Keeping Up With The Future of Social Media and Advertising

Advertising Age Digital Conference in New York on April 1. Hundreds of professionals come together to listen to powerful CMOs, brand marketing leaders and other professionals detail their digital advertising strategies. By using their research and insight to grasp and define your marketing priorities; which all can benefit you and your company. This is how it works.

Various professionals will talk about different methods to explore new ways and outlets to advertise in, in order to keep up with the on-going development of new media. Brands are embracing this with digital innovation and strategically learning more to effectively communicate on modern platforms.

According to Lesilie Berland, SVP of Digital Partnerships and Development for American Express states, "Social media, mobile payment platforms and other technologies are merging online and offline, and creating a new retail experience."

Anna Russel, the General Manager of Brand Marketing at Audi and Aaron Shapiro, CEO at Huge discuss "how to use emerging platforms such as Snapchat for real time marketing".

"Now that everyone's mom is on Facebook and maybe even Twitter, the most progressive brands are beginning to leverage emerging platforms to expand their reach and engage new audiences", says Anna Russell.

Anna Russel and Aaron Shapiro will share results from the groundbreaking Audi Snapchat activation around the Super Bowl, as well as discuss how brands can stay at the forefront of digital trends".

Implementing this the right way, can evolve marketing and  it can become an essential service and add value to consumers' lives.

Cultures are rapidly changing, as they change so does consumption habits of consumers. In order to stay on top, it is essential to keep up with the latest trends, the newest, most "hip" platforms. Digital innovation is key to the future of advertising.

These new digital implementations help capture attention across marketing initiatives, partnerships and advertising campaigns, Elissa Gray, Head of Creative and Media at Citi will go into further detail.

By amplifying campaigns and creating unique and immersive experiences with generate more awareness and keep you at the head of the game.

This conference is beneficial is so many ways, for further details and registration visit http://events.adage.com/digital2014/index.php?page=home

Click here to see last years Digital Conference 2013

Work Cited from:

Ad Age, Digital Conference, 3/19/14

http://events.adage.com/digital2014/index.php?page=home

http://events.adage.com/digital2014/index.php?page=agenda

http://events.adage.com/digital2014/index.php?page=highlights

Why Putting Your Business on LinkedIn is Beneficial

                                                                                                                                                                                   Why putting your business on LinkedIn is a good idea      

  

Not many small businesses know the benefits of using LinkedIn to their advantage. Here are mainly a few:

• Networking with industry professionals: This benefit should be reason enough to put your business on LinkedIn. No other social networking platform connects you better to your peers than LinkedIn. LinkedIn even suggests contacts for you to connect with in your industry. Businesses in your industry all face the same problems, but networking on LinkedIn will offer you different ideas on how to solve them. Your business has much to gain from networking. 

• The opportunity to establish credibility within your industry: Another great aspect about LinkedIn is that with the forum and exchange of ideas and problems, you have the opportunity to build ethos by solving industry issues. Helping professionals with their problems will go a long way for your business. Add as much as you can to the conversation and people will view your business in an authoritative light.

• Stay updated on your industry: Join a group of professionals and add some new contacts to your network. Doing this will ensure you stay updated on your industry - learning new and improved ways to run your business along the way. Make sure your profile is public so people can get to learn a little more about your business as well. 

• Researching your business' industry: LinkedIn is an absolute gem for industry research and it is in your business' best interest to use this to your advantage. Find new hires, discover new trends or find the most influential people in your industry. Good LinkedIn research allows you to learn about your current and future competitors. A step on the path to being the best is learning from the best. Use LinkedIn to find the best and learn from them.

• Promote your site's content: Like Facebook and Twitter, LinkedIn also has a news feed that streams to everyone in your network. Use this opportunity to drive traffic to your site's blog. Keep everyone in your industry updated on what you're working on and they may help you in the future.

• Increased awareness: The goal of any business on the internet should be to increase your business' awareness. You are already on Facebook and Twitter. Why not tap into the 100 million+ users on LinkedIn? Use LinkedIn to grow your business by letting people know your business exists.

LinkedIn can also be a powerful marketing tool for businesses. Take advantage of the platform using these strategies and you will give yourself the best opportunity to succeed.

                                                                       Work Cited

(Garcia, Yfran. Hudson Horizons, Integrated Web Agency. November 17, 2011. Web. March 18, 2014.

http://www.hudsonhorizons.com/blog/why-linkedin-is-beneficial-for-business.htm)

TNT's Guerrilla Marketing Stunt = Awesome!

A Belgian agency, Duval Guillaume Modem used guerrilla advertising for TNT which

generated 4.5 million views in its first 24 hours. This advertising approach was set to be one of the most viral ads of the year.

TNT set up an area on an open corner somewhere in Belgian, with a plank that had a button on top with a sign above it that reads, “Push for Drama”. Once the button is pushed a theatrical display is performed, with lots of drama acted out by various actors. After the performance a banner unveils from the building that says “Your daily dose of drama TNT”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=316AzLYfAzw

Guerrilla advertising is an entirely different marketing approach. It’s interactive, unique, engaging and most of all an attention grabber. This advertising strategy is a thought-provoking concept that conveys and promotes a product or an idea.

There are different types of Guerrilla such as, graffiti, flash mobs, giant elevator ads that move up and down with the elevator, pretty much anything that are creative non-traditional ways of advertising the products.

There are many advantages in this marketing strategy; the main advantage is that it is unexpected and catches us off guard, which causes an emotional response whether it’s laughter, sadness or even shock.

This type of earned media gets people talking, when people see the advertisement they will not only remember it but will spread the word generating awareness.

Article:

http://www.businessinsider.com/how-a-belgian-agency-made-one-of-the-most-viral-videos-of-this-year-2012-5?op=1

Career Fair Understandings

What better opportunity to meet a potential candidate face to face and to get a first impression, than at a career fair! True, first impressions are like movie auditions (an act to make yourself look better than you are to land that gig), but these are still a great way to meet great candidates and possible NEW hirees. That all being said; these events can become extremely tiring, and even inevitably hectic if you do not have the proper preparation at the helm. Lack of screening, tons of resumes, and the chaos of the day can take athe grandest of productive ideas and make it a complete cluster-bomb. If you want to take advantage of career fairs without acquiring a giant headache, here are some tips from Dr. Erica L. Fener, to keep your search focused and successful.


