You Need to REALLY Start Hiring - What Does That Mean Now

You Need to REALLY Start Hiring - What Does That Mean Now How to ensure your Recruiting Department keeps up Ok. Now that we covered all of the roles involved in recruiting let’s dive into a few scenarios to understand how you might want to build out your team. A great recruiting function isn’t built in a day. It usually evolves over time. So smart companies need to understand where they fall on the spectrum and plan accordingly. SCENARIO ONE: You need to make a couple of hires, not really sure of what or when. What do you need? What can you pay? How challenging of a role is it? For a small company that needs to make one to two hires, there’s no simple solution. Everyone needs to roll up their sleeves and lend a hand. First, understand what you need and what you can afford. For example, looking for a CTO/Software Engineer to build out your app, but dont have any money to pay a competitive salary? Good luck. Not impossible, but be ready to give up a bunch of equity. Be realistic. Hit up your networks. Hop on LinkedIn. Ask your board/investors for help. Get the word out. If youve got more time than money, be ready in some cases to look for three plus months. Have more money and less time?   Consider using a recruiter that specializes in whatever you need to hire. It wont be cheap (think 20 to 30 percent of starting salary), but you can see a bunch of candidates quickly. SCENARIO TWO: You can confidently say you need to hire 10 plus people over the next 6 to 12 months. Same drill, scope out the actual needs, who is going to be involved, how you are going to vet them, and who’s going to find and screen them. Are these roles that are hard to fill (sales or engineers), or will you get a solid flow of candidates through employee referrals and people applying online? The options are to do it yourself (all hands on deck), utilize search firms or potentially hire someone to do HR / Recruiting. If you go the third route, be thoughtful about what you need out of that person. The common route is to hire an HR/Recruiter or Office Support/Recruiter. That can work in the short term, but understand that all of those roles are different. Finding someone that is an expert in HR and Recruiting is nearly impossible. Even if they are, most likely they’ll want to gravitate towards one or the other over time. If the person is great at HR (but doesnt have a lot of recruiting experience), you are most likely going to have to still rely heavily on hiring managers and/or external recruiters to find candidates. If you hire a great recruiter, he or she most likely knows next to nothing about HR (and can open you up to risk around employment law, benefits, and overall compliance). And even if you hire someone, odds are he or she will need external and internal help. SCENARIO THREE: You need to hire 25 plus people over the next 6 to 12 months. Okay, now you really need a plan. At this point, youve got some options, but you need to understand what you want out of your talent acquisition function. Have you hired a bunch of people before? Are you any good at it (be honest)? If not, you need some help defining your hiring process (Strategy). You definitely need someone dedicated to recruiting, whether it’s an internal employee (internal recruiter) or an external consultant. That external consultant can be one person or an outsourced solution. SCENARIO FOUR: You need to hire 50 to 100 plus people over the next 6 to 12 months By now you should know one person cant handle this. You most likely have already started to build out your internal team, and you now have a couple of things to think about Is it working? Is this just a hiring surge, or something that will continue (or grow over the next 18 to 24 months)? If the growth feels like it isnt going to stop, you need to reevaluate your plan. Do you have the right TA/Recruiting leader in place? How is the team structured? What is your budget? You are going to spend a lot (time and money) to build something that works. You may still need to rely on external partners. You can outsource the whole thing if the hiring surge is going to end after a period of time (why build something that will go unused or need to be torn apart in a year) or if you don’t have time to build it right internally. Or you can build a great team. Hiring a Head of Recruiting (salary = 120 to 180k +), appoint one recruiter that specializes in a specific function (sales, tech, etc.) for every 20 to 30 hires you need to make. Augment those recruiters with a sourcer and/or scheduler to let them focus on pure recruiting. If you have a great team, but still need some extra bandwidth short term, consider bringing on a Contract Recruiter, Sourcer, or Coordinator to help you get over the hump (our On-Demand Recruiting offering). With all of that, you still may need to carve out some roles to give to search firms. The war for talent is that competitive. And expensive. Remember, there are no silver bullets or Swiss army knives when it comes to hiring. Recruiting is hard. It has become an arms race. If you aren’t investing significant resources towards your efforts to bring in top talent, your company is going to struggle to keep up. Develop a plan. Hire great people to execute on the plan. And bring in partners to fill in the gaps. About the author:  Matt Massucci is the founder and managing partner of Hirewell, a Chicago-based Recruiting and Talent Acquisition Solutions Provider.

