4 Ways to Hire Specialized Talent

4 Ways to Hire Specialized Talent There’s always been a debate over whether it’s best to hire people who have lots of general skills or one very specific skill. And while there are cases to be made on both sides of the argument, there’s definitely a time and place for specialized talent. Do you know how to find it? How to recruit specialized candidates Ongoing specialization has been a  decisive  factor for the current state of our society, Rufus Franck explains. The effect of specialization is such a broad concept that it touches upon almost everything in our daily life. And our natural urge for specialization is also one of the main reasons why professional services exist. Society and businesses cannot know everything and therefore need specialists with practical experience to help and guide us. Hiring specialized candidates isn’t as easy as onboarding general candidates. There are some specific things you should look for and oversee in each step of the process. Here are some tips to keep you moving in the right direction: 1. Craft clear job postings If you want to find specialized candidates, you need very specific job postings. Instead of crafting openings that touch on the general aspects of the job, drill down and use industry-specific language and niche details that will only resonate with people who are qualified for the job. Be upfront about the requirements and specifications. This will result in fewer applications, but you’ll waste less time filtering out unqualified candidates. 2. Use audience targeting Since many of these candidates are currently employed and not actively searching for jobs, traditional channels that are geared toward active job seekers won’t reach the candidates you are looking for, recruiter Martin Wingate says. Instead, you have to deliver your message on the sites and around the content that they are looking at. You may need to do some research to find out where your candidates spend the most time â€" both online and offline. This will allow you to be more targeted in your approach. 3. Nail the evaluation process Even after narrowing the job posting and pursuing a highly targeted audience, you’ll have to invest in a strict vetting process that allows you to separate the wheat from the chaff. In addition to reviewing credentials and resumes, it’s necessary to actually have a face-to-face interview so that you can better understand the candidate and what they bring to the table. 4. Put your money where your mouth is  Candidates with general skills are a dime a dozen. All you have to do is put up a job opening for a general position and you’ll get dozens, if not hundreds of applications. But specialized candidates are much harder to come by. It may take weeks just to get a handful of applications. Because there are fewer candidates with specialized skill sets â€" and that most of them are currently employed and have to be tempted away â€" you have to be willing to pay a premium. Instead of lamenting over the fact that you have to spend more, focus on the long-term return that you’ll get from these employees. Don’t give in When recruiting for specialized talent, you have to be prepared for challenges. You may have to spend more, take more time, or put forth more effort to get your name in front of the right people. However, the important thing is that you don’t give in. When these challenges emerge, you have to stick with the plan and persevere until you find the right candidate. Once you hire the right person for the job, it will all be worth it. About the author:  Larry Alton is an independent business consultant specializing in social media trends, business, and entrepreneurship. Follow him on  Twitter  and  LinkedIn.

How to Create a Strong Company Culture [INFOGRAPHIC]

How to Create a Strong Company Culture [INFOGRAPHIC] A strong company culture could make it easier to hire and retain great members of staff for your organisation. But the big question is really; How exactly do you boost company culture? Some say you cant do it, it has to happen organically, others would argue there are steps you can take as a leader to encourage a strong company culture. Our friends at CultureIQ have come up with 6 ways to strengthen company culture: Define what is important to your organisation. The connection between an employees work and organisational  strategy is a top driver for employee employment. Look at your companys mission statement, core values and strategic goals. Measure and understand your culture. 70% of American employees are not engaged at work, to  understand what your people are thinking consider establishing baseline metrics to track over time. Send surveys to identify strengths and pain points, provide channels for anonymous feedback. Establish direction. Assess and prioritise pain points, send follow-up surveys if needed. Brainstorm and research culture initiatives, always look for specific processes to improve. Communication direction. Companies with effective change and communication are 3.5 times as likely to significantly outperform their peers. Try holding informative town hall meetings (think  Googles TGIF), start a newsletter or internal blog (or why not Facebook at Work). Implement change. Managers are crucial catalysts for successful change; create a culture committee, maintain a calendar of culture efforts, provide induction and ongoing training. Finally, empower your managers to become change agents. Refine and iterate. Culture is dynamic and thus you have to mange your culture on an ongoing basis; do regular surveys, analyse metrics to understand change over time and experiment with new culture initiatives. RELATED: 9 Ways to Create a Fun Company Culture

