How YOU Can Stop Bad Practice in Recruitment

How YOU Can Stop Bad Practice in Recruitment There isnt a day goes by at the moment when you can avoid a status or blog on LinkedIn bemoaning all that is wrong with recruitment   albeit usually written by recruiters about their competition and whilst I occasionally partake in the “banter” and dialogue in how to overcome bad examples, I feel that there is a very simple solution to creating an industry that excels in following best practice each and every time. We hear tales of recruiters not gaining permission of candidates before submitting CVs to clients, thus creating the perpetual problem of who has the right to claim the fee. And it would appear it is still rife in the recruitment market to spray and pray with a candidates details by way of listing a load of companies who technically match the candidates CV and hoping one will stick. I for one am flummoxed by tales of candidates going for interviews and then never getting any feedback from their recruiter when it is clear the interview hasnt been successful, yet they never get a chance to hear the constructive comments as to why. I have made it clear from previous blogs and my own public bio that by promoting best practice, I see my role as a “barrier to entry” to those who do not behave with the kudos I expect from a recruiter full stop. What constitutes best practice? Is it possible to have a “one size fits all” etiquette in how to behave? What can you do to ensure you are engaging with a recruiter who is operating ethically and if not what are the repercussions? I have explored the best practice regulations previously and simply put, a good recruiter should do the following: Candidates: Your recruiter should insist on arranging to meet you to qualify your skills, experience, desires for the next role. If a face to face meeting isnt possible because of logistics, there is NO excuse for them not to arrange to Skype, FaceTime and ooVoo you nowadays. Your recruiter must gain your permission before they send your profile/CV anywhere. Even if it is a confidential role, there must be enough information for you to know. Your recruiter must prepare you before any meeting you go on through their introduction, fully briefing you on their previous placements and process to follow. Feedback should be timely   you should know within 24 hours how your meeting has gone. Management of the process   you should feel as though your recruiter is your partner in this   you should feel supported and secure that the recruiter “has your back”. Have I covered everything? Is seeing that list making you feel the love you had for your recent recruiter or making you feel like you were the one running the show? Ultimately the recruiter should be proactive on your behalf; trying to find you your best role. Clients: As above, your recruiter should want to come and meet you in person see your environment, understand your culture, learn what your company “DNA” is. In order to understand WHO the client wants to hire and what other people they have hired who have been successful. The recruiter should act as your brand ambassador in the market coming to you with the best people and asking you to consider them for their perspective. The recruiter should also be very timely with feedback and that should also include prepping YOU on the candidates motivators and reasons for leaving too. The recruiter should have your best interests at heart as you are the one paying the fee. You should feel like the recruiter is someone you can trust, who adds true value to your business and is your external outsource in the market place. So where does it go wrong? Saturation  Each and every market is saturated with recruiters   including my own and so there is a sense of “bun fight” mentality. How can you avoid this: Candidates give your exclusivity to your recruiter. They will be proactive on your behalf and come to you with the BEST opportunities. Clients retain your recruiter for your most vital roles. Kill the sales beast If you feel that you are on the receiving end of a sales hungry recruiter, STOP WORKING WITH THEM. It is as simple as that. I hear of my competitors ringing clients and saying every time “I have the best candidate for you” yet they never do. Don’t choose a recruiter you don’t trust implicitly and who winds you up. Lets stand up for the right way of doing things. Vote with your feet as a candidate and client. Let’s put the recruitment cowboys out of business so that the future of recruitment is about partnership and integrity.

Considering a Change in Direction How to Deal with Non-Believers Marla Gottschalk