The Dos and Donts of Being a Brilliant Boss

The Dos and Donts of Being a Brilliant Boss Being a boss isnt an easy job, however if you want to  get the most out of your staff, its important that they respect you and in order to achieve this you need to be the best boss you can be. When you have your  employees on side, its not only an advantage to you, but it will benefit the whole business as staff are more driven to work hard and commit  to the company, not to mention that it makes the office an all round more positive environment when people get along. So what does it take to be a good boss and what qualities do employees look for from management? Unum have put together a list of dos and donts that all bosses should keep in mind when managing staff, along with a few little pointers from some  of the top  real life and fictional bosses. Key attributes of a good boss: Be a good listener:  Prove that you value your employees thoughts and ideas by listening to what they have to say, even if you decide not to take it on board, its important to give them the opportunity to have an input. Build trust with employees:  Its important that your employees feel like they can trust you and in turn you trust them to do their jobs well too. Inspire your staff:  You want to inspire your staff to achieve their best and show them that you have the faith in them to accomplish this. Dos: Take an interest in your employees:  Get to know them individually and make the effort to get to know a bit about them and their lives outside of work. Motivate your team:  A bit of encouragement and rewards are great incentives to motivate staff to reach targets and goals. Communicate with your workforce:  You want your  staff will feel that they can come to you when they need to so that any problems are resolved swiftly, so make sure you are a good communicator and make yourself available. Donts: Dont  pass the blame:  If things dont go quite to plan take responsibility rather than placing the blame on your employees and encourage them to do the same. Dont have favourites: It will only make your other employees feel like they are not valued and could have negative implications on their work and dedication to the company. Treat all of your staff like equals and show appreciation for all of them. Dont let stress get the better of you:  Managing a business or other staff can be stressful, but try not to lose your cool. If you need help, dont be afraid to ask, rather than crumbling under the pressure. Words of wisdom: Sheryl Sandberg Facebook: Leadership is about making others better as a result of your presence and making sure that impact lasts in your absence. Richard Branson Virgin: The best way of learning about anything is by doing Not so wise words: Michael Scott The Office (US): Sometimes you have to take a break from being the kind of boss thats always trying to teach people things. Sometimes you just have to be the boss of dancing. Gordon Gekko Wall Street: Greed is good. Find out more below! Image Credit: Shutterstock

College Senior No Job Offer Dont Panic!