Six Steps Out of In-Transition - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Six Steps Out of In-Transition - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Losing your job can happen instantly, or you might be told ahead of time because the company is restructuring, moving out of town, or the like. Regardless of the circumstances, it is vital to attempt to quickly regain equilibrium and find another suitable positionâ€"fast. Typically, though, your reaction to the new situation is not logical but emotional. For example, shortly after discharge, your intuition tells you to start calling people who in your mind could be potentially helpful. Logically, that makes sense, but practically, it’s a big mistake. The reason is that first, you’re not well balanced emotionally and so would probably sound too emotional or like sour grapes, and second, you’re not ready to answer certain valid questions. As a 10-year veteran of serving as a practicing career coach, here is my best advice. Do nothing until you feel emotionally strong. If you’re still in denial, still angry, and still in shock, wait until you’ve regained your emotional energy, until your creativity is back, and until you feel committed again. Get your marketing collateral ready. There are at least two vital documents you must arm yourself with, and they must be developed for you by professionals. You need an outstandingâ€"not just a very goodâ€"résumé and an equally outstanding LinkedIn profile. Both of them must include the right keywords for your industryâ€"the keywords that recruiters and hiring managers query by. Do you know which ones they are? Most people react to this task intuitively by brushing off the dust from an old résumé, updating it with the most-recent information, and, often, soliciting friends to help them review and edit it. Sure sounds logical because with the loss of the job, your income stream has shut down and this is not a good time to incur major expenses for the services of professionals to create your documents. But think again. What’s the cost of every week that goes by without income? My strong suggestion is to hire a professional whose work will get you back to work faster. Make sure th at the professional is highly recommended. Many quasi-professionals would love to get your money but unfortunately are unable to meet your expectations. By then it is too late. This point has been proved again and again. Start job search networking. Many people have not needed to network recently because they had a job and therefore never saw the importance of it, or they didn’t have the extra energy to put into it. It is known that 60 to 80 percent of people get their jobs via networking. Only single-digit percentages of people get their jobs by applying online. Develop your written and verbal communications. Throughout the job search period, all job seekers have to engage others either in writing or verbally. I’m not talking about chitchat but about business For instance, job seekers must write cover letters tailored to the descriptions of different jobs they apply for; they must write thank-you letters right after an interview; and they must write follow-up letters a while after an interview or a meeting or a conversation and so on. Prepare for an interview. Assume you get lucky and are among, say, five people called in for an interview. At this pointâ€"in a departure from the system used in the Olympic Games, in which there are three winnersâ€"here in the marketplace there is only one winner who will get the offer; all the rest are losers. Are you that good? Are you that one who is able to outshine your competition? And remember: the other candidates, too, are very good; otherwise, they wouldn’t have been called in to interview. Via the interview, you have only one chance to beat your competition. Can you do it? Forget that in the past you’ve gotten offers. So have your competitors. Learn to negotiate your compensation. Congratulations! An offer is in your hand, and you feel thrilled because you’ve hardly been able to wait for this moment to happen. But hold on: at this point, you have to accept the job, and the offering company is waiting for your answer, right? Not so fast. Now is the time to start the compensation negotiation process. Make sure you know how. Via my own LinkedIn profile, you can download a self-assessment survey about reentering the job market. It’s free, and I hope you use it to advantage yourself in the job search process.

