![](\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/cdn.skillmeter.com/blog/01_bamboo.png\")
\r\nI’m super happy to welcome Adrian, who joined Skillmeter team as Operations Manager.
Hello
I’m super happy to welcome Adrian, who joined Skillmeter team as Operations Manager.
He will focus his attention on Skillmeter's daily operations while working with me to tailor our solution to your growing needs and make it the #1 solution for employment testing.
Adrian is also a history passionate and a big fan of Swedish pop-group Roxette.
Best!
"},"publishedOn":"2013-09-14T20:49:46.200Z"}},{"node":{"url":"screening-job-candidates-using-social-media","title":"Screening job candidates using social media","description":{"description":"Nowadays Hiring Professionals have an additional weapon to screen candidates. We are talking about social media as a recruitment tool. It would be unwise not to take advantage of this powerful opportunity which is free, even though a bit time consuming. However, a study conducted by Reppler has shown that 5 % don’t use social networking sites to screen prospective employees.
Nowadays Hiring Professionals have an additional weapon to screen candidates. We are talking about social media as a recruitment tool. It would be unwise not to take advantage of this powerful opportunity which is free, even though a bit time consuming. However, a study conducted by Reppler has shown that 5 % don’t use social networking sites to screen prospective employees.
91 % of companies do check candidates via social media and 69 % stated that they REJECTED candidates because of what they saw online about them. Some of the reasons were: lies about their qualifications, inappropriate photos and comments, negative comments about a previous employer, poor communication skills, discriminatory comments, content about them using drugs and drinking alcohol, and last but not least, sharing confidential information from a previous employer.
Another survey conducted by CareerBuilder found that 14 % of employers disregarded a candidate because the jobseeker used an emoticon, such as a smiley face, when sending a message. 16 % rejected a candidate for using text-message language such as GR8 (great) in a job application and in an email.
On the other hand, in the survey conducted by Reppler it showed that 68 % of candidates have been HIRED because of the positive impression they made online. The secret: candidates gave a positive impression of their personality and organisational fit, the profile supported their professional qualifications, it showed that the candidate was creative and well-rounded, good references were posted by others, solid communication skills were evident and awards and accolades received.
You might be wondering at what stage during the hiring process employers look at these profiles. It was revealed that 47 % would take such action after receiving an application, 27 % after initial conversation, 15 % after detailed conversations and 4 % right before they make an offer.
If in the future you consider screening your candidates using social media, you should pay close attention to the following five points:
Is it worthwhile checking out a candidate on social media? There were many discussions regarding “privacy rights” in the past because some companies wanted to know the candidates’ passwords in order to access their Facebook pages. This approach was considered as crossing ethical and legal boundaries and some states in the US were successful in passing a law that made this illegal.
However, you can still find out a lot of information and insights about a prospective employee, on various other social media websites, that you would not find anywhere else. Bear in mind that ignoring such kind of checks via social media could cost an organisation a lot of money and also lead to a company’s loss of reputation.
"},"publishedOn":"2013-08-21T08:57:56.347Z"}},{"node":{"url":"bamboohr-integration-overview","title":"New Feature: BambooHR Integration","description":{"description":"I’m super excited to announce that now Skillmeter officially includes BambooHR integration.
So now, with a BambooHR account you can:
I’m super excited to announce that now Skillmeter officially\r\nincludes BambooHR integration.
So now, with a BambooHR account you can:
Enabling BambooHR\r\nIntegration
\r\n\r\nBefore you get started, log into your BambooHR account, go\r\nto the API Keys section and add a new key.