College Senior No Job Offer Dont Panic! No job offer?  Are you kidding me?  Youve worked your butt off for the last four to six years, have a stellar academic record, and now its April and you have no job offer.  Its a story that many people have played the starring role in since the Great Recession, but thats not at all consoling.  Its time to step back, take a deep breath, and re-assess the situation. Get Perspective Of course its unsettling to have committed so much and have things not working out according to your plans and desires.  Dont fight the feelings, because they are real.  Acknowledge them, and then set them on the shelf for the moment.  Take a good look at your life in the bigger picture.  As is so often the case in life, when things are viewed as a small part of a bigger chunk of your allotted years on the planet, the intensity of the moment diminishes.  This, too, shall pass are words to remember, knowing that in a relatively short time your life WILL be very different. Look at The Alternatives If you havent learned it by now, its always a good idea to have a plan B.  If you didnt have one in the current situation, then its really important to look at the alternatives.   Even in the worst of cases, there are always options.  The anxiety and fear and even panic are rooted in our natural instinct to survive.  I remember a lesson from a college professor that has stuck with me:  If you were dropped, naked, in the middle of China, you would survive.  With that perspective, every option is a step up! So what are the alternatives? What can you do right now to shift the stuck feelings youre having?  Heres a few. Pursuing out-of-the-box employment opportunities Carolyn Thompson  ,  author of RESUMAZING and Managing Principal of the Merito Group  ,    says “Don’t overlook the small companies in your area.   You can get a lot of great experience at a smaller company that will propel you into a larger corporation later on, if you choose.   Job descriptions at big companies are more narrow, while a smaller company often enables you to do more within a role, giving you a wider variety of work and responsibilities.   Smaller companies are also less competitive and more collaborative in nature, so consider if you want to be a big fish in a small pond or a small fish in a big pond. It’s your choice.” Side Hustle:  Creating your own job Those hobbies, innate skills, and passions you have?  At least some of them have the potential to become the next big thing.  Sure, at this point it might mean rooming with someone, or moving back home to your parents.  But how many huge companies can you name that started in the garage on a shoestring? Patrick McGinnis    has authored The 10% Entrepreneur, in which he gives a detailed step-by-step plan that takes you from identifying your first entrepreneurial project to assembling all the pieces on the way to creating a successful business venture.  The key is diving in and getting started, no matter how small that first step might be. Repackage yourself Its the package that sells the product.  Your product is YOU.  Do a thorough self-evaluation to identify your skills, talents, education, and experience (both life and professional).  Brainstorm on how you can change the way you present yourself to make yourself marketable to different target employers. Gig.com  says So how do people successfully reinvent or repackage themselves? While there’s no single way to do it, there are some things to keep in mind. At the outset of your job search develop a plan to market yourself. Get a focus on your new objective and choose the industry you wish to target. Reinvention won’t work without a cohesive and clear plan. If you don’t have one you’ll be giving off mixed messages and splitting your search time among too many options. No job offer isnt the end. Whichever path you choose, remember to keep a clear vision in mind of what your goal actually is.  Remind yourself regularly and use that as the motivation to keep moving forward.  And remember to appreciate yourself for even the small successes and accomplishments. Having no job offer isnt the end of the world its the beginning of a different version of you. Main image credit: Stephen Rees Secondary image credit: Kawabata

Happy Anniversary Quotes- Is Love in the Air

Happy Anniversary Quotes- Is Love in the Air Ask any married couple, and you would know how special their anniversary happens to be for them. For most couples, the day holds a special significance it was on this very day when they were bonded with each other for life and have been sharing a loving relationship since then. Most couples like to spend their anniversary in privacy with their spouse and often go out of town for a vacation or enjoy a candlelight dinner to make the occasion extra special. You too can make this day very special for your partner by thinking of some wonderful anniversary quotes that express your true feelings for your partner and strengthen the bond you both share. So, how can you ensure that you surprise your partner? Well, don’t just take in anniversary quotes from the internet and send them to your partner. It is good to be innovative â€" surprise your partner and make him or her feel special. There’s a lot you can do. Here’s a look at how you can make the anniversary more special. Going back in time One of the best ways to think about happy anniversary quotes which have made your day special in the past is by recollecting those wonderful memories you and your spouse have spent together. Be it a special cake that you ordered for your spouse with a nice quote on it or a simple card which became wonderful with the loving anniversary quotes on it, such occasion brings back memories and also the quotes that are attached to it. Attending a party Another way to remember special anniversary quotes is by attending parties which make you feel nostalgic and are similar to the parties you have attended in the past. Many hosts often get love quotes inscribed on the wall when throwing a couple’s party and you are sure to remember your good old times on reading them. Anniversary quotes make the occasion even more special and fill the place with love. Taking a vacation When you are going on a vacation with your spouse alone, you can think of nice anniversary quotes to pass it on to him or her suddenly by making small chits of paper and writing the quotes on it. Be it a walk at night, or a private moment at home or even a special tourist attraction that you are visiting, keep those small chits of paper ready with the apt quote in it and you are sure to make your loved one special and wanted in your life. Couple Dinner Another great time to think of anniversary quotes and maybe say them aloud is when you go for a lavish dinner with your spouse. Remember the quotes you wish to tell them; memorize it well and say it in the middle of the dinner. If you really mean it from the heart, your spouse is sure to love the gesture and appreciate you for the same. You can check out a happy anniversary website to know more about surprising your partner.

