April 2016

For most employers, especially small business owners without a dedicated HR department, online recruiting has become their main source for finding qualified candidates. But where to start? With so many online options available today and with so many sales reps from online recruiting companies trying to get you to sign up for their program, how do you really know which online recruiting method or internet site is right for you?

The problem of “where” to look for your best candidates is usually rooted in the problem of not knowing exactly “who” you are looking for. Before you can even begin to select the appropriate recruiting method, online or otherwise, you need to clearly identify the type of person that you are looking for and then narrow down the places that they’re most likely to see your ad. Knowing how to properly target your job ad is critical in capturing the attention of your best possible candidates. Carefully placing your ad is even more important if you’re on a budget, and who isn’t? You don’t want to waste time and money putting expensive ads everywhere that won’t reach your target audience.

Once you know the “who”, the “where” starts to narrow itself down. Here are 5 online recruiting methods that will get you the candidates that you’re looking for.

Online Recruiting Method #1 – Use your website for recruiting new hires. Just like your organization’s website is often the first impression you make on a potential client, your Career Opportunities page is often a potential employee’s first look at what you have to offer. Make it count. Create a website that markets your organization as an Employer of Choice in much the same way you would use your website to market your products and services. Remember to speak in terms of benefits not features and explain the advantages to your potential employee of choosing your organization over another. You can even Include pictures (even videos) of the people in your organization working and playing. Add testimonials from your current employees about how they enjoy being a part of your organization. These will work just like your client testimonials in your marketing material.

Unfortunately, most small and medium-sized businesses usually have their careers or job opportunities page buried too deeply within their site and the candidate needs to go to a lot of effort to find it and apply for a position.

Online Recruiting Method #2 – Post job listings on professional association websites to find new employees. There are guilds, groups, associations and networking affiliations for everything from architects to zoologists so with a little investigation and a few keyword Google searches you can find any number of websites catering to your target employee. Better yet, if you find local chapter websites for these national sites, post a job listing on these.

You can also use the information on these sites to research salary ranges, typical job descriptions, benefits programs and educational requirements. This information will help you offer the best possible work experience for your new hire.

Online Recruiting Method #3 – Career Services websites like Monster, Workopolis and TheLadders, are excellent places to post job listings. Again though, keep in mind who you are trying to attract. Some Career Services cater to specific industries, professions and experience and salary levels. Finding a Career Services site that targets your industry or niche will greatly increase your odds of getting noticed by the right candidates. And you can often “try-before-you-buy” at these sites as well so take advantage of this kind of offer. If you can, have a look at some of the resumes that they have on file to be sure that they’ll match your needs.

Online Recruiting Method #4 – If you need to hire someone with a degree or other higher level education, then have a look at college, university and alumni association websites. These sites often have career sections in their websites for both new grads as well as their experienced alumni. You could also supplement this type of online recruiting technique by presenting at their job fairs and career days activities.

Online Recruiting Method #5 – And finally, don’t forget the Social Networking sites like LinkedIn and Facebook. These types of sites are becoming increasingly popular for both employees and employers looking to hook up. Both of these sites also offer opportunities for you to create a second online presence for your company in addition to your regular website. Take advantage of this secondary web presence to emphasize the many and varied career opportunities available with your company and begin creating that pool of qualified candidates that your business will need to grow.

Are you a victim of this unprecedented economy, with record high unemployment rates? Are you currently working in a position that does not offer the professional and personal growth you were promised when you on-boarded? Do you feel like it’s time to begin seeking a new employment opportunity, so that your career goals remain on track? If you answered yes to any or all of the questions posed, it may be time for you to consider partnering with a Career Agent.

What exactly is a Career Agent, and how do you connect with the best in the field? Simply described, a Career Agent is a Recruiting Specialist who focuses only on working with clients and job candidates in your industry. For example, if you are involved in Executive Nurse Management, you would want to seek out a Recruiter who targets matching medical facilities with people in your field of expertise. While there are generalists who recruit and place professionals across all industries and professions, it is important to work specifically with the Career Agent who is going to be able to present you with multiple opportunities, and provide you with the coaching and support that will exponentially increase your chances of receiving job offers.

Why would any professional choose to work with a Recruiting Specialist, versus simply performing a job search on their own? Browsing the web, reviewing help wanted ads, networking, creating and revising resumes, writing personalized cover letters, submitting applications, interview preparation, setting up interviews, following up with hiring managers, offer negotiations, and going through a resignation all are very time-consuming tasks associated with the job search process. While it is very possible to handle an employment search at the entry-level, it becomes more cumbersome from mid-level positions through executive management. Working with a Career Agent ensures that your best interests are addressed throughout the process, and enables you to consistently have a higher overall earning potential.

Here are some basic tips for finding and working with a Recruiting Specialist:

Social networking websites like LinkedIn and Twitter are great places to locate Recruiters in your field.
Call the Recruiter directly, to discuss how they can assist you. Just like in any industry, some Recruiters are better than others, and this is often apparent when you discuss your prospective business relationship.
Understand that in most cases, the Career Agent or Recruiter is paid by the employer when they successfully place you in a job. In essence, they are representing you at no charge. If a Recruiter tells you they want money up front from you – continue comparison shopping.
Your Recruiter should be available when you need them, during business hours. When you leave a message, you should expect to receive a call-back within a reasonable amount of time.
Any good Recruiter will ask you to provide them with a list of companies you want them to target on your behalf. This is one of the ways you have access to unadvertised jobs through a Career Agent.
The Recruiting Specialist you work with should be communicating with you on a regular basis. Their goal is to represent you, not only for the particular job change you are currently involved with, but over the course of your professional life.
Working with a Recruiter who specializes in your field can greatly increase your chances of receiving the quality job offers you are seeking. While it’s possible to accomplish finding a new employment opportunity on your own, this can be a time consuming task that may not provide the desired results. Seeking out a Recruiting Specialist ensures your career is kept on track, and that you have the personal and professional representation necessary to remain competitive in today’s job market. Keep your competitive edge over the course of your professional life – partner with a Career Agent today.

