How to Host a Virtual Career Fair

Career Fairs are great for networking and collecting resumes. A traditional career fair attracts all kinds of people seeking employment.  A Virtual Career Fair will help you target specific demographics for your recruitment marketing. The benefits include cost savings over a traditional career fair, and the ability to promote your company and employment branding more effectively, and on a more personal level without having to compete with 100 other businesses at the same time.

Here's how you can get started with hosting your own Virtual Career Fairs.

Set Up:
First, set up your meeting, date, time, and agenda (we'll come back to this). You can do this using various meeting hosting software like WebEx, GoToMeeting.  These services usually offer the ability for you to also host a conference call. Make sure you give yourself enough time to promote the event (4-6 weeks).

Promote, Promote, Promote!
This should go without saying, have a target audience in mind. Ideally you already have a mailing list that is already segmented into your target audience. If not, fear not, there are still plenty of places you can promote your career fair. Company newsletter, or blog. LinkedIn, promote to any groups, or pages you belong to. Twitter, Facebook, Google+, share with friends, family and your company pages and encourage all to register for your event. Do this weekly until the event date.

Finalize the Agenda:
Book your speakers. CEO to talk about what a great company it is to work for, your Recruiter to speak about specific positions that you are hiring for, and what kind of skills you seek, a fellow happy and engaged employee to speak about the benefits of working for you.

Send Meeting Reminders!
Send out your meeting reminders and login instructions 3 days before your event, and then again on the morning of the event. Encourage attendees to log in a few minutes before your event begins so you can get started on time.

Host The Meeting!
Ask someone else to introduce you as the Host, it always sounds more impressive. Use as few PowerPoint slides as possible. Thank your audience for attending, and set out the expectations and agenda for the meeting. If you can, use video or web cam during the session. Engage the audience throughout by using any meeting tools you have, such as polls. Engage on Twitter by using hashtags. Leave time at the end for audience Q&A.

Send Thank You Emails!
Thank the attendees for spending their time with you, and encourage them to visit your website to apply for any available positions. 

Secondary Marketing Opportunities
If you recorded the meeting, send it out to anyone who registered, but did not attend. Post to YouTube, your company blog, and social media.


About iRecruit

iRecruit is a cloud-based recruiting and applicant tracking software application that allows you to track and report on all of your job applicants and positions. Find out more and take a quick screenshot tour on our website at http://www.irecruit-software.com/ or join a demo on Tuesdays or Thursdays at 2pm. Call iRecruit at 1-800-517-9099 if you have any questions. 

Recruiting News Roundup

This week's top recruiting stories:

Out With the New, In With the Old
The original way headhunting (sourcing) worked was purely through networking.  No Linkedin or other internet powered search tools, not even a job board per say.  It was one executive calling a search firm that was seriously connected to fill their critical need.

Are Your Offers Getting Rejected? Here’s What To Do To Before the Sendout
I just had my third offer rejected since the beginning of the year. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. When I try to get feedback from the candidates they don’t respond, so I’m at a loss. I tried to pressure close my last deal and as a result it went south. I can’t afford for this to continue and I’m looking forward to your advice.

What A Brit Has to Say About American Recruiting Practices
A contentious statement I know but in 2011, as a British contingency recruiter opening up an office in New York City, I was amazed at how low a status the third party recruitment sector has in the US.

You’re Wasting Your Time With Reference Checks
You've probably all been there. You've found the perfect candidate to fill a vacancy or a new gig in your company. Their interview was great, their resumé impressive, their rapport with you and your team terrific. Seems a no-brainer, right? So you proceed to the next level in the way that everyone seems to—you ask for a list of references.

The anatomy of the perfect technical interview from a former Amazon VP
Neil Roseman is downright tired of hearing Silicon Valley companies say they “hire only the best and the brightest.” No matter how many times they say it, most still make decisions based on gut feel, basic credentials, GPAs, ivy league educations, flashy company names - even SAT scores. Roseman objects. As the former Technology VP for both Amazon and Zynga, he’s interviewed hundreds of people and believes every phase of the process needs to be meticulously designed to drill deep into skill sets, actual accomplishments, culture fit and leadership potential.

Fortune Favors the Prepared, and Hiring Managers Favor the Fortunate
When they’re hiring, companies are looking to find out what candidates have really done — not what they’ve participated in or watched, but what they’ve done. At least, that’s what Neil Roseman was looking for when he was Technology VP for Amazon and Zynga. “Even at the greatest companies,” he says in this illuminating piece from First Round Capital, “there’s a gap between those who get the most stuff done and those who don’t get much done...

