CNBC into company profiles.

A poorly planned, duct-tape social media recruiting campaign might have worked in the past, but the competition is quickly starting to heat up. Top employers like Starbucks, Addidas, Ernst & Young, and McGladrey are all using social media in their recruitment marketing.

If you know your Top Hires are individuals that know your company, products, clients and markets, and even your existing employees, don’t you think these are the candidates you should be spending the most resources on?

This is what Social Media Recruiting is all about. If you engage and help educate your Top Recruits, you stand a better chance at getting their attention. You can do this with social media… or you can just say “We don’t care!”

Unfortunately you aren’t going to get a phone call from some FaceBook sales rep, who for $25,000, will wave his wand and make the problem go away.

You need to know what to do. Where to start! What sites should we be on? And what are the best practices that others have implemented.

This is where having the help of an experienced and knowledgeable consultant can help you get the ball rolling.
• Someone who has 10+ years in the Internet Recruiting Industry, so they know the ropes.
• Someone who knows LinkedIn, FaceBook, and Twitter, and has a proven track record.
• Someone who knows technical web design and how to integrate job postings into multiple websites.
• Someone who know how to build, implement and maintain a social media marketing strategy.
• Someone who knows how Social Media and Search Engine Optimization can be used to build a social recruiting brand.

I highly recommend starting with a 3-6 month pilot project. It’s easier to digest, you and your recruiting team get to learn the sites, and your recruiting message is clear. From the pilot project, you can then decide which social campaigns make the most sense to you and your recruiting team.

If you are interested in learning more about creating a Social Media Recruiting Strategy, please give me a call, or send me an email at jonathan @ Gojobs.com.

While there are a few Social Media Recruiting experts out there, there just aren’t that many.

Who’s Tapping Your Talent Pipeline?

Social Networking sites, like LinkedIn.com, FaceBook.com, and Twitter.com are quickly changing the recruiting landscape.

Not only is transparency completely altering the recruiting processes, but candidates are quickly learning more about the companies. Most employers have yet to realized this growing trend.

Those employers who start adapting to the new Recruiting Transparency reality stand to gain the greatest.

Recruiting in a socially networked world is going to require engagement, and specifically highly targeted engagement campaigns into niche groups to attract the best and brightest of the passive candidates.

In a recent, 1 hour Live Streaming Interview, hosted on Ustream.com, I was interviewed by Dr. Amy Vanderbilt, host of the TrendPOV Show, regarding “Who’s Tapping your Talent Pipeline”.

The interview is also available via podcasts as well as Ustream.

Below is a copy of the ustream. It’s 60 minutes long… FYI

The full interview is also available via Itunes for Free Downloaning:

Who’s Tapping Your Talent Pipeline? – Part 1

Who’s Tapping Your Talent Pipeline? – Part 2

Who’s Tapping Your Talent Pipeline? – Part 3

Who’s Tapping Your Talent Pipeline? – Part 4

Who’s Tapping Your Talent Pipeline? – Part 5

Starbucks’ Social Media Recruiting Strategy

Kirsti Stubbs, @kstubbs, was interviewed by WhyHire.me about using Social Media and Social Networking sites in the recruiting process.

She discusses how she uses Social Media sites like LinkedIn, FaceBook, Twitter and Blogs to source candidates and get a deeper understanding of who the candidate is.

She walks through some of the sites she is using, and even compares the ROI of social media recruiting to traditional job boards. Spelling out the difference in candidates that she is seeing from the different sources.

This is a great video for both job seekers and employers.

Job seekers, pay attention to what Kirsti says about your personal brand, and how she and recruiters like her are using social networking sites to find candidates that they think will fit their company.

Employers listen as Kirsti describes how she is using the different social media sites and especially with networking into groups.