Eight Steps To Overcoming the Post Summer Blues - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Eight Steps To Overcoming the Post Summer Blues - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Take the Mundane Out Of Monday! and appreciate every season as an opportunity for growth   Beth Kuhel A sure sign that summer is over is the return of school buses flashing stop lights back on the streets, Halloween decorations and costumes on the shelves and the tips of Oaks, Maples and Buckeye trees shedding their green exterior  to reveal the burnt red and yellow tone at their tips.  The airs a bit crisper and when a cloud appears, a sudden chill sets in. The smell of burning leaves and roasting chestnuts soon will fill the air and a favorite sweatshirt is becoming more appealing than short sleeves. I love autumn and all the activities related to the season; long runs in the park where my feet hop over and crunch fallen acorns,  hot spiced cider, football games, tail gate parties, and switching my wardrobe to a more layered look.  The truth is that every year upon its return, autumns arrival seems more miraculous. Its a time for reflection, planning and self-improvement.  But with all of my appreciation for autumn and its glory, I still feel some occasional pangs of longing for the recent season past, my favorite season, the summer. The best way to appreciate and be happy with the passing of summer (or for that matter, any season you favor) is to embrace the following season!  Although you cant control the change of seasons or the fact that time marches on, you can control how you relate to the change. The challenge is that when weve had a great summer, its not so easy to look forward to it being over. Letting go of summer can be one of the hardest seasons to let go of as summer evokes memories of a more care-free time; we shed our heavy layered clothing, enjoy picnics, outdoor concerts, trips to the beach and barbecues. Adjusting to the fall can even make it harder if youve experienced an amazing vacation this summer.  (Maybe thats why we call autumn the fall season?) Those who traveled  this summer to a beautiful, exotic or interesting place will return home and feel a certain tinge of the blues; The laundry awaits you along with hundreds of unread e-mails and the knowledge that your next big break from your routine won’t be anytime soon makes it a bit harder to be upbeat.   After a great trip the first thing most of us do is recall how marvelous our trip was; we review pictures, relate stories to friends and mull over and over in our own minds all the good times had. While all of this is fine for a few days or even a week, eventually we need to adjust and adapt to reality and infuse our everyday life with the elevation we experienced during a great holiday break. After spending a blissful week in Colorado this summer, hiking, running, mountain biking, attending concerts, lectures, eating delicious food and enjoying the bright blue rocky mountain skies, dry air, splendid wildflowers and cool evenings, it was somewhat of a rude awakening returning to my comfortable life in the Midwest where we’ve endured a record-breaking rainy summer following a long, snowy winter and a spring so brief, I think I missed it. My first reaction to returning home was probably a normal response; I felt a culture shock in that most people I saw were in business or street clothes but the whole town didn’t wreak of hikers and cyclist returning from a day long excursion deep in the mountains.   I missed Colorado and momentarily was fixated on how superior the living is out there. Knowing I had clients awaiting me, articles to write and speaking engagements to prepare forced me to get real with my situation.   Here’s what I did to shake off the vacation and post summer blues.   I can suggest this to anyone who has normal mood swings as a strategy for getting your mojo back. How to immerse yourself in your routine with  joy after a break that you wished wouldn’t end 1.  Be thankful for having had the experience and for returning in one piece!  Seriously folks, many people go away and get sick once they get there or get injured while on vacation.   Be glad you came home healthy (assuming you did) and focus on that for a while. 2. Look at your pictures one last time, savor the memories, and say to yourself:   Im so lucky to have had this amazing experience!  I am more refreshed for having had a break and I’m soooo lucky to have experienced this and now it’s time to show myself I’m a trooper and I have something to accomplish in my life. 3. Connect with positive people where you currently live! 4. Immediately create a to do list and chalk off each item as you complete the task. 5. Continue to practice or pursue one positive behavior or experience you had when you were away.  If you took a yoga or a cooking class and enjoyed that, sign up for a series at home and have your beautiful memories in mind when taking the class. I personally enjoyed fruit with my breakfast and delighted in seeing all the wildflowers when I was away.   So I decided to have a similar breakfast at home and take a run in our local park where there are also beautiful wildflowers (albeit not as magnificent as the ones I saw in Colorado) but I was more alert to them now than before I went. Mimicking some of the activities I enjoyed when I was on vacation while at home allows me to bring the elevation of my get-away back into my everyday life. 6 Jump back into your work with gusto.    Breakdown your week into tasks per day and check off each task as you complete it. You’ll find this will get you back in the groove and you’ll actually feel good about being productive again. Separate work tasks from personal tasks and try to balance how many you complete per day.   By the middle of the week you’ll already begin to acclimatize and build your momentum for managing your responsibilities. 7. Do something nice for someone else both at work and in your personal life. Extending yourself to someone else (who most likely didn’t just return from a vacation) allows you to tap into your higher self, deepens your appreciation for what you already have, increases your sense of connection to those in your community (and in your sphere of influence) and infuses your life with greater meaning and pleasure. After the first few days back in town there is always some volunteer organization that could use my help and/or a person I know who could use emotional support.   Attending a meeting to help a cause helps remind me of my association with people I value and to a worthwhile cause that could use my support. Reaching out to help another person and a philanthropic cause helps me feel reconnected to my roots and gets me centered again.   There are always people asking for coaching assistance who can’t afford my services.   I found donating my time to coach a few clients after I re turned from my trip made me feel good about giving without expecting any reciprocation. 8. Find some activity you enjoy thats tied to Autumn.  Whether you go for a ride in the country to see the change of leaves, take a walk in nature, go apple picking at a nearby orchard or enjoy a new good book with a cup of hot cider, make time to do something special for yourself!  Every season has something to offer and if the weather doesnt change much where you live, try to schedule a trip to enjoy the change of seasons somewhere because some change is always good! Author: Beth  is Founder and President of Get Hired, LLC.   She advises students on how to bridge the gap from school to career.  Beth is the co-author of  From Diploma to Dream Job: Five Overlooked Steps to a Successful Career.  Her coaching assists students and career changers to successfully match their needs, interests, passions, skills, and personal goals with the needs of a sustainable industry in a sustainable location.  She is a resource for print and online media and offers workshops for University Career Service Departments, Executive Recruiters, Outplacement Services, College Guidance Counselors and College Alumni Associations. See website for more details about Beth’s services  www.fromdiploma2dreamjob.com.  Beth’s Webinar was sponsored by George Washington University’s Career Services Dept. for their worldwide alumni association:  Leverage Your College Diploma.  You can follow Beth on twitter @BethKuhel

