10 Tips to Find Potential Candidates on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a great tool for finding passive candidates who want to be found. This is its little-discussed power. No one would publish their profiles otherwise. While some recruiters are still reluctant to jump on board, others have been making placements since day one. Here are some ideas on how to get started right away to take full advantage of this remarkable networking tool:

1. Direct Recruiting. Using the advanced search tools, you can find people in your extended network who are potential candidates for your search, or who know someone who is. Since you can see the names and bios of people in your extended network, you can very easily call them up and just recruit them. An extended network consists of three levels of contacts. For example, I have 1,200 people in my direct network. (You can link to me on LinkedIn using this email: lou@adlerconcepts.com.) On average each of these people has 200 people in their own network. This allows me access to over 240,000 people by one degree of separation! I can also see their contacts as well, which gives me visibility to approximately 5 million people.

2. Get Warm Leads from Your Direct Contact's Network. Here's my big rule for successful passive candidate recruiting: only call warm leads who have been pre-qualified. As far as I'm concerned it's a waste of time making a cold call to someone you don't know. First, the person is less likely to call you back. Furthermore, the person might not be qualified, and in this case the person won't give you any good leads. The direct network of all of your first-level LinkedIn contacts can quickly become warm leads. Since you can see the names of the people directly connected to them, just call and ask them who are the most qualified. Then call and recruit them. Since they're all warm leads they'll call you back. During the call make sure you connect directly with them on LinkedIn. This way you'll be able to see their contacts. Call back the next day if they're not a direct fit with one of your current openings and ask them who are the most qualified in their network. This is an awesome way to only work with high-quality warm leads.

3. Leverage Your Employee Referrals. First, get everyone you've placed and currently work with to build a LinkedIn network of associates. Then when you need some referrals, find them on LinkedIn and ask your employees to vouch for them. Make sure the referring employee gets the bonus for any placements. This will go a long way in having your contacts proactively and dramatically increase their network. When you call the referrals tell them who referred you to ensure a return call. This seems quicker to me than using the LinkedIn email system. Additionally, look up some of the employees of your company you don't personally know but who might know people for some of your open searches. Then connect with them and get more referrals. They'll probably call you back and connect with you since you're employees of the same company.

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10 Tips for Giving Feedback as an Employer

One of the most critical issues in the employer-employee relationship is feedback. The employee wants to know how they are doing, what they can improve on, and what the employer's expectations are. So take some time now and read this article to discover 10 fantastic tips on giving feedback as an employer!

1. Agree a ‘contract’ between yourself and the recipient so that they are prepared and receptive for feedback.

2. Check for wellbeing and also for capacity. Back off when capacity reached. You can always agree to talk again at a future date.

3. Take your time to explain things, checking for understanding. If what you are trying to say is difficult to explain say so up front and perhaps try saying it a couple of ways. If working across cultures and languages ask the individual for help to ‘get the meaning right’.

4. Where possible illustrate with real examples but if your examples are weak or inappropriate be open about this. Do not fall into the trap of giving feedback through giving an example, having it refuted, finding another, having it refuted, and so on.

5. Do not treat questions and challenge as further ‘evidence’ [‘I said that you did not listen, and here you are, not listening] or unwillingness to listen and learn. Some people absorb feedback best through asking questions.

6. Allow space for the recipient to reflect, check, challenge, etc

7. Ask the individual if they can think of examples that illustrate what you are saying

8. Engage the individual in generating ideas for development actions. Allow individuals to come up with their own ideas. Present options and ideas for improvement and development – not solutions

9. Allow time for the positives. See if you can harness positives and strengths towards addressing development areas

10. Remember that perception is reality but also that intentions are important and where there is a disconnect the person to whom you are giving feedback needs to focus on how to better realise their intentions and figure out what is coming between their intention and their impact

. . . . . And, don’t forget to ask for feedback in exchange . . . . .