Will This Be the Year You Make a Change [Survey Results] - Career Pivot

Will This Be the Year You Make a Change [Survey Results] - Career Pivot Will 2016 be the year that you make your career change? Will 2016 be the year that you make your career change? Last month, Career Pivot sent out a survey asking what your career plans are for 2016. We wanted to know if you are looking for a career change or staying the course. Well, the results are in! The data shows that people want to make changes, but they have many concerns. Let’s look at the numbers: What changes are you making? Are you part of the group of respondents that wants to: 30% â€" move to a new job in a different industry 22% â€" move to a new job in the same industry 14% â€" embark on the entrepreneurial path and open their own business or consulting firm We also received some interesting responses from the “Other (please specify)” response for our first question. 13% of the respondents stated that they would: Relocate to different area to find job Like to stay with same company, but have heard a significant re-organization and subsequent layoffs will occur before the end of 1Q2016 Resume school to retrain for another role Die (yes this was an answer on our survey!) Try new things and see where it takes me! Play more music and travel more Stay where I am, but be open to opportunities Tools for the career change For our second question, we asked what tools people would use to make this 2016 career change. An overwhelming number of respondents said they were going to use social media and online job boards in their efforts to make a job change: 78% â€" use social media, such as LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook during their search 60% â€" use online job boards The respondents also said that they would use traditional methods such as: 55% â€" attend networking events 43% â€" ask family, friends, former co-workers, vendors, etc. for any job openings at their companies 41% â€" consulting with recruiters Only 23% of the respondents said that they would use mobile job board applications during their career change. It is very common for the online job boards to have a corresponding mobile application. Wouldn’t it make sense to use the mobile application, too, during your job search? You can search for jobs and possibly apply for them all on your phone, all while you are waiting for someone or during your lunch hour! You may want to add that new tool to your job search tool box to help increase your chances of getting a new job. Listen to the most recent episode Biggest Fears Finally, we asked what your biggest fear was related to your job. The economy (37%) and personal health (24%) were the top responses to this question. When we looked deeper into the “Other (please specify)” response, we found some typical answers from Baby Boomers regarding their struggle to find a jobs. Here are some of the responses we received: Age discrimination, lack of skills Not finding a suitable, satisfying job Since I was already laid off 6 months ago and I’ve managed to survive and often thrive, my fears are minimal Cash flow Work related stress No room for growth Continuing Income while building business That graduating with my MBA won’t help me That I’ll still be working at the same company for another year Need health insurance In career transition phase Finances â€" I need work The fears expressed above are all too real for many Baby Boomers, and some of us have experienced them first hand. However, the overall results of the survey are encouraging since people want to make some sort of change this year. The survey indicates that they will be relying on a variety of tools such as social media, online job boards, and many traditional ways of looking for work. Despite having the desire and tools to make these career changes happen, there will still be some challenges along the way. Recently, Career Pivot announced their 2016 Community Initiatives. One of the primary initiatives is to create an online community; one in which Baby Boomers will be helped and want toparticipate. The results from this survey are a good starting point for potential topics that can be discussed in this online community. This would be a great way to find support, advice, and ideas from others who are working towards the same goal as you â€" making that career change in 2016. Join us and let’s make 2016 the year of change! This post was written by Elizabeth Rabaey, a Baby Boomer herself, is a creative with a love for details. She has spent over 20 plus years working for environmental engineering and consulting companies providing project management and technical assistance on many innovative engineering projects. She has applied creative, literary and scientific skills to these projects to help the client maintain a profitable business operation and protect humans, health and the environment. Connect with her on LinkedIn and Twitter. Like what you just read? Share it with your friends using the buttons above. Like What You Read? Get Career Pivot Insights Check out the Repurpose Your Career Podcast Do You Need Help With ...

