Hi there,
Thank you for visiting my blog. I am always trying new things and looking at ways to maximise my online efforts, so have decided to move my blog to a wordpress site. I will keep this blog site open to receive any questions or comments but won't be posting any new material here for a while.
Feel free to send me a Google+ message if you have any questions
Thanks!
Sarah
Monday, January 7, 2013
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Venture Capital in Australia: 10 Things Not to Do When Interviewing (and 4 Bonus...
Venture Capital in Australia: 10 Things Not to Do When Interviewing (and 4 Bonus...: A came across a great article on interviewing today!!! Boy, have I got a lot to learn!!!! by Herb Greenberg and Patrick Sweeney ...
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Reviewing a LinkedIn premium product: Jobseeker Plus. Is it worth the money?
This week I am reviewing 'Jobseeker plus', a LinkedIn premium product. I'm working with a real job seeker, new to the market and will be documenting our findings here in my blog during September
I'm hoping it will assist some of my candidates to make the decision whether to invest in a purchase of a LinkedIn product specifically for job seekers; as candidates and contractors more and more are recognising the need to stay relevant on a networking platform to assist them to find new and better opportunities.
If you would like to leave your comments or questions before 14th September 2012 I can further investigate and include in my findings
Thanks
Sarah
I'm hoping it will assist some of my candidates to make the decision whether to invest in a purchase of a LinkedIn product specifically for job seekers; as candidates and contractors more and more are recognising the need to stay relevant on a networking platform to assist them to find new and better opportunities.
If you would like to leave your comments or questions before 14th September 2012 I can further investigate and include in my findings
Thanks
Sarah
Monday, August 20, 2012
Where does it all go wrong when recruiting recruiters?
I've been helping a few recruitment friends look for work and develop in their roles. Within a few weeks the information I gathered through each one lead me to the conviction in my belief that as an industry, we HR professionals really need to brush up on our own attraction strategies and employee value proposition. It actually starts with the very first conversations - even before bringing someone in for an interview with your firm.
What's concerning to me before and during this exercise; is the more I interact with other recruiters, I find this industry is literally bursting with people who don't like people. You would likely all agree there are recruiters around who are just in it for the money and have very low professional standards. It's a cycle of bad managers shaping consultants and our industry. I believe we can change the perception of our valuable work if we are willing to accept we need to alter our own recruitment process and appoint people who are in it for the long haul!
Here is what I found to be the main questions recruiters are asked again and again, often by the same people in varying ways from the initial to the final stages of their employment process
I'm not saying these questions are redundant - they are just easily anticipated and don't necessarily assist you to understand if this person wants a long term career from this amazing profession or just a job where they can earn lots of money...
If I was to employ a recruitment consultant for my team right now, here are the other aspects besides sales ability I would focus on uncovering:
If I was to further define the process I would implement a very structured research project around the potential candidates I had in mind for the role. Of course many will say there just isn't enough time in the day and all this work could result in little gain (people ALWAYS say that about sourcing - my answer always is - skip the TV show tonight and put that Boolean search to work!)
On a side note: I feel very blessed to have met the wonderful people I have in my recruitment career, there are professionals out there who are greatly successful, have long term careers and remain agile as recruiters, but they are different because they happen to remember this is a people business and they have a humility and understanding for talent that others may miss.
What's concerning to me before and during this exercise; is the more I interact with other recruiters, I find this industry is literally bursting with people who don't like people. You would likely all agree there are recruiters around who are just in it for the money and have very low professional standards. It's a cycle of bad managers shaping consultants and our industry. I believe we can change the perception of our valuable work if we are willing to accept we need to alter our own recruitment process and appoint people who are in it for the long haul!
Here is what I found to be the main questions recruiters are asked again and again, often by the same people in varying ways from the initial to the final stages of their employment process
- How much do you bill? Or, how many roles do you fill each month?
- How do you deal with difficult clients?
- Tell me how you turned a bad situation into a good one?
- Describe yourself as a manager?
- What is your biggest achievement?
I'm not saying these questions are redundant - they are just easily anticipated and don't necessarily assist you to understand if this person wants a long term career from this amazing profession or just a job where they can earn lots of money...
If I was to employ a recruitment consultant for my team right now, here are the other aspects besides sales ability I would focus on uncovering:
- How much time do you invest in self education or learning more about recruitment?
- What companies do you admire most for how they treat their staff and why?
