Hire Strategies Blog

Real people | Real relationships | Real value

Too many people at an event makes it almost impossible to connect with anyone.  But being there is still important and part of the experience.

I see the real person, face-to-face relationship being where the real value will be next year.  Mass marketing won't work; there's way too much for it to be effective.  It may be more efficient to blast out 10,000 e-mails and in some cases be sufficient or right but is it effective for personal relationships?  I think not.

Hire small giants in 2009

Seth Godin gets to the point in his post Hubris vs. Humility. 

Great companies hire great people (Google, Microsoft, GE, Dell etc) but as Godin comments how many can survive away from the big marketing mother ship?  Can an Oracle or SAP software sales person hack it in the real world?  Can a P&G or Apple marketing guru make it happen on a smaller scale?  Can a Boots or M&S store manager turn the pennies for a less well known retailer? 

Of course some can and will but how many?  I've hired (and fired) a few of this ilk and still see them in place at many companies; living off the fat of the land playing the big 'I am'.  We may soon see a few of these faces on Linkedin 'looking to discuss opportunities'.  As Godin states:

"Confidence is often a self-fulfilling prophecy, particularly in marketing or investing. Arrogance, on the other hand, is hard to reward."

Best UK recruitment blog 2008

Looks like the finalists of this years Blog Factor have been announced over on UK Recruiter Blog so to cast your vote please click here. 

I have to be honest though in saying that some of the finalists make it feel just like X Factor i.e. some of the best have been kicked out early on purely because of the fan base of some of the other finalists rather than the quality of their 'singing'. (think Leon V Rhydian, The McDonald Brothers, Eoghan Quigg etc).  So there you go, as much as I think Louise is trying hard to get some kudos for UK recruitment bloggers on the whole most of us are just writing useless crap that doesn't deserve a medal whereas those that are adding some great content are missed off the list.

Maybe there should be some judging criteria which is what we used for our Top 100 career sites awards; makes it a bit more objective although that also creates yet more views on what are the objective measures even!!

Should you charge job applicants to APPLY?!

I'm sure your initial reaction to the title of this post was pretty robust; I know mine was when I first saw it in action.  It is more difficult to accept when it comes from someone who is an expert in their field and breaks this 'rule' of recruitment and some cases 'the law of the land!'  But, read why Perry Marshall decided to charge and you may see a different view point; I'm not saying I or you will agree but an interesting approach none the less!

Wanted: Content Czar

Charge | Don't charge

I came across a Business Social Network that is charging members to join.  Only £300 per year but clearly a different approach to most other social networks.  Linkedin does of course have chargeable upgrade options whereas Facebook is free.

There is of course no 'right or wrong' on this but I wonder how membership will be affected by charging!

2009 will demand more than 'expert' knowledge

Knowing how to cook a turkey (because you have a Jamie Oliver cook book from last year) doesn't mean you'll get it right.  And we all know the consequences of getting it wrong!

2009 will not be a place where the know it alls and big mouths succeed.  Anyone can read a few blogs, reports or books on pretty much any subject but it doesn't make you an expert; even though many seem to think it does. 

The last few years have been easy for everyone.  2009 will demand execution of projects or execution of bad suppliers - which are you?

If you feel insulted or picked on by this post then maybe you should think about who you are, what you do and ultimately, what value you really add. 

Learning new skills is part of your growth curve but the opportunity to learn whilst being paid should come because of previous success.  If you are learning at the expense of others, and they carry all the risk, watch out.  It's not the way for 2009. The real experts will succeed in 2009, the hangers on will find themselves with no place to go. 

Let us hope that paying clients, with very focused budgets and people, make more right decisions than wrong ones.  So that put the onus on the real experts to differentiate themselves; bring on 2009!

Think cloud | Think ATS | Think Salesforce

I had a demo yesterday by Job Science who have created a very neat ATS based on the Salesforce platform with a very sensible cost for pretty much any size of organisation from 1 User upwards.

There are a number of other vendors in this space such as Taleo which I will cover in more detail in a special report due out in January.  But where does the potential of Salesforce leave other ATS vendors?  Shaking, hiding, laughing???

The time of year | Christmas and annual awards!

Yesterday we had the Fistful of Talent Blog Power Rankings and now we have UK Recruiter following hot on their heels with the 2008 Best UK Recruitment Blog.  Whilst these awards are not life changing they do a lot to promote the various blogs which are in most cases good and provide useful information to the recruitment and HR community.

So please do take a moment to vote for one of the blogs so that we all know someone appreciates reading our opinions, ramblings, thoughts.......

Vote for the 2008 Best UK Recruitment Blog

Not Linkedin but.....

The Google profile may not be that new but where will it go?  Have you got one yet?  Do you really need/want yet another?  I created one anyway!

Career sites in 2009 - stop, stumble or go?

Of course there will be 'recruitment freezes' in 2009 but the need for even better people will be even more critical.  What do you think?