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Lisette Howlett, Top 10 tips for giving feedback
http://www.evancarmichael.com/Human-Resources/790/Top-10-tips-for-giving-feedback.html
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Older Employees an Asset to McDonald's

Fiona Taylor made the comments after a study revealed that customer satisfaction was 20% higher in the fast-food chain's restaurants that employ staff aged over 60.

Mrs Taylor has worked as a lobby hostess at Derby's Markeaton Park McDonald's for 13 years and says she agrees with the survey's results.

The mother of two said: "I suppose being that bit older not only gives us more experience, but we are confident within ourselves and of our abilities.

"My job involves speaking to the customers every day on a face-to-face basis and every day there is someone who has an interesting story to tell.

"Because I have good experience of dealing with people, I can pass it on to the younger workers. In turn, they can relate well to customers their own age."

The study was conducted by Lancaster University Management School and revealed that levels of customer satisfaction were on average 20% higher in restaurants that employ staff aged 60 and over.

More than two-thirds of people surveyed said older workers connected well with customers, while 47% said they went the extra mile.

The study also revealed 44% believed workers aged over 60 brought mentoring skills to the workplace, helping younger colleagues develop and mature.

Mrs Taylor, of Welwyn Avenue, Allestree, is married to retired builder Bob and went back to work after raising children Ian, now 33, and Jane, now 31.

She said: "Younger members of the team tend to keep the atmosphere fun.

"Having said that, I don't really see my colleagues as being a certain age, I just think of us as one big team, each with their own skills and assets."

Mrs Taylor is one of several staff members aged over 60 working at Derby's six McDonald's restaurants.

Eddie Legdowicz, McDonald's franchisee for the Markeaton Park restaurant, said: "I wouldn't be without my over-60s employees – together with the younger generations they deliver excellent customer service, something which is more important than ever.

"Most people think of us as a destination for first-jobbers and, whilst that's true, it might surprise people to learn we employ more than 1,000 people aged over 60 in the UK.

"These employees play an important role in my business and, as the research shows, they make a huge impact on customer satisfaction."

Professor Paul Sparrow, who undertook the study, said the results showed the value of employing older workers.

He said: "For McDonald's, we can show that the presence of older employees improves customer satisfaction and, in a service-led business, this drives the bottom line.

"Mature employees are a key part of the performance recipe.

"Employers must rise to the challenge of adapting to Britain's ageing workforce and this research shows that there can be a sizeable prize at stake for those which succeed."

http://www.thisisderbyshire.co.uk/news/Age-asset-McDonald-s/article-1263332-detail/article.html
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Top 10 Recruiting Tips

Finding the best possible people who can fit within your culture and contribute within your organization is a challenge and an opportunity. Keeping the best people, once you find them, is easy if you do the right things right. These specific actions will help you with recruiting and retaining all the talent you need. Here are ten tips for better recruiting.


Improve Your Candidate Pool When Recruiting Employees

Companies that select new employees from the candidates who walk in their door or answer an ad in the paper or online are missing the best candidates. They're usually working for someone else and they may not even be looking for a new position. Here are steps to take to improve your candidate pool.

•Invest time in developing relationships with university placement offices, recruiters and executive search firms.

•Enable current staff members to actively participate in industry professional associations and conferences where they are likely to meet candidates you may successfully woo.

•Watch the online job boards for potential candidates who may have resumes online even if they're not currently looking.

•Use professional association Web sites and magazines to advertise for professional staff.
The key is to build your candidate pool before you need it.

Hire the Sure Thing When Recruiting Employees

Bruce N. Pfau and Ira T. Kay, authors of The Human Capital Edge( compare prices), are convinced that you should hire a person who has done this "exact job, in this exact industry, in this particular business climate, from a company with a very similar culture."

They believe that "past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior" and suggest that this is the strategy that will enable you to hire winners. They say that you must hire the candidates whom you believe can hit the ground running in your company. You can't afford the time to train a possibly successful candidate.

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How to Motivate Survivors of a Downsizing

Following a layoff, supervisors must be aware that employees need to be motivated differently during a downsizing period versus a growth or hiring period. A supervisor who attempts to motivate his/her employees, during a downsizing, as if the company where in a growth (hiring) phase will only deteriorate their employees already poor morale.