- Describe what makes you a 'people' person? How do you measure this?
- How do you ensure consistency in your billings / placements?
- What do you know about my business and do you have any observations you would like to mention?
- What would the support staff of your current company have to say about you? What processes do you have in place to ensure you collaborate successfully with them?
If I was to further define the process I would implement a very structured research project around the potential candidates I had in mind for the role. Of course many will say there just isn't enough time in the day and all this work could result in little gain (people ALWAYS say that about sourcing - my answer always is - skip the TV show tonight and put that Boolean search to work!)
On a side note: I feel very blessed to have met the wonderful people I have in my recruitment career, there are professionals out there who are greatly successful, have long term careers and remain agile as recruiters, but they are different because they happen to remember this is a people business and they have a humility and understanding for talent that others may miss.
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Venture Capital in Australia: Ten Reasons Winners Keep Winning, Aside from Skill...
Venture Capital in Australia: Ten Reasons Winners Keep Winning, Aside from Skill...: Ten Reasons Winners Keep Winning, Aside from Skill (Harvard Business Review) by Rosabeth Moss Kanter | 7:00 AM August 1, 2012 Co...
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Boolean strings and why they may not work magically for you
In the last 3 years I have become obsessively interested in social recruiting, and using social media for public relations, talent attraction and certainly passive talent sourcing. I'm sure that any recruiter in Sydney by now has a 'cheat sheet' on their desk with a reliable and changeable search string right? It's an unavoidable subject and I so love hearing from rookies to experienced high level professionals on how they were able to snag that deal from a search string... in fact there have been so many conferences and training sessions offered on search strings and using the Internet for sourcing - and yet - the majority of recruitment consultants I talk to are not very enthusiastic about it!
Here are a few reasons why you may find it worked for you once or twice, but you don't put much stock in it now:
1. Someone gave you a cheat sheet / quick guide to creating a search string. You used it and for a while it probably worked well. But then, LinkedIn changed something, and then google changed something and now all you get is a bunch of junk returns. (the person in their wisdom probably called it a 'hack')
2. You used a regular Boolean string with a blueprint of 1 or 2 job titles and the candidates you really want simply refused to just SEO their profiles correctly! @&^%
3. You didn't use all the space in the search bar. It got too difficult when you couldn't see the whole string right? How were you supposed to know what you had typed?
4. You don't record and track your efforts. By the way how do you cope with coming up with a gem string that returned awesome results but then you forgot it? I did that... once.
5. You are a great sales person and you just don't have the time to chase rabbits down holes if it isn't apparent you can place those rabbits (this isn't a bad thing - but it's probably the main reason why you don't get excited by internet sourcing)
This is just my opinion, but the sourcing function is not something you can expect people to multi-task with. It's great that every decent recruiter knows how to put a search string into a semblance of practice, but in order for your business to develop talent pipe-lining effectively to cope with this changing world of talent and work, you must develop someone with recruitment experience who has high attention to detail, and is obsessive about process and organisation. The person you choose should show a pro-active interest in investigative techniques. This is more than likely not the highest biller / best sales person in your team, although it could be - and you will need to change the remuneration structure for this person. I have tried some really successful strategies on this but needed to think very creatively to get there
On a side note - this youtube link will take you to a thought provoking session from a TED talk a few years ago with Sir Ken Robinson. It's awesome and a good investment of your time on the trip home from a dull day at work... not sure about you but as someone with no tertiary qualification YET I am working my way through the part-time open education system and it can be stifling - especially around all things Social Media! Anyway, as always I appreciate your thoughts...Sir Ken Robinson: Do schools kills creativity?
Here are a few reasons why you may find it worked for you once or twice, but you don't put much stock in it now:
1. Someone gave you a cheat sheet / quick guide to creating a search string. You used it and for a while it probably worked well. But then, LinkedIn changed something, and then google changed something and now all you get is a bunch of junk returns. (the person in their wisdom probably called it a 'hack')
2. You used a regular Boolean string with a blueprint of 1 or 2 job titles and the candidates you really want simply refused to just SEO their profiles correctly! @&^%
3. You didn't use all the space in the search bar. It got too difficult when you couldn't see the whole string right? How were you supposed to know what you had typed?
4. You don't record and track your efforts. By the way how do you cope with coming up with a gem string that returned awesome results but then you forgot it? I did that... once.
