Jobinablog

Before you send that email, just think for a second...

We all send them every day, but do you think about what you are doing before you press send? Believe it or not Seth Godin - who can only be described as one of todays thought marketing Guru's - has created a very interesting checklist of 34 (yes 34!) things you should consider once you have written the email AND before you send it. I guarantee this will get you thinking!! They are:

1. Really? They've written back? (if no, reconsider email).
2. If it is a cold-call email, and you're sure it's welcome, and you're sure it's not spam, then don't apologize. If you need to apologize, then yes, it's spam, and you'll get the brand-hurt you deserve.
3. Am I angry? (If so, save as draft and come back to the note in one hour).
4. Could I do this note better with a phone call?
5. Am I blind-ccing my boss? If so, what will happen if the recipient finds out?
6. Is there anything in this email I don't want the attorney general, the media or my boss seeing? (If so, hit delete).
7. Is any portion of the email in all caps? (If so, consider changing it.)
8. Is it in black type at a normal size?
9. Do I have my contact info at the bottom? (If not, consider adding it).
10. Have I included the line, "Please save the planet. Don't print this email"? (If so, please delete the line and consider a job as a forest ranger or flight attendant).
11. Could this email be shorter?
12. Is there anyone copied on this email who could be left off the list?
13. Have I attached any files that are very big? (If so, google something like 'send big files' and consider your options.)
14. Have I attached any files that would work better in PDF format?
15. Are there any :-) or other emoticons involved? (If so, reconsider).
16. Am I forwarding someone else's mail? (If so, will they be happy when they find out?)
17. Am I forwarding something about religion (mine or someone else's)? (If so, delete).
18. Am I forwarding something about a virus or worldwide charity effort or other potential hoax? (If so, visit snopes and check to see if it's 'actually true).
19. Did I hit 'reply all'? If so, am I glad I did? Does every person on the list need to see it?
20. Am I quoting back the original text in a helpful way? (Sending an email that says, in its entirety, "yes," is not helpful).
21. If this email is to someone like Seth, did I check to make sure I know the difference between its and it's? Just wondering.
22. If this is a press release, am I really sure that the recipient is going to be delighted to get it? Or am I taking advantage of the asymmetrical nature of email--free to send, expensive investment of time to read or delete?
23. Are there any little animated creatures in the footer of this email? Adorable kittens? Endangered species of any kind?
24. If I had to pay 42 cents to send this email, would I?

How big is your untapped recruitment marketing potential?

As a business you are sitting on a huge untapped wealth of future potential candidates. Sounds mad doesn't it, but what I am referring to is your untapped recruitment marketing potential of your business. Chris Cardell, a recognised business thinker, lists these areas of your business where your hidden wealth could be, and the areas where you have not optimised or maximised your marketing strategies. I have expanded and ammended these to give direct relevance to the recruitment sector.They are:

• Every brochure, letter or email you write that does not build, create or nurture a deep and outstanding relationship with your potential employees.
• Every letter or email that you would like to write but simply don’t get around to.
• Every penny you spend on recruitment advertising that does not work.
• Every penny you spend on recruitment advertising that does not utilise the proven techniques for improving candidate response levels.
• Every job seeker that you don’t thank for their conacting you for employment.
• Every job seeker that you don’t ask for a referral of anothr job seeker.
• Everyone who contacts you who is never converted into a future potential employee or referrer.
• Every magazine, newspaper, radio or TV station that you don’t appear on because you think PR is complicated.
• Every person who visits your web site who you never hear from again.
• Every week or month that goes by without you sending an email to your prospective job seekers/ prospective employees giving them some information of real value to them.

So you can see there will defiantly be something here that your business can benefit from doing. Go on take a couple of ideas and run with them!

10 Ways to Reduce Your Recruitment Costs

Is your recruitment budget already running on empty this year? Well if you need to looking at reducing your recruitment costs, here is a document I wrote recently that highlights 10 ways to start reducing your recruitment costs.

I guarantee that you won't be using them all!!

