Hire Like A Fortune 500

by Robert Burko

A recent iLogos Research study revealed 94% of Fortune 500 companies now hire employees online, a stark contrast from 1998, when only 29% of them were doing the same. If you own or manage a small business, that means the vast majority of your fiercest competitors are now spending less time and less effort on recruitment. And that leaves them with more time to, simply put, get a leg up on you.

Sure, it sounds like a threat. But isn't lack of technology an inevitable drawback for most small businesses? Absolutely not. Maybe 10, even 5 years ago. But not today.

Every time we do market research with small businesses, we hear three top reasons why the business has not yet implemented an online hiring solution, in which job candidates apply online: 1. The cost is too high 2. They lack the technological know-how 3. They believe setting up a recruitment software would take longer than just doing it the old-fashioned way

Those are all valid concerns, considering most small businesses operate on a tight budget and without an in-house IT department.

The good news is small businesses are fundamental to the North-American economy. In fact, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), small businesses drive the U.S. economy, representing 99.7 percent of all employer firms. In Canada, according to Statistics Canada, businesses with less that 100 employees account for 98% of all employer businesses.

Business software developers are now recognizing the importance of SMBs and designing employee recruitment software that caters to the specific budgetary and technological needs of small business.

It's important to do your research and find the technology that's the best fit for your company. When shopping around for a recruitment manager program, make sure to ask yourself the following questions:

1. Cost: Is the advertised price of this product the actual price my company is going to pay?
Beware of offers that are full of limitations. For example, will you have to pay more if a lot of people apply for your job? Is there a hosting charge for filing all the applicants' resumes? Is there a time-limit for your job posting, after which you have to pay extra charges?

2. Ease of technology: Is the technology really easy-to-use, even if I'm a computer novice?
The best way to find this out is by trying the product yourself. Most companies offer free trials of their products, which are a great idea, as long they are risk free. Keeping in mind question 1, make sure the trial has no hidden charges. Also try out the front-end application process to make sure it's really going to be easy when your job candidates apply online.

3. Setup: How long will it take to get up and running?
You don't want to get stuck with a product that takes so long to setup, that by the time you're done, you could have done everything the old-fashioned way. It's a good idea to talk to a sales representative and ask him/her to explain to you the exact steps you'll need to take to setup for a job.

4. The product: What's included?
What does this product do? What doesn't it do? Some programs offer only the online job posting functionality. Others focus on the back-end, like collecting resumes, organizing, filtering and searching employees, scheduling interviews, etc. When looking for a program that takes care of the back-end, make sure the company will also be able to help you with the posting functionality, whether you're putting up a poster on your store window, running an ad in the local paper or posting on job websites.

5. Service: Will I get a helping hand?
Since most small businesses do not have an IT department, one of the most important questions to ask here is what kind of service will you get. Will you get email support? Phone support? Online Live Help? Will you be speaking to a real business person who knows about the specific challenges you're facing, or to someone who only knows the tech aspects of the program?

Remember it's your company's efficiency that's at stake here, so don't be afraid to ask questions or request a free trial. Hiring online may sound like something only fit for the big guys, but remember this is the 21st century, which means technology and small business are the most important aspects of our economy.

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Robert Burko is founder and president of Eliteweb.cc, a web portal and suite of efficiency-improving tools for small businesses. Eliteweb's Recruitment Manager includes unlimited applicants, expert live support, unlimited file hosting and much more. Click on the link to hire employees online absolutely Free for 30 days.

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How Important is Your Resume?

by Murad Ali

Getting hired is tough in today's world of job layoffs, downsizing, outsourcing and cost crunching. Businesses no longer have the money to view people as simply bodies to fill a position. Instead they look for the most qualified candidates and screen their employees well. So much so that drug screens, criminal checks and employment history help companies avoid poor workers.