Make sure all YOUR paperwork is prepared in advance. Job seekers will be trying to get all of their documentation in order, and it is equally important that all of your ducks are in a row as well. Make sure the job fair organizers have created an accurate description of your company or group and that your booth’s location has been correctly listed. If possible, post the kinds of jobs you are seeking to fill in the career fair’s online forum before the event begins.

Make sure your staffers know what’s up. The people representing your company help ensure that specialists in your field,  not people without the qualifications you are looking for, fill out your application. Make sure that whoever is staffing your booth knows exactly what you are looking for and can speak at length about your organization, the positions you are looking to fill, and what the hiring protocol is.

Make your hiring protocol crystal clear. Because the number of people attending job fairs can be quite large, it can be tempting to blur lines and allow for exceptions to your normal hiring procedures to accommodate the sheer volume of potential applicants. Employers, however, should adhere to their standard hiring practices at a career fair for everything, from the type of applicant you are looking for to how positions are pitched to prospective employees, from what application procedures and resumes will be accepted at the fair to when people can expect to hear back from you. Having a solid outline of how the day will go keeps you from missing a great opportunity or taking on dead weight.

Take a look at the college angle. If the career fair is happening at an academic institution, use that venue to your advantage. Prepare a list of appropriate majors and minors and other academic requirements for the positions you want to fill. Is your company willing to offer internships as well as regular jobs, and are some of the applicants too young? Have a stack of business cards on hand so that you can network today for future assets and employees. In addition, be sure that any of your current employees who are alumni of that particular school are present (if possible) to discuss the transition from college life at that institution into the outside workforce.

Make your booth look awesome. Exciting graphics and pictures of what your company is doing and fun, company-based giveaways, and demonstrations keep people’s attention and attract stronger applicants who may not otherwise have considered your group. Of course, make sure career fair etiquette is in effect — be presentable, on time, and ready to talk.

Personalize the experience. Obviously, not everyone who comes to your booth will be hired the same day as the career fair, or any time for that matter. However, you still should recognize the individual merit of each potential applicant. Spend some face time with each visitor, even if you believe the person is someone you would never hire. Potential applicants who get a good vibe from your company may surprise you on paper, or may become clients and customers in the future.

Remember courtesy counts. Some career fair participants are not as polite as they should be. Stand, rather than sit, at your booth. Shake hands with applicants even if you are afraid of germs and illness (hand sanitizer is usually omnipresent at career fairs). Although office concerns may weigh on your mind, put the phone away. You wouldn’t hire someone who was texting the entire time you were speaking; that’s a two-way street. While there may be pressure to eat quickly at career fairs, make sure that you eat at the appropriate time and in the appropriate place. Unless absolutely necessary, do not leave your booth unmanned. And while colloquialisms may make you seem more relatable to younger applicants, keep conversation polite and vulgarity to an absolute minimum.

Avoid the temptation of the hard sell. You may be very excited about your company, the career fair, and potential employees and job seekers. However, there is such a thing as overkill. Be informative without being domineering. Ask questions when in doubt (e.g., “What are your interests academically?” or “Have you ever considered going into this field?”). Being friendly is great. Being scary is not.

Problematic Hirings of The Newly Graduated

For anyone that has graduated from a university/college, you have first-hand knowledge that it is not an easy task to locate and land a job. Even if you do indeed land one, there's no guarantee that you will be employed for very long. According to the New York Post; this new-grad-group does not have a good image, as they are being called “The Worst Generation,” citing research that shows these new group members as being very narcissistic and with a high sense of entitlement. Many of these newbies come straight out of college, expecting to be in prime position to be atop of the ladder in whichever field they are in. High-dollar salaries, nice lifestyle, and paid time off...a lot of paid time off.

Sadly, it's not completely their fault, as I can attest; many professors, counselors and whathaveyou, will instill in students that they will be asssited in locating/landing a position of high-caliber once they graduate and are also telling the students of how much of an excess of money that CAN be made. What they fail to fully translate to a language that graduation-ready, money-starved students can understand; is that the potential to do so is out there...NOT as soon as you throw that cap in the air and hang up the gown.

"This group was raised to expect, receive, and question everything. This sense of privilege has caused many in this group to lack patience in developing professionally; an unconcern with “paying their dues”; and a different perception of how “work” should work. Research also shows that they often feel entitled to a level of respect and rewards that aren’t in line with their actual ability and effort levels, and so they might not get the level of respect and rewards they are expecting. They feel cheated and might try to obtain rewards they feel they are entitled to through unethical means. For example, they are more likely to manipulate performance data to achieve higher bonuses." quoted from Raghav Singh. He continues with, Census data shows that the likelihood of 20-somethings moving to another state has dropped well over 40 percent since 1980. While there is plenty of demand for workers in skilled trades, many prefer to stay unemployed and few are willing to do this kind of work even though those jobs can pay far more than working in retail or as a waiter or waitress. Having been told by their parents and even icons like the late Steve Jobs to “follow their passion” or “do what you love,” many do just that when it comes to picking a college major, leading to a situation where far too many have degrees that are not particularly valued by employers.

Despite the fact of the highlighted turbulence that befalls the new grads of this generation; they still do have the mindset to make it in the workforce, and the skillset that many employers are looking for and can work with.

Using LinkedIn to Recruit Passive Candidates? Yep!

It’s a fact that companies are still filling 80% of their jobs with active candidates – candidates who are actively seeking other employment. Yet, most of the A-playing talent is found within the passive pool, a much smaller pool. How in the world will you be able to hire quality passive candidates if they are not applying for jobs? The most valuable and effective tool for finding and communicating with passive candidates is LinkedIn!

After reading this tidbit of interesting information; how many of you have been in or have known someone in that very same position? They are brought onto a job into a position that is more or less meant to be a mere stepping stone for what they truly want? Honestly; how many of us can say that we have never been at that same position?

LinkedIn is one sure-fire way to locate those prime-candidates that are not actively seeking other employment. It's as if you are walking around outside the local restaurant, not paying attention, and "OH!" there is a $20 bill that is off to the side, stuck in a bush. Now, you weren't looking for a $20 bill, and oh what an odd occurence that you have found one minus the effort. LinkedIn is your bush to find your $20 bill...uh...candidate.