Personality Type Influences Your Career [INFOGRAPHIC]

Personality Type Influences Your Career [INFOGRAPHIC] Is your personality type influencing  your career? Take a look at some common career patterns shared by  personality types and see what may be in store for you. The infographic below, based on  Truity’s recent study,  helps you understand how your personality type impacts salary potential, job satisfaction, likelihood you will  take on managerial or entrepreneurial roles and more. Heres the deal, there are exceptions to every rule. This data doesnt mean you have the wrong aspirations or are pursuing the wrong career choice. You may be the outlier- one of the few who has found a way to succeed where others of the same  type or style havent.  If you are honest with yourself, youll probably agree that the findings are on track. INFOGRAPHIC Take-Aways: ENTJs lead the pack when it comes to income earned and average supervisees. INFPs were the type most likely to stay at home with their children. ISFPs were the least likely to hold a managerial role. ENTPs found themselves self employed more than other types. INTPs were the least likely to be satisfied with their jobs. Infographic compiled by Truity, developer of the TypeFinder ® personality type assessment and other scientifically validated, user-friendly personality assessments. What Will You Do With This Information? If you are exploring new opportunities,  this can serve as a general guideline or a validation that youre on the right track.  It may also point out a reason why you are frustrated  or disappointed. For example, if you are an ISFP  and struggle in your role managing people, you arent alone. This may not be the best fit for your type. More About Self Assessment Self assessment is an  important part of job search and career mobility. You need to be aware of your strengths, motivators, and weaknesses! Are you? I know self assessment is painful, but it is worth every ounce of effort to have a realistic self perception. When you know who you are, youll communicate your message more clearly. Youll be attracted to the right type of opportunities. Im not saying your career path will become crystal clear. Career change is not an exact science. For most people a career path is not always linear or evident. The path you take may  zig and zag, run up and down, and stall. And sometimes, magically, that occupation you knew nothing about appears. Theres a bit of fate involved in your journey. Heres more on career decision-making and self assessment: Choosing A Career Can Be Overwhelming Decision Making…Does it come from the head or the heart?

Avoid These Mistakes When Seeking a New C-Level Position

Avoid These Mistakes When Seeking a New C-Level Position Seeking a new c-level position takes a similar approach as searching for a job of any caliber. Without the proper preparation and going through the necessary steps, you may find your search to be more difficult than it needs to be. No matter how polished your executive profile may be, you still have to follow the same steps as everyone else to be considered for a high level job. Here are some of the most common mistakes c-level executives make when seeking a new position and how to avoid them. Misunderstanding The Process Whether you’re searching for a c-level position or an entry level position, the job search and hiring process will be very similar. You have to do research about the company before applying for a job there. Having all of the skills and qualifications doesn’t guarantee you’ll get the job. You still have to sell yourself and show how you add value to any given company in order to stand out. Not Having The Right Strategy It may have been a long time since you last looked for a new c-level position, so the same strategy may not apply. The first thing you should do is optimize your LinkedIn profile. Many recruiters will find candidates on LinkedIn, whether they are searching for a job or not. Furthermore, you can almost guarantee a hiring manager will look for your LinkedIn profile as soon as they receive your resume. If your strategy is to just send out as many resumes as possible, you’re heading down the wrong path. Not Building Relationships The power of networking is instrumental in landing your next c-level position. Building solid relationships is more important than building a solid executive profile. The old saying, “it’s not what you know, but who you know,” applies to c-level positions as well. Thinking your resume speaks for itself is another common mistake executives make. Making it About You, Not the Company Companies don’t necessarily care about you when they are hiring; they care about what you bring to the table. Many executives try to make themselves sound good, whether it’s on their LinkedIn profile or an in-person interview. However, what you really need to do is show how valuable you will be to the company based on your experience. The information and qualifications are the same, but the way you present everything makes a huge difference. Professional Resume Services is here to help you avoid common mistakes to give you a better chance at landing your next c-level job. Whether you need help optimizing your LinkedIn profile, updating your resume or anything else throughout the job search process, feel free to reach out to us at any time.