About iRecruit

iRecruit is a web-based applicant tracking software designed to provide any size of business a cost effective, affordable and simple way to handle their recruiting process online. iRecruit provides you with your own career center that will allow your applicants to select the position they are interested in, and apply online through your website!

Weekly demos, Tuesdays and Thursdays at 2pm Eastern Time (Register Today), or call us at 1-800-517-9099 to schedule a demo at your convenience.    

Recruiting News Roundup

This week's top recruiting stories:

Too Many Applicants, Too Little Time?
Some organizations are just lucky … they have a huge, Niagara-like, flow of applicants knocking at their front door. They hire teams of people to scan paper resumes. But any experienced recruiter knows resumes contain a considerable amount of fiction; bad applicants often have good resumes; and, good applicants often have bad ones. I’ve even heard of clever applicants seeding their electronic resumes with keywords printed in background font colors to hide them.

How to Hire – and Retain – Recent College Graduates
We have learned the hard way that many recent grads are not yet ready for the real world. To be honest, when I graduated, I don’t think I was either! Over the years we have had to interview a lot of recent grads to find those who are ready. We have found that there are some things you can look for – and other things you can avoid – in order to hire them successfully.

Do You Need a Résumé in the LinkedIn Era?
Now that LinkedIn has become the standard place to present your professional history and credentials — not to mention the fastest way to check somebody else's — the humble résumé has lost its once-hallowed position as the canonical version of your professional identity. Your LinkedIn profile should be the most-viewed and most current version of your professional life. That has many people asking: Do I even need an old-fashioned résumé anymore?

The Quick Guide to Being a Great Hiring Manager
Let’s face it — most of the hiring at the average company isn’t lead by HR. Sure, HR has an important hand in the pot, but ultimately it’s the hiring manager who does the bulk of the legwork. This is why hiring managers are more important than the CEO, and is why it’s vital that you prepare your non-expert hiring team for the pivotal task they’re about to take on.

Career Fair Tips for Employers
Career fairs can be great opportunities for businesses to find prospective employees, but these venues can quickly become quite hectic without proper preparation. Lack of screening, tons of resumes, and the chaos of the day can take a super productive idea and make it a hot mess. If you want to take advantage of career fairs without acquiring a giant headache, here are some tips to keep your search focused and successful.

CareerBuilder Lists Hardest Jobs to Fill in 2013
According to a survey of hiring managers by CareerBuilder, over one-third of respondents have positions that have remained vacant for at least 12 weeks. The jobs cited as most difficult to fill between 2010 and 2013 include:

Hiring Managers, Don’t Blow the Interview! How to Effectively Screen Potential Hires
Stellar employees are the foundation of any great company, but hiring those great employees isn’t always easy. The interview is the single most important aspect of any recruiting process, and it directly relates to future success and fit between a company and the candidate.



About iRecruit

iRecruit is a web-based applicant tracking software designed to provide any size of business a cost effective, affordable and simple way to handle their recruiting process online. iRecruit provides you with your own career center that will allow your applicants to select the position they are interested in, and apply online through your website!

Weekly demos, Tuesdays and Thursdays at 2pm Eastern Time (Register Today), or call us at 1-800-517-9099 to schedule a demo at your convenience.   

Engage and Attract More Candidates with Social Media

Use social media to recruit, engage and attract new talent with iRecruit

There are over 845 million active Facebook users. LinkedIn has 150 million users and Twitter has 350 million.

If your company uses these three most prominent social networks for consistent branding, marketing and public relations, you should take advantage of this built-in network of contacts when recruiting new candidates.  Making your jobs social, allows you to connect with a built in network of people who are already aware of your company, and interested in hearing news and job openings from you.

LinkedIn
iRecruit applicant tracking software allows you to post to LinkedIn, which is showing more and more growth, to your profile, company page, individuals or to a specific group. Encourage new and current employees to follow your company on LinkedIn to stay up-to-date with news and happenings. LinkedIn operates the world’s largest professional network on the Internet with more than 150 million members in over 200 countries and territories.

Facebook
iRecruit lets you instantly share your job openings with this largest social network. Post your jobs to your own profile, or to your Company Page and share with people who already "like" your company. Who knows how many people they will share it with. Encourage new and current employees to like your company on Facebook to stay up-to-date with news, events and more. Encourage employees to share your job openings with their friends.

Twitter
Twitter, the second-largest social network operates in 140 characters or less.  Perfect for broadcasting short bursts of information such as notices that you are hiring.  Ask your followers for retweets in the post by writing "Please ReTweet" or "RT" at the end of the tweet. Use Twitter Hashtags in the tweet such as #jobs #yourtown #hiring to connect with even more Twitter users.

