HR Resource Centre

10 Signs of an Old-School Recruiter

2009-10-07T08:40:00.000-07:00

Here is a simple list that can be used by hiring managers to determine if the recruiters assigned to them are decidedly old school.

1. They don't use text messaging. While only 20% of the adult population utilizes text messaging, over 50% of the younger generation uses it. In fact, they prefer instant or text messaging over email by a significant percentage. If you don't utilize text messaging to communicate with your candidates, you're likely missing a significant portion of this new mobile phone-reliant population that doesn't require a laptop to communicate. If you're not aware of the new IM applications and jargon, IMHO, you are so last year! In fact, the mobile phone is becoming the next must-use recruiting platform for those smart enough to successfully utilize permission-marketing techniques.

2. They don't blog. Having your own blog is no longer unusual, but it's still a great way to communicate your message to potential recruits. Blogs by corporate recruiters give potential applicants a chance to get a real, unfiltered message about the recruiting process and what it's like to work at the firm. They also provide an opportunity to make comments and ask questions before a formal application to the firm is made.

3. They don't have a MySpace or Facebook page. If you are a corporate recruiter and you don't have a profile of yourself as a recruiter (and as an individual person) on a social networking site like MySpace or Facebook, you are a relative dinosaur. Most old schoolers are afraid of MySpace because they've heard about the lurking molesters who can be on it (molesters can also use telephones, but that's no reason why recruiters shouldn't use them). Some think that these sites are for only young people, but the average age range of a user on MySpace is in the 30s. Facebook is the fastest growing of the two, but there are many other social networking sites that allow individuals to learn more about you as a recruiter and as a source of potential recruits. It used to be that you had to have your own personal website in order to be new school, but it's becoming okay to use social networking sites to display your individuality.

4. They are not using LinkedIn. Business-oriented social networking sites like LinkedIn might themselves be well on their way toward becoming old school, but for now, they're still an effective way for recruiters to become known and get referrals.

5. They don't use news alerts. As the amount of information that's available to potential prospects and corporate recruiters expands, you need electronic help in order to keep up with the latest news and what bloggers are saying. If you're not using Google alerts (or a similar service offered by Yahoo!), you'll never be able to keep track of the activities (and then comment on them to build the relationship) of your targeted top prospects. Old schoolers don't visit Google trends or digg.com to keep on top of what's hot.

6. They only use English. As the U.S. becomes more diverse, and recruiting from around the world becomes more common, only old-school recruiters recruit 100% of the time using the English language. Yes, even though the job itself requires English, it's often still a good idea to begin the conversation in the recruit's native language. [VS]: This may not be applicable to our work style.

7. Videos are too difficult. If a picture is worth a thousand words, think how powerful a "moving picture" would be. A significant portion of the world's population is hooked on visual means of passing information and telling stories (TV, streaming videos, and/or films). New-school recruiters, at the very least, periodically visit their websites like YouTube in order to keep up with the latest trends. The very best new-school recruiters either post their own online videos that visually demonstrate how great their company is or they actively encourage others at their corporations to post their compelling videos. Although new schoolers love all forms of video technology, old schoolers would never consider using online video interviews or reviewing portfolio or video resumes.

8. They don't use podcasts or jobcasts. The majority of new-school recruiting prospects probably don't even know what a Walkman is. Instead, they love MP3s or iPods (if you don't know the difference is you're probably old school). If you think they're just for music, put yourself in the old-school category. Even Walgreens is utilizing podcasts as a recruiting tool. If you haven't made a recruiting-oriented audio or video message available for download on these devices, you are missing a great opportunity to communicate.

9. They've never tried contests. What better way is there to create a buzz than to offer online contests. The top firms have found that these contests not only allow you to identify and hire previously unknown talent from around the world, but they are also a great source to gather ideas and innovations.

10. They don't use nonrecruiting places or websites. While old school recruiters frequently attend job fairs, new-school recruiters, much like their targets, like to hang out for hours at places that have never been recruiting venues, like Starbucks. They see recruiting at these places (especially ones located close to major employers) as an opportunity, whether it means recruiting in person or by placing messages on the protective coffee sleeves that fit outside the coffee cups (Accenture, Sun, FlipDog, and LAPD have all used coffee sleeves in this way). Other prime recruiting venues for new schoolers might include concerts and industry conferences, as well as alumni, sports, charity, and community events. Places where well-paid people (and thus, likely top performers) frequently dominate the crowd. Old schoolers also see no value in spending time in electronic forums or placing recruiting links and banners in frequently visited nonrecruiting websites.

Like it or not, it has become a fact that recruiting all candidates, especially the 5% that are innovators, is closely tied to changes in the way people communicate and learn. As long as those methods keep expanding, recruiters will either adapt quickly or lose their jobs. It's really just that simple.

Difference among CV Resume and BioData

2009-08-11T22:54:00.000-07:00

People use the words RESUME, C.V., and BIO-DATA interchangeably for the document highlighting skills, education, and experience that a candidate submits when applying for a job. On the surface level, all the three mean the same. However, there are intricate differences.

RESUME

Resume Is a French word meaning "summary", and true to the word meaning, signifies a summary of one's employment, education, and other skills, used in applying for a new position. A resume seldom exceeds one side of an A4 sheet, and at the most two sides. They do not list out all the education and qualifications, but only highlight specific skills Customized to target the job profile in question.

A resume is usually broken into bullets and written in the third person to appear objective and formal. A good resume starts with a brief Summary of Qualifications, followed by Areas of Strength or Industry
Expertise in keywords, followed by Professional Experience in reverse chronological order. Focus is on the most recent experiences, and prior experiences summarized. The content aims at providing the reader a balance of responsibilities and accomplishments for each position. After Work experience come Professional Affiliations, Computer Skills, and Education

C.V CURRICULUM VITAE

C.V Is a Latin word meaning "course of life". Curriculum Vitae (C.V.) is therefore a regular or particular course of study pertaining to education and life. A C.V. is more detailed than a resume, usually 2 to 3 pages, but can run even longer as per the requirement.
A C.V. generally lists out every skills, jobs, degrees, and professionalaffiliations the applicant has acquired, usually in chronological order.
A C.V. displays general talent rather than specific skills for any specific positions.

BIO-DATA
Bio Data the short form for Biographical Data, is the old-fashioned terminology for Resume or C.V. The emphasis in a bio data is on personal particulars like date of birth, religion, sex, race, nationality, residence, martial status, and the like. Next comes a chronological listing of education and experience. The things normally found in a resume, that is specific skills for the job in question comes last, and
are seldom included. Bio-data also includes applications made in specified formats as required by the company.

A resume is ideally suited when applying for middle and senior level positions, where experience and specific skills rather than education is important. A C.V., on the other hand is the preferred option for fresh graduates, people looking for a career change, and those applying for academic positions. The term bio-data is mostly used in India while applying to government jobs, or when applying for research grants and other situations where one has to submit descriptive essays.

Resumes present a summary of highlights and allow the prospective employer to scan through the document visually or electronically, to see if your skills match their available positions. A good resume can do that very effectively, while a C.V. cannot. A bio-data could still perform this role, especially if the format happens to be the one recommended by the employer.

Personal information such as age, sex, religion and others, and hobbies are never mentioned in a resume. Many people include such particulars in the C.V. However, this is neither required nor considered in the US market. A Bio-data, on the other hand always include such personal particulars.

New requirements at Oracle

2009-07-13T00:10:00.000-07:00

Friends,

We are urgently looking for Data warehousing professionals to be based at our Bangalore office, details mentioned below for your reference:

1) Role: Senior ETL Developer – Ascential Data Stage / Information Server
Work Location: Bangalore
Experience: 3 - 6 years
No of positions: 15

2) Role: Senior Developer - Ab Initio
Work Location: Bangalore
Experience: 4 - 7 years
No of positions: 3

For detailed job description please visit: http://ofssl.requirements.googlepages.com/currentopenings

Looking forward to hear from you to the earliest, kindly forward the details to your friends if not interested!

Regards,

Aftab Mohammad Khan | Assistant Manager - Recruitment |
Human Resources Group I Oracle Financial Services Software Limited
Bangalore, India
Oracle Financial Services Software Limited was formerly i-flex solutions limited.

Connect with me:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/aftabkhan send invite at Aftab.mkhan@gmail.com
Follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/AftabMKhan
Check out my blog: http://hropensource.blogspot.com/

Boolean Search Strings

2009-06-05T06:04:00.000-07:00

The “real” work of creating effective Boolean search strings lies in the interpretive analysis of the need, determining what terms to include and exclude from searches and in what specific combination, in the analysis of the relevance of the initial search results, and the adaptive process of learning from the results to further refine the Booleans to find a large quantity of highly relevant results - people who are highly likely to be the right match for your hiring needs.

