Thursday, December 31, 2009

ALTERNATIVE RECRUITMENT - Army offers Texas recruits chance to win Wii


In order to gauge the response generated by their billboards, the US Army incorporated texting and a contest on their billboards. It seems that this tactic with the billboards did not receive adequate response and was discontinued in May. What are your thoughts on using a "hook" like the chance to win a Wii for military recruitment?
Read more at:
http://www.militarytimes.com/news/2008/04/ap_army_wii_040908/

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Have a Happy New Year!


Hope your holidays have been wonderful and have a Happy New Year!

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

NOT HR - Kenosha Police Department 12 Days of Christmas


Figured I would pass this along. It is from the Kenosha Police in Wisconsin. Stumbled across it on http://thepolicedaily.com.
Happy Holidays!

HIRING - Murder Burger

This is a bit of an... alternative approach to a help wanted ad posted on a door at a Murder Burger. The text reads as follows:

STAFF NEEDED FOR GOURMET
BURGER BAR THAT NEEDS STAFF

Right Oh, Murder Burger is opening up on Ponsonby Road in Ponsonby and we need bunch of people to hang out with, make burgers and talk shit. No previous experience is needed when we teach you everything you need to know and we kind of factor in you buggering something up along the way.
The sorts of people we think will be good for the job are:
Arts, Architecture and Humanities students: No real reason for this, well actually I suppose there is, it's just that if we're going to be working with somebody for hours on end it's quite nice to talk about stuff we're interested in as well.
Students nurses and student teachers. I've gone out with two nurses and two teachers in my short life and they were all awesome. More awesome than me as it turns out which is why i'm not going out with them anymore.
The sorts of people we think won't be good for us:
Political students: Nothing personal, we just don't understand you.
P addicts: Again, nothing personal, it's just that the benefits of you being able to work 7 shifts in a row is pretty much outweighed by the probability that you will one day flip, grab a knife and become Mr Stabby.
So if working with us sounds like something you might quite like to do instead of staying home watching telly then send us an email to Geordie at
geordie@murderburger.co.nz
Nice one.

-Murder Burger Logo-
Via:
http://murderburger.wordpress.com/

Friday, December 18, 2009

HR - Navy for Moms


Many times when you are recruiting for more "high risk" careers or positions, half the battle isn't recruiting your applicants, but also recruiting the support of their family and friends. By creating a forum of discussion and information, this can help tear down assumptions made about jobs and locations and help build a bond between your applicants, their families and your recruiters. The more people know and understand about positions, the better they are able to make an informed position and they might be more likely to make that decision if they have the active support of their social group.
Do you have particular positions that are hard to hire for that might fall into this kind of category? Have you found out what keeps people from applying?

For more information about Navy for Moms check out these links:

http://www.navyformoms.com/
http://www.ebrands.com.au/_blog/The_Employment_Brand_Blogging_Device/post/It

Thursday, December 17, 2009

HR - When I Grow Up

It's almost Friday! In the meantime enjoy this video from HR.com.

Via hr.com - Original link here.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Social Networking - Is your company on this list?

TweepML has compiled a list of employers that recruit on Twitter and made it easier for people to add the companies and follow them by simple checking what companies they want to logging into Twitter. With the constant growth of Twitter, more and more companies are posting their positions, giving an inside view of their company, or at least opening the door for communication between HR and potential candidates. Where does your company currently stand? Are you already on Twitter? Or is someone posing as you?
Check out the link below for the TweepML list:

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

NON-TRADITIONAL RECRUITMENT - Speak to your potential candidates in their element


Click the picture to enlarge and get a full description of what the agency did.
This is a great recruitment technique used to find an accountant. Yes, they might be pulling from competition but the idea behind it is rather non-traditional. What are your thoughts?
One way to recruit is to actually get out there and find a way to speak to your candidates in their element. Done the right way, it might surprise them enough to spur the curiosity to check out your offer.
via: adsoftheworld.com