\r\n\r\n\r\n
Ensure Company Directory is set to Shared in Manage section
\r\n\r\n![](\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/cdn.skillmeter.com/blog/02_bamboo.png\")
\r\n
Now you can go to your Skillmeter account, and visit the\r\nIntegrations tab. Here, click add\r\nintegration button and fill in the form with the following values:
\r\n\r\n- \r\nProvider: BambooHR
\r\n\r\n- \r\nAPI Key: value taken from BambooHR
\r\n\r\n- \r\nSubdomain name: your BambooHR subdomain name\r\n(usually it is your company name)
\r\n\r\n![](\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/cdn.skillmeter.com/blog/03_bamboo.png\")
\r\n
How it works
\r\n\r\nOnce you’ve finished setting this up, when you go add a\r\nnew candidate you will see the import Import section. \r\nIf you select Import, you will get a drop down with all your employees from\r\nBambooHR. Now you can go ahead, select\r\nthe employee, attach it to one or more tests and you are done.
\r\n\r\n![](\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/cdn.skillmeter.com/blog/04_bamboo.png\")
\r\n
Enjoy it!
There are many discussions among HR Professionals regarding the effectiveness of selecting talent using video resumes. Many consider it on the one hand as an additional marketing tool, on the other hand they are convinced that it will never be able to replace a traditional CV and the opportunity to meet a person face to face. However, in an annual employer survey conducted by Vault Inc. it showed that 89 % of employers would watch a video resume if it were submitted to them. In comparison to that, only 17 % have actually viewed a video resume so far. The main reason why employers (52 %) would welcome video resumes is the opportunity to see a candidate’s professional presentation and demeanor.
There are many discussions among HR Professionals regarding the effectiveness of selecting talent using video resumes. Many consider it on the one hand as an additional marketing tool, on the other hand they are convinced that it will never be able to replace a traditional CV and the opportunity to meet a person face to face. However, in an annual employer survey conducted by Vault Inc. it showed that 89 % of employers would watch a video resume if it were submitted to them. In comparison to that, only 17 % have actually viewed a video resume so far. The main reason why employers (52 %) would welcome video resumes is the opportunity to see a candidate’s professional presentation and demeanor.
When would it be appropriate and effective to ask jobseekers to apply with a video resume?
I would say it depends on the job you are hiring for and the skill set that you are looking for in a candidate. There are jobs for which a video resume would be appropriate, such as teacher, salesperson, actor, flight attendant etc. But there are also jobs, for example an accountant, a chef or a software developer, for which a video resume would not be the right selection strategy. Candidates with these jobs might be brilliant in their area of expertise but might lack presentation or communication skills. These skills might not be relevant for the new job position but it would become evident in a video and not allow them to be shortlisted.
A video of (ideally) 2-3 minutes would give you a quick glimpse about a candidate’s personality, attitudes and skills (e.g. presentation skills, communication skills, creative thinking skills, self promotional skills etc.) before meeting in person (should you decide to follow up). You need to remember that there are jobs in which dealing with people face to face and being presentable is paramount. This “video approach” would help you to save a lot of time and filter the right candidates quickly.
If you are planning to hire your next talents based on an impressive video resume then
use the following checklist:
There are also some disadvantages which should not be overlooked. A Hiring Manager might miss out on some competent candidates because only those who have good technical equipment, are tech savvy or have the financial resources to ask for professional video-editing support, will be able to apply. Furthermore, an organisation could be accused of discrimination due to the fact that a video resume would show a candidate’s age, race, sex, disability etc. These kind of details would not have been apparent from a paper CV.
Last but not least, try to watch the videos of the short-listed candidates twice to make sure that you don’t overlook anything.
"},"publishedOn":"2013-08-07T10:47:16.660Z"}},{"node":{"url":"how-to-spot-a-team-player","title":"How to spot a “Team Player”","description":{"description":"Apart from having good communication skills, being a good team player is another very important skill that most employers are looking for. Having great team players on board can give a company the crucial competitive edge. How can you spot the real team player?
Apart from having good communication skills, being a good team player is another very important skill that most employers are looking for. Having great team players on board can give a company the crucial competitive edge. How can you spot the real team player?