Few search strings I used for my searches and i come across on the internet mentioned below for your convenience:

1) site:www.linkedin.com Java inurl:in OR inurl:pub (This search will give all java guys on linked in)

2) related:www.pentaho.com/ (This string will search all the related companies)

3) site:LinkedIn.com inurl:in OR inurl:pub “looking * work OR job” OR “laid off” OR available SAP ~Consult (will look for profiles that have the word SAP and a variation of “consult” such as consultant or consulting)

4) site:LinkedIn.com inurl:in OR inurl:pub

5) site:LinkedIn.com inurl:in OR inurl:pub “looking * work OR job” OR “laid off” OR available

6) site:ning.com intitle:page

7) site:craigslist.org inurl:res

8) Tilde ~ and Plus +
Tilde in front of a word means any word “like” this word. It needs to be used with care since you have no control over what Google may think is “like” your word. However, if the number of results is small or if you suspect you may not know of some synonyms for your keyword, using the tilde may help.
The plus sign in front of a word tells Google to use exactly this word. This may be useful for two reasons. One, Google typically ignores what they call “stop” words, meaning very common short words like “the” or “in”. If you put a plus + in front of the, it will be included for sure. Two, Google “auto stems” which means that it will look for some variations of a word you include; if you search for manager it will show results with management as well. Put a plus in front of manager and the results will contain exactly this word. (Sorry, this may sound a little too technical, but it’s important to understand how your results are put together.)

9) Asterisk
Asterisk * is a very mysterious symbol in Google. Though it formally means “some words,” in reality (or is it better to say in practice?) it stands for “one word or very few words.” (The symbol * does not stand for a part of a word on Google as it does elsewhere.)
Here’s a quick example showing how it works. Search for “Oracle * Administrator” (plus keywords) and you will find Oracle Database Administrator, Oracle Discoverer Administrator, etc.

The asterisk * is actually a very powerful tool. Here are some uses.
If you are looking for an email pattern for a company or are trying to collect email addresses, you can use
“email * companyname.com” or
“mailto * companyname.com “
Since the symbol * typically stands for one word, you can add more asterisks to these strings and get different results.
(”email * * companyname.com” etc.)
Please note that since Google ignores special symbols, including the symbol @ in your strings is not necessary.
Here’s one of my favorite sourcing “tricks.” You can look for phrases and land on blogs, forums, and homepages, not resumes, but this may put you ahead of the competition if they only look for resumes.
Here are examples of Google searches for phrases. This would bring up pages written by people who work or used to work for or have something to do with Accenture. (Replace Accenture with your target company name.) Add your keywords to these strings to narrow down the searches:
“I work * Accenture”
“I am * Accenture”
“when I * Accenture”

10) site:www.linkedin.com inurl:in OR inurl:pub JDEdward * Functional +India (JDE functional guys in India)

11) (inurl:cv OR intitle:cv OR intitlel:vitae OR inurl:vitae OR inurl:resume OR intitle:resume) JDEdward ("Functional" OR "Financial") -job -jobs .in India

12) (inurl:Jobs OR intitle:Jobs OR intitlel:Opening OR inurl:Opening OR inurl:requirement OR intitle:requirement) Sales ("Software" OR "Financial") -job -jobs .in India

13) (inurl:Jobs OR intitle:Jobs OR intitlel:Opening OR inurl:Opening OR inurl:requirement OR intitle:requirement) Sales ("sales manager" OR "sales") (banking OR insurance) -job -jobs .in India

The Ten Challenges for Change

2009-03-17T04:05:00.000-07:00

Challenges of Initiating
These challeng es are often sufficient to prevent growth from occurring, almost before it starts. They are consistently encountered at the early stages of significant organizational change. The capabilities to deal with them must be developed under high pressure; but in managing these challenges effectively, organizations develop capabilities much sooner than otherwise for dealing with challenges down the road.

1 Not Enough Time:"We don't have time for this stuff!"

This is the challenge of control over one's time. This challenge is represents a valuable opportunity for reframing the way that workplaces are organized, to provide flexibility and time for reflection and innovation.

2 No Help: "We're like the blind leading the blind!"

Some managers believe that asking for help is a sign of incompetence; others are unaware of the coaching and support they need. Meeting this challenge means building the capabilities for finding the right help, and for mentoring each other to develop successful innovations.

3 Not Relevant: "Why are we doing this stuff?"

A top priority for pilot groups is a clear, compelling case for learning and change. If people are not sufficiently committed to an initiative's goals, a "commitment gap" develops and they will not take part wholeheartedly. Building relevance depends on candid conversations about the reasons for change and the commitments people can make.

4 "Walking the Talk" - Leadership values

What happens when there is a mismatch between the things the boss says and his or her actual behavior? People do not expect perfection, but they recognize when leaders are not sincere or open. If executive and line leaders do not provide an atmosphere of trust and authenticity, then genuine change cannot move forward.

Challenges of Sustaining Momentum

These challenges occur sometime during the first year or two, when the group has clear goals and has discovered that new methods save more than enough time to put them into practice. Now the pilot group's real troubles begin. Sustained activity confronts boundaries - between the work of the pilot group and "internal" attitudes and beliefs, and between the pilot group's needs and the larger-scale company's values and ways of measuring success.

5 Fear and Anxiety: "This suff is ----"

The blanks represent the fact that everyone expresses their fear and anxiety with a different form of defensiveness.) How do you deal with the concerns of team members about exposure, vulnerability and inadequacy, triggered by the conflicts between increasing levels of candor and openness and low levels of trust? This is one of the most frequently faced challenges and the most difficult to overcome.

6 Assessment and Measurement: "This stuff isn't working"

How do you deal with the disconnect between the tangible (but unfamiliar) achievements of a pilot group and the organization's traditional ways of measuring success?

7 Believers and Nonbelievers:

"We have the right way!" say pilot group members. "They're acting like a cult!" say their other colleagues and peers.Riding on a wave of early success, speaking their own language, the pilot group becomes increasingly isolated from the rest of the orga nization. Outsiders, meanwhile, are put off and then turned off by the new, unfamiliar approaches and behavior. These misunderstandings easily accelerate into unnecessary, but nearly unavoidable, opposition.

Challenges of Systemwide Redesgin and Rethinking

These challenges appear as a pilot group's work gains broader credibility and confronts the established internal infrastructure and practices of the organization.

8 Governance: "They won't give up the power."

As the pilot group's capabilities and activities increase, it runs into the priorities and established processes of the rest of the organization. This leads to conflicts over power and autonomy and to a destructive, "us-versus-them" dynamic that nobody wants - and that could be avoided if the capabilities are in place for organizational redesign.

9 Diffusion: "We keep reinventig the wheel!"
Unless organizations learn to recognize and deal with their mysterious, almost unnoticed inability to transfer knowledge across organizational boundaries, people around the system will not build upon each other's successes.

10 Strategy and Purpose: "Where are we going? and "What are we here for?"
How do you revitalize and rethink the organization's intended direction for success, its' contribution to its community and its future identity? How do you improve the processes of conversation that lead people to articulate and refine their aspirations and goals for achieving them?

Attracting and Retaining Employees

2009-03-13T04:07:00.000-07:00

Employee retention strategies of the corporate HR world need no introduction. The need of the hour though is a well thought out retention plan from an employee's perspective. The ability to retain talent is a clear indicator for success.

Turnover - facts and myths:

Employee turnover is a serious concern for managements aiming to remain competitive in the global economy.

According to Human Resource Management Association, 20.4% of the employees quit organisations every year in the health care industry. Other industries report a 12-15% turnover rate.
A survey conducted by Kepner- Tregoe of Princeton, New Jersey on over 1290 employees, 64% states that top managements seldom initiate programmes to retain employees

Top management's attitude towards staff is a major cause for concern amongst employees. They consider that financial factors significantly motivate employee retention. Contrarily, Krepner-Tregoe's report shows that 40% of the employees feel that financial benefits are ineffective in their retention.

Talent magnets
Employees are satisfied and happy when their basic needs are fulfilled. Organisations meeting these needs are considered 'talent magnets'. Attracting employees and retaining them is critical to reap the benefits of a great workforce. Financial factors although important are not the sole retention factors. Meetings, discussions and surveys help to understand employees' needs better.
Retention Factors
Meaningful work

Employees are rejuvenated when given responsibilities relevant in ensuring an organisation's success. According to Studs Terkel, author of Working, employees "search, too, for daily meaning as well as daily bread, for recognition as well as cash, for astonishment rather than torpor; in short, for a sort of life rather than a Monday through Friday sort of dying." Such work gives better results than any individual financial benefits.

Talent magnets ensure that their vision and mission statements are adequately communicated to their employees. Thereby employees become aware of their role in fulfilling organisations' goals. These organisations also encourage employees to innovate and keep them abreast of customer feedback.

Medtronics dealing in medical products from Minneapolis arranges annual holiday party where employees meet patients who are completely cured after using its products. Employees thus identify their accomplishments in a social context.

