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Challenges With Video Recruitment

Although many employers are weary of whether or not to accept video resumes, it is becoming a more acceptable way for job seekers to communicate with employers.  Some job seekers are leveraging video resumes as a way to market themselves to employers and stand out amongst other candidates who do not yet utilize this tool.  However, before employers jump on the bandwagon and start incorporating videos into their recruitment program, they should make sure they are aware of the challenges associated with video recruiting.  Some of the challenges include:

• Legal ramifications - A significant disadvantage to employers who utilize video resumes is the possibility of a discrimination lawsuit. Candidates who are rejected could claim bias based on race, gender or age which is evident in the video, but not necessarily on paper.
• Time constraints - Many companies receive such a high volume of resumes that it might not be feasible to sit down and watch a 3-5 minute video for each applicant, especially when they can skim through each paper resumes in about 20 seconds a pop. 
• The candidate is in control - Video resumes are basically like an interview, except the candidate is in control and only presents information limited to what they want to share an employer. This can sometimes give a false pretense of how the candidate would react in a live interview.
• No guidelines, anything goes - Currently, there are no set guidelines on what content a video resume should include or what it should look like. Because of this lack of structure, many candidates include information that is not pertinent to the job opening and does not help the employer determine whether or not they would be a good fit for the company.
• Mistakenly pass on qualified candidates - Many times recruiters who search for candidates through online video resumes sometimes eliminate highly-qualified candidates by mistake because they may not present themselves well on camera. It is best for employers to look at the full package before eliminating a candidate and take into consideration what sort of position they are applying for. (For example, a video resume for a news broadcaster is much more important than it would be for an engineer.)

Hopefully by bringing these challenges to light, it will help your organization make an informed decision on whether or not to incorporate video resumes into your hiring program.  While I'm sure there are many circumstances where video resumes could be beneficial, it is important to always supplement video recruitment with traditional recruiting methods to ensure the most success. 

Maintain Your Vacation Glow Well After Your Vacation Is Over

When you return from vacation, your tan is not the only thing you try to hold onto.  You also want to maintain that “worry free” vacation mindset as long as possible.    That’s right, that feeling of complete relaxation with no phone calls, email messages and emergency meetings to attend, is a much needed break for many of our nation’s workforce.  However, how many of us really come back to work feeling refreshed and ready to get back into the swing of things? 

More than 5,800 business professionals across the Beyond.com Network of thousands of industry and geographic-specific sites participated in a poll to share how they feel when they return to work after a vacation.  And surprisingly, more than 76 percent of professionals indicated that they feel refreshed and relaxed. 

Taking a vacation is important.  In the fast-paced world we live in, we sometimes forget to slow down and take some time for ourselves.  A vacation can keep us from burning out and can increase our job performance, but what if you’re one of the 24 percent who feel either the same as before they departed or no different from how they felt before they left?  How do you bring those revitalizing feelings back to work with you?  What’s the secret? 

What's Happening in the Healthcare Industry?

In Q2 2009, Healthcare & Medical ranked as the #1 industry for online job postings for the fourth consecutive quarter, representing 37.31% of all jobs posted to the Beyond.com Network.  The Healthcare industry also experienced the largest percentage gain (14.12%) in online jobs posted to the Beyond.com Network over the previous quarter

While most industries experienced a decline in jobs, or best case scenario remained status quo, the Healthcare industry experienced 35.46% increase in the number of jobs posted in Q2 2009, when compared to the number of healthcare jobs posted in Q1 2009.  According to HealthcareJobsite.com, the top healthcare job titles in Q2 2009 were Registered Nurse, Medical Assistant, Physician, Physical Therapist and Pharmacist.

So it’s safe to say the Healthcare industry is a pretty safe bet in terms of finding a job right now.  But what does the candidate pool look like for Healthcare employers?

Healthcare & Medical ranked as the #3 industry for online resume postings in Q2 2009, representing 12.94% of all resumes posted to the Beyond.com Network.  Although the Healthcare industry represents a large portion of the resumes posted to the Beyond.com Network, this industry actually experienced a 20.12% decrease in the number of resumes posted in Q2 2009, when compared to the number of resumes posted in Q1 2009.  Not to be alarmed though, historically there is usually a slight dip in resumes in Q2, which typically bounces back after the slow summer months.

According to HealthcareJobsite.com, the top Healthcare candidate titles in Q2 2009 were Medical Assistant, Admissions Registration Clerk, Medical Records Assistant, Billing Specialist and Medical Secretary.  Beyond.com also discovered that candidates with 1-3 years of experience represented the largest percentage of Healthcare resumes posted in Q2 2009, with 19.96%.  Candidates with less than one year of experience closely followed with 19.45% of resumes posted, while candidates with 5-10 years of experience rounded out the top three with 16.32% of all healthcare resumes posted in Q2 2009.

For more industry trend information, please visit Beyond.com’s Q2 2009 Industry Outlook Reports:  http://www.beyond.com/media/Industry-Outlook-Reports-Q2-2009.asp 

Hire the Right Candidates With Behavioral Interviewing

The success of any organization largely depends upon the knowledge, skills and dedication of its employees. Since the selection process for new employees relies primarily on the interview process, it is imperative that managers and interviewers become proficient at interviewing candidates.

Due to the ongoing struggle of finding the right candidates, many employers utilize behavioral interviewing to better gauge the potential of a candidate, especially those who have little or no traditional work experience. Behavioral interview questions allow organizations to effectively evaluate whether or not candidates can quickly and efficiently tackle issues and solve problems, communicate well with others, collaborate in a team-environment and demonstrate true initiative.  

There are many ways to approach and incorporate behavioral interviewing into the hiring process.  Sometimes the level of position or specialized skill sets required for a particular position can change the employer’s approach behavioral interviewing.  Some questions will be detailed and some will be more broadly-defined.  Located below are a few general behavioral interviewing questions which any employer can incorporate into their hiring process:

1. Provide an example of when you encountered conflict and how you resolved it.
2. Tell me about a time when you had to use your presentation skills to influence someone's opinion.
3. Give me an example of a time when you tried to accomplish something and failed.  What lesson did you learn? 
4. Describe a time when you anticipated potential problems and proactively developed preventive measures.
5. Give me an example of a time when you motivated others.

By incorporating behavioral interviewing, employers can make more effective and informed decisions to be sure that they are hiring the best employees for the position and the company.

At Beyond.com, we provide valuable career resources and articles across a variety of different topics, including interviewing techniques to assist hiring managers with their recruitment program.  We encourage you to visit our website at www.Beyond.com  to review our comprehensive list of resources.

Forget Wall Street, Small Businesses Are Still Hiring

Beyond.com, Inc., the world’s largest network of niche career communities, today released its Second Quarter 2009 Career Trend Analysis and Industry Outlook Reports, which provide a unique insight into the overall employment market by leveraging Beyond.com’s network of top-tier industry, local and specialty web sites. Among other key findings, the report revealed small businesses with fewer than 50 employees accounted for more than 50 percent of hiring in Q2 2009.

According to Beyond.com, the top three industries for online job postings for small businesses in Q2 2009 included Information Technology (11.8 percent), Healthcare & Medical (9.5 percent) and Human Resources (6.7 percent). In addition, the report showed that nearly 75 percent of all job postings in Q2 were for candidates with zero to three years of experience. Some of the top job titles posted by small companies for candidates with less than three years of experience were Registered Nurse, Software Developer and Sales Manager. This trend is a welcome encouragement for new graduates and less experienced professionals who have been frustrated by few opportunities and stiff competition from more experienced professionals over the past several quarters.

Much of today’s daily financial news reports focus on how the economy has impacted corporate America, when in reality large corporations make up less than 50 percent of jobs in America, according to the Small Business Association. Traditionally, job seekers start their job search by identifying and targeting large employers in their area, but with more than 50 percent of job postings coming from companies with fewer than 50 employees in Q2, the small business sector may offer the best opportunity for employment.

“While many monster-sized companies in ‘corporate America’ are on the sidelines as far as hiring is concerned, small businesses are showing positive signs of growth and hiring due to their ability to react quickly to market trends,” said Rich Milgram, CEO of Beyond.com, Inc. “It is a terrific sign that the small and entrepreneurial businesses across the country are minimizing layoffs and beginning to hire again, although the true measure of the end of the recession will be when corporate America reengages in growth opportunities, starts creating new jobs and gains the confidence to take an opportunistic approach to their business.”

To view the complete Career Trend Analysis Report and Industry Outlook Reports, please visit http://www.beyond.com/Media/QuarterlyReports.asp.

Beyond.com Reduces Email Marketing Costs by Switching to StrongMail

StrongMail Systems, Inc., the leading provider of commercial-grade solutions for marketing and transactional email, released a press release today announcing that Beyond.com, the world's largest network of niche career communities, has reduced its email marketing costs and gained greater visibility over its programs by moving to StrongMail.

Beyond.com provides powerful job search and related career services across an expansive network of thousands of top-tier industry, local and specialty career sites. Beyond.com initially engaged an email service provider (ESP) to execute its email marketing program, which included email alerts, transactional emails and a variety of other communications to connect with their job seeker and employer members. As their email volume continued to increase with the growth of their network, it became cost-prohibitive to continue to pay a per-email CPM fee charged by ESPs.

Due to escalating email costs, Beyond.com began looking for an email marketing company that had expertise in deliverability and best practices while offering an alternative pricing model that would support their current and future email volume. Beyond.com quickly determined that StrongMail offered a reliable and efficient email marketing solution that would allow them to eliminate CPM fees and provide the level of expertise and integration they required to be successful with their email marketing program.

"Not only has StrongMail reduced our costs, it has improved the visibility into the performance of our campaigns, which helps us better manage deliverability at the leading ISPs," said Mike Owsiany, Vice President of Strategy and Execution at Beyond.com. "I was impressed by how quickly we were able to move our email streams over to StrongMail, and I expect StrongMail to easily pay for itself in less than a year."

StrongMail easily integrated with Beyond.com's custom content management system, which allows it to send millions of job alerts and targeted promotions each month. In order to maximize delivery of these business-critical messages, Beyond.com leverages StrongMail's proactive delivery services to identify and resolve deliverability problems before they impact their business. Beyond.com also relies on StrongMail's Live Updates functionality, which ensures that its email delivery technology is kept up-to-date with ever-changing ISP and corporate anti-spam delivery parameters, such as bounce filter definitions and recommended domain limits.

"By offering on-demand and on-premise solutions, StrongMail gives companies ultimate flexibility to use our advanced email marketing system in the way that makes the most sense for their business -- and that's allowing companies like Beyond.com to save a lot of money over alternative solutions," said Bill Wagner, executive vice president of business operations at StrongMail. "Beyond.com's ability to lower their costs while gaining greater visibility into their email programs is another great example of the many benefits companies can receive by taking control of their email marketing with StrongMail's solutions."

For more information, please visit: www.strongmail.com.