An employee who is used to work alone, or a person who ran a business on its own, and is suddenly expected to work in a team, might face a quite tough time.
I would like to share some tips that will assist you in finding the right hire.
- Do you prefer to work alone or with other people?
- How do you get along with other work colleagues?
- Have you ever been a team leader on a project?
- Have you gained experiences as a supervisor?
- How do you cope with conflicts at the workplace?
- If you are faced with taking a decision, how would you take it: on your own or involve the team in the process?
- What is your personal definition of a “great team player”? (Are there any hints of: communicating effectively with others, recognising and understanding the viewpoint of others, appreciating other members’ contributions, solving problems as a team etc?)
- What is your most memorable experience of working in a team? (In this case listen carefully as to how the candidate describes this experience. Does he just say it or are there fond memories attached to it? Does he share what made it so memorable?)
- What was your worst experience of working in a team? (This can be very revealing because it tells you whether the person shares the lessons learnt from it, whether other colleagues are being blamed for the failing task or whether the candidate would avoid team work in the future due to this particular experience.)
- What would be your plan if you would need to join an already successful team? (Finding out about the team members first in order to become one of the team as quickly as possible would be a good answer.)
- What do you do if things in a team don’t turn out the way they were planned for?
- What makes a great team in your opinion?
As Henry Ford once used to say “Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success.”
"},"publishedOn":"2013-07-31T20:48:50.730Z"}},{"node":{"url":"checking-references-what-you-need-to-consider","title":"Checking references: what you need to consider","description":{"description":"If you are responsible for hiring, it would be wise to do some reference checks. In this case make sure that you have the candidates’ permission to do so. You can either do it on your own or you can contact a company that will check references for you and provide you with a report.
If you are responsible for hiring, it would be wise to do some reference checks. In this case make sure that you have the candidates’ permission to do so. You can either do it on your own or you can contact a company that will check references for you and provide you with a report.
According to a SHRM survey (Society for Human Resource Management) more than 8 of 10 HR Professionals said that they regularly conduct reference checks for professional (89%), executive (85%), administrative (84%) and technical (81%) positions. The survey also reveals that job seekers provide false information: 53 % of job candidates lied regarding the length of employment and 51 % mentioned false past salaries!
What is an effective way of checking references? Let me share some tips:
* Google search the person and see what else you can find online about the candidate. You can view the person’s Facebook page, read what s/he is tweeting about, look at his/her connections and professional content that has been published on Linkedin and other smaller social media websites. It will give you a deeper insight into the person, that you might have never come across anywhere else.
Let’s assume Kevin, an IT professional, is the candidate whose references you need to check. What would you ask his former employer (remember to ask only job-related questions)?
Make a job offer to the right candidates only once you checked their references (both educational as well as professional ones) and keep a record of all the papers, notes and details.
In my previous blog post I mentioned five strategies as to how an interviewer can find out to what extent a job candidate is motivated. In this blog post I would like to give you some further ideas.
In my previous blog post I mentioned five strategies as to how an interviewer can find out to what extent a job candidate is motivated. In this blog post I would like to give you some further ideas.
Candidate 1: who takes the initiative to meet a Hiring Manager to find out if there are any career opportunities in his sector in his favourite company or
Candidate 2: someone who applied for a job based on a job ad?
In this case candidate 1 proved to be proactive by taking the initiative to approach his dream company. Candidate 2 instead showed to be reactive and applied for a job that needs to be filled.
Nowadays the business world is highly competitive and there is no shortage of talent for various job roles. The question is: How much does a CV really reveal about a job candidate’s level of motivation? A Hiring Manager would have to meet or talk to the jobseeker in order to find out. I would like to share some of the strategies that you can apply when faced with this challenge.
