4 Skills UK Recruiters Want to Tackle (And How They Can Do It)

4 Skills UK Recruiters Want to Tackle (And How They Can Do It) This article is sponsored by LinkedIn. How are those tough New Year’s resolutions going? The start of the year is always a popular time to take a look back at the last twelve months and ask ourselves what we could do better. But it can be harder to make these good intentions stick. And our professional lives are no different. Creating sustainable, lasting improvements to the way we work is a much bigger challenge than a one-off win. Towards the end of 2015, over on our Twitter channel (@HireOnLinkedIn), we asked UK recruiters to share with us the skills they want to master in 2016 with our #RecruitingSkills campaign. The response was incredibly positive it’s great to know recruiters care about their own skills as much as they care about finding the ones their business needs. We all have to adapt to a changing world, and the hiring process is no different. The big question is what did they tell us â€" and, more importantly, what can they do about it? Half in our online poll have said they are grappling with social recruitment â€" despite the fact that this is the number one source of quality hires (according to LinkedIn research). It’s no surprise to see this top of the list when it comes to recruiters’ self-improvement. Why? In a short space of time, both in-house and agency recruiters have gone from relying on job boards, little black books and cold calling candidates, to finding and engaging the best candidates for the job online. There is now a wealth of useful data at their fingertips to help â€" but only if they can find it and apply it in the right way. Furthermore, recruiters are now successfully hiring candidates who were not actively looking for a new job in the first place. These potential hires need to be engaged very differently compared to people proactively looking for their next position. Long gone are the days of posting a job advert and sitting back to wait for CVs to simply flood in! And for candidates, social media and the web mean they have access to more information about potential employers than ever before. They may know more about day-to-day life in a business than some of its senior leaders; they certainly have more career options available to them as a result. No wonder then that social is transforming recruitment. So what can recruiters do to really tackle this? There is plenty of killer advice available from our in-house experts and others in the field to help overcome all these problems. Here is selection of some of the best: To find out what skills you need to be the world’s greatest social recruiter today, how the role is evolving and what getting your employer brand online is all about check out The Savvy Recruiter’s Career Guide. If engaging and winning over passive talent is top of your list â€" and as two-thirds of talent in the UK is passive, why wouldn’t it be? â€" then check out this guide  to engaging with these potential candidates. Recruiters who use data insights in the recruitment process hire faster and hire better. Data is the secret weapon every recruiter should be able to deploy. Find out more in  our infographic showing why data makes for better recruiters. And finally, if it’s pipelining talent that you want to tackle, we have 12 tips to build a stunning pipeline available to help you build a warm community of candidates for your hardest-to-fill roles. 2016 is already shaping up to be a great year â€" but one thing is certain; no recruiter can afford to stand still and keep using out of date tactics. Only those who keep on adapting and evolving will survive. I’d love to know what your big challenges are this year and what sustainable changes you are striving to achieve in your work â€" please do share them in the comments below. In the meantime, good luck and very best wishes for the year ahead. Image: Shutterstock