Considering a Change in Direction How to Deal with Non-Believers Marla Gottschalk Career growth can be both an exhausting and exhilarating experience. You have already dealt with the internal struggle â€" realizing that a change was necessary. Then, there is both the commitment and possible sacrifice necessary to ensure that real change occurs. (You may be juggling coursework or tackling a stretch assignment in addition to your assigned tasks). We expect that the process will be challenging. However, it can be disconcerting that the most surprising aspect of ordeal, are those around us who just cannot seem to get on-board. Already well outside your comfort zone â€" it can be difficult to squelch all of the nay-saying from those around you. Those that just cannot seem to let you evolve. How do you handle individuals who are less than supportive? The off-handed remarks and the reminders of the obstacles that may come. Remember that you cant change others or how they see your path. However, you can filter their remarks. Consider these points: Some people will not see what you see. Goals are very personal. Explaining why you seem to be flinging yourself toward shaky ground, can seem frightening to some. Remember that you are the only that truly understands why you need to embark on this journey. Jealousy does exist. Career bravery on your part â€" can sometimes elicit a note of career envy from others. Watching others make progress can be hard to digest for some. Ubiquitous disengagement. There are many people who are unhappy with their own role, yet do not recognize where they are. Do not allow their malaise to affect your resolve. Some people are mean. Shocking, but true. There are individuals who just do will not play nice. They will revel in pointing out the obvious (that change is hard) and will never offer credit, when it is due. What to do next: Consider the feedback.  Try to take the stance that all feedback is useful. Listen to all that is said, but process the information carefully. Tell them what you need. Just as Don Draper expressed in Mad Men, if the conversation is headed in the wrong direction â€" change the conversation. When skepticism and doubt are all that is presented, remind them that the journey is challenging and solicit their support. Plan your re-brand roll out. Any career shift certainly requires a re-branding roll out. Plan to inform others about your new direction and how it might affect your work. Try developing an elevator pitch that nicely explains where you are headed. Let it go. In some cases, you need to simply ignore the negativity and move on. There are those who hold a fixed mindset and do not believe that people can evolve successfully. Prove them wrong, then lend support to others who also aspire to evolve. Have you ever met resistance when you were venturing onto a new career path? What strategies worked for you? Dr. Marla Gottschalk is an Industrial/Organizational Psychologist. Read more of her posts at LinkedIn.

The Lost Opportunity Costs of Not Creating Your Personal Brand - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

The Lost Opportunity Costs of Not Creating Your Personal Brand - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Everything in life has an opportunity cost associated with it. By choosing one thing you are as a result unable to chose another choose to spend one hundred dollars and you give up the ability to save one hundred dollars choose to go to the movies and you can’t go to the beach at the same time. The choices you make about building your personal brand are no different. Lost opportunity costs Here are some of the lost opportunity costs you choose by not creating your personal brand. Your achievements will go largely unnoticed by those who can help you. You will not have a way to promote yourself effectively to superiors and decision makers. Unsolicited opportunities will be unable to find you. You will receive fewer opportunities to advance your career. It will take you longer to reach your self-defined goals. You will not have a way of differentiating yourself from the pack. Google will not index you and your page rankings will suffer and go unnoticed. You will have less credibility than those who do have a powerful personal brand. You will constantly be searching for the next opportunity instead of letting them find you. You will fall behind those who have personal branding savvy. You will not have a forum to share your expertise and advance your thought leadership. You will make less money than you could otherwise. The top ranking person for your name will own your search results. Others will shape your personal brand, despite whether it’s true or not. Promotions at work may go to less qualified candidates because you couldn’t show your unique value. You will have a smaller social network and social network safety net. You will meet less people and build fewer relationships. Did any of those sound good to you? Of course not! Who would want to have any of the above happen to them? No one in their right mind. It simply doesn’t make sense to not begin building your personal brand right away. There are too many great opportunities to be had to wait any longer! Go get started and as always, have a relaxing weekend! Author: Chad Levitt is the author of the New Sales Economy blog, which focuses on how Sales 2.0 Social Media can help you connect, create more opportunities and increase your business. Chad is also the featured Sales 2.0 blogger at SalesGravy.com, the number one web portal for sales pros, the professional athletes of the business world. Make sure to connect with him on Twitter @chadalevitt.

Women, Work, and Wage Inequality

Women, Work, and Wage Inequality Its no secret that theres probably some guy in your company who gets paid more for doing the same job you do.  For millennials especially, who make up so much of the tech workforce, its often painfully obvious.  But hey, stick around for another 53 years and itll all be okay. Thats the current estimate of how long it will take for gender wage inequality to fade away.   53 years.  Do you find that as pathetically amazing as I do?  Short of the Great Pyramids of Egypt or the Great Wall of China, I cannot think of much else that took so long to accomplish. Time For Something New? Below is the job by job breakout within the tech industry that compares earnings by gender.  Maybe its time to re-think a few things.  Things like careers.  Assertiveness.  And claiming your place at the table.  For now, check out this infographic produced by Ashley Fleming for Ecardshack.    There are some huge variations depending on the work you do and your level of expertise.  But across the board, women are paid less.  And before you get too forgiving because its not really that much, ponder this. Lets assume that you have the typical 30 year career.  And over that 30 years your average investment return on your retirement funds is a paltry 4%.  That pay gap will mean that at retirement you end up with about $350,000 less in your retirement nest egg, on average for the industry as a whole.

Personal Branding You Dont Get A Second Chance To Make A First Impression!