Survivors of a layoff are frequently left with as many negative emotions and beliefs as those who were laid-off. However, many supervisors have the mistaken belief that surviving employees should feel grateful that they didn't lose their jobs; in reality, just the opposite emotions occur in most surviving employees. Surviving employees usually transition through a number of negative emotions and negative beliefs about work, management, and the company overall. Some of the negative emotions that can develop in surviving employees include confusion, anxiety, stress, victimization, grief, mistrust, apathy, and hostility. The resulting negative beliefs that can develop following a downsizing include, employees believing that their jobs are not secure, that the company has lost its direction and vision, and that the organization does not care about its employees.

Imagine how you would feel following a downsizing if you questioned whether your employer was telling you the whole truth about their future plans. Most likely you will not be very motivated as you go through the motions of work, and what once motivated you in the past, at work, will not likely continue to be effective as a motivator following the downsizing.

In order to motivate surviving employees, supervisors need to grasp the understanding that a period of rebuilding will need to occur before past motivators will work again to motivate employees. Following a downsizing, supervisors should spend time focusing on rebuilding their employees' attitudes and emotions back to where they were during the last growth (hiring) phase in the organization.

1.) The best way to correct negative beliefs, resulting from a downsizing, is to provide employees with frequent, truthful, and direct communication. Prior to a corporate downsizing, communications within an organization are usually secretive, restrictive, and minimal. The resulting secretive communication leads to employees developing beliefs that are suspicious of future communications. Therefore, after a downsizing has occurred, company communication should become more frequent and direct in order to help employees recover from their suspicious beliefs and mistrustful emotions. If future layoffs may occur, it's best to be honest and tell the employees about it directly versus through the rumor mill.

2.) The best way to correct negative emotions, resulting from a downsizing, is with empathy and positive emotions. During the first two to three weeks following a downsizing, a supervisor should focus on being empathetic with his/her employees' emotions. (Empathy: the ability to understand another's emotions, without attempting to stop or alter those emotions.) After two to three weeks of displaying empathy, it's time for the supervisor to start countering negative emotions with positive emotions and negative beliefs with truthful and hopeful beliefs.

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How an Employer can Hire a Headhunter

Employers want to hire the best candidates for their companies, but time is of the essence - that is where a headhunter comes in handy. But how do you go about hiring the headhunter? Read this article to find out.

Running a business can monopolize more time than you have to recruit new talent–particularly if you’re running solo. Hire a headhunter to fill key positions and bring in qualified personnel…

Step One

Investigate the cost. Headhunters may charge you as much as 40 percent of your new employee’s first-year salary, although 20 to 30 percent is more the norm.

Step Two

Understand how search firms charge. A contingency search firm only charges a fee if it finds a suitable hire. A retained search firm charges a fee based on a percentage of the new hire’s salary, but does a lot more legwork to narrow the list of qualified candidates. Many top-notch headhunters will not work on contingencies, and many will want a fee if you fill the position with them or without them.

Step Three

Find a headhunter with extensive experience in your particular industry or functional area to get the type of candidate you’re looking to hire.

Step Four
Verify their success rates. Some headhunters strike out on as much as 25 percent of their searches, depending on the industry they specialize in or the type of position they try to fill.

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3 Industries that are Hiring Older Workers Currently

It’s difficult, but not impossible for people over age 50 to find new jobs. The unemployment rate for those age 55 and older rose to 5.9 percent in January 2009, but layoffs and buyouts disproportionately fell upon older workers in the construction, manufacturing, and hospitality industries. Other job sectors are doing at least some hiring. U.S. News asked a handful of career experts which fields need experienced workers now. They all agreed that while you should always seek out a job that's best suited to your abilities, these three industries are your best bet for finding work in the near term:

Health Care. As the U.S. population ages, there's going to be increasing demand for health care and services. “Home health care is still a vibrant sector where people are getting hired to provide care,” says Cynthia Metzler, president and chief executive of Experience Works, a nonprofit that helps older people retrain for new jobs. The organization has seen a 70 percent increase in job seekers in the past year. “There’s also a lot of administrative jobs and customer-service and technician types of jobs." Personal and home-care aid jobs will grow 50.7 percent over the next 10 years and demand for registered nurses will grow 23.4 percent, according to calculations by Richard Johnson, a principal research associate at the Urban Institute. And only 3.5 percent of workers over age 55 in the health services field are currently unemployed, according to Urban Institute calculations (that number is up from 2.5 percent in January 2007.) Other health occupations that will likely see an increase in demand include pharmacists and social workers.

Education. A sluggish economy presents a great opportunity to head to the nearest college and pick up a teaching credential. “Math and science teachers and special education teachers are going to be in considerable demand,” says Marc Freedman, chief executive offers and founder of Civic Ventures, and author of Encore: Finding Work that Matters in the Second Half of Life: “This is a good window for upgrading skills and going back to school and doing internships and volunteering--doing things that will make finding a job easier when the market gets more promising.” Demand for post-secondary teachers will increase by 22.8 percent over the next 10 years, according to the Urban Institute. And only 2.4 percent of education workers age 55 and up are currently unemployed. What’s more, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, signed by President Obama in February, will provide $2 billion to Head Start and Early Head Start programs, which the White House estimates will create at least 15,000 new jobs. But before you leap, try out this career field by tutoring or volunteering in a classroom.

Government. It’s hard to beat the generous health and retirement benefits that government jobs offer, even if the pay is often lower than in the private sector. And now that federal stimulus funds are making their way to state and local governments to help ease budget crunches, there may be more government jobs to go around. “We are seeing a lot of government positions at the local level as well as the federal level for things that they are anticipating they are going to get stimulus money for,” says Rosemary Haefner, senior career adviser for job search website CareerBuilder. “They are making those hires now.” Look for positions posted on state and city government websites, but also consider the federal government. Deborah Russell, the director of workforce issues at AARP, recommends that workers age 50 and older consider applying for federal government jobs at the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Disaster Assistance, and the Peace Corps. These three federal agencies are on AARP’s National Employer Team that consists of companies and agencies with an interest in hiring experienced older workers. If you’re willing to relocate, check out these 10 great cities for job-seeking retirees.
http://www.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/retirement/articles/2009/03/23/3-industries-currently-hiring-older-workers.html
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The Job Interview: How to Answer Candidate's Questions

How do you deal with a job candidate's questions in an interview? Check out the video below to find out!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsJ7EVuSPaI
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The Job Interview: How to Review His/Her Resume

How To Conduct a Resume Interview from beginning to finish, find out how by watching this video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PnwlG60a-A

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HR Training Officer Qualities - what are they?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQQ4uHeTtxM

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Older Workers Expanding Options

A new study from CareerBuilder found that older workers are beginning to expand their job search to include entry-level positions, internships and even relocating.


•28 percent of those 55-years and older who were laid off during the last year found new jobs, which is the lowest of any age group. In comparison, 71 percent of 25 to 24-year-olds who were laid off found jobs.

•Of the older workers who were laid off, 63 percent have applied for lower-level jobs than their previous positions and 44 percent have been told they’re overqualified.

•26 percent of employers have received applications from workers older than 50 who aren’t retired but are looking for entry-level jobs, while an additional 11 percent of employers received entry-level applications from retirees. A good sign, 65 percent of employers say they would consider hiring experienced candidates who might be overqualified.

•Many older workers who can’t secure entry-level jobs are turning to internships in hopes of getting a foot in the door. About 7 percent of employers report that older workers have applied for internships, 4 percent have hired older workers and 65 percent would consider older workers for internships.

•If they can’t get an entry-level job or an internship, some older workers are simply relocating or starting their own business. Of those older workers laid off during the last year, 41 percent would consider relocating to another city or state to find a job, while 23 percent would consider starting their own business.