The Gen Z Basics Employers Need to Know

The Gen Z Basics Employers Need to Know Generation Z. Youve no doubt heard about them, but what should employers know about the new kids on the career block? For so long millennials have been the under the spotlight, for positive reasons and negative ones, too. When it comes to talent attraction and retention, we know its about getting in early and building lasting relationships. Thats why the real recruitment-savvy businesses are beginning to shift some focus from millennials to the quickly up coming cohort known as Generation Z, iGen and founders. What characterises  them? Well, theyre in school now, or just finishing up. They were born  post-1995  and have no recollection of a time before mobile devices. Various organisations and businesses have conducted research into what makes Gen Z tick. Obviously you cant go paint all individuals with the same brush, Things you have to do to get  them interested in your business: Get on social This is not supposed to be news to you, more so a reiteration  of what you already know. Recent global research by  Smart Insights  suggests Facebook is the most popular worldwide social media platform, with 1,590 million users. However The Centre for Generational Kinetics  has found that Instagram and Twitter  are in fact  more popular among iGen.  They also found that more of iGen than any other generation believes social media directly affects happiness, wellbeing and self esteem including dating prospects. Its clear that Gen Z is an online generation, so businesses wanting to  capture the early interest of budding professionals should  bring social engagement to the forefront of talent strategies. Go mobile Smartphones are important to iGen. The Centre for Generational Kinetics has found they expect to receive smartphones earlier than any other generation does. Simply having a compelling website and social media presence isnt enough.  Business that are recruiting need to make sure  job ads, application forms, company profiles, employee advocacy campaigns and marketing ventures are mobile-friendly, if they want to reach Gen Z. Offer control growth According to  Jobbios white paper  on Gen Z, entrepreneurship is important. They want to be entrepreneurial; they want to own what they are doing. Business with an agenda of attracting early stage professionals need to consider this when marketing opportunities how can more control be siphoned into positions? Hot Spots Movement Research Institute conducted another study  revealing almost a quarter of iGenners surveyed  preferred the idea of freelancing 23%! This same study, conducted across 31 countries, also revealed the vast majority of 14-18 year olds want multiple jobs in their lifetime, with only 10% wanting a job for life.  More than a third of those in the study want to move 4 or more times throughout their careers. This signals the importance of businesses offering dynamic positions and promoting internal mobility in order to retain younger professionals for longer. Be succinct powerful Gen Z are frequently reported to  have shorter attention spans than other generations, meaning they need to be kept entertained and interested, or theyll likely move on to the next opportunity in an instant. It goes further than that some say apparently you have just 8 seconds to capture their interest so its important to be succinct, powerful and snappy with recruitment marketing. This Marketing Week article is a really interesting read, and while it agrees that business would do well to  make messages relevant, clear and concise, it also debunks the short attention span claims, instead outlining iGens remarkable information navigation skills. Interesting. At the end of the day,  all individuals inside a generation are not the same. Personality differences, workplace preferences and extremes will always exist in any wide group of people pooled together by birthdate range. However, where research and evidence supports major generational trends, employers and recruitment marketers would be doing themselves a disservice not to  listen!

First Impressions Impact In Todays Job Market - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

First Impressions Impact In Todays Job Market - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Why do hiring managers decide in the first 8 seconds if they’re going hire a candidate or not?* The First Impressions. From handshake to hairstyle, wardrobe to watch, each component of a candidate is dissected in a matter of minutes. As an author it reminds me of the adage “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” The handshake Everyone knows the limp fish shake that makes you think the person’s decision-making might be as weak as his handshake. Then there’s the clammy palm creating a discreet, desperate move to wipe your hand on the nearest surface and plot the goodbye handshake escape within the first 10 seconds of hello. And, then, the perfect medium-firm handshake walks through the door and bells ring, butterfly wings flutter, “aha, I’ve been hoping you’d arrive.” The outfit Smudged glasses, wrinkled shirt and pants two inches too long make a strong first impression. The few minutes it takes to iron a shirt (or pants) and the $15 investment in nicely tailored pants provide great return on your personal brand and job search. An outfit conveys as much about a person’s professional acumen (e.g. if they care about the attention to detail in their appearance they will care about it with their duties, as it does) as their experience. The arrival An unexpected car accident that creates distracting traffic or food poisoning from a bad order of take out the night before; when these things happen the majority of people are understanding. Heavy traffic, inclement weather, poor planning, arriving 5-10-15 minutes late, getting lost; these types of excuses are merely excuses that, with proper planning, can be avoided. If this happens, call at least 15 minutes before your scheduled interview time to advise you’ll be late in order to minimize the damage to both your personal brand and first impression. From the moment we meet, before a word is spoken, our eyes glance over each other to determine where we file you in our mind. Are you intelligent? Sophisticated? Charismatic? Creative? Mostly, do we ‘fit’ together? Companies and individuals dating are much alike in this way. Go forth and date, I mean, job hunt and prosper. * Source: Career Sudoku: 9 Ways to Win the Job Search Game Author: Adriana Llames is the Division Vice President, Social Media Marketing for Sears Holdings and the acclaimed author of “Career Sudoku: 9 Ways to Win the Job Search Game”. Llames led a boutique career coaching services firm for over a decade and has been featured on ABC, CNNMoney, CBS News and Yahoo! For more information, visit www.adrianallames.com

