Victims Still Falling Prey to Nigerian E-Mail Scam. Is it me, or is this story almost unbelievable? I use that hoax as a punchline not as a storyline. To show you how out of touch I am: The number of people falling for the scam is steadily increasing, with 55,419 lodging complaints in 2005 of at least receiving an e-mail that appeared to be a scam, according to the Federal Trade Commission. That’s almost three times the amount received in 2002, which was 21,616. It gets worse: But Audri Lanford, co-director of Scambusters.org, a service that helps fight Internet fraud, estimates that $200 million a year is lost to the… Read More
Continue ReadingWhere to Find Your Next Job
WEDDLE recently surveyed visitors to their website and asked where they expected to find their next job. A total of 1,270 people participated in the survey. Here is where those surveyed thought they would find their next job: 57.6% Responding to an ad posted on an Internet job board 16.8% Networking at business and social events 7.2% Responding to an ad posted on an employers website 7.6% Sending a resume to an employer by mail 3.9% Receiving a call from a headhunter 1.9% Receiving a call from a staffing firm 1.9% Attending a career fair 1.6% Responding to a newspaper ad 0.7% Joining a social networking site
Continue ReadingYahoo and the Newspapers
Here is an interesting development – Newspapers will partner with Yahoo. I find it surprising that we are quickly approaching 2007 and the antique newspapers are finally making a serious adjustment towards an online focus. The dinosaurs of the newspaper industry may have made the move too late – it is hard to say. The younger generations are not newspaper readers. Instead, they consume their news in an electronic format. Suffice to say, it is a move in the right direction. One piece of information stands out for our business: The consortium said its first move would be to bolster Yahoo’s HotJobs online classified service, allowing advertisers to post job… Read More
Continue ReadingHow To Stand Out
We are sourcing many different positions right now so my antennae are up regarding resumes, phone calls and emails. At times, the responses can be overwhelming. Or underwhelming. Just yesterday I received a stammering voicemail about a position in which the candidate said they were going to send an email with their resume. I’m still waiting. I received another call a couple weeks ago in which the candidate wanted to fax a resume to me for a technical position. I told him he could email it to me instead. He said he doesn’t have email. It seems apparent to me that their is no more odd time in a hiring… Read More
Continue ReadingCandidates With Blogs
All right, we posted on Candidates with Personal Websites yesterday and now today we come across this Selling Power article – Blogs: Are You There Yet? This phenomenon is more than a fad, it appears to be a growing trend: “Blogs are, generally speaking, genuine,” says Krane. “A blog is one person’s voice. How someone blogs is probably an indication of how that person speaks and conducts him or herself in general.”Many prospective employees also keep blogs as a portfolio – especially in this town [San Francisco],” says Krane. “Having a blog shows that you are on the cutting edge of Web 2.0. It’s commonplace for a job candidate to… Read More
Continue ReadingCandidates With Personal Websites
We may be early on this topic, but we have seen candidates with personal websites. Now, I must clarify – I’m not talking about MySpace profiles. I am referring to full-fledged, personal, web domains. My initial take on this approach is that it is rife with vanity. But I have to confess, I took some time to browse their website and learn more about them. Now I just caught up to this MarketingProfs.com article title What’s Your Google Identity? From the article: People are googling you and making decisions about you from what Google reveals. Whether you are an employee looking to advance in your company, a professional seeking your… Read More
Continue ReadingA Survey on Digital Dirt
CareerBuilder offers this article discussing the use of the Internet to research candidates. Most candidates are aware of the pervasiveness of information available on the web. But according to this statistics from this article, not all candidates are concerned about it: When asked to divulge the types of information discovered on the Web that caused them to dismiss potential employees, hiring managers pointed to the following: 31% – candidate lied about qualifications 25% – candidate had poor communication skills 24% – candidate was linked to criminal behavior 19% – candidate bad-mouthed their previous company or fellow employee 19% – candidate posted information about them drinking or using drugs 15% –… Read More
Continue ReadingTop Job Boards
I’m sure you can guess the top 2 job boards, no surprises there, but who is number one. Careerbuilder nudges out Monster by 400,000 more ads in a quarter. But what boards round out the top 10, that might suprise you. Check out the list at Workforce.com.
Continue ReadingCover Letter Fun
Not the most inspiring introduction: “I need any sedentary job that need no previous experiance, based on hourly wage…”
Continue ReadingObjective vs. Subjective Hiring
Most hiring managers believe they are accurate assessors of talent. Even when confronted with overwhelming evidence to the contrary, they still trust their hiring ability over someone else’s. Why is this disconnect so prevalent? I believe it comes down simply to gut-level hiring. If you rely on your gut to tell you if a candidate is strong, there is no appreciable way to outsource your decision to another. You can’t place your feelings into an HR person, an external recruiter or a different process. You simply have to meet candidates face-to-face and hope you aren’t being snowed over by a disingenuous salesperson. Sounds high risk, doesn’t it? Yet it permeates… Read More
Continue Reading