Glennlist

On one side, you have out-of-control federal deficits that need to be reined in.

On the other side, you have millions of unemployed workers who have not been able to find jobs because of the weak economy.

Which side are you on? Should jobless benefits be extended?

I was so frustrated when Atlanta kept getting snubbed for recruiting conferences I wanted throw my Hotpocket at all the organizers. I mean we have some big names here in Atlanta.

Residing in Hotlanta we have the nation’s whiz-bang sourcer, the sleuthiest sleuth of them all, Shally Steckerl. Just look up Recruiter in your dictionary and you’ll see Eric Jaquith’s bio. Then you have Jim Stroud (Jack Bauer of Sourcers) and if sourcers don’t know his name, they have Alzheimer’s. Leslie O’Connor created SourceCon (then sold it) and Stephanie Lloyd is another known name that has a bigger web footprint than Lady GaGa.

So finally we have a great conference coming up called Tru Source ATL on September 22nd -23rd.  And, it’s taken this long to get a freakin sourcing conference here? Are you kidding me!
Here are some topics I expect at Tru Source ATL.

Mobile technology. As always, sourcers find all the cool apps and share them with the stuffysnootyknowitall recruiters who will take credit for it later. So it’s not surprising to see all the expert sourcers are all over the mobile technology exploiting them until privacy laws are enacted and companies ban them fearing they will lose MORE employees. I expect to hear and see some serious sourcing nerdiness about mobile technology.

Social Media. Most of the good sourcers I know work in sweatpants all the time because they are comfortable and they work from home. Why do they work from home you ask? Well, social media is possibly the reason. You see, sourcing involves a lot of sites that are normally banned on the company network. These sites have to be accessed outside the network, which is where most of the geeky sourcers dwell.

The Semantic Web. No longer will data will be tied down to one single database or application. Instead data will be shared across the entire web. Most sourcers don’t see this as big deal, but I beg to differ. Every time Linkedin changes something that affects search results, the sourcing blogs blow up, and rioting ensues. Dude, bro, hear me out on this one. Web 3.0 is going to drop kick your sourcing efforts into another dimension.

Sourcing strategies. Most companies (I say this for Atlanta based companies) have some type of sourcing strategy that is tied into the recruiting process. Some work and some don’t. Problem with sourcing strategies is they are created AFTER all the others failed. I want to hear some successful sourcing strategies that worked the first time and all the time.

Sourcing is the colonoscopy of recruiting. Recruiters need to have it and will do anything to avoid it. It’s true. Most recruiters are backed up right now (pun intended). They need sourcing more than anything.  And, I’m expecting to learn a lot from Tru Source ATL. It’s not enough to say that you got it all covered because in a world of instant status updates, fan pages, tweets and video streams, good sourcers are listening in and finding great candidates and I want to freakin know how.  What do you want from Tru Source ATL?

Today, recruiters are getting into dog brawls over mobile app developers. But why the sudden frenzy? Why do all the recruiters have their thongs in a wad over recruiting mobile apps? Why!

Easy. There are billions of people that have mobile phones. And the days of having a desktop or laptop are coming to an end. It will all be done through small mobile devices that can wirelessly connect to other devices and networks. And to get things more geeky complicated, we have tons of mobile apps that are downloaded for business and personal use every second.

If you are recruiter, it’s time to jump into the APP hunt. It’s time to start looking at all the mobile Apps that can be used for recruiting. Maybe you already have. Maybe, just maybe you’re geeky enough to develop a recruiting App for your company. Want to learn some more about mobile and recruitment, then check out this free webinar at ERE.

From the Washington Post

The Senate’s latest jobs bill cleared a key procedural hurdle Tuesday, with the chamber voting to limit debate on a $150 billion package of tax-break extensions and aid for the unemployed.

Eight Republicans joined 58 Democrats to advance the bill, which now faces a vote on final passage Wednesday. The House’s plans to deal with the measure are unclear.

The bill includes one-year extensions of unemployment insurance and COBRA health benefits, as well as money to help states pay for Medicaid and private pension funds that have taken a big hit during the recession.

The measure also carries a “fix” to prevent a cut in payments to doctors who serve Medicare patients, as well as a $30 billion package to extend expiring tax breaks. And it includes more than $1 billion in emergency agricultural aid sought by Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), who faces a tough reelection race.

Led by Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), fiscal hawks defeated one amendment that would have spent more than $2 billion to help states pay for summer jobs and other programs for the needy.

Later this week, the Senate is expected to vote one more time on a separate $15 billion jobs measure that it has already approved once. The House tweaked that bill before passing it last week.