5. You are a great sales person and you just don't have the time to chase rabbits down holes if it isn't apparent you can place those rabbits (this isn't a bad thing - but it's probably the main reason why you don't get excited by internet sourcing)
This is just my opinion, but the sourcing function is not something you can expect people to multi-task with. It's great that every decent recruiter knows how to put a search string into a semblance of practice, but in order for your business to develop talent pipe-lining effectively to cope with this changing world of talent and work, you must develop someone with recruitment experience who has high attention to detail, and is obsessive about process and organisation. The person you choose should show a pro-active interest in investigative techniques. This is more than likely not the highest biller / best sales person in your team, although it could be - and you will need to change the remuneration structure for this person. I have tried some really successful strategies on this but needed to think very creatively to get there
On a side note - this youtube link will take you to a thought provoking session from a TED talk a few years ago with Sir Ken Robinson. It's awesome and a good investment of your time on the trip home from a dull day at work... not sure about you but as someone with no tertiary qualification YET I am working my way through the part-time open education system and it can be stifling - especially around all things Social Media! Anyway, as always I appreciate your thoughts...Sir Ken Robinson: Do schools kills creativity?
Monday, July 30, 2012
Free technical CV template
One of the most frequent requests I get from contractors I manage, and candidates in all fields is: "is my CV ok?"
Here is a blended template I have put together from my experience and talks with clients and candidates alike. See how you go and let me know what you think!
Cheers
Here is a blended template I have put together from my experience and talks with clients and candidates alike. See how you go and let me know what you think!
Cheers
Technical format CV
List your strengths by placing emphasis on your skills, experience and abilities at the top, and following that a chronological list of experience, as in this sample CV.
Technical format resumes are best for candidates who have technical job roles, if you are changing careers / industries, candidates returning to the workforce or graduates with limited work experience.
Name Lastname
| |
Address:
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Suburb State Postcode
|
Mobile phone:
|
Mobile Number
|
Email address: Personal email address
Job title sought
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nullam gravida felis in nibh porta scelerisque. Pellentesque eu ante a nibh vehicula scelerisque. Phasellus nec dolor sit amet turpis mattis lacinia
Skill
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nullam gravida felis in nibh porta scelerisque. Pellentesque eu ante a nibh vehicula scelerisque. Phasellus nec dolor sit amet turpis mattis lacinia.
Skill
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nullam gravida felis in nibh porta scelerisque. Pellentesque eu ante a nibh vehicula scelerisque. Phasellus nec dolor sit amet turpis mattis lacinia. Praesent tellus mi, dignissim quis euismod non, condimentum a libero. Phasellus mollis massa ac est fringilla iaculis. Integer a lorem a diam cursus imperdiet ut sit amet lorem..
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nullam gravida felis in nibh porta scelerisque. Pellentesque eu ante a nibh vehicula scelerisque. Phasellus nec dolor sit amet turpis mattis lacinia. Praesent tellus mi, dignissim quis euismod non, condimentum a libero. Phasellus mollis massa ac est fringilla iaculis. Integer a lorem a diam cursus imperdiet ut sit amet lorem..
Skill
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Employment History
Date:
|
Month year - present
|
Company:
|
Company Name
|
Title:
|
Job Title
|
Duties / Details:
| Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nullam gravida felis in nibh porta scelerisque. Pellentesque eu ante a nibh vehicula scelerisque. Phasellus nec dolor sit amet turpis mattis lacinia. Praesent tellus mi, dignissim quis euismod non, condimentum a libero. |
Date:
|
Month year – month year
|
Company:
|
Company Name
|
Title:
|
Job Title
|
Duties / Details:
|
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nullam gravida felis in nibh porta scelerisque. Pellentesque eu ante a nibh vehicula scelerisque. Phasellus nec dolor sit amet turpis mattis lacinia. Praesent tellus mi, dignissim quis euismod non, condimentum a libero.
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Education
Institution, Qualification attained, year graduated
Referees
Available on request
Presentation do's and don'ts
Do:
· Use a standard, easily read and professional font – use the same font throughout.
· Proof-read spelling and grammar, use spellcheck and ask a friend to read through it
· Include links to your publicly available professional profiles such as Linkedin or Google+
Don't:
· Use non-standard fonts or lines of italic / underlined or bold fonts.
· Use pictures / photos or images.
· Save and submit as PDF by default
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