Appreciation
Genuine appreciation for the work accomplished motivates an employee and is inexpensive and easy. Talent magnets clearly distinguish between their annual prizes or awards and day-to-day appreciation, lest its significance should be lost. In an industry experiencing rapid turnover , Meredith Burgess of Burgess Advertising, a Portland, Maine company records high employee retention rate.
Doug Levin, CEO of Fresh Samantha, the natural fruit juice company, gets information from his managers every week regarding employees who perform outstandingly and sends them 'Thank You' notes. Oakhurst Dairy, of Portland, identifies star performers and gifts them dinner coupons or movie tickets.
Learning

A learning atmosphere is vital for employees' true career progression. Acquiring new skills enables them face challenging situations successfully. This is facilitated through training programmes or by assigning new projects or higher job responsibilities. It is an investment that attracts and retains the best employees.
Organisations like Hussey Seating of South Berwick design jobs that demand employees' mental alertness. Employees are also involved in process improvement and decision making activities.

Respect

Organisations can retain their employees by valuing their efforts in keeping the business going. Employees should have the autonomy to take independent decisions on certain issues. By thus trusting their abilities, the management displays its respect for the employees.
Keane inc., well known as a great place to work in encourages employee participation in the decision making process. The mutual respect organisations and employees hold for each other is a sure sign of success.
These indicators are simple and effective. Nevertheless many organisations do not follow them because most managers

Are caught up in completing their work within deadlines and ignore even the simple needs of employees.
Though competent in technical skills lack interpersonal skills
Tend to believe that they know what satisfies the employees better than the employees themselves

HR managers need to guide their organisations to successfully attract and retain their employees. They should synchronise the organisation's goals and objectives with employee needs.
Attracting and retaining employees
No hard and fast rules to retain employees exist. Every organisation, its employees and their needs differ. Therefore, to understand and fulfill their needs organisations must focus on:

Constant interaction with employees through meetings, surveys, anonymous suggestion boxes, informal conversations, discussions and by creating an honest and open work culture that encourages employees to voice their concerns
Facilitating group discussions and surveys among managers and employees to identify work cultures and practices that aid high performance
Offering salaries that are competitive in the industry though salary is not the only single or a major motivator
Training managers and supervisors in interpersonal skills and people management techniques
Providing growth opportunities for employees and conducting performance reviews to highlight their strengths and enhance performance
Encouraging team -work to improve productivity and morale
Providing multi- tasking options based on their talent. Diverse work assignments encourages innovations
Communicating to employees key issues that effect the organisation and employees interests
Facilitating learning by holding seminars, meetings and discussions on business journals/articles etc.
Defining with roles and responsibilities clearly
Recognising employees accomplishments and making them feel an integral part of the organisation

The job expectations of present day employees have undergone great changes. Earlier employees worked primarily for a rewarding compensation. Today, they look beyond financial benefits. Individual recognition, good work culture, career growth and involvement in organisational issues give them more satisfaction.

Though the problem of employee turnover cannot be overcome totally, effective retention strategies need to be adopted. An effective retention strategy is an investment and will increase an organisation's productivity.

Competent to the Core!

2009-02-27T01:43:00.000-08:00

Seven core competencies to develop and sustain a competent workforce

With businesses getting increasingly global, organisations are making considerable efforts to don a global appeal. However, it is hard to win a good bargain in a globalised economy. Globalisation brings with it certain challenges that call for changes in the method of business execution. Organisations operating in the globalised corporate landscape have on them a huge responsibility that entails fine-tuning their existing processes. The major changes envisaged include an overhaul in the workforce deployment techniques, distribution and production patterns and networking with employees, customers, employees and suppliers. The global enterprise of today is positioned to leverage all possible sections of business that look promising from a value creation perspective. Interactions between different quarters of business, that include internal and external stakeholders, customers and suppliers is one of the most critical determinants of success in the globalised workplace. Understanding how different components of making a competent organisation are juxtaposed leads us to appreciate the role of workforce management in the making of a globally integrated enterprise.

Several drivers play a critical role in building a global enterprise. However, it is finally the involvement of individuals and their execution capabilities that determine its success. Hence, undermining workforce management in the globalised corporate landscape can sabotage the process of building an integrated workplace. Having underscored the role of workforce management in building and sustaining a globally integrated enterprise, organisations need to work towards developing core competencies that would help them manage their workforce with a perspective of delivering performance. While every organisation is fighting for its own space in today's era of extremism, only those that manage to build critical competencies, as a part of their workforce management strategy would succeed. Most successful organisations cite two or three factors as determinants of their success. However, experts believe that in order to maintain a sustainable growth story, organisations need to develop seven core competencies. These competencies are critical for developing workforce capabilities and meet the demands of today's dynamic corporate landscape. The onus of developing these competencies lies largely with HR, however support from other functions is important to lend a complete and holistic approach to the process.
The seven havens
As mentioned earlier, a competent workforce requires an organisation to build upon seven core competencies. These include:
An insightful understanding of workforce capabilities
The first and the most critical pre-requisite for building a competent organisation is a clear and insightful understanding of its workforce demographics and capabilities. Leaders need to assess their standing in terms of talent and skills vis-à-vis their requirements. In addition, they should also be able to make predictions regarding the changes that are likely to impact the demographic picture of their talent stock. In order to get the right insight into workforce demographics, HR leaders need to focus on facts that provide information about human capital data, performance graphs and skills deployment. A clear understanding of these workforce parameters is important for HR leaders to make informed decisions regarding workforce deployment.
Understanding the 3 "C"s of labour demand-supply equation
While most leaders appreciate the role of making informed predictions about the future talent requirements, not many manage it successfully. In order to make meaningful and reliable predictions about the labour demand-supply equation leaders have to carefully analyse and infer the components that could threaten to create an imbalance. Experts believe that three factors can greatly impact the labour demand-supply equation, these are: capacity, capability and culture. Capacity denotes an organisations talent inventory and ability to build on it to meet future requirements. Capability is an organisation's competence in terms of skills, strategy execution and knowledge management, while culture underscores the alignment of corporate values with corporate intent. These three factors put together determine the success of making a globally integrated enterprise.
Tapping informal networks
Social networking is an inevitable by-product of formal networking. It is one of the most reliable sources of undocumented information that provides important cues to leaders about how to get work done, who commands respect among employees and what really irks employees. The informal knowledge conduits that emerge as a result of social networking thus should not be disregarded. Instead, it should be leveraged to their maximum potential.

Instituting support systems to enhance employee performance
Organisations should provide employees a congenial work environment that not only supports their work style but also helps them enhance their performance levels. Self-service tools for instance, can be integrated into corporate working to help telecommuting employees. Similarly, organisations should work on creating knowledge banks that can reduce information clutter and cut down on the time that employees spend on gathering useful data. A few techniques to boost employee performance:
Encourage informal collaboration across global locations
Organisations should provide a platform for employees to pursue their personal interests. For this employees must be encouraged to form groups based on their common interest thereby giving them an opportunity to indulge in discussions, meetings and other creative activities to propagate their interests.
Emphasis on employee education
Providing constant inputs to employees through formal training programmes and education tools is important to keep the workforce motivated and updated. Such corporate initiatives can prove to be extremely beneficial in lending companies a sustainable competitive advantage. Research reveals that organisations investing heavily in employee education initiatives enjoy better economic gains than organisations that have a rather conservative training budget.
Institute effective employee performance review and feedback systems Organisations that have a formal performance review and feedback system are far more profitable than organisations that demonstrate a rather casual attitude towards performance reviews. Offering employees guidance and feedback at regular intervals is extremely important to ensure sustainable performance levels. Organisations that manage to successfully develop these seven core competencies are better equipped to face the challenges put forth by increased globalisation. However, leaders and managers have to bear in mind that while these competencies figure as separate entities, they cannot be nurtured in isolation. Therefore, an integrated approach to building these competencies is important for achieving the desired level of performance.

Performance & Position

2009-02-27T01:41:00.000-08:00

A Priest dies & is awaiting his turn in line at the Heaven's Gates. Ahead of him is a guy, fashionably dressed, in dark sun glasses, a loud shirt, leather jacket & jeans. God asks him: Please tell me who are you, so that I may know whether to admit you into the kingdom of Heaven or not?The guy replies: I am Pandi, Auto driver from Chennai! God consults his ledger, smiles & says to Pandi: Please take this silken robe & gold scarf & enter the Kingdom of Heaven...Now it is the priest's turn. He stands erect and speaks out in a booming voice: I am Pope's Assistant so & so, Head Priest of the so & so Church for the last 40 years. God consults his ledger & says to the Priest: Please take this cotton robe & enter the Kingdom of Heaven...'Just a minute,' says the agonized Priest. 'How is it that a foul mouthed, rash driving Auto Driver is given a Silken robe & a Golden scarf and me, a Priest, who's spent his whole life preaching your Name & goodness has to make do with a Cotton robe?''Results my friend, results,' shrugs God.'While you preached, people SLEPT; but when he drove his Auto, people PRAYED’ It’s PERFORMANCE & not POSITION that ultimately counts.

Tips to boost your self-confidence

2009-02-24T00:10:00.000-08:00

At times, your level of self-confidence will determine how well you do in life. Here then are a few tactics that could help you increase your selfconfidence:

Avoid feeling guilty: Don’t feel guilty by constantly thinking about stuff that you should have done; if something is in the past, let it pass. Brooding over it will surely not help you to improve your situation. Try using the word “could” instead of “should” for everything. This will increase your conviction to get things done.