Recruiters are very important to the hiring process because they are the gatekeepers to introducing you as a qualified candidate to hiring managers. We want to talk to you about the strategy that you should take when talking with recruiters to help convince them that you are the right candidate for the job. This is very important and we want to help prepare you for success. People need to take their careers very seriously. This means that you must be presentable, professional, and ready to talk business when you meet recruiters. Corporate recruiters are so important to the hiring process for organizations. There are small, medium, and large size corporations that have their own internal recruiters to help them fill positions for their companies.

After all, companies can not deliver services or products to their customers without great people supporting their mission. You may not get a lot of chances to meet a corporate recruiter but when you do then you have to professional to make a good impression. You do not want to make a lot of jokes and show that you are immature for the demands of the position. After all, people want to hire candidates that can do the position very well.

Recruiters are matchmakers

Hello, candidate. Let us introduce you to our friendly recruiter, the gatekeeper. The gatekeeper’s job is to let only people who are worthy pass through the gates. If you impress the recruiter then they will let you pass through the gates and into the lobby of the office building where you sit and wait to meet the hiring manager. Recruiters are not people who you should be scared of at all. They are actually very good people who are in the business of reducing the unemployment rate for our nation. This is actually a very rewarding business. Recruiters are really in the matchmaking business. This is similar to a matchmaking service like eharmony or any other major dating website. Except there job may be a bit tougher. Think about this for a second. When you go onto an online dating website, you use the system to help you find matches for your potential dates.You perform the searches online looking for that special someone who may peek your interest. Well, recruiters use systems like monster, dice, career builder to look for matches for their employer. They provide a service in finding candidates who would be a great fit for their organization. This is a tough job because a recruiter needs to determine a candidate’s ability to do the job based on a resume search. They then do a call with the candidate to do an initial interview to see if they have the potential to thrive in their corporate culture.

Have a good resume

When you create an online profile on a dating website, it is essentially your online resume for love.You are going to take the time that you need to fill out the profile to make sure your best qualities shine. After all, you want to meet that special someone who can make you happy. Well, this is not so different than creating a resume to get the attention of recruiters. You want to make sure that your resume stands out. Even if this means getting a professional resume writer to help you design, and develop your resume to meet your career goals. Your resume is the first opportunity for you to make a lasting impression on the recruiter. Make sure that you have your employment dates filled out properly, position descriptions which properly documented, education and certifications listed, and references ready to be provided. You want to show recruiters that you are prepared and that you can be trusted to do the job well.

Be confident

The most important thing is to remember to be confident in your capabilities. If you show any hesitation in your ability to do the job or learn then recruiters will notice. If you are really not confident then take the necessary training that you need to learn your job well. Recruiters only want to bring in people who are confident and capable of doing a good job for their organization. Recruiters take pride in bringing in great talent to their companies. Company innovation and service is built on their human resources. So, please be confident in your self. You are valuable, important, and can make a difference. There is no one like you on this planet. You are truly special and have a lot to give an organization. Best of luck to you.

A recruitment agency is a very efficient way to get a job as more and more companies are choosing to outsource their recruitment function to employment agencies.

For that reason, these agencies have contacts with many companies, much more than a candidate can personally come up with on their own.

Types of Recruitment Agencies

There are two types of agencies-specialists and generalists. While specialized agencies seek for employees in a single field such as accounting, general agencies cover the whole spectrum of skill sets while providing jobs only in a fixed geographical region.

Your selection of a suitable agency should depend upon what type of job you want, specialized or limited to a particular geographical region.

Shop Around

Getting the right match for you as well as for the company is a priority for the recruitment agency, as both are their clients. To find a recruitment agency that fulfills your requirements, you need to shop around a bit.

You should gather detailed information about the recruitment agency such as the companies it recruits for, its performance record, its market reputation, and so on, before you select one.

Be Specific

You should clearly state exactly what you are looking for-your skill sets, your expectations, and the profile of the job you are seeking. This makes the task easier for both of you; it will save your time as well as theirs.

Develop Good Rapport

Build a good relationship with your recruitment agent. If you have a good relationship with them, they will work harder to get you a good job.

It’s just human nature to work harder to help people we get along with!

Create a Good Impression

When you are visiting your recruitment company for the first time, dress as you would for a job interview. This creates a good impression and makes them realize your sincerity.

You might be asked to perform a specific job, or they might also offer you some sort of training, which usually comes free of charge. You should take advantage of it and create good rapport throughout with your recruitment agent.

Stay In Contact

Ideally, you should have regular contact with your agent. This will increase the likelihood that he will think of you first when an appropriate job comes up. If you do not hear from your agency in a week, you should give them a call. It might be that no appropriate job has come up, but it might also be that they are no longer considering you for a job since they haven’t heard from you.

As the agency finds a suitable job for you, you can let the agency negotiate your salary if you are a newcomer and have no idea about pay scales. Once again, this helps in building healthy relationships with the agency.

The agency will benefit in the long run by providing good service, because you will be more likely to come back to them the next time you’re in the job market.

Taking note of all these points and practicing them when choosing a recruitment company will increase your chances of getting a good job – and one that you’re happy with.