The quoted first paragraph is from Strategic Advisor, Jennifer Millman.

9! Ways to Restore the Human Recruiting Experience

“Send me a text!”
“I’ll text you!”
“Visit my webpage.”
“See the attached file…”
“Please electronically sign the contract and email it back to me.”
“Apply online.”
 “’Like’ me on Facebook, Twitter, blah, blah, yada-yada…”
“Join my “GoToMeeting.”

These days, it’s not at all foreign for new technology to produce unsavory outcomes. As a matter of fact, new technology is opening the door to weak communication skills. It's almost as if we have completely forgotten how to communicate with one another as...PEOPLE.

Few stop to consider that all these impersonal communications may be endangering our work! Social media, blogging, mobile, and Internet technology (in general) are hobbling opportunities that once were most fulfilled face-to-face or ear-to-ear. When we venture out to meet someone many of us are filled with a mixture of anticipation and apprehension and for what reason? Apprehension because part of the experience of meeting a particular person lies in the unknown and anticipation because underneath all of our human natured-ness (do you like that created word?) lies a social beast.

It’s the apprehension that’s winning out in this techno race of assumptions. Reasoning behind that is because for many of us it serves as a security blanket— that veil — between others and ourselves. The fear of rejection and failure is (greatly) diminished with technology. Face it, if you get electronically-rejected, it may not be the greatest feeling in the world, but it is far better than being casted-off face-to-face.

Now many of us seem detached and withdrawn in our dealings with one another and the bottom line is — candidates WILL notice! When we’re communicating electronically only, there is almost no obligation to the receiver of all your good news to reciprocate anything to you — is there? How many times do you send emails to someone, expecting a reply (or response — any kind of response!) and receive nothing? It happens far too often doesn't it? The same thing can go with text messaging. Highly easy to write off and ignore. Blog entries — who’s reading them? Really? You? How many times do you read your own blog entry? I read mine probably more than anyone else does. (this kinda contradicts why I am even writing blogs...but apparently I'm making headway with some of our readers out there...so THANK YOU!)

So how do you make an impression?!

Return a candidate’s calls. You’ll likely be the first (and only) one to do so! Call a potential candidate and surprise them. You’re more than likely to be the first (and only) recruiter to have ever done that in their experience. How's this for a blast from the past; walk in to a company’s main lobby and ask to speak with the head of staffing. I’ll guarantee you’ll be the only one who’s done that in the last 10 years! Granted that won't always work in every situation because (duh-duhhhh), technology has halted such things. You need to set up meetings and interviews via email these days (thanks tech-Gods).

STOP sharing everything openly online — enough with that stupid word “transparency.” We’re not doing anyone any good with all our goody-two-shoes FREE banter. We’re oversaturating the market with information and misinformation. We’re part of the problem — leading others to believe getting a job is a matter of comparing this one and that one to that one and this one online.

Recruiters (and some sourcers) are routinely texting and emailing information that is sensitive and precious — made much less so in the public’s eye (and experience) by its cheap distribution.
We give candidates (and potential candidates) the idea they have all the information they need to make one of the most important decisions in their lives. They don’t and they can’t. They most assuredly can’t without your help.

When meeting face to face with someone; here's some advice from author Maureen Sharib:

Consider your appearance. Some “casual” has become far too casual in the last few years. Lose the flip-flops and pajama pants. Dress seasonally and respectfully for whomever you’ll be meeting with.
Schedule in-the-flesh meetings. when you can meet face-to-face. When you can’t use a service like GoToMeeting. It’s an electronic solution, sure but you have the opportunity to “see” and be “seen.” It’s an opportunity to sell yourself and your abilities.
Forget meeting at the local Starbucks. Too noisy, too little privacy, too many distractions, too impersonal.
Schedule your time (and theirs). Set your expectations for the time you’d like to spend with them before you meet.  People are less reluctant to meet when they understand the time commitment.
Share your market knowledge in person at first. They’ll pay more attention to your emails and texts later.
Insist on commitment. Explain you’re running a business — not a charity. They’ll respect you more.
Qualify the candidate. Don’t be afraid to ask if they have a non-compete. Explore their feelings about relocating. Talk about salary. Get the scary stuff over fast and first. They’ll welcome your interest and this will help create commitment, loyalty, and trust in you in your candidates.
Phone calls and follow-up. Set yourself apart from the madding crowd with this one.
Almost nobody else is doing it! Once your relationship is established, call them regularly (once a week is good.) It only takes a few minutes — less than five, usually.
Do Not Be Afraid of Rejection and Failure.
That is all.

The Most Classic Hiring Mistake

Before jumping to any conclusions on the statement about to be made, hear me out. The most common hiring mistake is to hire someone who has the right experience. Crazy, right?

(This is from the book How to Hire and Develop Your Next Top Performer, 2nd edition: The Qualities That Make Salespeople Great, @2012, McGraw-Hill Professional; reprinted with permission of the publisher. )

When you’re putting together a help-wanted ad, what’s the first thing you write?
“NEEDED, candidate with five-years experience.”

Experience always seems to out-weigh the opposite when hiring candidates. If one candidate has a seemingly less amount of experience under their belt, the more experienced candidate would likely beat them out for a position. It is expected that the more experienced candidate will surely hit the ground running and keep the flow of their work going almost ASAP.

But how many times have you come across someone who has five-years of experience that adds up to just one year’s bad experience repeated five times?

Don’t fall into the trap of relying too heavily on experience. It is an easy approach, but it can be very costly. Don't go and steal from your competitors, as they may in all actuality be given a favor in doing this. Let your competitors steal from each other. Instead of focusing on what someone has done, look, instead, to what they can do — to their potential.

Mark Dennis, vice president of sales and marketing at Veolia Environmental Services, put it succinctly: “I have finally come to the point where I could care less whether somebody has industry experience. I’ve had way too many instances of hiring people who have industry experience who just get in their own way because they are set in their ways. They believe they know it all. And they are not open, willing, or flexible enough to want to change, to look at the industry from our perspective. So training them can become an absolute nightmare.”

Experience, often can keep you where you are rather than helping you to advance and see new possibilities. Would've thought as much, right? Sounds as though someone needs to inform whomever posts positions on job boards to forgo the "experience" portion.