4 Ways to Say NO! to Your Boss

4 Ways to Say NO! to Your Boss At one point or another, we’ve all been asked to do something for our boss that went beyond the scope of our job, whether it was picking up a personal item from the store or weighing in on a non-work related matter. According to a recent Career Builder  survey, more than one in five workers say that their boss asks them to do things that are unrelated to their job. Some of the most unusual requests they had received included plucking a boss’s unibrow for a photo shoot, “liking” a boss’s Facebook photos, and coaching other employees on how to pass a drug test. Another  survey  of 3,500 workers in Singapore by Job Central found that 40% of workers had been asked to complete tasks that had nothing to do with their job. A few of the bizarre things that these workers had been asked to do included waiting in an illegally parked car to keep an eye out for ticketing officers, and dressing up as Batman for a client meeting. Even if you’ve never been asked to do something quite as “out there” as the above requests, if your boss frequently asks you to do things that really aren’t part of your job, or that you honestly can’t do for whatever reason, it might be time to start putting your foot down. But how do you say “no” to your boss without putting yourself in a precarious position? 1) Learn to say no without actually saying “no”: Saying no to your boss can create an awkward situation at best, and cost you your job at worst, but there are ways to say “no” without actually sounding out that ominous word. Rather than saying “No, I don’t have time for that,” or “No, that’s not my job,” try taking a more tactful approach by explaining your predicament. For instance, saying: “I’d be happy to work on that for you, but I have two deadlines coming up and I don’t think I can do it this week,” works better than an abrupt “I’m too busy,” because you are helping your boss to see what you are up against. 2) Communicate your reasons as clearly as possible: No matter what reasons you have for saying no, it’s important to explain yourself clearly to avoid any misunderstandings. If you’re swamped with other work and simply can’t take on another task, let your boss or manager know that you are open to doing it, but don’t think you’ll be able to give it your full attention. You could even ask for their advice on how to manage your workload and which tasks they feel should be prioritised. If you feel uncomfortable with something you are asked to do, either because it could get you into trouble, is too personal or goes against your integrity, explain yourself, but keep it short and sweet. A simple explanation like “I don’t really feel comfortable doing that because…” or “Please don’t ask me to do this because…” will usually suffice, and your boss will likely be more mindful of your boundaries in the future. 3) Suggest an alternative: The best way to tackle an unreasonable request is to come up with a solution that will meet everyone’s needs, and also demonstrate your willingness to help. For example, if you are asked to work through the weekend, but have already made prior arrangements; explain your predicament and offer to talk to some of your colleagues to see if anyone can step in for you. Or if you’re asked to do something that is unrelated to your job or are given a project you don’t feel qualified to take on, you can politely suggest they speak to another person who might be more suitable for the task. For instance: “I don’t have much experience with X, but I know that Jim has worked on similar projects in the past,” will come across much better than just; “I don’t know how to do that.” 4) Always frame your response thoughtfully: How you respond is just as important as what you are actually saying. Pay attention to your tone of voice and don’t let your emotions get the better of you when voicing your hesitations. If you find yourself caught off guard by a request from your boss, take a minute to compose yourself and formulate an appropriate response, or if necessary, ask if you can have a moment to think about it. There’s a  good  chance that your boss simply doesn’t realize how much you have on your plate, so your first reaction should never be one of anger or frustration, even if that’s how you’re feeling at the time. Author: Marianne Stenger is a writer with  opencolleges.edu.au. She covers career development and educational research. You can connect with her on  Twitter.