Set realistic goals

Setting goals will help boost your self-confidence. Try and set goals that are attainable. Choose something that you can measure, rather than something that is hard to measure. For instance, sign up for a course with the university and chart your progress Keeping track of how well you are doing there will allow you to feel positive about yourself and it will thereby increase your confidence levels.

Surround yourself with a positive environment: If there are things or places in your life that are sure to make you feel down then consciously stay away from these places. If there are people in your life who are constantly negative, its time to reconsider your friendship with these people since their association will only hamper your courage and confidence to venture into new tasks. Surround yourself with people who are optimistic and caring, people who respect you and value you for who you are. A network of supportive and positive-minded people will go a long way in boosting self-confidence

Stop being critical

Stop comparing yourself to others. Refrain from self-criticisms. You will always find something that someone else is better at. Constant self-criticism can make you feel discouraged and less confident. Choosing to focus on your positive traits will help you attain self-confidence.

Engage in some constructive tasks:

Take some time for yourself. Perhaps painting your nails or polishing your shoes will give you some enhanced confidence, especially when you see some wonderful results at the end of it all. These small yet overlooked chores does contribute towards in help you gain confidence. It is important to learn that you are worth making time for. You will never be able to adequately care for another person until you care for yourself, so take time to unwind and relax.

Think positive

If you find yourself thinking negative or critical thoughts, just try and erase it out of your mind. Your mind is like a computer, and you will be able to erase those negative thought patterns with practice. Then, once you have pointedly erased that negative thought, replace it with a positive one.
Further, write down your best traits, abilities, and skills on a piece of paper. Then when you are feeling down you can come back to this piece of paper to remember how wonderful you are.

Recruitment in web 2.0 era.

2009-02-12T00:25:00.000-08:00

If you're a Recruiter or HR Professional, 2008 may have been the first year that you actually heard the terms Web 2.0, social media or social networking. So you may be a little late to the game, but congratulations - you're here - so that's a start! And just so you know, I'm officially declaring 2009 to be THE year to get to know and effectively utilize social media tools that can help you in your career. To create your Personal Development Plan (gotta call it something you're familiar with so you'll feel comfortable), I'm recommending 10 tools that you need to implement or increase your involvement with in 2009. You'll get 5 in this post, and 5 in a subsequent post. You may already be using many of these tools, and if you're rockin' and rollin' with all 10 of them, then move to the head of the class! (Of course, you're probably already there since using social media tools has likely set you apart from your peers who haven't figured them out yet.)
1. Go where the peeps like you hang out on the web. The best way to get smarter about something is to surround yourself with people smarter than you. There are plenty of options to choose from, including - RecruitingBlogs.com, HRM Today, ERE.net, and The Fordyce Letter Network - just to name a few. Check them all out, see which one best fits your niche and join at least one. Create a profile and set aside a few minutes each day to explore. Next, add some contacts and join Groups of interest. Work your way up to commenting on blog posts and forum discussions and participating in the live chats. Graduate to posting content and questions of your own as well as helping others. By participating, you'll be able to network with other recruiting and HR professionals who are dealing with and solving similar challenges, and you'll be able to build a community of like-minded folks who are willing and able to help you when you need it. If you're not involved with these groups, you're missing great information like this, this, this and this.
2. Learn how to use (really use) LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a no-brainer these days for business professionals. I'm regularly surprised to find HR or recruiting pros on LinkedIn with incomplete profiles (or worse, no profile), very few connections and no Group memberships. LinkedIn is one of the best on-line tools out there for Personal Branding, Job Search, Business Development and Recruiting! An effective profile is your on-line business card, marketing brochure, Google-rank helper, etc. Create a great profile, connect to others, join and/or create Groups, participate in Discussions, ask and answer Questions, etc. Need help? Here are some great resources to get you started: Jason Alba's "I'm on LinkedIn -- Now What??" book and blog, the Social Media Headhunter's LinkedIn Recruiting Companion, Shally Steckerl's LinkedIn Cheatsheets, and the LinkedIn Blog for the latest news on what's new at LinkedIn.
3. Read more Blogs by becoming an RSS Rockstar or Ninja. I started reading blogs early in 2008, and like most, I subscribed via email. Like most, I also get too much email, so I found myself moving blog posts to a "Read Later" folder - which I never got to. After discovering Google Reader (there are others too), I now subscribe to over 300 blogs, and I can skim through or read content at a much more efficient pace (and my email box is happier too). Some people get their info from books or newspapers - I read blogs and feeds. And I learn. A lot. Need some suggestions for your starter kit? Start with FOT's latest Talent Management Blog Power Rankings, Business School Directory's Top 50 HR Blogs, and RecruitingBlogs.com Best 2007 Recruiting Blogs. (You can also find many smart bloggers who syndicate their feeds on RecruitingBlogs.com and HRM Today.) Subscribe to several, and then add and subtract as you go. Pretty soon, you'll be up to 300+ blogs in your Reader too. Or not. It's up to you!
4. It's time to try Twitter. If you've been resisting using Twitter so far, then it's time to give in. I resisted initially too, but since I started Tweeting in March 2008, Twitter has become one of the best resources I have as a recruiter, coach and talent consultant. Why? Because I connect with thought leaders who share what they're working on, resources, tips, links to interesting articles, etc. Twitter doesn't have to take over your life. Like you, I have a day job. Some days I check in a few times in between phone calls, interviews and client meetings, and other days I'm not there at all. And for those who say the people they need to connect with aren't on Twitter - think again. I deal mostly with senior level professionals and executives, and I have clients, candidates and potential clients/candidates following me on Twitter. Trust me. They're there - or will be. Need help getting started? Check out Why Recruiters Should Use Twitter on RBC, and my post over at CincyRecruiter's World on 10 People All Recruiters Should Follow on Twitter.
5. Figure out how to use Facebook for recruiting. I'm also adding this one to my own PDP for 2009. LinkedIn wasn't necessarily the place to be in early 2006 when I joined, and while recruiters were certainly some of the early adopters, it's most definitely the place to be now. Because I got in early and spent time developing my network and learning to use the tools, I'm ahead of many of my counterparts in using LinkedIn to develop my business, my personal brand and my relationships. I predict that Facebook will become an even more important tool for Recruiters and HR professionals in the future. Many companies are already effectively utilizing Facebook to connect with and recruit young professionals, but I'm seeing more and more senior level talent signing up and trying to figure it out as well. (Translation - everybody's doing it.) Facebook has some cool tools for recruiting and employment branding. So stop thinking about all of the pitfalls of Facebook and just do it already! And when you figure out how to use it well, share your knowledge on all of the tools above.

McKinsey’s 7S Framework

2009-02-10T02:51:00.000-08:00

Strategy: the plan devised to maintain and build competitive advantage over the competition.
Structure: the way the organization is structured and who reports to whom.
Systems: the daily activities and procedures that staff members engage in to get the job done.
Shared Values: called “superordinate goals” when the model was first developed, these are the core values of the company that are evidenced in the corporate culture and the general work ethic.
Style: the style of leadership adopted.
Staff: the employees and their general capabilities.
Skills: the actual skills and competencies of the employees working for the company.

The 7S model can be used in a wide variety of situations where an alignment perspective is useful, for example to help you:
Improve the performance of a company;
Examine the likely effects of future changes within a company;
Align departments and processes during a merger or acquisition; or
Determine how best to implement a proposed strategy.

How to Use the Model
Now you know what the model covers, how can you use it?
The model is based on the theory that, for an organization to perform well, these seven elements need to be aligned and mutually reinforcing. So, the model can be used to help identify what needs to be realigned to improve performance, or to maintain alignment (and performance) during other types of change.
Whatever the type of change - restructuring, new processes, organizational merger, new systems, change of leadership, and so on - the model can be used to understand how the organizational elements are interrelated, and so ensure that the wider impact of changes made in one area is taken into consideration.
You can use the 7S model to help analyze the current situation (Point A), a proposed future situation (Point B) and to identify gaps and inconsistencies between them. It's then a question of adjusting and tuning the elements of the 7S model to ensure that your organization works effectively and well once you reach the desired endpoint.
Sounds simple? Well, of course not: Changing your organization probably will not be simple at all! Whole books and methodologies are dedicated to analyzing organizational strategy, improving performance and managing change. The 7S model is a good framework to help you ask the right questions - but it won't give you all the answers. For that you'll need to bring together the right knowledge, skills and experience.
When it comes to asking the right questions, we've developed a Mind Tools checklist and a matrix to keep track of how the seven elements align with each other. Supplement these with your own questions, based on your organization's specific circumstances and accumulated wisdom.
7S Checklist QuestionsHere are some of the questions that you'll need to explore to help you understand your situation in terms of the 7S framework. Use them to analyze your current (Point A) situation first, and then repeat the exercise for your proposed situation (Point B).