Everyone Loves a PASSIVE, But We Hire Mostly ACTIVES

Attend any recruiting conference, or read just about any recruiting blog, and you’ll find a steady drumbeat about passive candidates: Why they’re better; How to source them; What to say to convince them to work for you, and; What you need to do to attract them and then keep them.

Active candidates are OK. But current fashion is to go find the people who don’t want your job.

Now we find that some of America’s biggest companies — collectively hiring hundreds of thousands of workers annually — hire only active job seekers, while more than two-thirds of them fill three-quarters of their jobs with actives.

These no-so-surprising revelations are in a new survey from the recruiting consultancy CareerXroads.
“There is a tendency by recruiters and hiring managers to believe that passive candidates are better,” says Gerry Crispin. But, “They’re hiring a mix that’s mostly the active candidates who come to the career site or (apply) through job boards.”

Crispin, who with his partner Mark Mehler, is a founder and principal of CareerXroads, described the survey as “interesting,” though it can’t be considered as representative of hiring practices generally. It was conducted only among the consultancy’s clients — 34 participated, many of them leading employers in their industry hiring thousands of workers annually.

Besides just getting estimates of the passive vs. active hiring the companies do, the survey asked the recruiting leaders to offer their view — and their perception of what hiring managers believe — about the qualities of both types of candidates.

For instance, 24 percent of responding recruiting leaders believe active candidates are more likely than passives to “perform the job.” By the same percentage, they say they think hiring managers feel the same way. But at the other end of that scale, they say they believe 47.1 percent of hiring managers think actives don’t perform as well as passives. 38.2 percent of the leaders report believing that themselves.

Actives do better when it comes to the currency and relevancy of their skills and abilities. By a significant majority, recruiters say they believe (73.5 percent), and they think hiring managers also (79.2 percent) are neutral to strongly positive on the statement that as compared to passives, actives have relevant and current skills.

Even though no broad, industry conclusions can be drawn from the survey, Crispin said its purpose is provoke discussion. Both the perceptions part of the survey and another part about how recruiters are engaging passives and actives are grist for conversation about recruiting strategies and practices.

“There are elements here that I think are kind of interesting,” says Crispin. “Our perceptions may not have anything to do with the actual performance of the people we hire.”

The survey does serve as a reminder that “we have biases and we need to operate against them … There”s a huge gray area embedded in the passive-versus-active discussion. These are perceptions we have that recruiters need to consider. What’s valid here?”

He adds, “It’s knowledge, skills, and experience that predicts future performance, not the status of employment.”

article found on "ere.net"

Hire Candidates with These 5 Traits - OR ELSE!!!

Take a brief moment to read over this statement from this year's Global CEO Study from IBM. You’ll find it either unsettling or reassuring based on your recruiting practices.

For years, organizations have been embroiled in the so-called war for talent. The challenge has historically been a shortage of particular skills. But today, it’s virtually impossible for CEOs to find the future skills they will need — because they don’t yet exist. Bombarded by change, most organizations simply cannot envision the functional capabilities needed two or three years from now … CEOs are increasingly focused on finding employees with the ability to constantly reinvent themselves.

Soooo, how do you feel after that passage? If you are one of the many that hire on skills alone, I completely understand if you're getting that sweaty palm, almost queasy feeling. Many of the skills listed on the resumes of the last dozen people you hired could be passé by the presidential election.

But if you hire beyond skills and personality and hold out for certain character traits, then you have actually future-proofed your organization.

Straight from author, Jim Roddy; here are 5-Traits that you should look for next time when hiring employees to fit on your team.

1. Ambition: Is driven by desire to realize personal potential and improve self, your organization, and society. Key Questions: What would you like to be doing in two or three years? What’s your career goal in 10 years? You’ll need to ask follow-up questions to validate the candidate’s initial response, which could be an Interviewing 101 answer. But after this conversation, you’ll have a decent gauge if the candidate plans to transcend your organization or just collect a paycheck.
2. Ongoing Education: Engages in a lifelong process of introspection, searching, self-improvement, learning, and knowledge application. Key Questions: What books have had the greatest effect on your career? Part of emotional maturity is acquiring self insight; give me an example of something you recently learned about yourself. Nobody is prepared for that second question. The most common answer I hear is, “Ummm … hmmm … well …” You learn that some people just aren’t committed to bettering themselves. They’re living and working, but not really learning.
3. Responsibility: Is decisive and self-reliant; a dutiful grown child, sibling, spouse, parent, and employee. Key Questions: Tell me about a recent split-second decision you made on the job; why you made that decision, and how things turned out? Give me an example of when you made a mistake and fell short of your outcome. The first question will uncover if the candidate embraces critical thinking or reacts with emotion. During the candidate’s response to the second question, you’ll learn if they take 100% responsibility for a situation, rationalize the problem, or deflect accountability. If they can’t think of a time they made a mistake, that’s a red flag that the candidate lacks …
4. Humility: Is willing to admit personal faults, apologize, accept criticism, and give credit where credit is due. Key Questions: Give me an example of you changing your behavior for work reasons. How do you feel about the level of recognition you currently receive? You may be wondering how humility will help your company adapt for the future. If employees aren’t humble enough to embrace true transparency and quickly point out where they are failing, they won’t change course when necessary. The first question can uncover if the candidate is quick to admit, accept, and address shortcomings. The second question can elicit a variety of responses, ranging from “I do the work of five people and nobody appreciates it” to “I can’t take sole credit for that accomplishment — my teammates played a big role, too.” During a recent manager meeting at my company, an operations manager who was praised by the sales managers said, “Thanks, but you guys are the ones with the hard jobs. I really admire what you do and have learned from you.”
5. Perseverance: Maintains focus and single-minded persistence in spite of obstacles. Exhibits endurance. Takes the long-term view. Key Questions: Many obstacles can prevent an organization from achieving its goals; tell me about a time when you met such an obstacle. Can you give me an example of a time when you had to solve a really complex problem that required multiple steps across weeks or months? Some of the best business advice I’ve received from a fellow company president is simple: “It’s a journey.” These questions will reveal if the candidate has the ability to endure journeys and minimize frustration along the way. At my company, we aim to hire juggernauts – people who are unstoppable because they provide steady, consistent force until an outcome is achieved.

Hire away!

The PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE: The Employment Point

Well, we have finally seen the end of the WWE (wrestling) Match...uh, I mean, 2012 Presidential Debate! One thing that each hopeful kind of mulled over; the employment-aspect. Are we sure that we are going to be in an economy where we (as individuals) can thrive?