Thursday, December 10, 2009

RECRUITMENT - Pleasehire.us

This is certainly a way for candidates to get themselves noticed.
pleasehire.us
CP+B has created a site for their interns to help find them jobs. It is still in the Beta stage but it takes a different approach in helping out interns they hire short term. Thoughts?
Via AdRants: http://www.adrants.com/2009/12/tarantino-japanders-fashion-flaskwalks.php

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

HR - Medical recruitment 'showing positive signs'


According to REC (Recruitment and Employment Confederation), medical recruitment in the UK is on the rise. In November, available jobs was the highest it has been in 2 years. This was determined through surveys sent to 400 companies.
http://www.mediplacements.com/article-19503663-medical_recruitment_showing.html

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

ALTERNATIVE ADVERTISING - QR Codes and Recruitment

The NSW Police Force also utilized the QR Codes for their recruitment. When candidates captured the image they receive this message before then forwarding to the police force website: "We need tech-savvy new recruits like u. www.police.nsw.gov.au"
http://outputlinks.com/html/columnists/Joe_Barber/copi_QR_IDENTIFY_TECH_SAVY_011409.aspx
A while back I talked about using QR Codes (Quick Response Codes) for Recruitment but this recent article made me think of them again. Has your company considered them yet? They are rising in popularity and I have included some shots of recent campaigns utilizing them. If you haven't experimented with them on your own, I would highly suggest you at least check them out for yourself, if not for the company yet. Imagine how you could utilize this at job fairs where people get lost in the information provided by brochures and fliers. Stand out from the crowd by also allowing people to jump directly to your company and find information out about you while they stand in line for interviews.
Check out the Google article:
How Google and goofy barcodes will save you money
Video about the QR Codes:

Monday, December 7, 2009

TWITTER - The Tao of Tweeting

This is a nice overview of how to handle your twitter posts and how to decide what needs to be shared and how often to share among other tips.
What are your thoughts?

Friday, December 4, 2009

Snowing in Houston/Katy


Snow is a rare occasion for our Katy office. The office is along the front side of the Katy Equestrian Center and it is one of the things I love when we visit the main office in Katy.

If we are ever needing a breather we just walk out back and they have stables back there and further back they have the areas where the horses run and display for shows. It is such a great atmosphere!

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Social Networking - The 7 Do's and Don'ts of Social Networking

This is written more for general people who are on social networking sites but the information listed is important for people who are running the corporate social networking sites as well. If you are running a networking site for your company you also need to be mindful of what you are posting on your personal accounts as well. Take a look at the article and tell us what you think. Also, on the legal side, what position does your company take in regard to viewing a candidates social networking page before hiring them?
http://www.bankinfosecurity.com/articles.php?art_id=1957

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

PRINT - Creative Recruitment Ad for the New Zealand Army


These placements take on a little more light hearted approach and are sending out a call for chefs and psychiatrists for their army. They keep things simple and clean in their design and simple direct candidates to their website. What are your thoughts on this approach?

via: http://www.adpunch.org/entry/recruitment-ads-for-new-zealand-army/

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Not Recruitment

This is a great video put together by the staff of a hospital. Check it out!

HR - Improving Interviews by Using Forced-Choice Questions to Replace Yes-No Questions

Once you have selected a pool of candidates for a position the next step is the interview; but weeding through the potential candidates and finding the one that will fit best with your company in both technical skills and being able to work in your environment can be had to pin point because of how questions are asked in the pre-interview or interview process. The following article presents a way to help narrow down your choice by eliminating the "Yes-No" questions and replacing them with something called "Forced Choice" questions. One example of these "Forced Choice" questions involves ranking a series of options in order of importance or ability and it will help rank your candidates. Granted, they can still answer according to what they think the position will require but it may still help narrow down your choices, if even a little. Article via ere.net:
http://www.ere.net/2009/12/01/improving-interviews-by-using-forced-choice-questions-to-replace-yes-no-questions/#more-10890