Free Green Careers Personal Branding Advice Guide - Executive Career Brandâ„¢

Free Green Careers Personal Branding Advice Guide Practical Advice for Advancing Your Personal Brand in the Green Industry   This helpful guide from Reach Personal Branding offers advice from  several other Reach Certified Personal Branding Strategists, including me. Articles include: Have a Clear Strategy and Go Green with Ease Want to Transition to a Green Job? Research and Network Your Way In Do You Bleed Green? You Don’t Have to Leave to Get a Green Job Become the Internal Environmental Champion! A Green Career Makeover Distinguishing Yourself as a Green Leader It’s Important to Act Green When You are Green How Green is Your Personal Brand? The e-book wraps things up with a good list of green career resources at the end.   Related post: 2010 Top 10 Executive Personal Branding and Job Search Trends 00 0

AWESOME letter from Joe Biden to his staff. Every boss should say this. - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

AWESOME letter from Joe Biden to his staff. Every boss should say this. - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog This 2014 letter from US vice president to his staff is AWESOME. Heres the full text: ?To my wonderful staff, I would like to take a moment and make something clear to everyone. I do not expect, nor do I want any of you to miss or sacrifice important family obligations for work. Family obligations include, but are not limited to family birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, any religious ceremonies such as first communions and bar mitzvahs, graduations and times of need such as an illness or a loss in the family. This is very important to me. In fact I will go so far as to say that if I find out you are working with me while missing important family responsibilities, it will disappoint me greatly. This has be an unwritten rule sine my days in the Senate. Thank you for all the hard work. Sincerely, Joe.? There are three reasons why I love this: He?shows staff that its OK to prioritize important family events over work. He starts with To my wonderful staff. This man clearly likes, respects and appreciates the people who work for him, Appreciating staff and giving them time for family makes them happier and happy staff are more productive. It also combats the ubiquitous?cult of overwork. Considering the losses Biden has ?suffered in his family, this letter becomes even more poignant. UPDATE: This post went viral and generated a lot of comments. Most were positive, but there were also some criticisms, that I felt missed the mark. Ive countered them here: The 3 most common objections to Bidens AWESOME memo and?my rebuttals. Related posts Every?boss needs to write to new employees this letter. 10 things the CEO can do to create a happy workplace. The 5 most important findings from the science of happiness that apply at work. Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related

Writing a Resume As a Consultant

Writing a Resume As a ConsultantThere are many ways in which you can benefit from writing a resume as a consultant. As a consultant, you will have a unique set of skills and qualifications that may not be duplicated by anyone else in the field.This is exactly the kind of experience you will want to include on your resume. Of course, if you have experience with an IT firm, this will come across well. However, there are other aspects of your skills and experiences that you can include that will prove to a potential employer that you understand the technical side of the business and that you are willing to put in the time required to learn the ins and outs of the operation.It is important to remember that the majority of the positions available require an individual to have some level of skill that they may not have developed. You may have experience working as a consultant but there may be things that you may have done that cannot be duplicated by any other candidate. Therefore, it is important to clearly define the skills that you have developed to describe them and explain what these skills are in context.An additional way in which you can present your experience to potential employers is to list your work experience by sub-sector. For example, you may have worked in the medical care industry but you may also have served in finance or in strategic planning. This enables you to distinguish yourself and highlight the skills and competencies that you have acquired that set you apart from others who are looking for the same kind of position.As well as describing your experience you should also provide a brief description of the position you held. This will help to create a clearer picture of how you can benefit the company in question. If you are still unsure of what the role entails, you can always contact the employer to gain more insight.Your resume should also indicate the specific needs of the company and how they can be met. Provide this information on the ba ck of your resume so that a prospective employer has no difficulty identifying where you meet their needs. Not only does this create an appealing resume but you also give a more concrete explanation of how you will benefit the organization.Many consultants place emphasis on their communications skills. A variety of topics can be covered on your resume to highlight the abilities you have with interpersonal communication. These can include job training and employee relations, mentoring, and mentoring initiatives.Finally, be sure to give examples of the experiences you have had that are relevant to the position you are applying for. Some examples include experience in accounting, human resources, accounting, marketing, operations management, finance, and even project management. Each of these areas should be listed separately so that the information provided can easily be compared to the jobs you may be considering.