Strategy:
What is our strategy?
How to we intend to achieve our objectives?
How do we deal with competitive pressure?
How are changes in customer demands dealt with?
How is strategy adjusted for environmental issues?
Structure:
How is the company/team divided?
What is the hierarchy?
How do the various departments coordinate activities?
How do the team members organize and align themselves?
Is decision making and controlling centralized or decentralized? Is this as it should be, given what we're doing?
Where are the lines of communication? Explicit and implicit?
Systems:
What are the main systems that run the organization? Consider financial and HR systems as well as communications and document storage.
Where are the controls and how are they monitored and evaluated?
What internal rules and processes does the team use to keep on track?
Shared Values:
What are the core values?
What is the corporate/team culture?
How strong are the values?
What are the fundamental values that the company/team was built on?
Style:
How participative is the management/leadership style?
How effective is that leadership?
Do employees/team members tend to be competitive or cooperative?
Are there real teams functioning within the organization or are they just nominal groups?
Staff:
What positions or specializations are represented within the team?
What positions need to be filled?
Are there gaps in required competencies?
Skills:
What are the strongest skills represented within the company/team?
Are there any skills gaps?
What is the company/team known for doing well?
Do the current employees/team members have the ability to do the job?
How are skills monitored and assessed?

COMPETENCY-BASED INTERVIEWS

2009-02-08T21:32:00.000-08:00

COMPETENCY-BASED INTERVIEWS ( AN OVERVIEW)
Introduction
Competency-based interviews (also called structured interviews) are interviews where each question is designed to test one or more specific skills. The answer is then matched against pre-decided criteria and marked accordingly. For example, the interviewers may want to test the candidate's ability to deal with stress by asking first how the candidate generally handles stress and then asking the candidate to provide an example of a situation where he worked under pressure.
How do competency-based interviews differ from normal interviews?
Normal interviews (also called unstructured interviews) are essentially a conversation where the interviewers ask a few questions that are relevant to what they are looking for but without any specific aim in mind other than getting an overall impression of you as an individual. Questions are fairly random and can sometimes be quite open. For example, a question such as "What can you offer our company?" is meant to gather general information about you but does not test any specific skill or competency. In an unstructured interview, the candidate is judged on the general impression that he/she leaves; the process is therefore likely to be more subjective.
Competency-based interviews (also called structured or behavioural interviews) are more systematic, with each question targetting a specific skill or competency. Candidates are asked questions relating to their behaviour in specific circumstances, which they then need to back up with concrete examples. The interviewers will then dig further into the examples by asking for specific explanations about the candidate's behaviour or skills.
Which skills and competencies do competency-based interviews test?
The list of skills and competencies that can be tested varies depending on the post that you are applying for. For example, for a Personal Assistant post, skills and competencies would include communication skills; ability to organise and prioritise; and ability to work under pressure. For a senior manager, skills and competencies may include an ability to influence and negotiate; an ability to cope with stress and pressure; an ability to lead; and the capacity to take calculated risks.
Here is a non-exhaustive list of the more common skills and competencies that you may be asked to demonstrate:
Skills and competencies for competency-based interviews
Adaptability
Compliance
Communication
Conflict management
Creativity and Innovation
Decisiveness
Delegation
External awareness
Flexibility
Independence
Influencing
Integrity
Leadership
Leveraging diversity
Organisational awareness
Resilience and tenacity
Risk taking
Sensitivity to others
Team work
How competency-based interview questions are marked
Before the interview, the interviewers will have determined which type of answers would score positive points and which types of answers would count against the candidates. For example, for questions such as "Describe a time when you had to deal with pressure", the positive and negative indicators may be as follows:
Positive indicators
Demonstrates a positive approach towards the problem.
Considers the wider need of the situation
Recognises his own limitations
Is able to compromise
Is willing to seek help when necessary
Uses effective strategies to deal with pressure/stress
Negative indicators
Perceives challenges as problems
Attempts unsuccessfully to deal with the situation alone
Used inappropriate strategies to deal with pressure/stress

In some cases, negative indicators are divided into two further sections: minor negative indicators, i.e. those which are negative but which don’t matter so much; and decisive negative indicators i.e. those for which they won’t forgive you e.g. not asking for help when needed.
Marks are then allocated depending on the extent to which the candidate's answer matches those negative and positive indicators.
Here is an example of a marking schedule for the table above:
0 No evidence No evidence reported
1 Poor Little evidence of positive indicators.
Mostly negative indicators, many decisive
2 Areas for concern Limited number of positive indicators.
Many negative indicators, one or more decisive.
3 Satisfactory Satisfactory display of positive indicators.
Some negative indicators but none decisive.
4 Good to excellent Strong display of positive indicators

If the interviewers feel that there are areas that you have failed to address, they may help you along by probing appropriately. For example, in answering the question above “Describe an example of a time when you had to deal with pressure”, if you focussed on how you dealt with the practical angle of the problem but you forgot to discuss how you managed your stress during and after the event, the interviewers may prompt you with a further question such as “How did you handle the stress at the time?”. This would give you an opportunity to present a full picture of your behaviour. This is where the marking can become subjective. Indeed, if an interviewer likes you, he may be more tempted to prompt you and push you along than if he has bad vibes about you.

Sourcing & Recruiting Tips: Google Custom Search Engines

2009-02-05T01:40:00.000-08:00

Nothing wrong with search engines, but what about creating your own? Google makes it easy with their custom search engine functionality. You pick the sites you want to search (e.g., your favorite professional associations within an industry niche), and your results will come only from those sites. Use normal booleans and Google-specific commands in your strings, but get more targeted results. A couple of the many recruiter-created examples include www.big5hire.com and, for the top 150 advertising/marketing industry bloggers, www.recruiting-online.com/AdAge%20Power%20150%20Advertising%20and%20Marketing%20Bloggers.html.For Google's own picks, click your favorite category at http://www.google.com/coop/cse/examples/ or try www.customsearchguide.com

For example i have created a search engine put up on top of this blog to search India specific job portals for technology hiring updates as well market info about the companies hiring from the market using different job portals.

7 Top Tips For Effective Delegation: Skills Towards Work-Life Balance !!

2006-03-27T05:30:00.000-08:00

The art of delegation, or doing more by doing less, can be mastered if you heed these 7 quick but reliable tips.

1. No Manager Is An Island.
Even though others may have a different approach or standards, you're setting yourself up to fail if you think you have to do EVERYTHING yourself.
Accept that in today's interdependent world, there is a shared responsibility for getting things done. It's not all down to you!

2. Delegate, Don't Abdicate.
Remember if things go wrong, it's ultimately your fault! Assess the risk of failure BEFORE you decide to delegate a task, and manage any risk appropriately. The only person you can blame is you, for not effectively delegating the task at the beginning. And you never know, they might even do it better than you!

3. Crystal Clear Tasks
If you can't define the task to be delegated, it isn't ready for delegation.
Good tasks to delegate are; Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timebound.... or in other words "SMART". Fuzzy, vague tasks are impossible to complete or result in such a mess you've squandered more time than you could potentially have saved. Part of the art of effective delegation is creating SMART tasks from fuzzy ones and communicating them clearly.

4. Tools To Do The Job.
It's universally agreed that sledgehammers are way over the top for cracking nuts, and in effective delegation, it's as important you select the right person to do the task. Some people could do the task standing on their head, others may need a bit of direction and coaching. As you decide who should undertake the task, make an assessment of their skill and will and change your approach accordingly.

5. I Say "Tomayto", You Say "Tomaato"
You know what you want to delegate, and to whom, now it's time to communicate what needs to be done. You're both be looking at the task labelled "Tomato" but there's no guarantee you're interpretation is the same. Even if you agree on the pronunciation, a tiny cherry tomato and a large beef tomato are strangely different fruit. Take some time to check understanding of the delegated task, including details such as how to get from A to B, resources required, checkpoints and deadlines.

6. Give Them Enough Rope
There is a spectrum of freedom in decision-making and action taking that you need to consider before, and during, the delegation process. This can vary from "give me the information and I'll decide" through to "you decide and do it, no need to check back with me". Again your approach depends on the risk of failure, your trust in the person and their ability to do the task.

7. How Was It For You?
Effective delegation is about sharing workload, with the added bonus of developing skills and responsibility in others. Maximise the learning experience by taking time for shared reflection of the task once it's completed - what worked, what didn't work and what would you do differently next time? Often the learning is two-way, with you gaining insight into your delegation skills.

These 7 tips for effective delegation will help you achieve a work-life balance, and become more productive by doing less.

14 Candidate Questions

2005-12-20T06:07:00.000-08:00

How many times has your heart been broken by a candidate that looked good at first and then fizzled as the interview process got rolling? This article provides a template for you or your staff to examine and review when evaluating people. It’s a tool for reducing the amount of time that you waste in pursuing candidates that will ultimately not get hired. These 14 items are things to look for with everyone that you evaluate.

Does the candidate have the skills necessary for the job you are recruiting for? If she does have the skills, are they current or were they used several years ago?

Has the candidate stayed at companies for a reasonable amount of time (2-4 years) or has she jumped around every year? If she has jumped around, does she have valid reasons for doing so?