YouTube
With web content being so mobile these days, video is a vital communication tool.  Having an "about our company" video, or "interview with employees" or "day in the life" on your iRecruit career page makes it convenient for mobile users to review without having to scroll through a long page of text to find out about your company.


PS--Follow iRecruit on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn too.


About iRecruit
iRecruit is a web-based applicant tracking software designed to provide any size of business a cost effective, affordable and simple way to handle their recruiting process online. iRecruit provides you with your own career center that will allow your applicants to select the position they are interested in, and apply online through your website!

Weekly demos, Tuesdays and Thursdays at 2pm Eastern Time (Register Today), or call us at 1-800-517-9099 to schedule a demo at your convenience.       

Recruiting Roundup: This Week's Top Recruiting Stories from Around The Web

Recruiting Roundup: From what you can learn about posting jobs on Indeed.com, what hiring managers don't understand about recruiting, and the role of social media in recruitment, this week's top recruiting stories from around the web.

3 Tips for Posting Jobs on Indeed.com
With a click of a button you can automatically share your iRecruit job listings with Indeed.com, the #1 Global Jobs Site. Here are three tips to attract applicants and increase posting visibility:

Understanding and Recruiting Advanced Technology Specialists
Understanding how new technology is essential to individuals and the ways it affects the office are key to hiring positions that didn’t even exist at the turn of the millennium.

The Role of Social Media in Recruitment
It’s been said for some time now that a key component of any job hunt is getting the social media side of things done well. This includes making sure your LinkedIn profile is up to date, writing a blog and generally getting your name out there online.

6 Things Hiring Managers Don’t Get About Recruiting
Having worked in executive search for more than 10 years, I have had great success in finding candidates but have encountered many obstacles in trying to place those candidates because often many hiring managers mismanage the hiring process. Below are five issues hiring managers must consider when trying to fill their open positions with superstar candidates.

Goodbye, Resume? Not so Fast, Experts Say
The Internet -- along with the advent of social-media tools like LinkedIn -- have markedly changed the recruitment landscape. But the resume remains prominent for the vast majority of HR professionals and recruiters, experts say.

Your Job Ads Suck
Imagine you're a candidate. You're doing the job seeking that we, as recruiters, think we understand so well. Candidate you types search terms into Google, Indeed, Monster or Bing (just kidding, no one uses Bing) and off you go... to sort through job ads like the one below. I challenge you to read it, but most of you probably won't. Why? Because it's boring and it stinks and I will ...

HR’s Primary Role in Recruiting? It’s Really All About Retention
HR doesn’t get as much credit for recruiting as they should. But it’s not for the reason you might think. An organization that seemingly recruits well probably has an HR department to thank for helping to keep and attract employees.


5 Ways to Find Candidates Who Fit Your Culture
A common mistake of managers is hiring based solely on the candidate’s résumé and skills. This is probably why you’ve crossed paths with so many highly skilled jerks during your career.


About iRecruit 
iRecruit is a cloud-based recruiting and applicant tracking software application that allows any size company to track and report on job applicants and positions. Find out more and take a quick screenshot tour on our website at http://www.irecruit-software.com or join a demo on Tuesdays or Thursdays at 2pm. Call iRecruit at 1-800-517-9099 if you have any questions.

3 Tips for Posting Jobs on Indeed.com

With a click of a button you can automatically share your iRecruit job listings with Indeed.com, the #1 Global Jobs Site. Here are three tips to attract applicants and increase posting visibility:

• Job Title & Location. Be as clear and concise as possible with your job title. Don't forget the location when you set up the position in iRecruit. Putting in the zip-code will help applicants find you on Indeed.com.
• Keywords & Job Description will help applicants find your listing. If looking for a "Marketing Assistant" for example, use related keywords (marketing, social media, blogging, youtube) in the job description to increase search engine optimization. Be as descriptive as possible, while including your keywords, be sure to include your requirements for the position in the description.
• Be more attractive to applicants. Do you offer awesome benefits? List them. Flexible work schedule? List it. Link to an "About our Company" page so applicants can learn more about you.

Sponsor a job to Indeed.com in 5 minutes (or less) with iRecruit

1. Create a job listing in iRecruit.
2. Select Purchase Premium Feed from the iRecruit Requisition Menu Bar.
3. Tell us how much you want to spend to advertise your job.

Your job will appear in Indeed's search results and applicants will click-through to iRecruit to apply.