Writing Your Resume Summary Section

Writing Your Resume Summary SectionThe resume summary section is often neglected by job seekers, even though it is one of the most important sections on your resume. In this article, I will discuss the importance of a resume summary section and why you should spend some time designing it.Resume summary sections usually cover three to five key points. It should be concise, but you don't want to give the reader too little information. If you do, the information will probably get skipped over. On the other hand, if you don't give enough information, your reader will be confused about what you are trying to say.It's important to develop a resume summary section. That way, you can identify the resume objective before reading the rest of the resume. Many employers require the summary section, so you should not leave it out. Even so, you can always shorten it as long as it has enough information to make sense. You need to also know that your resume summary is part of the resume itself.The m ost common way to organize a resume is to break it down into career path sections, but that leaves the question of where you want to lead your career. If you are looking for a job with a different company or industry, it's better to summarize the previous positions instead of trying to create a large pile of details. This will make it easier to look at the summary section when deciding where to go next.As a reminder, the career path will take you to the next section of the resume, which is called 'Opportunities.' You may have a career path as a formal or informal member of the organization. For some, a formal career path goes straight into an executive position.When writing your summary section, you want to outline your goals for each career path. While it's impossible to answer questions like 'What is my career goal?' or 'What is my ultimate career objective?'Instead, summarize what you want to achieve in each career path, including what you hope to achieve in the next section of t he resume. By adding in all of your career goals and what you hope to achieve in each career path, you get a good feel for what your overall career objective is.Finally, the summary section should be eye-catching and easy to read. Not only should you get a good number of words in, but you should also stand out from the competition by having an interesting and entertaining story. That way, it is much easier to persuade the reader that you are a good match for the company and you are just one of many who have achieved success.

FIND YOUR DREAM JOB PODCAST Interview on Career Change - Jane Jackson Career

FIND YOUR DREAM JOB PODCAST Interview on Career Change - Jane Jackson Career My recent interview on Macs List,  Find Your Dream Job Podcast where Mac Prichard and I discuss what you need to do to rebuild your confidence after a layoff or redundancy. Click here to listen now.Heres how Mac describes our conversation:Losing your jobâ€"under any circumstancesâ€"is a painful, embarrassing experience, and it’s natural to be upset. You may feel like you’ve lost control of your life, or that you’ll never find another job.   Plus there’s the stress of managing your financial responsibilities on a diminished income.While it’s natural to be anxious after a layoff, you shouldn’t let panic drive you to rash decisions. So says this week’s guest, Jane Jackson. Instead, give yourself time to heal and figure out the next step in your career.Jane suggests that you reach out to trusted friends and professional contacts to help you avoid catastrophic thinking and maintain perspective. These people can help clarify where you are where you are in life and what option s are available.Only after you’ve properly dealt with the emotional aspect of a job loss, should you create a plan to find your next gig. If you jump too quickly into the job search process, you’re likely to come across as desperate or needy to potential employersâ€"a dynamic that will only lead to more frustration on your part.This Weeks Guest: Jane Jackson Jane Jackson is a career and life coach who has worked with thousands of clients across Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Europe. She is the author of the Amazon #1 bestseller, Navigating Career Crossroads: How to Thrive when Changing Direction.Jane also hosts the Your Career Podcast  on iTunes.Jane is excited to be speaking about branding and networking, at an upcoming CFO conference in Cannes. And, she recently launched the online career transition program, The 7 Steps Careers Program.

Luck of the Draw - Some Tips to Get to the Top of the Pile - CareerAlley

Luck of the Draw - Some Tips to Get to the Top of the Pile - CareerAlley We may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners. Diligence is the mother of good luck. Benjamin Franklin While successful job hunting is all about planning and executing on your job search marketing plan, there is always a bit of luck in the process. Luck? you say? Yes, luck. The best laid plan, a perfect match on job experience and a great resume wont matter if you are too late for the opportunity or your resume does not get seen. Lets face it, if your resume shows up the day after the job is filled it wont really matter how good of a match you are, will it? While there is no foolproof plan for job search, there are some things you can do to help increase the odds in your job search quest. Networking (yet again): Yes, youve heard it a thousand times, and Im sure you have included networking as part of your job search strategy. But are you maximizing your network? You know the saying, its not who you know, its how you use them (okay, maybe thats not they way you remember it). But seriously, just having a network and staying in touch is not going to cut it. You need to leverage your network to help you find out about job opportunities before the interview process starts. Make sure everyone in your network knows the types of jobs you are considering as well as the companies where you would like to work. Leverage LinkedIn to see who in your network works at a company you would like to work. 5 Tips for Leveraging you Social Network in Your Job Search How to leverage contacts in your network How to Leverage Social Networking to Get Your Next Job You will miss 100% of the shots you never take Wayne Gretzky: One of my favorite quotes and so appropriate for job search. The right people need to know you are looking for a job if you hope to get an advantage. Job search is not the time to be modest, it is the time to be out there. And, the right people dont necessarily need to be in your network (of course it helps if they are). Make you list of the people who could potentially hire you. Maybe its the head of marketing at a well known manufacturer or perhaps the CFO at a financial institution. You need to let them know you exist. Send an email to them or, better yet, send your resume via snail mail. How to Get Noticed by Hiring Managers 12 Tips to Get Your Resume Noticed Five attention-grabbing ways to get hired in an overcrowded job market Make the Job: Sometimes candidates create a job. Your credentials and experience can be so amazing that a role is created for you. It does happen, but not by itself. You can make yourself too good to pass up. How do you do this? Obviously you need the right experience and education, but if you are great at what you do, find a company that needs you. Maybe you really need to think outside of the box and actually create a job by leveraging what you do best. Take a look at some of these links. Break the Mold and Create Your Own Work Stop Job HuntingCreate Your Own Job Stop Crying That There Are No Jobs. Create One Good luck in your search.