It’s the day after Halloween! Yes, that means that it’s time to shed that itchy polyester costume, pick the fake spider webs out of your hair, and empty out those pockets filled with candy wrappers. What’s next you ask? Well, with all the Halloween festivities, you didn’t have time to think about how to solve your recruiting issues at work! But there’s no need to fret! Perhaps we can use some of that Halloween spirit to help you out!

First things first, take a look at your trick-or-treat bag. Think of your bag of Halloween treats as your talent pool, and your candies as candidates. Just as you would sift through all the candies to find the one you want, you also need to sift through your talent pool for the right talent. But finding the right person for your organization isn’t an easy task. Candidates’ resumes are like colorful candy wrappers, each one is different with so much to look at, making it even harder to choose one from another. This is where automation would be helpful. Instead of manually going through each and every resume, there is technology out there that can automatically filter, screen, and rank qualified candidates. They can also sort through resumes to find specific skills sets and requirements through an easy-to-use keyword search.

Secondly, keep the candies you’ve picked. Once you find the candy you want, you don’t want someone else taking it away from you! What many people don’t realize is that retaining key talent starts with the onboarding process. Having an onboarding portal can help new hires transition into a company more smoothly and efficiently, while making it a positive experience. Allow your new hires to fill out electronic forms and documents prior to their first day of work. This will ensure faster new hire productivity and increased retention rates!

Last but not least, know which houses give out the best candy…so you can go there next year! Sourcing is one of the biggest challenges recruiters face. Many have a hard time finding which job sources bring in the best candidates. Whether it be job boards, employee referrals, or social media outlets, it’s important to identify the most effective outlets for acquiring top talent. One thing you can do is measure the effectiveness of sources you currently have. And, if you have already automated your program, reporting and tracking is as easy as 1-2-3. Once you find your most successful sources, you can manage and optimize them. You can then try using social recruitment tools to post jobs on Facebook and Twitter, or reach specific talent through unique job boards to optimize your job search!

You’ve picked the best candy (candidates), you learned how to keep them (employee retention), and now you know where to get the best candy for next time (sourcing). Thank goodness for all of the Halloween spirit!

We all reiterate to ourselves the importance of optimizing our job efficiency; but it’s always a lot easier said than done. Such a vague demand on ourselves often falls outside of our work comfort zone. Why is that? Well, usually, we all work the best we can; for if we did not already, we would know exactly what needed to be done to increase efficiency. As such, the idea of improving efficiency can be a bit intimidating and stress-inducing. I think the solution is basic and simple: build a streamlined strategy.

Lately, I have found myself drawn to this topic of strategy, specifically talent strategy. What does it mean and why do we care?? We all know that in order for a human resources department to be successful in their goals, a plan or strategy must be in place for them to succeed. For example, workforce and succession planning are necessary in human resources, but how well are we heading these strategies? Are we aligning our HR goals with the company’s overall business goals? Are we truly being efficient? This is where we can improve.

A Bersin & Associates writer, points out in her blog post that employers may see a jump in employee turnover in the upcoming year due to the lack of effective talent strategy. Talent strategy is important especially as high performing employees have already begun to look elsewhere for positions. Talent Strategy is a necessitous factor in not only employee management and employee retention; but also in the recruitment process. iCIMS’ blogger, Kaitlin Walsh also speaks upon the importance of strategy in her blog post on mapping out your University Recruitment Campaign. Rather than rehash any of their points, I would just like to stress them further.

Taking company goals and comparing them with HR goals is the first step in any strategic analysis; and ultimately, better efficiency.

As simple as this idea is, let’s spell it out real quick. Here’s an easy example.

Business Goal: Going green; improving Corporate Social Responsibility
HR Goal: Reducing paper volumes associate with job applications to encourage company’s “going green” initiative and to simplify processes for HR staff
Strategy: Eliminate the paper application and resume
Action: Utilize an online resume tool to parse and store all resume information for your company and install onsite kiosks to eliminate the paper associated with “walk-in applicants”

It is as simple as applying this idea to all HR processes. It doesn’t have to be a complicated process or a stress-inducing task. The principles are simple. And with today’s technology; the implementation of a strategic plan can be even easier. More companies are leveraging applicant tracking systems or HRIS systems to streamline and develop their strategic plans; and thus, improve efficiency.

By creating a strategic HR plan, preparing for the future is easy. The world of recruiting will change as company goals change, as the talent pool fluctuates, as the type of talent differs, as employee drives alter; therefore, it is even more essential to develop your HR strategy now. Then, optimizing job efficiency won’t sound so scary.

...that 33.3% of verifiable information on resumes is lies?  That fun little fact I learned in my HR class is something I’ll remember for a while.  I’m sure if you’re a recruiter or hiring manager reading this, you may not be as surprised as I was upon learning this.  But it does make you think – how much experience do candidates actually have?

In this economic climate, obviously times are tough.  The job market is looking pretty brutal and I, for one, am scared out of my mind since I’m still an undergrad.  (Hence, why I am here gaining experience at iCIMS as an intern!)  I read in a recent article that “job losses in the current recession have been more severe than expected as employers hold off on hiring and federal stimulus spending takes months to work its way through the economy.”  With that being said, it’s no surprise that people are starting to pad up their resumes in hopes of finding some kind of job.  I’ve even read about people putting blocks of keywords in white font on resumes so that applicant tracking systems rate them higher.  In my opinion, that just bumps the percentage of lies up quite a bit.  By padding your resume, you’re putting false hope in the employer that you’re a qualified candidate.  It only sets you up for one thing – failure.  Of course there is always more to a recruiting and hiring process than reviewing the resume, but that is almost always one of the first steps.  How good do you look in person compared to how good you look on paper?

For the economic time being, recruiters and hiring managers have their work cut out for them.  With more and more job-seekers and fewer positions, the competition is greater and the pool of applicants is ever growing.  So, for all those recruiters and hiring managers out there – be extra weary of falsehoods on those resumes.  Your job may have just gotten harder.