Personal Branding â€" You Don’t Get A Second Chance To Make A First Impression! Photo Credit â€" Pexels.comI was recently undertaking a training session for a client of mine with a room full of new managers.When I say new managers, I mean young and inexperienced, but eager to make the right impression and take advantage of new opportunities. The downside to this enthusiasm was that their soft skills were lacking and we needed to get them up to speed, and we needed to do this fast!There were many things I wanted to go through with the team but I wanted to start with them as people first â€" their style, how they want to be viewed as leaders and their personal brand. This confused them, after all, what does Personal Brand have to do with being a good leader? The answer is EVERYTHING!evalPersonal branding is essentially the ongoing process of establishing a prescribed image or impression in the mind of others about an individual, group, or organization Whilst we now have very famous CEO’s and leaders of business rocking up to work in their Adidas, Jeans, and T-sh irt As a person who recruits staff for clients, LinkedIn is the first place I go when reviewing candidates and I have not proceeded when I have not seen something that excites me or aligns with the role or the experiences noted on a CV!So, whether you are a leader in business, an up and coming team leader or attending a job interview, you MUST consider your personal brand and the environments and situations this will be the view to ensure it aligns with how YOU want to be remembered.

Heres Why Trademarks Are Vital To Your Business

Heres Why Trademarks Are Vital To Your Business If you’re starting a business you’ve probably been told how important it is to trademark your company name and your logo. The main reason that people give is that it stops anybody from trading under your name or using your logo. That is important, but that’s not the whole story. To truly understand why trademarks are so important to your company, you need to change the way that you view them. Alpha Stock Images http://alphastockimages.com/ A trademark is essentially the same as a brand. For example, the reason that the Apple logo is so iconic is that it has been trademarked and they are the only one that uses it. If everybody used it, it wouldn’t be a recognisable brand image. If you haven’t trademarked your name and your logo yet, get in touch with a legal firm like Vethan Law and get them to draw up some contracts right away. These are just some of the massive benefits you’ll find once you do. They Tell Customers About Your Company This is one of the best things about a good trademark and also one of the reasons that you need to put a lot of thought into them. Let’s go back to our earlier example of the Apple logo. It’s an incredibly simple logo on a blank background. It serves its purpose in the simplest way possible. The reason that it’s such an effective trademark for the company is that those are the core beliefs of the company itself. They attempt to create products that are simple and easy to use and their trademark tells customers that this is what they’ll be getting if they buy from them. They Make It Easy For Customers To Find You When you’re in a store and you want a can of Coke, you don’t walk down the aisle reading the label on every single can, you just scan the shelf for the bold red and white combination. That trademark color scheme and logo is instantly recognizable from a distance so customers can make a beeline straight for it. Again, that only works because nobody else is using the same branding because it’s been trademarked. You can do the same by creating a strong logo and name and trademarking it yourself. It’s Vital For Your Website Your website is one of the most important areas where trademarks really show their value. When customers are searching for your product online, imagine how devastating it would be if your competitor were able to name their site using your company name and direct your customers straight to them. Trademarking your name and your logo means that nobody can do that and your customers won’t end up going with a rival company that is mimicking your branding. It also means that if you come up with branding ideas that really capture the interest of customers, nobody else can use the same methods. People often think that trademarks are just there so nobody can trade under the same name or use your logo but in reality, they’re a central part of business success.

How A Resume Writing Guide Can Boost Your Career Prospects

How A Resume Writing Guide Can Boost Your Career ProspectsJust what can a resume writing guide add to the resume writing process? A resume is your resume to make yourself stand out from the crowd and attract the right kind of attention. In other words, it is your declaration of your interests and abilities. How do you make it shine?A resume should be eye-catching and it should grab your reader's attention. Without a solid information package, it is not easy to stand out among a sea of others. A resume writing guide could help you do just that.Resume writing guides have been specifically designed to get your point across clearly and concisely in a way that is as effective as possible. It can help you impress the hiring manager, whether in person or through an e-mail. It can make your resume stand out from the rest. Just like the title of the guide, you can use keywords that will work in your favor.In today's fast-paced and modern times, getting noticed is a very difficult task. The ma in aim of the guide is to direct the reader to read more about you. It can even persuade him to visit your website.Today's world is definitely a global one and hence you have to show off your knowledge, skills and experiences to the rest of the world. You cannot hide behind a resume, so how do you promote yourself? A resume writing guide could answer this question for you.Since the whole world is using the internet to communicate, making your presence felt through your internet presence has become even more important. The present-day job market is just not the same as it was ten years ago. Technology has made things tougher, so making an impression on your prospective employer through your resume has become even more important. The introduction of internet and social media has made things tougher, so you must make yourself stand out in your prospective employer's mind and impress him with your digital presence.A resume writing guide should include a section about your personality, e ducation, education-related skills, past accomplishments, references, special talents, passions, special interests, career goals, etc. A resume writing guide can help you achieve your goals and it can do wonders to boost your career prospects.