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How to Fire Your Employee

Firing employees is a difficult task - not just for the employee, but for the employer as well. Take a look at this clip to see how it can be easily:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKqDQ7EyY_g
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10 Tricks to Use LinkedIn as a Recruiting Tool

LinkedIn has become a major tool of choice in the recruitment trade. It has made some recent changes that have me questioning its future, but I still can’t deny how useful the site is for recruiters and networkers alike.

Here is my short list of tips on how to use LinkedIn for recruiting:

1. Accept ALL invitations to connect - There are arguments for and against this and quality vs. quantity, but as a recruiter, the true value of your network is measured by its size – bigger IS better. You never know when that invitation is going to connect you to that very private Sr. Executive that no one else is connected to.

2. Invite everyone to connect - Growing your network takes a lot of work and commitment. Make it a point to add 10 new people to your network, daily (business days). Add your friends, family, colleagues, candidates, etc.

3. Join relevant profession/industry groups - The new LinkedIn search function allows you to search people that are members of the same LinkedIn interest groups as you, regardless of whether you’re connected or not. So, by joining the many Six Sigma Professional groups, you will automatically be given access to the thousands of members of the group.

4. Join relevant geographical groups - In “network theory” it’s called clustering. In general, the theory is that most people invite friends/family/colleagues to join their social groups. Since we still live and work in a predominantly bricks and mortar world that means that most of my immediate network, lives in the same city I do (or one of its suburbs). So, if you are working on an “out of town” role, a great way to find more candidates is to start connecting to contacts that live in the target city.

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6 Ways Employers Can Boost Employee Morale

Happy, engaged employees are the lifeblood of any small business. Sure, there are the folks that always do their job happily and with great quality (keep them at almost all costs!) and the folks that aren’t happy no matter what you do (weed them out!), but most of your employees are somewhere in the middle. If they’re engaged and happy, they do great work and produce great value for you. If they’re unhappy, they don’t work nearly as well – and the value produced for you is much less.

Obviously, there are a lot of ways to directly motivate employees: the bottom dollar. A cash bonus for the employee of the month can work, as can nice perks during the work day.

In my experience, though, the best techniques for improving everyone’s morale comes from outside the wallet. Try these six techniques and keep your checkbook and charge cards focused on other areas, like building your business infrastructure and promoting it to potential customers.

Eat lunch with your employees. Eat what they eat – if they brown bag it, you brown bag it. Listen to what they have to say and offer up mostly positive comments and humor. If your employees eat in regular groups, rotate from group to group – don’t keep a group of “favorites.” Lunch is a great time for building camaraderie and trust.

Learn about your employees and follow up. Know about the interests of your employees. Learn about their families and their dreams. More importantly, follow up on the things you learn – ask regularly about their mother’s health or their son’s soccer team. If you’re like me and have trouble remembering such information, especially at first, keep a notebook on it. Keep a list of such information about each employee and refresh yourself regularly if you need it.

Be candid about how things are going. If things are going well, be sure your employees are aware of the success. If things aren’t going well, talk about the problems early on and nip any gossip right in the bud. Gossip is the enemy of the happy workplace – and candor is the best way to fight it. Plus, when you’re open about problems, happy employees will often go the extra mile to help pull you through. Don’t be afraid to tell the truth.

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Recruiting WITHOUT a Headhunter

Just as the economy is slowing down, there may be positions that still need filling. If you are employer, you know the pain of having a vacant position, especially if it is a key one - typically you are doing the work yourself or are having to overburden your staff to get the job done.

Here is my response, albeit changed a little, to a similar question on Linkedin:

Recruit through associations and industry organizations

First thing that comes to mind when an employer is looking to recruit is to advise that they go directly to the associations or industry organizations that these type of candidates are members of. Depending on who you are looking to recruit, there will be whole membership lists online if you look carefully. Also, sometimes they have meetings and you can attend, sometimes you can advertise - it is worth getting involved as much as possible with these professional organizations as you will no doubt pick up a ton of leads from working with them.