Why complicate things. Simpler is almost always better. Some say video resumes are too much of a headache and just freaky to watch. Jobseekers have been emailing resumes for years. They are passed around and read under a few seconds. But here are three reasons to get excited about video resumes.

Run a search on Light Peak. This is a data port and cable standard being introduced by Intel. Light Peak can move data along a beam of light at 10GB per second. That is very fast compared to the 100mbs most people have today. With Light candidates can incorporate video into their social media profiles, blogs and online resumes.

Also, I’m excited about 4G Networks for the wireless community. With 4G technology, candidates can easily integrate video into a mobile app for something like Careerbuilder. And, candidates will have access to more robust online video content from job boards like Monster.com

And finally there is HTML 5. It is a new web standard loaded with cool stuff that eliminates the need for Flash plug-ins to watch a video. HTML 5 allows videos to be easily embedded without having to download files and juggle media player formats.

It’s true that a video resume can do more harm than good. But with this emerging video technology, job seekers can easily send targeted video resumes. And Recruiters can deploy creative videos to promote their jobs.

Lastly, recruiters blaze through online resumes. I know I do it. But, with video resumes, applicants have a couple of minutes to explain why they are qualified for the position. And once a Recruiter starts watching a video resume clip, they are more likely to view it to the very end than quickly click away like with online resumes.

I’m hedging my bet that video resumes will explode in the coming years. The number of major sites that support rich video content is growing by leaps and bounds.  Recruiters will have more places to find candidates and being able to subscribe to a video resume feeds is a great option.

Forget that pathetic packet of coffee over in the break room and try some of my Recruiting Powder Protein. Just pour some of this into your water bottle every morning. Don’t be alarmed if some powder floats up enveloping you in a cloud of recruiting goodness. Take it in. Breath it out. Ahhhh.

As you take a swig, seven minerals blast through your bloodstream. Bam! You just got 15% of your recommended daily intake of Fistful of Talent! Bam, 14% of your Boolean Black Belt! And, a whopping quarter of your Recruiting Animal, Bill Boorman, CruiterTalk, Fishdogs, and Punk Rock HR

Take a deep breath and flex your bicep muscles. Go ahead never mind those puny co-workers behind you. You know why? You just guzzled 18 times the amount of recruiting blogs the experts recommend.

You can feel the power. You have left all the other scrawny recruiters behind. You are now a power pumped super recruiter. Roam about the halls flexing those giant recruiting muscles.

If someone hands you a TPS reports, you’ll zap him with your laser beam eyes.

Someone needs you attend a career fair, you’ll freeze them with your icy breath.

Try reaching out to your hiring managers just using your telepathic powers. Did you hear that? You totally got all the feedback from that elusive hiring manager.

You are now a Super Recruiter. Good Morning!

Iranians used Twitter to expose the corrupt elections and political turmoil in 2009. It had a profound ripple effect on how Social Media is used. And it was an A-ha moment for Recruiters globally.

Just like the stifled Iranian protests that seeped through Twitter feeds, 2010 will be about controlling what the outside world thinks about your company.

This is where Recruiters enter and exit…

Enter….

Recruiters use every social media websites to find candidates, right? But Recruiters also deal with the bad pub that is generated on blogs, comments, tweets, pictures, and anything on the web. So, attracting top talent is a BIG challenge if the company doesn’t have a good reputation.

Now Exit…

How your company maintains its employment brand (or in some cases cleans it up) will NOT fall into the Recruiters control.

This means…

Employment Branding Campaigns will be controlled by HR and where Recruiters just chip in to be a pair of hands.

The very place you find candidates will also be the platform for HR to deploy Employment Branding initiatives and programs.

Your job, the Recruiter, in 2010 is to find talent and deliver a uniform message or “The Employment Brand”.

Think about it….

Using Social Media to deliver a positive message is part of the job now. AND, Recruiters will take to social media websites a uniform message to attract top talent and at the same time counter the bad public image it already has.

Iranian politics has something in common with Employment Branding Projects - social media sites (like Twitter) will be under a watchful eye and controlled at all times.

 GeoCities is like Parachute pants, Jelly shoes, and Members only jackets of the 80’s. Gone. Out of style and irrelevant.

Established in 1995 they were once sprawling with users. Then Yahoo! bought them in 1999. Ever since then they have been fading away.

Yahoo! has also closed Yahoo 360, My Web, and Briefcase.

I used to recruit a lot of Web Designers and GeoCities was a great site to showcase their talents, especially for college kids.

We have a lot more sites to choose from to find Web Designers, but GeoCities will be a fond memory though.