About iRecruit 
iRecruit is a cloud-based recruiting and applicant tracking software application that allows any size company to track and report on job applicants and positions. Find out more and take a quick screenshot tour on our website at http://www.irecruit-software.com or join a demo on Tuesdays or Thursdays at 2pm. Call iRecruit at 1-800-517-9099 if you have any questions. 

Encouraging Employee Referrals with iRecruit

May is Employee Referral Month and HCI are advising recruiters to take a step back from their usual daily scanning of job boards and applicants and encouraging your current employees to refer new talent.

Their suggestions include educating employees about your job openings, using social recruiting to expand your network and offering rewards to promote referrals.

iRecruit makes it easy to set up and track employee referrals.

1. On your application form add "Employee" as an option to the question "How were you referred to the position?".
2. Also add the follow up question, "If employee, please name".
3. Tracking and reporting is available from your iRecruit Reports menu.
4. Allow Social Media sharing in iRecruit to easily post your jobs out to Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin, and also allow and encourage your employees to share your jobs with their contacts.

Continue reading Building a Culture of Employee Referrals at HCI.org

Also see: Using Recruiting Hashtags with Twitter
Social Media and iRecruit

New iRecruit User Guides Available

There are new iRecruit user guides available following the iRecruit update on Sunday 5/13/2012.

User guides are for Administrators, or Recruiters and Hiring Managers. To download your new guide please visit the Help File from the iRecruit Dashboard Menu after logging in.

Should you have any questions please call us at 1-800-517-9099.

Incorporating Video on your iRecruit Page

Incorporating Video to Your iRecruit Career Site can help boost you in the search engines.  Video content from hosting sites such as You Tube or Vimeo can be easily added to your iRecruit page.


Using You Tube and the SageHRMS video as an example:

1. On YouTube.com click on SHARE underneath the selected video. Then click on Embed.
Select Use HTTPS, so that your video content will continue to be secure on our secure iRecruit website. Select the desired size of video. Copy the IFRAME code.

< iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/dHi26kM2Los" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen >< /iframe >

2. In iRecruit Administration select Organization Description. Then select HTML and paste your IFRAME code for the video. Save the changes.

Adding video to your site will help:

• Show Candidates a "Day in the Life" at your company
• Share additional information about your company to your applicants
• Say why you are an employer of choice
• Connect with candidates in a mobile friendly manner
• Enforce your brand message
• Boost your site in Google rankings
• Keep your iRecruit Website content fresh and relevant

If you have any questions about adding video to your iRecruit career site, or would like some assistance, please call us at 1-800-517-9099.

Improve Candidate Response by Updating Your iRecruit Job Application Forms

A recent HiringSite by CareerBuilder article explains some of the reasons you may not be attracting the candidates you need. You may be doing everything right, advertising in all the right places, you have a well-crafted job description and are offering a competitive salary. So, why can’t you attract the applicants you’re trying to reach?

According to CareerBuilder the top reasons applicants fail to complete online applications are usability and time constraints. CareerBuilder research shows that 34 percent of candidates who try to apply for jobs don’t complete the application process – simply because the application process is too much of a hassle. 

How do you know it’s time to update your online application form? 

1. Your disclosure and applicant statement are out of date 
2. You’re asking for too much information 
3. You’re asking for not enough information 
4. You’re not being specific enough to the position 
5. You want to improve your candidate experience 

If any of these strike a chord with you, it may be time to make some changes.

With iRecruit Applicant Tracking Software your online job application forms are completely flexible and can be tied to specific job openings.

During the early stages of an application ask yourself “What information do we really need from our candidates?” Make a list of everything you think you require. Then pare it down. Do you need applicants to spend time filling out every field? Is Social Security Number required from people you may never speak with? Do you need to collect reference information, or licenses?

Requiring applicants to give you everything but the kitchen sink on an application can be time consuming for them and a waste of time for you if you still don’t get what you need.

Print out your iRecruit application page, if it prints on to more than three or four pages, it may be too long. Shorter forms are less of a hassle to complete and more user-friendly for applicants using mobile devices including smart phones or iPads. (Example iRecruit Application Form)



To help cut down on applicants who don’t meet your absolute minimum requirements use pre-screening questions on your job listing.  A few well-chosen updates may be all it takes to improve your candidate pool and increase response rate.

About iRecruit

iRecruit is a cloud-based recruiting and applicant tracking software application that allows you to track and report on all of your job applicants and positions. Find out more and take a quick screenshot tour on our website at http://www.irecruit-software.com/ or join a demo on Tuesdays or Thursdays at 2pm. Call iRecruit at 1-800-517-9099 if you have any questions.