Resumes are another source of important information about candidates. If a resume is written with obvious spelling and grammar mistakes employers will usually discard it for reasons of basic knowledge and education. Getting the most qualified and progressive employees are an important part of business for many companies. They view good employees as productive who make few mistakes and poor employees as a liability to be replaced. A resume could show them what type of employee you really are and the reasons why they should hire you.

There are a number of things people need to keep in mind when writing their resume. Use the following list to increase your chances of employment success:

1.) Must highlight the skills and abilities of the person.

2.) Should use a format that is normally used in the field in which the person is applying.

3.) It should be clean and not more than 2 pages (variable depending on field).

4.) Your resume should have a hint of color to highlight it from other resumes.

5.) Should use parchment quality paper and an executive packet.

6.) Must have no spelling errors and use correct grammar.

Another alternative to writing your own resume is to have a professional write one for you. In this way you are sure to have one of the most ascetically pleasing and professionally written resumes in the bunch. There are many different types of resume businesses for people to turn to. Make sure the person you are working with has years of experience in the human resource field and professional writing skills

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Murad Ali is the two time published author of "A Call to Greatness: Reforming the Muslims World" and "An American Mecca: A New Muslim Homeland" available on b&n, borders, amazon, books-a-million and a number of other sites. He is also the author of the Muslim Times at http://www.muradenterprises.org

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The Pygmalion Effect

by Eric Garner

A team does as well as you and the team think they can.

This idea is known as "the self-fulfilling prophecy". When you believe the team will perform well, in some strange, magical way they do. And similarly, when you believe they won't perform well, they don't.

There is enough experimental data to suggest that the self-fulfilling prophecy is true. One unusual experiment in 1911 concerned a very clever horse called Hans. This horse had the reputation for being able to add, multiply, subtract, and divide by tapping out the answer with its hooves. The extraordinary thing was that it could do this without its trainer being present. It only needed someone to put the questions.

On investigation, it was found that when the questioner knew the answer, he or she transmitted various very subtle body language clues to Hans such as the raising of an eyebrow or the dilation of the nostrils. Hans simply picked up on these clues and continued tapping until he arrived at the required answer. The questioner expected a response and Hans obliged.

In similar vein, an experiment was carried out at a British school into the performance of a new intake of pupils. At the start of the year, the pupils were each given a rating, ranging from "excellent prospect" to "unlikely to do well". These were totally arbitrary ratings and did not reflect how well the pupils had previously performed. Nevertheless, these ratings were given to the teachers. At the end of the year, the experimenters compared the pupils' performance with the ratings. Despite their real abilities, there was an astonishingly high correlation between performance and ratings. It seems that people perform as well as we expect them to.

The self-fulfilling prophecy is also known as the Pygmalion Effect. This comes from a story by Ovid about Pygmalion, a sculptor and prince of Cyprus, who created an ivory statue of his ideal woman. The result which he called Galatea was so beautiful that he immediately fell in love with it. He begged the goddess Aphrodite to breath life into the statue and make her his own. Aphrodite granted Pygmalion his wish, the statue came to life and the couple married and lived happily ever after.

The story was also the basis of George Bernard Shaw's play "Pygmalion", later turned into the musical "My Fair Lady". In Shaw's play, Professor Henry Higgins claims he can take a Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, and turn her into a duchess. But, as Eliza herself points out to Higgins' friend Pickering, it isn't what she learns or does that determines whether she will become a duchess, but how she's treated.

"You see, really and truly, apart from the things anyone can pick up (the dressing and the proper way of speaking and so on), the difference between a lady and a flower girl is not how she behaves but how she's treated. I shall always be a flower girl to Professor Higgins, because he always treats me as a flower girl, and always will, but I know I can be a lady to you because you always treat me as a lady, and always will."

The implication of the Pygmalion effect for leaders and managers is massive. It means that the performance of your team depends less on them than it does on you. The performance you get from people is no more or less than what you expect: which means you must always expect the best. As Goethe said, "Treat a man as he is and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he can and should be and he will become as he can and should be."