Nowadays the business world is highly competitive and there is no shortage of talent for various job roles. The question is: How much does a CV really reveal about a job candidate’s level of motivation? A Hiring Manager would have to meet or talk to the jobseeker in order to find out. I would like to share some of the strategies that you can apply when faced with this challenge:
You could ask the following question: “Assume we will offer you the job, what would you do on your first day at work?” It will tell you three things: 1) how keen the person is on that particular job, 2) to what extent s/he has already visualised having that job and 3) how proactive and how much initiative the person would take without being told what to do.
Why not asking every job candidate to bring an object to the interview that reflects their personality? Have a look at this video in which you will see how a female recruiter challenged her interviewees.
Did you know that according to a CareerBuilder article “Job postings with video icons are viewed 12 % more than postings without video? On average, CareerBuilder customers receive a 34 % greater application rate when they add video to their job postings.”
Did you know that according to a CareerBuilder article “Job postings with video icons are viewed 12 % more than postings without video? On average, CareerBuilder customers receive a 34 % greater application rate when they add video to their job postings.”
Looking for talent by taking your job ad and turning it into a corporate video is a great branding opportunity and gives every employee a certain first impression of an organisation. A company can have two options to choose from:
1. A general corporate video or
2. Different videos depending on the job roles, e.g. technical jobs, marketing jobs, administrative jobs etc.
The latter would be the more expensive option since you would have to make a series of them. I would like to offer you some tips as to what you need to consider when creating an effective corporate recruiting video:
1.) Think about who the key people are that you would like to involve in this project. Exchange ideas as to how to make the video, how the outcome should look like and try to get feedback throughout the process. Also consider of asking for some legal advice to make sure that you don’t get into any legal trouble.
2.) Make sure you have a good camera and you produce first class quality. If you prefer to hire a video professional it would be advisable to check his credentials and ask for some video samples that have been created by him in the past. If you like what you see don’t hesitate to hire him for your project.
3.) Pay attention to the length of the video and remember that the attention span that viewers normally have is short. It might be difficult to fit a lot of information about your company in a short video (company culture, staff, job roles, benefits offered, what it is like to work there, interview procedure, a day in the life of an employee of that company, excerpts from company meetings etc.) but three minutes would be an appropriate length.
4.) Think about what your top three to five core messages are that you want to put across and focus on them. For example: the diversity of your employees, the characteristics of the employees working for the company, the type of company and its culture (whether it is a fun, conservative or innovative corporate environment), the specifications of various job roles, the values of the company or a 360 degree online tour of the premises and offices.
5.) If you include employees talking about the company make sure they practice their answers so that it sounds as natural as possible, avoid reading from the script. Let them talk about why they decided to work for this company and what they particularly enjoy about their job. It would be also very effective to show them in action while they are doing their job and that should be reflected in the most realistic way possible.
If you would like to see how other companies did it and get some inspiration have a look at the following links.
GOOGLE: http://youtu.be/JcXF1YirPrQ
APPLE: http://youtu.be/A7HVt3xgTn4
ZENDESK: http://youtu.be/l0uaSU6IVN4
HUBSPOT: http://youtu.be/EXOtTvb5OFE
Bear in mind that using a video can make you stand out from the crowd and gives a much better picture about a company’s life than any ad could ever do. If you consider videos for recruitment purposes remember that quality as well as the content are key.
"},"publishedOn":"2013-07-04T21:10:29.213Z"}},{"node":{"url":"8-ideas-for-creative-hiring","title":"8 Ideas for Creative Hiring","description":{"description":"If you want to hire top talents you need to look beyond traditional hiring practices. It’s time to get creative! In this blog post I would like to suggest some more unusual ways of attracting top candidates.
If you want to hire top talents you need to look beyond traditional hiring practices. It’s time to get creative! In this blog post I would like to suggest some more unusual ways of attracting top candidates.
4) You might have rejected candidates in the past for various reasons. Don’t completely discard them, have a look again at their CVs and see whether they might be suitable for current positions. Often there might be candidates among them who are definitely worth being re-considered and given a second chance.