The Mule and the Pachyderm bicker back and forth of grandiose ideas that each side may have, but ultimately...what's the deal? What is going on guys? We hear a lot of jobs training, tax incentives, labor unions and let's not forget about the off-shore drilling; however, neither side is strumming the right chord as far as the employment economy goes.

What's Trending Now?

• Rapid growth of self employed
• Explosion of the social media world (skills for sale market)
• The emergence of job titles that relatively did not exist a year ago
• Rejection of the ideas of a traditional employee
• Fast growth of the social entrepreneur
• Employees whom follow a skills path in lieu of a career path
• Companies (not just virtual) that allow workers to work remotely (even in other countries)

Every year, the economy changes. Work is harder to find, as it is definitely not as easy as some of our parents or even grandparents have lived through. No longer can you just walk up to a place of work and hand your resume to someone; we now live in the days of job board posting, panel interviews, phone interviews, web/video interviews...you get the gist. So let's see if the GOP or the DEMOs can get their act straight and get the ball moving on securing stable working environments.

Elections are only a couple of weeks away guys!

7 Questions to Consider Before Hiring

Almost ready to bring aboard a few new hires? Super, but wait a tick...there are a few questions that should be addressed.

1. How Fast Do You Want the Candidate?
How many times can you count on one hand that there is an "immediate need" for a candidate, but it seems that hiring managers are sitting on their hands, twiddling their thumbs in lieu of staging interviews? This could be a misinterpretation to your candidates indirectly showing them that you and your company are not interested in them, coaxing them to possibly take another offer elsewhere. Be clear and concise with you recruiters if you have planned a vacation, sick leave or if you are just plain unavailable so they can re-evaluate the best time to bring in a potential hire.

2. Is Your Gut Really Correct?
It's widely thought by many hiring managers that they are absolute of who they want to hire within 5 minutes of meeting with a candidate. I have actually been told this in past interviews, personally. These are for the most part biased, subconscious feelings and can actually overlook good candidates in favor of a candidate that closely resembles what the hiring manager sees as a greatly packaged product. This can be labeled as "Mirror-Image Hiring" and can be very detrimental to an organization as it can lead to a stagnant state or a plethora of brown-nosers. Nobody likes a brown-noser; sniffing too hard could be hazardous to your integrity. Step outside of your comfort zone to take a look at more skilled candidates that will possibly bring great challenge and promise to your company.

3. How Important are the Candidate's Skills?
There have been studies to back the notion that managers will hire for cultural preferences rather than for the candidate's raw talent. Not always the greatest way to go about this method of hiring. Try locating an assessment evaluation, which can be found online and it is automatically scored with easy-to-read/understand results, giving you a better outlook on your candidates.

4. Behavioral Assessments: Yes or No?
If anyone of us has been in an interview (and we all have), dependant upon the hiring company, they will give out behavioral assessment tests. Time consuming, sometimes redundant, but these are fairly valuable to the hiring managers. Not just to see who will take the time to complete these tedious pieces of work, but it will provide you with a much better understanding of you candidates. These also can provide lenghty and and in-depth interview questions to dig deeper into the candidate's behavioral aspects. If you're a 3-minute decision-making hiring manager; you may want to try this out.

5. Are You an Early Adopter?
Video interviewing will become the norm in the next few years as it helps reduce travel costs associated with flying in candidates, eliminates the scheduling hassles associated with phone screening. and proves its value as a more revealing tool when trying to determine who is worth bringing in for the face-to-face interview. The question may be: What are you waiting for? Do you fear process change or new technologies? Are you getting or giving push back when you are approached with new technologies that could make your hiring process easier? Are you still holding on to your rotary phone?

6. Are You Compliant?
Despite who your gut tells you to hire, you are required by law not to discriminate against protected classes such as race, gender, and age. If your gut for instance is always telling you your candidate is too old, too black, or too feminine, then you may run the risk of non-compliance with a cute-little band of fellows called federal entities such as the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. Drawing their ire could bring fines, not to mention bad press and lower employee satisfaction, "YIKES!". As mentioned earlier you must step outside your comfort zone when hiring and employing a diverse workforce is a great way to do this.

7. Will Everyone But You Get Blamed for the Bad Hire?
Simplified answer; NOPE! You as the hiring manager will be partly to blame as well, not just the HR/recruiting segment of the workplace. HR cannot fully understand all the nuances, complexities, and skill requirements of each department. The hiring manager must be involved in the hiring process from start to finish ensuring they are getting the candidates that best match the skills and behavioral attributes necessary for the job. This way time is not wasted unnecessarily.

So, are you ready to hire some candidates?!

Is A College Degree More Important Than Experience?

An age-old question; which is more important to an employer or company, having a college degree under your belt, or having the knowledgeable experience only gained by being in the workforce/profession of your choice?

There's truly no right or wrong answer to this question. You have to think of it in terms of what field you are thinking of traveling down, for instance; if you choose to be an attorney practicing criminal law, a medical physician looking to be a neurologist, or even a counselor in marriage and family well-being, then there is no doubt that you will need a degree for your long road. Now, if you are a graphic designer, or even find yourself in as an entry level or junior draftsman, experience is a much more relied upon skill.

In countries like the UK (Britain), the United States, Canada and some other places experience does tend to be more important than a degree or university education. In other countries, a degree is more important and experience is secondary. First the person needs to have proper qualifications (i.e. degree) and then experience comes as a secondary matter. I personally have been on countless interviews in the past and even read through position/job descriptions and requirements; many of which will state one of the following:

• Experience needed
• HS diploma or equivalent applicable
• Bachelors Degree required
• Bachelors Degree or relevant experience required
• No experience, no degree needed
• (X) amount of years experience required

So what are applicants and future job seekers supposed to really think of their future as far as education, dream pursuing, entrepreneurship and life goes? There definitely are some things that cannot be taught in a classroom, such as on the job experience; while in the same breath, other things can ONLY be acquired while in a classroom setting or online studies.