Recruiting Excellent Job Candidates

by David Leonhardt

Six Easy Search Tips to Get the Cream of the Crop

An independent recruiter, recruiting agency or executive search firm is charged with tracking down excellent potential candidates for available job positions. Despite the fact that there are innumerable people seeking positions of employment in the 21st century, it often seems to a typical recruiting agency that qualified men and women are few and far between.

Here are six easy tips that recruiting services, staffing firms, or executive search firms should keep in mind when on the hunt for outstanding potential job candidates in the 21st century.

These tips are equally applicable to companies undertaking their own search without the help of recruiting agency services. Indeed, the headaches associated with finding qualified personnel is magnified for a company undertaking its own recruitment efforts.

1. Post an Ad on an Industry-specific Job Board. Oftentimes, a recruiter will take a scattershot approach to finding candidates that are worthy of consideration for an available position. They broadcast far and wide the fact that a certain position is open and available, in big city newspapers and on major Internet job boards.

If a recruiting agency were more thoughtful about its recruitment efforts, it would realize the benefits of positing an announcement of an available position on an industry-specific Internet job board. By posting in a selective and admittedly limited manner, recruiters and staffing firms would be reaching out precisely to the pool of people most likely to be qualified for an open position.

One excellent tool for finding industry-specific job boards can be accessed at The Online Recruiters Directory Job Board Directory.

2. Use Recruiters that Specialize in a Given Field. As with advertising, choosing an effective recruiter might be just a matter of targeting, particularly for a managerial or executive position. These positions can be very hard for in-house personnel directors and human resource managers. While these people do have responsibility for hiring, the search for a new employee with skills beyond the norm for their company can best be targeted by a professional executive head hunter.

The same can be said for specialized fields, such as accounting or information systems. In-house human resources staff might know all about pharmaceutical skill-sets required for a multitude of research and administration positions, but they might rarely have to deal with hiring staff to track money or to keep the computers functioning. That's when recruiting agency services specializing in IT or in accounting can come in handy.

3. Develop an In-House Referral Program. In many instances, exiting staff members can help speed up the search for quality job candidates. Employees often have contacts elsewhere within the industry, some of which may be looking for a change of employment.

By cultivating this internal resource, a personnel director can develop a wealth of ready information about prospective employees who might well serve the organization as valued employees.

4. Search Resumes Posted on Job Boards. In addition to advertising on an industry specific job board, a diligent personnel director or recruiting agency will want to take the time to search and consider resumes that have been posted on job boards.

Often, a person pounding the pavement looking for employment may not have the time to take in and review all of the various available positions that have been posted on a every job board. This is even more true if a given prospect is a highly sought-after candidate, who might be still busy in a current position of responsibility.

5 .Use a Directory of Recruiters. Because there are so many different type of recruiters in business in the 21st century it can often be difficult for in-house human resources staff to pinpoint the recruiter that will be best able to meet the needs of a given employee recruitment campaign. But there are resources available, such as directories of recruiters. One such directory isThe Online Recruiters Directory.

By using a professional directory, in-house human resources staff will be able to identify the most appropriate resources for their company and for the recruiting task at hand. Even staffing firms can benefit from such a recruiters directory to seek help in a specialized field they don't often work with.

6. Don't Rush the Process. Finally, while it is an overused saying, "Rome wasn't built in a day." In the same vein, 99 times out of 100 there is no need to rush the process of seeking, identifying and hiring a new employee, particularly an executive level employee.

A personnel director should take his or her time to identify, screen, interview and hire the best candidate. Throughout this process, a human resources manager or specialist will rely on the services and support tools identified in this article.

By using these tips, in the long run the best possible candidate for a given position will end up being hired, and the company will benefit from the best possible employees.

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David Leonhardt is a freelance writer and professional SEO consultant in Canada. He wrote this article for an online directory of recruiting firms and recruiting agency services. Read more on staffing firms and executive search firms.