Ask for referrals

Do you know at least one person that works within the area you are looking to recruit from? If so, you can build upon that. You can this person for referrals within and outside the company - sometimes if you take the time to discuss the opportunity with them (preferably after hours), they will open up more and be willing to help you out especially in the event that they are not the right fit for the position. I find that people are looking to share their knowledge and if you give them the opportunity, they will talk - both about themselves and about others, their company and the industry as a whole. (And don't be put off if you are new to the particular area they specialize in - many people actually enjoy educating you about their career and specialty!) Then of course keep that relationship alive - how I like to do it is by calling them after a week or so and give them a few names of people I have found and who I think may be a fit - and I and ask their opinion. Not only will you learn about the individual you are talking to as well as the people you mention, but you may be on the way to getting business from them as a client (since you are so thorough and professional with them, why not give you some business?) Ph, and one more thing about getting referrals - when asked, some people respond with "I don't know anyone who is looking." If you hear this, don't just say OK - tell them "I understand...what I would like to know is who does this kind of work within your organization?" Most will say AH, I understand as people assume you are looking for someone who is actively looking for their next opportunity...

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How to Recruit Older Workers

The job of recruiters is harder now than ever. Considering that the age difference of today's workforce can span more than 50 years, recruitment campaigns must reach across four different generations, attracting job seekers with completely different values and perceptions about work, family and everything in between.

To cast recruitment successfully into the mature worker segment, forget vanilla recruiting tactics and nine-to-five jobs. If you want to grab the attention of workers 50+, consider the following tips from experts who share their experiences about what works and what doesn't.

Be strategic: know your target market
Recruiters often assume that there's a monolithic, one-size-fits-all strategy that reaches all workers, says Annette Merritt Cummings, vice president and national director of diversity services at Bernard Hodes Group, a NY-based recruitment communications company. So they mistakenly budget one lump sum as opposed to dividing resources into demographic segments.

"Each group requires different strategies when it comes to recruitment," she says. "Don't write this group [older workers] off. It's a huge market of individuals who have huge amounts of knowledge that may go untapped."

She recommends these steps when recruiting mature, experienced workers:

- Analyze your market. Ask yourself a series of questions. What are the differences between the mature worker segment and others? How do they prefer to communicate and receive messages? What are the media habits of workers 50+?

- Realize that even within the mature worker segment, age matters. Never assume that the preferences or habits of sixty year-olds will be the same as those who are in their seventies or eighties.

- Identify their favorite social spaces, including virtual spaces. Focus on print and online publications that cater to the 50+ market segment. Look into social organizations like college alumni associations, churches, synagogues or veterans’ groups. Also check out listservs as well as blogs, job banks, and other online places that serve as popular gathering spots for mature, experienced workers.

- Build relationships. Reach out to retirees who have the experience and skill sets your company desires. Market your business as an age-friendly workplace that values mature workers and provides career opportunities for growth and leadership. To reach retirees, Cummings says you may be better off targeting organizations they're affiliated with and communicating with them on a more personal level, something that’s not nearly as important to younger generations.

- Appoint someone in your organization to head up a mature worker recruitment program. This individual would be responsible for acquiring the expert knowledge on the mature worker market, sharing it with others in your organization, communicating with older workers and tracking results.

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Recruiting - How to Review Resumes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlZt4SlSPVU

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Recruiting is Different During the Recession - 3 Reasons Why

Economic pressures on workers combined with a higher unemployment rate might lead you to assume that recruiting and hiring are easier during a downturn. Depending on the nature of your job openings, recruiting is not necessarily easier in a downturn, but it is different. Some of the challenges we are used to are still there and are easier to meet (e.g. fewer demands and less negotiating from candidates) but there are new challenges too. Such as:

1. Candidates Don’t want to Change Jobs

One of the biggest hiring challenges in an economic downturn is that passive job seekers do not want to change jobs. While you will get an increase in the number of unemployed candidates, it may be that the candidate you want for a particular position is currently working. And employed passive job seekers are much less likely to change jobs in a recession as many of them perceive changing as risky. The irony is that staying put in their current job many times is not the safest choice. For example the government’s bailout of AIG, banks, and other seemingly stable financial institutions shows us that risks are not always what they seem.