Recruiting Generation Y staff the Disney way

Following on from my previous post on using video as a recruiting tool, I wanted to share a post I read today by Bea Fields, whose blog is aptly titled "Attracting the New Workforce".  She looks at attracting the generation Y workforce, and how companies need to address their recruitment strategies accordingly. She has highlighted Disney's new recruitment campaign aimed specifically at generation y college leavers.

What I particularly like about this Disney program is this video, because it taps right into the mentality of different generation y groups. As you might expect from Disney, it is a well polished video, but it gets the exact message across.

Your employer brand WILL help your recruitment

Your employer brand WILL help you find the right candidates! The one thing that is imperative is to be certain that your recruitment brand reflects your culture. A recruitment brand succinctly identifies your employment value proposition; “Who are you? What are your values? What do you have to offer employees?  How will they be treated?”  These are the questions that potential employees want to know. 

Does your employment brand provide answers to these questions?

Low hanging fruit does not need to be so expensive!

Why is it that so many companies fail to harvest  'low hanging fruit?'

Let me explain a little further - when I refer to low hanging fruit, I am talking about candidates that have made it very easy for them selves to be found on job boards etc by placing their CV's online. And when they are in the harvest season, they also make themselves readily available by applying for good online advertised jobs, and at the same time they visit many career websites.

So why is it then that companies ignore these 'juicy fruits' (new candidates) and turn to the 'fruit pickers' (recruitment agencies) to deliver their products to them, with the added cost of a large 'delivery fee'?

This is a cause of much frustration to me, when speaking with companies who are complaining about their recruitment process. They just need to look at their direct recruitment strategy, and incorporate some straight forward processes such as placing their own online adverts or creating their own career site/job pages. They could also utilise one of the many online CV databases for a short period of time. These are some of the basics that a recruitment agency would use as their first candidate search for any role you have given them to look at. So why not get there first and save yourself paying for any low hanging fruit they simply pluck from the trees?

Jobinablog - a video presentation

A few people have had a little trouble grasping the concept of Jobinablog, so by means of a further explanation, I have produced a presentation that I am sure will make complete sense!!

Now you know how it works, I look forward to your phone call!!

Generation Y'ers- 10 things you need to know about recruiting them

You will have heard of the phrase Generation Y , but what does it mean to you as an employer? Well first of all lets define what it is: they are defined as being born between 1980 and 1984, and aged between 13-27. So as you can see they are your future employees. So to give you an insight into the generation Y work philosophy, here are 10 things you need to know about employing generation Y'ers:

1. They don't expect to be asked about their work experience - they have very little. They will tell you how the world is moving so fast they don't need experience - but they do expect you to still give them the opportunity to show what they can do.
2. They will want to work in a two-way management situation. Just don't expect them to to sit back and take instruction, they will reply with their own input.
3. Questions. Be prepared - all they do is ask questions.
4. They need to be part of a continuous feedback loop. They constantly need reassurance and constant feedback to keep their interest.
5. Money is key. They have an inbuilt expectancy to be paid a good salary from the beginning.
6. Training is important, but so is the style of training. They will want to pass test like training, where scores and definative marks are given - don't forget they are not long out of school/college.
7. Short attention spans. Boredom will kick in quite quickly with them, and don't expect them to work unlimited hours in a day to get that project done, they will only work when they want to.
8. They are focused on their social life and consequently plan work around it, rather than the other way around.
9. Don't expect them to win that gold watch for staying long in your company. They will already be planning the next job before they have even started with you. And they see nothing wrong with this.
10. What does money mean to them? A means to an end - they won't be buying a house, they will be focusing on enjoying themselves. So they will earn (and spend) what it takes to do that, not much more.

Business Matters - great local based SME publication

Nothing like a bit of self promotion, as well as advertising a good local business publication. Business Matters is a well thought out and highly credible monthly business paper for the business community in the south east (UK). They are now online starting with this months issue. Check out page 9 for yours truly!

 

As a writer for them each month on recruitment related subjects, it would be wrong of me not to give it some airtime, wouldn't it?

If you build it, they will come

Many companies who don't use their websites to recruit staff directly, are really missing out on their prime marketing tool to recruit - their own company website! Assuming (dangerous I know!) that the website looks good and is informative about  your company, then there is no reason to doubt that people would want to work for you........is there?