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Getting Hired Before the Interview

by Cathy Warschaw

You've been cool and calm up until this moment and making all the right moves. You've sent killer resumes, along with fantastic cover letters, out to dozens of employers. And today a prospective employer has finally contacted you for that first all-important interview. You've studied and planned for this dream position for many days; yet now you are terrified.

What has shaken your confidence? You are suddenly finding yourself obsessing over the horrifying idea of going blank during the interview. You can't sleep well at night and butterflies appear in your stomach each time you think about the big day. Are you alone in feeling this way?

Certainly not. Many job seekers experience anxiety and apprehension when it comes to interviewing with a potential employer. After all, what's not stressful about selling yourself to a total stranger on why he or she should hire you for their company? It was probably an interviewee who came up with, "You never get a second chance to make a first impression."

That statement holds true for job interviewing more than any other situation; but it is possible to prepare yourself for a stellar interview and to literally steal the job before you've even sat down for the interview. Learn how you can increase your chances of landing the job of your dreams with some basic tips and advice.

Firstly, know thy audience. Do your research on the company's history and what products or services they offer. Nothing genuinely flatters an employer more than to know that someone has taken the time to understand what his or her company is all about.

Secondly, develop a very short commercial about yourself. Put together a two-minute summary detailing your strengths, skills, and goals; then commit it to memory. This brief infomercial that is all about you serves to effectively promote and sell you to prospective employers.

A third tip that can't be emphasized enough is to practice, practice, practice your answers to possible questions. Not only does practicing ease anxiety and instill confidence in yourself, but it can also prevent you from going blank during the interview. Some of the most common interview questions are:
* Tell me about yourself.
* What do you know about the services or goods our company provides?
* What are your short and long term goals?
* Describe your strengths and weaknesses.
* What is the greatest challenge you've ever faced and how did you overcome it?

While on the topic of questions, develop a mental list of your own to ask the employer. After all, this could be your future employer; therefore, you should demonstrate enthusiasm and interest for the job for which you are applying. Some suggestions are:

* What are the key responsibilities of this position?
* What is a typical work day like? But no matter how tempting, do not ask about how much money you will be making!

A fourth bit of advice is to bring extra copies of your resume and references with you to the interview. This simple little step shows that you are conscientious; never take the chance of an employer not being able to view all of your hard work and accomplishments just because he didn't have a copy of your resume handy.

A fifth step that is frequently overlooked is lining up your list of references before they are contacted by a potential employer. Your list of contacts should be well-versed on your work skills and strengths and have direct knowledge of your job performance. Guarantee that you receive glowing recommendations by informing your references in advance that they may be contacted by a potential employer.

The following is a list of do's and don'ts to go over when preparing for the job interview.

Do:
* Verify directions and parking before the day of interview.
* Go alone. That means no Mom or your best friend.
* Arrive a little early. Ten to fifteen minutes early is a good practice.
* Be clean and well groomed. Ladies, avoid nail polish, strong perfume, and loud colors and jewelry. Fellows, don't use strong cologne and avoid wearing jewelry.
* Smile and shake hands firmly.
* Make good eye contact.
* Speak clearly and use proper grammar.
* Ask for clarification if you don't understand a question.
* Take time to think about your answers.
* Ask when a hiring decision will be made.
* Thank the prospective employer for their time.
* Write a follow-up letter to the prospective employer within one day following the interview.

Don't:
* Speak too fast.
* Smoke or chew anything.
* Ask about salary.
* Discuss personal or financial problems.
* Criticize your former employers or colleagues.

Remember that the prospective employer has already expressed an interest in you by contacting you for an interview. Take advantage of this golden opportunity by thoroughly preparing yourself to land that dream job. You may find yourself reporting for work on Monday morning.

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Cathy Warschaw is the Director of the Warschaw Learning Institute the leading online dental office training among today's dental professionals, adults changing careers and high school seniors.

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