Recruiters and hiring managers today need to work to get passive candidates to overcome their fear of change. Understand what motivates the candidate and outline all the ways that the job opening is attractive specifically to them. The fact that you are recruiting and hiring now might be a point to underscore with candidates assuming you are hiring for expansion purposes; it mean something positive is happening at your company and you are secure enough to make investments for the future.

2. Qualified Candidates are Still Hard to Find

As more organizations lay-off staff and the unemployment numbers climb, recruiters are hearing from more and more people looking for work. Rather than making a recruiter’s job easier, the increase in applicants means recruiters must be more judicious than ever in culling through the information to find the right candidates. Using all the tools available – including careful resume screening, phone interviews, face-to-face meetings, and both formal and informal (i.e. back door) reference checks – is more important than ever to make sure you’re making the right choices. Recruiters must take the time and ask the right questions to determine why the candidate is out of work or seeking a new position. We also have to be savvy when checking references to avoid getting “sympathy” references that lack candid feedback.

3. Generalized Unemployment Numbers Don’t Tell the Whole Story

While the headlines will tell you that unemployment is up over last year (currently around six percent nationally, with some experts predicting it will get as high as eight percent in 2009), unemployment amongst the type of people you are recruiting might be drastically different. For instance teenaged workers might be easy to find -- according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, there is a 19.1 percent unemployment rate for teenagers. On the other hand, the unemployment rate for college graduates is 2.5 percent, still a relatively low level.

Recruiting during an economic downturn is not easier, but it is different. And, for organizations intent on finding top talent, adjustments must be made to their recruiting strategy.

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http://hr.toolbox.com/blogs/recruiters-corner/three-ways-recruiting-rules-are-different-during-a-recession-28883

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10 Mistakes Employers Make When Recruiting/Hiring

We have been here since 1952 and have been through literally thousands of hiring processes. We are asked about the biggest and most frequent mistakes that hiring authorities make in the recruiting, interviewing, and hiring process. Here they are:

1. Not having a clear idea of what they are looking for - that everyone understands. Hiring authorities aren’t specific enough about the duties, skills, and competencies they need. They confuse amount of experience with competency: “8 to 10 years of experience” - does that mean that someone with six years of experience can’t do the job? Or what about the candidate who has had one year of experience 10 times? Putting any kind of numbers of years of experience limits them. What is important?

Employers would be better off defining the functions they want done very specifically, and then finding someone who can do it. This may mean someone who has done it well before or someone who has the potential to do it well. The specifics need to be written by the hiring authority who has the “pain,” i.e., the person who needs the help and is going to be responsible for the new employee.

Concocting “wish lists” of super-human attributes, combined with unrealistically low pay scales relative to expectations of the experience needed, will create havoc in a talent search. Hazy, ambiguous descriptions along with generalities like “good written and oral communication skills” don’t help either. Know your target.

2. Having an unrealistic idea of what kind of candidates might be available and the money it may take to hire them. Just because everyone would like to hire Superman or Wonder Woman, that doesn’t mean they are available or will go to work at your company. There is no perfect candidate, and waiting for one is as unrealistic as searching for one.

The only way to become realistic about what the market might bear is to interview enough candidates to know what is available and the commensurate earnings expected. It may take quite a few interviews. The number of quality candidates is drastically lower than it was even two years ago. Our clients are often shocked that the salaries they are locked into won’t allow them to hire the quality or experience they wish for.

And just because you believe that your company is wonderful, it doesn’t mean: (1) everyone wants to go to work there, (2) they will accept any amount you offer, and (3) there aren’t four or five other firms like yours trying to hire the same candidates.

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How to Deal with a Difficult Employee

As an employer, your work environment should be positive and things should be running smoothly - but what happens when one employee is too difficult to handle? What do you do? Watch this video to find out:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ru94iNOe98
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