Has she been at her current company for too long (6+ years)? If so, she may be very resistant to actually leaving (even if she says otherwise).

Has the candidate been a contractor much of the time? If you’re looking for a contractor this is fine but if you’re looking for a permanent employee this could be a snag.

Is the candidate local? Local is always better. Some companies may pay for relocation but more things can fall through with an out of state candidate.

What about his personality and communication skills? Does he have a weak presentation style? Does he sound confident or like a mouse? Do you trust what he is saying or does something sound fishy? Does he speak with pride or does he put you to sleep? Does he sound arrogant? For some highly technical positions it may not matter as much but generally this is a very important area.

Is this a position that will be a step up for her? If not, you need to understand why she would go to a company for a step down or sideways.

Has the candidate worked for quality companies? You can guess that she has some quality skills if she has worked for Oracle, Microsoft, Xerox etc.

Does he have a valid reason for leaving (more responsibilities, not able to expand his skills, unstable company) or is it a questionable reason (“I’m always looking”, “more money”)? Without a valid “wound”, he will be easily swayed when it comes time to walk into his boss’s office and say, “I quit”.

How much total industry experience does she have? If the person has the title of “Director” but graduated from college 3 years ago, that’s a flag.

Has the person worked in a similar industry and company size compared with the position you are recruiting for? This is not so important with some technical positions because the skills often transfer between industries. But if you are looking for a Controller for a large law firm, someone who has been a Controller with a small manufacturing company may not be a fit.

Does the person have relevant certifications (CPA, MCSE etc.) for the position?
Are her salary expectations reasonable?

Is the candidate willing to make a decision on an offer with in 24 hours of receiving it? Having the right answers to any single question above does not necessarily mean the person is a fit and the wrong answer does not necessarily mean the person is not a fit. These questions, when combined, will give you valuable information about a candidate’s marketability. You will save yourself from an acid stomach at the end of a search by soberly assessing a candidate’s skills and interests at the front end of the process.

Reducing Cycle Time

2005-11-21T02:29:00.000-08:00

Use efficient telephone screens
The general rule in processing candidates is to keep cycle time to an absolute minimum. This keeps costs down and contributes to a higher success rate. Good candidates are hard to find, and even harder to keep. Assessing skills and screening a candidate quickly puts them in front of your client or hiring manager before the competition, and before the candidate gets another offer. Make yourself available for a candidate screen at their first convenience.

If you are surfing the web and find an excellent candidate, especially if you have reason to believe they have only recently put their resume online, call them immediately if the hour is appropriate! If you get voicemail, leave them a message stating that you're sending them an e-mail about a great opportunity. When they receive your follow-up call the next day, they may have read the job description, and if possible, you should be prepared to phone screen them at that time.

Many firms use a scheduler to book large quantities of phone screens. However, if a candidate expresses a willingness to conduct the phone screen on the spot, the scheduler should transfer the call to a recruiter who can conduct the screen immediately. This is particularly important for hard-to- find, highly technical candidates as it can reduce a candidate's resume cycle time by a day or more.

Maintain control of the phone interview.
Even excellent candidates can sometimes be challenging to get detailed information from (e.g., scientists and other highly technical people.) These candidates can be reluctant to "talk technical" with a recruiter. Learning a few key technical terms relevant to the project, and asking open-ended questions will usually reverse the problem. "Tell me about an experience writing Perl or Bourne shell scripts..." will get a better response than a vague query about their programming experience.

Other types of candidates can to be too wordy (for example sales, marketing, and project management candidates.)
These candidates should ideally be very forthcoming with information, but articulate and able to "sell themselves" to the interviewer. In all situations, maintain control over the interview. If necessary, politely interrupt a long-winded response, indicating you need a little time to get all of the information down clearly. The implication that something of quality might be missed will accomplish this task. Keep the conversation moving, and digress into light conversation only long enough to establish rapport and trust.

Phone screens are not just a verbal re-hashing of the candidate's resume.
The phone screen, like the face to face interview, allows you to assess qualities in a candidate that are not fully apparent on paper. Even before the screen occurs, this process is in play. Did the candidate miss a scheduled appointment? If so, did they reschedule promptly and courteously? A phone screen gives you an excellent opportunity to assess a candidate's communication skills.

This is especially important for public relations, sales people, project managers and those expected to have contact with clients or the public.
These candidates should be able to present themselves especially well in a phone screen. If done well, the phone screen can help you quickly identify the key reasons why a candidate is considering a job change. Make note of these and periodically match the benefits, opportunities, and culture that your company offers that might specifically address those motivations.

Think of your job as a professional recruiter in terms of being a private investigator. You are constantly listening closely, gathering new information, asking inquisitive and open-ended questions, and assessing information to draw your conclusions.

When you've developed a sense of the attributes you are seeking in a candidate, create a screening template that lists the key skills, years of experience, certifications, etc. that are required for the position. Create fields for important information like full contact information, salary requirements, availability, relocation requirements and motivation for job change. Also be prepared to assess skills that are not obvious from the resume that may be useful in matching the candidate with more than one opening. For example, sales experience plus a technical background could add up to a good candidate for a presales engineering position.

When screening candidates, having a template of your most important questions provides a standardized form to evaluate candidates and make notes. Whether you take notes directly into the template on your computer or by hand on a print out of the template, all the information you need will be presented in an organized fashion. While taking notes directly into the computer may be more efficient, unless you are prone to saving your work regularly (every 5 minutes) a single computer crash or freeze up could wipe out all your data.

The best finished document will summarize only what is necessary to convey the quality and distinction of your candidate. Bullet point summaries are a good way to do this. Focus on a few major skills, supplying some detail below each. Highlight relevant recent experience, positions and projects in a concise manner. If you discover a secondary skill set in the candidate not relevant to the current position, include that in your personal notes. Your ultimate goal for the screen is that it be well organized, thorough yet concise, and easy to follow, so that the hiring manager feels he or she can make a next step decision without having to thoroughly comb the resume.

The Technical Pre-Screen

2005-11-11T23:30:00.000-08:00

The initial candidate prescreen is essential to determining fit for the positions you are filling. Whether in person or over the phone, this assessment is a crucial step in gathering as much information about the candidate as possible. When screening technical and other scientifically-oriented candidates this is especially critical. While some technical recruiters originally come from a technical background, some of the best technical recruiters learned along the way. Many of the best technical recruiters have never taken a single class on technology. Instead they have an open mind, listen closely to what the candidates tell them, learn from their candidates, utilize all available resources and employ good interview techniques.

The first, and one of the most general techniques is to "let down your guard" with the candidate. Let them know that you are not a technical expert but thoroughly understand what it takes to be successful in this company. State that you have a strong conceptual understanding of technology but no specific experience. While you still retain control of the interview process, you allow the candidate to educate you on their technical skills and the technology in general. Make it understood that you need to clearly transcribe their skills and experience with technology. The benefits to this technique are that you become better educated on the subject as you perform each pre-screen and you encourage the candidate to be clear, complete and concise in their explanations to you.
Educate Yourself Access sources of information on the technology for which you are planning to screen. Talk to your client and have them explain exactly what the position's role in the organization is going to be and the key skill sets and experiences for which you should be looking. Take this information and access some resources to educate yourself on the technology. You need to know enough to ask intelligent, open ended questions relevant to the position you are filling. Start by prompting the candidate with questions like, "tell me about your experience in programming Informix databases". If you are asking "yes or no" questions, you will have to be very knowledgeable yourself to get all of the information you need. As you get better acquainted with a technology, you will find that you can hone in more quickly on a given point and use specific, direct questions such as "have you programmed 4GLs for Informix databases?" Take the terminology you hear from your best candidates back to your reference materials to use as a starting point for further investigation. We recommend that you use a simple 4 step interview methodology --- Identify, Quantify, Qualify and Verify. Identify the candidate's key skill sets, quantify the number of years they have with the technology, qualify whether they feel their skill with the technology is heavy, medium or light, and finally verify their experience with specific examples.

Certifications

Acquainting yourself with certifications appropriate to the skills you are screening for is a great way to determine a candidate's proficiency. Start by reviewing the resume for certifications, confirm this information during the pre-screen and inquire about any other certifications the candidate has that may be relevant. In many rapidly changing technologies, you'll also need to determine how recently the candidate was certified. If the certification was not recent, it is critical that the candidate has been working in this skill area in recent positions to insure that they are up to speed in a given technology. Increasingly, candidates and recruiters are using the resume as a "string" of searchable words, easily retrievable on the Internet. The tactical placement of technology buzzwords and certification acronyms will assure that resumes are matched and retrieved by automated agents or an ordinary search engine. This is a great starting point in finding the right resume, but only with intelligent questions can the recruiter ascertain if these terms are relevant, up to date, and truly representative of the right candidate. An added benefit to being familiar with appropriate certifications is that you'll have an extra "clue" in finding candidates on job boards and the Web because you can search for the certification name or acronym.