As others have indicated, it depends on the job and the organization. In some cases, if one doesn't have the degree, then you would not even be considered for an interview. In other cases (here's a SECRET), the employer puts many more qualifications in the job "requirements" than he/she is really requiring. Particularly if one has a lot of experience in a particular area, it generally doesn't hurt to apply for a job that requires more education than one has. Be sure to emphasize how extensive your experience has been and how well you can apply that experience to the benefit of the employer. There are some questions that applicant should be prepared to answer: 1) Are you willing and able to get degree required? On your own dime/time? 2) Why do you think such a degree is important (or not important)? 3) Why don't you have the required degree? 4)Do you think that your not having degree will affect your relationships with others in the job situation - both those who do and those who do not have the degree? Applicants may want to bring up and address these issues on their own if the interviewer doesn't bring them up. If you can answer them in a positive way to allay interviewer's fears that you are not qualified enough. If possible, check with a friend with the degree about possible problems. This could also be a good reality check.

 

Salute to Heroes Golf Tournament

It is almost that time of year again and we are hosting our 5^th Annual Charity Golf Tournament and we would love for you to attend!

We need to have names of the player by September 19^th if possible.

I have attached the flyer on the tournament along with a sponsorship page.

This is a great event for a good cause and is 100% charity. In the past the tournaments have been a big success and we hope to do it again.

Please let us know if you can attend and we look forward to hearing back from you!

Write to Brandon at brandon@patriotadvertising.com

The Hiring Manager's Guide to Working WIth Recruiters

If you have dealt with recruiters or if you yourself is a recruiter, then you are well aware that recruiting is a team effort. It works the best when the parties that make up the team move quickly and effectively through the tedious process to get the job done. No doubt that this is much easier said than done, but why don't we take a look at the three primary members of this brilliant team:

1. The CANDIDATE
2. The RECRUITER
3. The HIRING MANAGER

Any of these three parties fails to perform as expected, then this "decorated" process turns to suffering - and can break down completely under certain circumstances. This can lead to all types of problems and frustrations that relate to the successful acquisition of a new employee.

On top of that, you risk wasting time and money — as well as creating bad blood with respect to the candidate — if the hiring process is mishandled. Fortunately, most recruiters I come in contact with understand the necessity of driving the process forward and making things happen as quickly and as smoothly as possible. On the other hand, most candidates are simply looking to explore a given opportunity. But because candidates exist outside of the company, they do not fall under the expectations of organizational processes or expectations. Oh boy. This leaves us with the hiring managers, who can be a real problem if you are looking to be a more successful recruiter. If you the recruiter want to be more effective, you will need the full and ongoing cooperation of your hiring managers. Those individuals, in conjunction with the interviewing team they appoint, will be the people who will most influence your ability to be successful in building great organizations.

Hiring Managers: Here’s How to Get the Most Out of Your Recruiting Partners
According to Ken Blanchard, co-author of The One Minute Manager, “None of us is as smart as all of us.” This is the essence of teamwork, and that is just what recruiting has become — an exercise in teamwork, with people working together to hire the best employees and build the best companies. With this in mind, and in order to be assured that we are operating in a smooth and effective manner, ask the following:

• Let me know when you have a position open as soon as it has been approved. The sooner you let me know that a position has been approved, the sooner I can meet with you, the sooner I can clearly understand what you are looking for in the candidates you want to hire, and the sooner I can begin my work in sourcing these candidates. Good candidates are not easy to find, so the more running room I have to develop an intelligent sourcing plan, the better off we’ll be.
• If I call or email you, please respond. I understand you are busy. So am I. What I’m probably most busy with is trying to do all that is required to fill your position. I know that running your organization is a top priority, but hiring is a major part of running a business, and I need you to be responsive to me when I reach out. That’s how a good and productive team works.
• Please respond to resumes quickly. Most candidates have a very short shelf life and little patience for organizations that do not respond quickly. Talent is tight and good people can go to a number of other employers in a flash. If I get a resume in front of you, please respond as quickly as possible so I can move the process on to the next step. I am not just concerned about whether your answer is “yes” or “no.” What makes my life very difficult is no response at all, and being stuck between a hiring manager who is not reactive and a candidate who is calling me looking for an answer to a simple question: “Does the manager want to see me or not?” Please do not put me in that position, because it makes all of us look foolish.
• Please see that your interviewing team is ready. The candidate interviewing experience is critical to the ongoing success of the organization. Remember that prospective employees of today can become the customers or partners of tomorrow. They can refer others to your jobs. Be sure your interviewing team is ready to do a world-class job in all candidate-facing activities. This means they should have reviewed and understood the position for which they are interviewing and read the candidate’s resume before the candidate arrives. The team should be prepared to discuss the candidate with you after the interview is completed.
• Inform me as to what you see as the next step in the process. Please get back to me with your thoughts, ideas, or questions right after the interview has taken place. Be advised that I can, in most cases, keep the candidate warm for a reasonable time, but I can’t say or do anything without hearing from you. Once again, make us all look good by being responsive and moving quickly as this is in everyone’s best interests.
• Be sure to only ask questions that relate to the position. We live in a highly litigious society, and as your partner in the hiring process, it is my job to see that we never have a legal problem as a result of inappropriate questions being asked. Please remember that all questions asked should pertain only to the candidate’s experience as it relates to their ability to perform the duties of the position for which they are interviewing.
• Remember to sell the company. Whether or not the candidate joins our organization is far more in your hands than in mine. But if you want to have the candidate join our company, you will have to sell it to the candidate. If the candidate is interviewing elsewhere, that is exactly what the competition will be doing. Be sure to let the candidate know why they should be seeing us as their next place of employment, and what some of the advantages are at our company. Remember, we always want the choice about whether to move forward or not to be our choice, not the candidate’s.
• Please help me to close the candidate if I make that request. Landing a candidate is not always an easy thing to accomplish. As the marketplace tightens and top talent becomes harder to find, candidates will very often have multiple offers. I will do whatever I can to pre-close the candidate, get them prepped for an offer, and everything else necessary to make things happen. However, at times I will need a bit of help to make things happen and close the deal. If I call you to set up a meeting or phone call to lay out a capture strategy (see my article entitled How to Develop a Capture Strategy), please work with me on this. Together, as a team, we have a far better chance of successfully landing the candidate.
• Leave the offers to me. Extending offers is a big part of my job, and I know exactly how to do it. Extending an offer is asking for the sale, and it has to be done at the right time, in the right way, and under the right circumstances. Please let me handle it as I see fit. (By the way, if you are the one who determines compensation, let’s talk, because low-balling the candidate is a catastrophe of major proportions!).

Recruiting’s Dirty Little Secrets — What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You

Two of the hottest topics in corporate recruiting today are the candidate experience and need for transparency. And although many corporations are making a sincere effort to improve that candidate experience, they often pay only lip service to becoming more open, honest, and transparent. No corporate leader that I know directly lies to applicants.

However, if you consider omitting information that could directly help the applicant successfully understand the process or land a job to be a lie, then there are quite a few areas where corporations are omitting the complete truth.

from Dr. John Sullivan


Dubbed "dirty little secrets" due to insiders being well aware of them, while most applicants and business reporters haven't a clue. Let's sift through several areas where corporate recruiting could seek improvement.

• The corporate black hole — because of recruiter overload, the volume of applicants, and technology problems, a resume submitted to a corporate career site may actually have a zero probability of being reviewed. In the industry, it can be referred to as “the black hole.”
• Looking for an excuse to drop you — there are books written about the need to focus on the positive aspects of individuals, but the entire screening process is often focused on finding a single error or lack of “fit” to quickly eliminate any applicant. If you are categorized as a job-jumper, you are unemployed, you have bad credit or Klout scores, you live in a distant zip code, or they find weird things on Facebook about you, you will be immediately rejected without knowing why. As a result, those who fail to make a single mistake during the process, rather than those who are the best, are the ones that are most likely to get hired.
• The rejection letter is designed to avoid complaints, not accuracy – if you actually get a rejection letter or e-mail, you should be aware that canned phrases like “we decided to move in another direction” or “there were other more qualified candidates” are pretested or lawyer-approved phrases that are designed to quiet you and keep you from making a follow-up inquiry. In many cases, the person sending the letter won’t even know the actual reason for your rejection.
• The interview process will likely be disjointed – applicants invited in for interviews routinely complain about disorganized interviewing, death by interview (having to go through 10 or more interviews), continually getting the same repeat questions from different interviewers, and having to return multiple times on different days. If the process seems poorly managed and disjointed, it is probably because it usually is. The overall corporate interview process is more often more whimsical than scientific and integrated.
• Some jobs are not really available to outsiders — although legal requirements may require an organization to post all open jobs, in some cases, the hiring manager has already predetermined that they will hire internally. There is no way for an external applicant to know when a job is “wired,” so applying can only lead to frustration and you will never know that you did nothing wrong.
• Some companies are blocked — if you work at a company covered by an informal “non-poaching” arrangement where two firms agree not to hire from each other, your chances of getting hired are near zero. Even though these agreements are illegal, they are secret, so your application will never be considered and you will never know why.
• Recruiters won’t know if you are a customer – you might think that being a loyal customer might help your application, but most corporations have no formal way of identifying an applicant as a customer.
• We will keep your resume on file (but we will never look at it again) – is certainly true that when they tell you that your rejected application will be “kept on file” it will be. However, it will be kept almost exclusively for legal reasons. The odds of a recruiter scanning through a corporate database of thousands of names in order to revisit a resume that has previously been rejected are miniscule. Unless a recruiter remembers you by name, assume that your resume has been dropped into the “black hole.”
• You will never know the real odds – although corporations regularly calculate the percentage of all applicants that are hired, you will never find that number on the corporate website. Although the lotto is required to publish your odds of winning, corporations keep it a secret. For some jobs, the odds are well over 1,000 to 1.
• Technology may eliminate you — and most large organizations, resumes are initially screened electronically. Unfortunately, if the software is not fine-tuned, the recruiter is not well-trained, or if you fail to use the appropriate keywords and phrases, no human will ever see your resume. In one test, only 12% of specially written “perfect resumes” made it through this initial step, although in theory, 100% should have made it.
• Busy people are forced to take shortcuts — during a down economy, the volume of qualified applicants can force recruiters and hiring managers to take shortcuts. For example, recently a coordinator asked the recruiter which one of a handful of resumes should be invited in for an interview. The response was “I don’t have time to look at them; just flip a coin and pick them.” Hiring managers are also known to make choices based on snap judgments or stereotypes that add a degree of randomness to getting a job.
• Don’t call us, we’ll call you — if an applicant is rejected at any stage, there is no formal process to help you understand where you need to improve in order to be successful when applying for a job in the future. Unlike in customer service, there is no 1 -800 number to call, and because of weak corporate documentation, recruiting might not actually know (beyond a broad reason) why you are rejected and how you could improve your chances.

When Applicants Hear Nothing, They Talk and You Get Hurt

You’ve written a compelling job ad that hits all the hot points. You’ve distributed it widely. You’ve even managed to get it high up on search results pages. Despite all that, the number of applications is disappointing. So what went wrong??

According to Careerbuilder, this could very well be a technical issue. Bad links, computer or Internet difficulties, and cumbersome applications are the top reasons cited by interested candidates for not responding to a job posting.

“Sometimes it’s those little things you overlook,” says Dr. Sanja Licina, senior director of talent intelligence and consulting at CareerBuilder. When an interested job seeker clicks on an ad, and then has to click through from there to another location, an ATS for example, things can break down, she says.
That experience can leave a sour taste with potential candidates, some of whom will then go on to complain about the experience. CareerBuilder’s ongoing Applicant Experience survey found that 78 percent of candidates said they’d be sure to tell family and friends about a bad experience with a potential employer. Seventeen percent said they’d post about it on a social media site.

While technical glitches may not push most candidates beyond a little grumbling (though it might be very bad mojo for something like that to happen to a technical firm), the “black hole” application process causes 44 percent of those who hear nothing to have a worse opinion of the non-responsive employer.

Licina said many employers explain why they’re not responding, saying “We do get a lot of applications,” and thus it’s “really hard” to respond.

Any number of surveys and articles confirm that large numbers of employers never acknowledge an applicant — not even to say contact has been made. CareerBuilder, whose Applicant Experience audit now has some 5 million surveys involving 5,000 employers, reports that somewhere around half the applicants say they never heard anything after submitting an application.
Even when they do, radio silence often follows. Among the 57 companies vying for top honors in the still-new Candidate Experience awards, a mere 44 percent followed up their acknowledgments with details about the next steps in the process.

Recruiters, too, are faulted by the surveyed job seekers; 15 percent of them have a worse opinion of the employer after hearing from a recruiter. Says CareerBuilder:

When asked to assess the recruiters who contacted them, one-in-five job seekers (21 percent) reported that the recruiter was not enthusiastic about his/her company being an employer of choice. Seventeen percent didn’t believe the recruiter was knowledgeable and 15 percent didn’t think the recruiter was professional.

“How your employment brand is presented to job seekers from the moment a job is posted can have a lasting effect not only on your ability to acquire talent, but your business overall,” Licina says. “First and foremost, it’s important to acknowledge candidates and keep them informed.”

The consequences of a negative candidate experience go beyond the potential loss of quality talent and injury to the employment reputation. The widely held belief is that there is a direct economic impact from treating applicants poorly. A separate CareerBuilder study from a few months ago found nearly a third of respondents saying they are less likely to purchase a product from a company that didn’t respond to their job application.

Now, in conjunction with a university research group, Licina said CareerBuilder is attempting to put a dollar figure on the negative experience. “It’s difficult to attribute (the impact) to the candidate experience,” she explained, which is why the study development will take time. But, she says, with companies beginning to accept that there are economic consequences, determining the actual cost is growing more urgent.

Incidentally, it’s not money that first attracts a job seeker to a job posting. It’s the company’s location, report 45 percent of the candidates in CareerBuilder’s experience surveys. After that it’s industry and company reputation. Salary is sixth.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Hiring Pyramid According to Adler

How many of us are familiar with  Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs? If you are like me, then you are possibly oblivious to the acknowledgment that Maslow even had needs. Here's a quick refresher for us all:

 Abraham Maslow was a mid-20th century psychologist who studied the behavior of high-performing individuals. In a 1943 paper, he suggested that people make fundamental and predictable decisions based on different behavioral needs. These needs range from primitive; e.g., requiring water or food to being completely fulfilled. He separated these states into five distinct levels and referred to them collectively as a hierarchy of needs. According to Maslow, a person couldn’t move to a higher level unless the needs of the lower level were satisfied first.

With that being implemented into our minds; the purpose of this article is to bring to light that both compaines and people have quite the similiar underlying needs. Bottom line; hiring top people is inefficient, ineffective, and problematic.

In the pyramid above, we see see a candidate's motivation for work; which is most likely one of three core needs: ECONOMIC, SOCIAL, or ACHIEVEMENT. The problem is that while companies all want to hire those with the need to achieve, they only consider those who first have an economic need to apply, and second,  those among this group who the screeners believe also fit some idealistic and unspoken personality and first-impression standard.

A person who is unemployed, or holding a job far below the person’s earning ability, seeks a new job primarily for monetary reasons, with the actual work less important. This is the economic need in action. The second motivating need is team-driven. Many people leave companies due to lack of a supportive manager or an inability to develop personal relationships with co-workers. They also accept jobs for these very same reasons. The third job-seeking driver is career growth: the need to achieve, grow, and become better. The Achievers leave when this is missing.
Knowing what underlying need is driving your candidate to look for another job is essential if you want to find and hire the right people for the right reasons. For example, a passive candidate who is not looking might be enticed to explore a situation if it offered significant upside potential and achievement. There is a lot of recruiting involved in this type of hire, with the emphasis largely on short-term impact and long-term career growth. On the other hand, if the candidate is driven by a short-term economic need, the person will likely be less discriminating and take a position primarily for the salary and benefits. The problem is that once these lower order economic needs are filled, dissatisfaction with the work itself will quickly follow.
Gallup’s Q12 research and Google’s Oxygen study on employee engagement and performance supports this viewpoint. Job satisfaction is driven by doing impactful work, a chance to work with strong teams, and a chance to progress and grow. Dissatisfaction is largely due to lack of a supportive manager, doing less-meaningful work, or doing work far below a person’s capability, and lack of collaboration with others. The best people accept jobs based on expectations of the former and leave them because of the reality of the latter. Much of the problems associated with underperformance, dissatisfaction, and retention occur when the hiring decision is made. Surprisingly, few companies consider this directly, resorting to fixing the problem after the fact.
The hiring trap starts by using the traditional skills- and experience-based job description for advertising purposes. These don’t appeal to anyone who is driven primarily by an achievment need. A job that emphasizes skills and experience sends a message to candidates that the company has plenty of people to choose from, and the candidates need us more than we need them. This certainly won’t attract many passive candidates to apply. These types of postings only attract someone with an economic need to apply, or someone in a sub-par job situation. The likelihood of attracting an achiever under these conditions is problematic, especially when the demand for talent is greater than the supply. (Here’s an interesting video I did with LinkedIn on how to address this supply vs. demand situation.)
As far as the hiring trap is concerned, things are about to go from bad to worse. For most companies, the bulk of their hiring starts by selecting a subset of people from a pool of candidates who initially applied for something other than a need to further their career growth. These people are then filtered on their level of skills and experience, hoping to weed out the weakest, with the goal of selecting the most qualified, often through a strenuous technical screen that’s rarely fully job-related. Then the finalists undergo some superficial team and cultural fit assessment. Those who “perform” the best are then deemed worthy.
Consider this same process from the Maslow hierarchy perspective: companies first target those with an economic need for the job who also meet their “team” and “fit” criteria. These are the so-called “soft” skills. These same companies quickly reject people if they appear, act, or seem different than the norm, or those who make weak first impressions. On the flipside, when candidates who fit the instant “team” and cultural fit screen, managers, and recruiters alike go Lady Gaga, and go out their way to sell these candidates on the merits of the job.
What about the true achievers? Under the type of scenario described above, it’s unlikely the company is going to find many great people who also have an economic need to apply, who also make great first impressions, and who are also high-achievers.
Despite the obvious, this is the expectation. People who are driven to change jobs in order to accelerate their career growth, are stopped long before they get to the front door. Since many of the people who aspire for this type of achievement are passive candidates, they won’t follow the standard interview and apply and prepare regimen. Sometimes they’re a little different in personality and style, sometimes appear less interested, maybe too over-confident, or somewhat inflexible. The real issue is they won’t take lateral transfers and until they see the job as a real career move they won’t get too excited. Job descriptions that emphasize skills and experience, prevent and preclude these people from ever applying, and even if they do apply, they’re deemed too light.

So what's to come of this down the line? Just food for thought; go ahead and chew on that for a moment and think.