1.

Hire for Attitude and Train for Skills A valuable employee is one with the right
attitude for your organization. By attitude we are referring to a person’s
thought, manner, and general disposition towards another person, idea,
activity, object, or thing. Their attitude will be reflected in their behavior, which
can either be positive or negative. Someone with a positive attitude has a
tendency to react positively in most situations, whereas someone with a
negative attitude has a tendency to react negatively in most situations. Most
people will fall somewhere in between positive and negative attitudes. The
key is to find someone who is more positive than negative. Asking behavior-
based questions during the interview will give you a good idea of a
candidate’s attitude. Smart recruiters look for attitude over skills because
most skills can often be gained, while attitude is harder to change. A perfect
candidate would have both the desired attitude and the necessary skills; but
as you likely know, a perfect candidate is difficult to find. Candidates that are
less than perfect should be judged more for attitude than skills — some
professionals suggest a 70/30 split: 70 percent right attitude and 30 percent
skills. If you have two candidates — one who has the right skills ready for the
position, but displays a less than desirable attitude towards the position and
organization, and one who has a great attitude, but lacks the skills to be job-
ready — think ahead for the future. The candidate with a better attitude will
more likely fit well into the organization, as training on the job to build skills is
often not that difficult and it doesn’t take that much time. In just a few weeks
or months you will be able to bring that employee up to speed.

2. Thinking Outside the Box Recruiters are starting to redefine the hiring
process and the future thinkers are now beginning to really question the
actual usefulness of the resume. How can two pages where candidates
simply list their skills and experience (tailored to what you as an employer
want to see) really tell us about the candidate’s fit and attitude? Candidates
post these standard two page outlines of themselves to job boards and attach
them to emails just hoping for a response. While is does tell us the basics of a
candidate’s qualifications, we miss out on learning about the true depth of an
applicant. Both companies and recruiters have started getting more
innovative with their hiring process. Utilizing the web 2.0 for recruiting is
getting more and more popular. Sites such as LinkedIn and other niche
professional networking sites are absolutely teeming with talent just waiting to
be approached. IGN Entertainment Inc., a gaming and media organization,
shows us one very unique example of creative hiring. In order to find
programmers, they set up a program called Code Foo that taught
programming skills to inexperienced gamers; they didn’t ask for a resume, but
used a series of challenges that would assess an applicant’s thought process.
Now that is truly thinking outside the box! All organizations are capable of this
 type of innovation and creativity when it comes to hiring. Don’t believe that it
is just a domain for a gaming and media firm to do so. It just means thinking
of exactly what you are looking for in a candidate and what method is the best
way of truly assessing these attributes.

3. Go Where They Go If you want to get in touch with your ideal candidates,
then you should go where they go, do what they do, and read what they read.
To find your ideal chef, read up on their industry, use professional magazines
or publications, and visit industry events. You could even find out where they
like to socialize. Invest your time and thought into finding that hidden talent
pool.

4. Employee Referral Programs An organization’s current employees are

great sources of knowledge for recruitment. Employees will most likely have
friends or acquaintances that are in the same field. Employee referral
programs can therefore be effective means for recruitment. Design policies
that will allow employees to refer suitable candidates — you can always
screen for unsuitable leads or employees that are only referring to get the
bonus. Current employees also understand an organization’s workplace
better than anyone else; get their opinions on issues surrounding turnover
and how to improve retention. For a more detailed discussion and analysis on
this topic, see our blog on Employee Referral Programs from earlier this
month.

4. Databases Recruiters collect and retain applications from all past job
postings. Even if a candidate wasn’t chosen for a given position, chances are
they will still have their details on file thanks to CRM software. When recruiters
create a job advertisement, most will disclose to applicants that they will keep
their resume and application on file in case of future positions. Keeping this
information can be really useful as you can check back on this to review possible
candidates.

Step 1 of 2
5. EEOC stands for Equal employment opportunity commission. It is a
legislation that influences the recruitment activities to be conducted without any
discrimination. Any questions or information access related to the age, color, and
sex, native origin and marital status during the interview process is subjected to
employment discrimination suit unless the company can prove that requested
information is related to job needs.
6. Step 2 of 2
7. All small business owners who have above 15 employees are covered by
the EEOC that prohibits any discrimination based on age, color, race, sex,
disability, marital status, etc. They are also covered by the law that protects right
of equal pay for both male and female employees. In this case, an individual who
owns a business can recruit and hire the person who is eligible for the
opportunity. Individual must held the recruitment process open for all minorities
and females to apply for the position If individual was pleased by the candidate
then it must be based on the skills and talent that serves the job needs but not
based on the preferences to any particular sex, color, origin, marital status etc. or
unless that job qualifies under bona fide occupational qualification.