Group Think

If you are continually recruiting in the same technology area, "hang out" in a user or discussion group or subscribe to a mailing list relevant to the technology. This will provide you with information on some of the important buzzwords associated with that technology and may even clue you in to recent developments. Single out those regular contributors to the discussion, and if they seem to be helpful and open in their comments, you can contact them directly outside of the discussion to ask about a technical issue. If you do not interrupt the discussion list, and are frank yet courteous in your inquiry, many technical people will be more than happy to help you. Defer to their expertise and let them know that you are a recruiter seeking some information about a specific technological subject. Stay focused on information gathering and don't be tempted to directly solicit them for a job opening. However, you may find that a good relationship with one of these resident "experts" on a discussion list will yield an added benefit in the long term: referrals and requests for information from you about your current job openings.

Make Your Point

As in any pre-screen, the written document you send to your client or hiring manager is the critical step to moving the candidate forward in the interview process. Summarize the information you've gathered on the candidate in a form that conveys very clearly the exact level of competency in critical areas. If you've used the four-step interview method: identify, quantify, qualify and verify, your write up should be very simple and straightforward to complete. This presentation has three aspects: technical skills, actual experience, and certifications. It is not enough to say that the candidate "has experience with" a given technology; details about the number of years, and a simple, consistent scale (i.e., "light", "medium" or "heavy" experience) provides a great deal of information in a few words. Also include a few sentences on past projects the candidate has completed in relevant skill sets, including the scope of the project, the candidate's role, the length and technical parameters of the project, and details of the quality and success of the effort.

For Technical Recruiter - 1 (Interview Questions -ADO.NET and Database Questions

2005-10-26T02:36:00.000-07:00

1. What is the role of the DataReader class in ADO.NET connections?
It returns a read-only, forward-only rowset from the data source. A DataReader provides fast access when a forward-only sequential read is needed.

2. What are advantages and disadvantages of Microsoft-provided data provider classes in ADO.NET?
SQLServer.NET data provider is high-speed and robust, but requires SQL Server license purchased from Microsoft. OLE-DB.NET is universal for accessing other sources, like Oracle, DB2, Microsoft Access and Informix. OLE-DB.NET is a .NET layer on top of the OLE layer, so it’s not as fastest and efficient as SqlServer.NET.

3. What is the wildcard character in SQL?
Let’s say you want to query database with LIKE for all employees whose name starts with La. The wildcard character is %, the proper query with LIKE would involve ‘La%’.

4. Explain ACID rule of thumb for transactions.
A transaction must be:
1. Atomic - it is one unit of work and does not dependent on previous and following transactions.
2. Consistent - data is either committed or roll back, no “in-between” case where something has been updated and something hasn’t.
3. Isolated - no transaction sees the intermediate results of the current transaction).
4. Durable - the values persist if the data had been committed even if the system crashes right after.

5. What connections does Microsoft SQL Server support?
Windows Authentication (via Active Directory) and SQL Server authentication (via Microsoft SQL Server username and password).

6. Between Windows Authentication and SQL Server Authentication, which one is trusted and which one is untrusted?
Windows Authentication is trusted because the username and password are checked with the Active Directory, the SQL Server authentication is untrusted, since SQL Server is the only verifier participating in the transaction.

7. What does the Initial Catalog parameter define in the connection string?
The database name to connect to.

8. What does the Dispose method do with the connection object?
Deletes it from the memory.
To Do: answer better. The current answer is not entirely correct.

9. What is a pre-requisite for connection pooling?
Multiple processes must agree that they will share the same connection, where every parameter is the same, including the security settings. The connection string must be identical.

AFTAB KHAN

For Technical Recruiter - 2 Interview Questions-Testing

2005-10-26T02:35:00.000-07:00

Debugging and Testing Questions

1. What debugging tools come with the .NET SDK?
1. CorDBG – command-line debugger. To use CorDbg, you must compile the original C# file using the /debug switch.
2. DbgCLR – graphic debugger. Visual Studio .NET uses the DbgCLR.

2. What does assert() method do?
In debug compilation, assert takes in a Boolean condition as a parameter, and shows the error dialog if the condition is false. The program proceeds without any interruption if the condition is true.

3. What’s the difference between the Debug class and Trace class?
Documentation looks the same. Use Debug class for debug builds, use Trace class for both debug and release builds.

4. Why are there five tracing levels in System.Diagnostics.TraceSwitcher?
The tracing dumps can be quite verbose. For applications that are constantly running you run the risk of overloading the machine and the hard drive. Five levels range from None to Verbose, allowing you to fine-tune the tracing activities.

5. Where is the output of TextWriterTraceListener redirected?
To the Console or a text file depending on the parameter passed to the constructor.

6. How do you debug an ASP.NET Web application?
Attach the aspnet_wp.exe process to the DbgClr debugger.

7. What are three test cases you should go through in unit testing?
1. Positive test cases (correct data, correct output).
2. Negative test cases (broken or missing data, proper handling).
3. Exception test cases (exceptions are thrown and caught properly).

8. Can you change the value of a variable while debugging a C# application?
Yes. If you are debugging via Visual Studio.NET, just go to Immediate window.

For Technical Recruiter - 2 Interview Questions- Event & XML

2005-10-26T02:33:00.000-07:00

Events and Delegates

What’s a delegate?
A delegate object encapsulates a reference to a method.

What’s a multicast delegate?
A delegate that has multiple handlers assigned to it. Each assigned handler (method) is called.

XML Documentation Questions

Is XML case-sensitive?
Yes.

What’s the difference between // comments, /* */ comments and /// comments?
Single-line comments, multi-line comments, and XML documentation comments.

How do you generate documentation from the C# file commented properly with a command-line compiler? Compile it with the /doc switch.

For Technical Recruiter - 1 (Interview Questions -Method and Property Questions

2005-10-26T02:14:00.000-07:00

What’s the implicit name of the parameter that gets passed into the set method/property of a class?
Value. The data type of the value parameter is defined by whatever data type the property is declared as.

What does the keyword “virtual” declare for a method or property?
The method or property can be overridden.

How is method overriding different from method overloading?
When overriding a method, you change the behavior of the method for the derived class. Overloading a method simply involves having another method with the same name within the class.

Can you declare an override method to be static if the original method is not static?
No. The signature of the virtual method must remain the same. (Note: Only the keyword virtual is changed to keyword override)

What are the different ways a method can be overloaded?
Different parameter data types, different number of parameters, different order of parameters. If a base class has a number of overloaded constructors, and an inheriting class has a number of overloaded constructors;

can you enforce a call from an inherited constructor to a specific base constructor?
Yes, just place a colon, and then keyword base (parameter list to invoke the appropriate constructor) in the overloaded constructor definition inside the inherited class.

Aftab Khan

For Technical Recruiter - 2 Interview Questions-Class Questions

2005-10-26T02:11:00.000-07:00

What is the syntax to inherit from a class in C#?
Place a colon and then the name of the base class.Example: class MyNewClass : MyBaseClass

Can you prevent your class from being inherited by another class?
Yes. The keyword “sealed” will prevent the class from being inherited.

Can you allow a class to be inherited, but prevent the method from being over-ridden?
Yes. Just leave the class public and make the method sealed.

What’s an abstract class?
A class that cannot be instantiated. An abstract class is a class that must be inherited and have the methods overridden. An abstract class is essentially a blueprint for a class without any implementation.

When do you absolutely have to declare a class as abstract?
1. When the class itself is inherited from an abstract class, but not all base abstract methods have been overridden.
2. When at least one of the methods in the class is abstract.

What is an interface class?
Interfaces, like classes, define a set of properties, methods, and events. But unlike classes, interfaces do not provide implementation. They are implemented by classes, and defined as separate entities from classes.

Why can’t you specify the accessibility modifier for methods inside the interface?
They all must be public, and are therefore public by default.

Can you inherit multiple interfaces?
Yes. .NET does support multiple interfaces.

What happens if you inherit multiple interfaces and they have conflicting method names?
It’s up to you to implement the method inside your own class, so implementation is left entirely up to you. This might cause a problem on a higher-level scale if similarly named methods from different interfaces expect different data, but as far as compiler cares you’re okay. To Do: Investigate

What’s the difference between an interface and abstract class?
In an interface class, all methods are abstract - there is no implementation. In an abstract class some methods can be concrete. In an interface class, no accessibility modifiers are allowed. An abstract class may have accessibility modifiers.

What is the difference between a Struct and a Class?
Structs are value-type variables and are thus saved on the stack, additional overhead but faster retrieval. Another difference is that structs cannot inherit.

AFTAB KHAN

For Technical Recruiter - 1 (C# General Interview Questions)

2005-10-26T02:10:00.000-07:00

Does C# support multiple-inheritance?
No.

Who is a protected class-level variable available to?
It is available to any sub-class (a class inheriting this class).

Are private class-level variables inherited?
Yes, but they are not accessible. Although they are not visible or accessible via the class interface, they are inherited.

Describe the accessibility modifier “protected internal”.
It is available to classes that are within the same assembly and derived from the specified base class.

What’s the top .NET class that everything is derived from?
System.Object.

