All posts by paulam

Office Life

How to Use Trello to Stay on Top of Your Hiring Process

Sample - Recruitment Dashboard - TrelloWhat three letter acronym will send the most tech savvy recruiter running?  You guessed it!  ATS, the applicant tracking system, or most affectionately known as: the last place I want to spend my time when I need to recruit amazing candidates and get my positions filled!

No names. For those of you looking for the latest pros and cons article on what system worked well and which one not-so-well, this is not that post. If you would like to try something that only measures the metrics that matter and gives you and the hiring manager a dashboard view of “Got Talent or Not,” then hang on for a quick tour of my new best friend and management tool, Trello, and why it works for us.

My recommendation to step out of the box and try something completely different is based on a few assumptions of why ATS tools ever came into existence in the first place.  There is a need, and still is, for a tool that makes the job easier for recruiters “to recruit” and for companies to understand the value of where the recruiting dollars are being spent now and where to spend in the future.  Before my team starting using Trello as our Recruitment Dashboard, we took into consideration 3 things:

1) Candidate Pipeline: For us, this is the active candidate pipeline. Candidates that are being screened either by me or one of the hiring managers. Our preference is to have all of that information on one screen, dashboard style.

2) Time to Hire: Self-explanatory. The candidate starts the process and things are competitive, so let’s keep it moving. If you don’t act with a sense of urgency, game over.

3) Source Tracking:  So many places to go when looking for candidates but where do we get the most value for time spent networking and reaching out to the best talent?

I took that wish-list and presented my recommendations on which ATS might best serve our needs.  Those of you that know me and my passion for all things recruiting, I get pretty jazzed about the latest tools and toys in my industry. But just like finding the right candidate for the job, I wasn’t finding the perfect match for our needs.  Enter Trello.

Our development team adopted Trello in early 2012 for managing their work on Gander. (You can check out their Trello Made Awesome Blog Series on taking your boards to the next level.) Personally, I was thrilled to delay my search for the perfect ATS and jumped in (hesitantly, at first) to my new Trello board. For the first day, I made a few cards and moved them around the screen. Honestly, I was skeptical if this would work or just be another drain on my time! Continue reading How to Use Trello to Stay on Top of Your Hiring Process →

Featured

How to Land a Job the Startup Way

Photo Credit: http://blog.atrinternational.com/
Photo Credit: http://blog.atrinternational.com/

It’s the morning after the lay-off. Where do you start your job search? Most likely, you sent out status updates to your networks and now your inbox is filling up with leads, recruiters and job searching tools. A moment of reflection sets in, thinking it might be best to work on that resume first. You quickly dismiss the thought and rush a resume over to everyone.

With a sense of great accomplishment, you sit back, relax and think this isn’t so bad.  Before you know it, you are daydreaming best tactics and strategies to negotiate job offers. There’s someone knocking at the door and it’s your “Reality Check” that was delivered FedEx. Here is actually how this scenario plays out after your rushed updated resume reaches its destination:  1) Resume arrives with grammar and/or spelling errors; and my personal all-time favorite is 2) You receive a call from the company that you have not researched or even read the job description.

Now that you know exactly what you should NOT do to get started, let’s launch your job search the right way: startup style in 3 steps!

1. Resume / Online Profiles

Employers Google their candidates.  Feel free to comment on this topic, it’s not the focus of this post, it’s just a fact.  For quite some time, there are leading publications discussing how social media is replacing the traditional resume.  Not convinced on the power of your online profile? Sorry, game over. It’s that simple. It’s proven employers are looking for that personal branding message and your passion.

You will still need a traditional resume. Less is more and the recommended format is Continue reading How to Land a Job the Startup Way →

Events, Office Life

Networking on PAR: 3 Easy Steps

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Here’s my take on the mystery behind the magic of successful networking.  Golf anyone?  Yes, there is a connection, I promise.  For serious golfers or enthusiasts, you want to be on par with the hole.  Let’s focus on Par-3, the distance is shorter and for some, ok for me, easier.  A Par-3 hole, is a hole that an expert golfer is expected to need only three strokes to complete.  Planning, action, and reward are my top three steps and Par-3 for networking.

Networking is a short amount of time to make a connection and should be fun!  Leave all the prepared speeches at home!  Networking is about building relationships.  Keep in mind these 3 easy steps and you’ll be on PAR to have a great event:  Continue reading Networking on PAR: 3 Easy Steps →

Events, Office Life, Uncategorized

WorkIT: Careers @ Bostinno Launch

It was such a great night to be out in Kendall Square!  When I heard the news about the launch of “Careers on BostInno”, my first thought was: please not yet another useless job board that produces zero quality for start-ups looking to connect with potential candidates.  On the flip- (insert: positive or any other politically correct segue) side, consider the source: in under four years, BostInno has gone from a niche blog to the nexus of all things groundbreaking in Boston. As stated on their website:

“BostInno’s foundation is innovation – …. our platform connects and informs people in a way that drives innovation at a time in which we believe our economy and society desperately need change for the better.”

In this market, I highly doubt that one source can be the answer to creating the ultimate pipeline for top tech talent.  What is exciting about this launch is that you have a creditable source in the Boston start-up community that is serving as a “connector” between the small start-up and the job seeker.

Overall the event was a great opportunity to get out, mingle, and meet new faces!  Since this was the first time that BostInno crossed the river, I hope that everyone had a great time and they continue to explore new places. (I hear things are booming in Watertown!)

As to the product, we are looking forward to trying it out!  One just never knows when, where, or how you will meet the next person to join our small community.  My search continues…