What does the term immutable mean?
The data value may not be changed. Note: The variable value may be changed, but the original immutable data value was discarded and a new data value was created in memory.

What’s the difference between System.String and System.Text.StringBuilder classes?
System.String is immutable. System.StringBuilder was designed with the purpose of having a mutable string where a variety of operations can be performed.

What’s the advantage of using System.Text.StringBuilder over System.String?
StringBuilder is more efficient in cases where there is a large amount of string manipulation. Strings are immutable, so each time a string is changed, a new instance in memory is created.

Can you store multiple data types in System.Array?
No.

What’s the difference between the System.Array.CopyTo() and System.Array.Clone()?
The Clone() method returns a new array (a shallow copy) object containing all the elements in the original array. The CopyTo() method copies the elements into another existing array. Both perform a shallow copy. A shallow copy means the contents (each array element) contains references to the same object as the elements in the original array. A deep copy (which neither of these methods performs) would create a new instance of each element's object, resulting in a different, yet identacle object.

How can you sort the elements of the array in descending order?
By calling Sort() and then Reverse() methods.

What’s the .NET collection class that allows an element to be accessed using a unique key?
HashTable.

What class is underneath the SortedList class?
A sorted HashTable.

Will the finally block get executed if an exception has not occurred?
Yes.

What’s the C# syntax to catch any possible exception?
A catch block that catches the exception of type System.Exception. You can also omit the parameter data type in this case and just write catch {}.

Can multiple catch blocks be executed for a single try statement?
No. Once the proper catch block processed, control is transferred to the finally block (if there are any). Explain the three services model commonly know as a three-tier application.Presentation (UI), Business (logic and underlying code) and Data (from storage or other sources).

Training Games -2

2005-10-24T02:33:00.000-07:00

4. How sharp are you?
Objectives:
To encourage partipants to read carefully, and to search for "hidden
wrinkles" that distinguish simplistic answers; to simulate participants to be
alert to tiny details and assumptions that hold the key to success.
Procedure:
Present the "How sharp are you" quiz to them, allowing a very tight
time limit (3 minutes). Before you present the correct answers to them, ask
them how many had the incorrect answer for each question. Then present
the answers to them and lead the discussion.
Discussion Questions:
• What factors caused you to err?
• How might those factors affect your work performance?
• What can you do to control such factors?
Materials: Handouts of questions.
Time: 10-15 minutes

How sharp are you?
1. Being very tired, a child went to bed at 7:00 o'clock at night. The child
had a morning piano lesson, and therefore set the morning alarm clock to ring
at 8:45. How many hours and minutes of sleep could the child get?
2. Some months like October have 31 days. Only February has precisely 28
(except in a leap year). How many months have 30 days?
3. A farmer had 18 pigs and all but 7 died. How many were left?
4. Divide 50 by 1/3 and add 7. What is the answer?
5. What four words appear on every denomination of US currency?
6. If a physician gave you 5 pills and told you to take 1 every half hour, how
long would your supply last?
7. If you had only one match and entered a cold, dimly lit room where there
was a kerosene lamp, an oil heater and a wood burning stove, which would you
light first?
8. Two women play checkers. They play 5 games without a draw game and
each woman wins the same number of games. How can this be?
9. What word is mispelled in this test?
Answers:
1. 1 hour and 45 minutes
2. 11 months (all except February)
3. 7 pigs
4. 157
5. United States of America or IN God we trust
6. 2 hours
7. The match
8. They are not playing each other
9. Mispelled is misspelled

5. Know Your Customer
Objectives:
To stimulate participants to use their brains; to serve as an icebreaker
exercise or warm-up; to accent the 'wealth' that exists in
customers if participants will just look for it.
Procedure:
Identify a key word that is relevant to your training program or
central theme of the workshop or presentation. An example could be the
usage of word "Customer" for illustration. Indicate to the group that their
task, working alone, is to identify as many legitimate words as they can from
the letters available to them, using each only once. Ask them to make two
predictions - the number of words they can individually identify, and the
word score of the highest producer. Then give them a tight time limit (E.G. 5
minutes) and set them loose on the task.
Discussion Questions:
• How many words did you predict you'd find? How does your own
performance expectation compare to the expectations others held
for themselves?
• Did you exceed your expectations, or fall short? Why?
• How many words did you predict could be found? How does this
compare to the actual total?
• How do you explain the actual results?
• What does this exercise illustrate to you? (Are "Customers" a rich
source of information?
Materials: An appropriate word
Time: 5-10 minutes
8
“Customer”
us ore or
ort use user
rest rut rot
rote rose cot
cost cote come
comer comes course
cut cur core
corset court sum
some sore sot
sour set tomes
tome tore more
to me must
mouse met tour
most toes costumercustom costume

6. Give me a hand!
Objectives:
To project participants' future successes by applying concepts
learned at real world jobs.
Procedure:
Towards the end of the session, tell participants they are about to
take an imaginary journey one year hence. Ask them to close their eyes and
visualize that they are all right back in this very room for a VIP Awards
Banquet. The winners are being recognized for skills and concepts learned
and successfully applied over the past year (since attending this programme).
Each participant will receive grand prize, and their acceptance speech will
detail the things they did this last year to win the award. Ask them to open
their eyes and write out 2-3 paragraphs of important elements that they will
use in that acceptance speech. Call on several volunteers - as time permits -
to hear their speeches. Ask the groups to applaud wildly after each of the
presentations. If you wish, you may also go to a speciality paper products
store and pick up a supply of inexpensive "Grand Prize" ribbons to distribute
to the "Winners".
Discussion Questions:
• What are the central themes (topics) that received multiple
mention in the acceptance speeches?
• What is the significance of the variety of items that were
mentioned?
• How many of you will commit, right now, to write a letter one year
form today indicating your actual use of items from this workshop?
Materials:Time: 10-15 minutes

Training Games -1

2005-10-24T02:30:00.000-07:00

1. The I's Have It !
Objectives:
To illustrate how we tend to be more self-centered than we may have
thought, and to demonstrate the importance of focusing on the other
person.
Procedure:
After a discussion on inter-personal skills or any aspect of
communication, casually mention that many of us forget about focusing on
others and instead become somewhat self-centered, albeit not in a conscious
way. With this in mind, ask the participants to find a partner and for the
next 2 minutes, they will be allowed to talk about anything in the world they
want to discuss. There is, however, one rule - THEY CANNOT USE THE
WORD 'I'. They can do anything else they want; they just can't say I. After
2 minutes, call time out & lead the discussion.

Discussion Questions:
• How many of you were able to talk for those 2 minutes without
using the pronoun 'I'?
• Why do so many of us have difficulty avoiding the use of 'I' in
conversation?
• How do you feel when talking to (listening to) someone who starts
every sentence with I?
• How can we phrase our communications to better focus on the
other person?
• If you did not use the word 'I', what strategies did you use to
avoid it? Could you do those things more often in your work (or
social) environment?
Materials: -
Time: 3-5 minutes

2. Does a Straight beat a Flush?
Objectives:
To stimulate a higher level of member participation in whole group
discussions.
Procedure:
Some groups are reluctant to get involved in open discussions,
specially if they are first time trainees, face a complex or threatening issue,
or don't feel comfortable with the trainer yet. You can break the ice quickly,
and stimulate broader (even competitive) group participation in response to
your questions by simply following this method. Inform the group that they
will have the opportunity to play one hand of poker at the end of each
instruction module (or the end of the day). The person with the best overall
poker hand will win some prize. One card will be given to each person every
time they make a meaningful contribution to the discussion. Liberally reward
participants with randomly drawn cards as they engage in discussion. Clarify
the winning order of poker hands, and identify the best 5 card hand in the
group.
Discussion Questions:
• What Impact did this technique have on your participation?
• Did this aid or interfere with your learning of the course material?
Materials: 2 or more decks of cards (depending on total number of
participants & length of discussion)
Time: 5 minutes (to assess the best hands)

3. Who am I? Who is he/she?
Objectives:
To provide the trainer with a wide variety of information about group
members/ participants, to provide a format for information sharing among
members of an extended seminar, course or work group.
Procedure:
Identify the group members who will spending significant time
together. Send a copy of the form to all prospective participants in advance,
explaining that the information maybe shared with their colleagues. Request
its return by a specified date prior to the begining of the training. If
possible, reproduce complete sets of the completed forms and distribute to
participants prior to their arrival. encourage participants, at the begining of
their time together, to seek out different partners during coffee breaks,
lunches, dinners, etc. to explore common interests and probe interesting
perspectives.
Discussion Questions:
• What did others say that you admired? What comments/ items
attracted your curiosity?
• How did others' answers make you reflect on your own? Have you
subsequently changed any of your perspectives?
Materials: Copies of blank forms; sets of completed forms for each
participant.
Time: -
3
Who am I?
Name: Job Title:
Best thing about my job:
Worst job I ever had:
Most important lesson I've learned:
How my friends describe me:
How I would describe myself:
How I spend my leisure time:
My favorite heroes/ heroines:
If money were no limitation, I'd probably:
The achievement I feel proudest of:Favorite advice I give to others: