At Sourcing Adda we constantly encourage our members to actively participate in the activities we conduct with the Hike Group Chat being one of the many activities we conduct. The Hike Group Chat is conducted every Wednesday where fellow Talent Acquisitionists get together to share their views and perspectives to stay updated with the current trends in the Industry we’re all passionate about.

In view of this, one of our members Manav from the South zone suggested that we have a discussion on the trending topic “Infant Mortality”. Hence, we took his suggestion and decided to have a discussion on, “How do you handle ‘Infant mortality’ in your organisations, in reference to the below article http://m.economictimes.com/articleshow/49319093.cms.

But before we find out what inputs we got let’s brief you about the topic i.e. Infant Mortality. It’s that crucial engagement time from the day the candidate accepts the offer till he on-boards the organisation. We would like to hear the perspectives of our fellow Talent Acquisitionists in order to enrich the learning experience.   And here’s what we uncovered about how we can creatively gaze the pulse of the candidate/sAlthough this was a short discussion, I’m sure you’d agree with me when I say it was still insightful. At least I for one didn’t know about what measures other organisations were taking to curb “Infant Mortality.” It’s really nice to know that most organisations are investing in ensuring that the best candidates get on-board with the organisation. This only goes to show how the Talent Acquisition Industry is evolving and at what pace. Well let’s all make an effort to enrich the learning experience for us and our fellow Talent Acquisitionists as well by following @Sourcing Adda with active participation in the activities to come.

There has been a long drawn out debate on whether Recruitment and Sourcing are different functions. We @SourcingAdda wanted to find out different perspectives about it and to confirm our views about the subject at hand.

In view of that the discussion was based on, “Recruitment and Sourcing as a different function” where we focused on other aspects such as –

1. Is it necessary to have both the functions to be different functions?

                                                        Or

2. Do you suggest that both the functions should be done by one single person?

Having said that, here’s what our fellow Talent Acquisitionists had to say about the topic in question and what we discovered from the discussion held…

The discussion was great with lots of perspectives from our fellow Talent Acquisitionist’s. Hope to have more people joining the Sourcing Adda family to express their thoughts, interact together by participating in these discussions and other activities to come. Follow @SourcingAdda to get real time updates to our upcoming activities.

A competitors poaching of new recruits is every recruiter’s nightmare, especially if it involves a lot of time and effort invested in the process on the part of the recruiter to find that right candidate. As if this isn’t enough, but now we have to watch out for new employees being poached by competitors. Now that’s just great….; that’s just what I need right now!

Most recruiters feel exactly the same way when they’re efforts come to nothing after that much of work. So the important questions that comes to the fore is, are there any “Ways to Stop Competitors from Poaching your talent?”, if so then what are they? Therefore, let’s find out…

Have an Anti – Poaching Agreement

Corporate s can create an Anti – Poaching Agreement right at the beginning and circulate it within their competitive circle. This will ensure that you’re new recruits or key staff members from becoming victims of competitive poaching. In truth I’m not sure how you’ll be able to do that as recruiters and headhunters have at least four different ways i.e. via phone, email, social media and face to face; of contacting your staff members both in and out of work and there’s nothing that you can do to prevent this. So the best way is to create a resistant environment that is not susceptible to poaching for your staff.

Extend the Standard Notice Period

Since new recruits are likely to jump to another company it would be preferable to prevent them from being poached by extending the standard notice period to a longer duration. This means that the newly joined individual will have to go slow which might increase their chances of switching jobs. But it can to some extent reduce their chances of switching jobs.

Introduce a Bonus Scheme

Having a bonus scheme for new recruits is a great way to attract and get them to stay for a longer duration by informing them that they will be given a bonus at the end of the month but the organisation will give the bonus at the end of the year instead if they remain an employee. This will motivate them to stay knowing that they are applicable for a bonus at the end of the month.

Negotiate with the Competitor

If you’re aware of the possibility of a star player’s poaching then you can bring in your negotiations skill to the poaching company to hold on to critical staff. This will convey a strong message that you are not a soft touch where poaching is concerned. This will automatically get them to back off if you’re convincing enough.

Changing times, a Call for Action

Well the other times when employees are more susceptible to poaching is during times of drastic changes such as layoffs, offices being relocated for whatever reason, strategy changes, restructures, influential departures, rumours, etc. all of these events cause employees to be uncertain and out of control. Therefore, it is essential for recruiters to monitor their staff on regular bases. This will help recruiters to know which of their staff is likely to move due to uncertainty. If possible make sure you squash any rumours circulating within the organisation that can prevents your working staff from staying on.

Work Culture Hiring

Remember to interview the potential candidates about the work culture to find out if they will fit in to the work culture that is practiced. This is an important aspect as most candidates may not approve of the way things are done and this gives them reason enough to change a job acquired recently or to look for a job change after a considerable amount of years spent at the current organisation.

Another aspect that we sometimes forget to take in to account in the midst of trying our level best to keep our key staff members is that they sometimes choose to switch jobs of their own accord. As recruiters we need to keep in mind this aspect before we decide to go all out for key players and send them off with a good note. There you have it, everything that you can do on our behalf to convince, ensure and keep our star employees to stay on and to continue to be a vital part of our organisation. Hey there don’t go just yet, do let us know your views and pointers that we have missed out on in the comments section as we’ll be glad to add them to our next post.

More and more Companies are looking for cost effective and time saving methods and techniques to improve the quality of hires. While Social media is the obvious choice, most companies are now looking at campus recruiting as the obvious choice. It’s a surprise! Isn’t it?

You are probably wondering the same things as I am. So let’s tackle the question that is on everybody’s mind. Why is that so? Therefore, with an effort to ease you’re curiosity as to the company’s choice of action, it is important that we look at the various reasons why campus recruiting is a popular choice after Social media, hence, here are, “5 Reasons for a Strong Campus Recruiting Program.”

Social Media

With everyone turning to Social media to meet their recruitment needs, sites like Twitter and Facebook are constantly flooding with companies and recruiters or recruiting agencies. Hence, if everyone is, tilting towards social media to fulfil their recruitment needs, you can only guess the kind of quality you’ll get. Because let’s face it all the good ones will be picked up.

On – Campus Recruiting

While most companies look to social media to fill positions, the smart companies rely on campus recruiting for more success as they get the pick of the litter from the very best institutes. This helps them as they get the first hand impression of the kind of candidates that are available that too from a recognised institute.

Blocking and tackling your competitors

Another aspect that on – campus recruiting helps companies with is that it minimises their competitors and even blocks them especially if they aren’t using the same techniques of recruiting their staff, which is usually the case. This gives them more room and even helps them, make good recruitment decisions as they don’t have to compete in a cut throat competition.

Avoiding retirements and an intellectual drain

Hiring campus students year after year builds ones company brand and even gives you the freedom to keep coming back and develop tie-ups with specific institutes without the awkward feeling of first impressions and developing a rapport. Sounds familiar? This ensures that you have a recurring pool of candidates that you can fall back on to fill any vacant positions in time.

A Recurrent Campus Recruiting Strategy

While On – campus recruitment has its benefit, as mentioned earlier it also has some other benefits as students are likely to opt for vacant positions at your company simply because they are familiar with your company and they’ve got good reviews from students that were pass outs and have been hired as well.

Are these reasons enough to give you an idea as to why more and more companies are opting for campus recruitment as the preferred technique or strategy to select candidates that are suitable and that possess the talents required for the job posts? Hope this has been as informative as it has been for me and has it answered the question posed earlier? If yes and if you’d like to add some more, make sure that you leave your views in the comments section.

We’ve heard so much about candidate experience and its importance but have you ever wondered whether it is a need or a buzzword. We @SourcingAdda took the liberty to find out and confirm our views about the same by conducting a #SourcingChat. So here are the top tweets of the Chat…

• Sourcing Adda @SourcingAdda

Q.1 How do you define candidate experience? #SourcingChat

• Manish Pipalwa @pipalwa

A1. The reactions of a Candidate in Every Process of Hiring and goes until his Joining.

The reaction can be + or – ve #sourcingchat

• Chenthil Kumar @ChenthilTKumar

@SourcingAdda A1. Candidate experience is collective result of the interaction you have

with the candidate in hiring process #SourcingChat

• Sourcing Adda @SourcingAdda

Q.2 What are the components of candidate experience? #SourcingChat

• Shoheb Shaikh @Shoheb (2RT, 3F)

A2 – Every interaction of an organization with a candidate are components of candidate

experience #sourcingchat

• Parul Sharma @parulsharma23

#Sourcingchat @SourcingAdda A2) Components: Academics, Attitude, Advancement, Ability

to Acknowledge his knowledge,

• Sourcing Adda @SourcingAdda

Q.3 How important is the Candidate Experience during the Hiring Process? #SourcingChat

• Rakhee Jha @rakhee_jha

A3) Word-of-mouth marketing #SourcingChat

• Deepa Chaudhari @deepa2410

@SourcingAdda A3: The Employer Brand is as strong as the Candidate Experience in hiring

process #sourcingchat

• Sourcing Adda @SourcingAdda

Q.4 What can you do to ensure a high satisfaction candidate experience? #SourcingChat

• viraj chavan @tweetvraj

A4. #RECRUITERS Lose the “Don’t call us, we’ll call you” Attitude #sourcingchat

• Sathish Ganesh @sathish_ganesh

@SourcingAdda A4) 1) Simplify your employment job application process 2) Customize Form

E-mails #SourcingChat

• Sathish Ganesh @sathish_ganesh

@SourcingAdda A4) 3.Make sure your job descriptions are accurate 4.Communication is key

5. Pick up the phone and talk (2/2) #SourcingChat

• Sourcing Adda @SourcingAdda

Q.5 What are the factors that lead to bad candidate experience? #SourcingChat

• Shoheb Shaikh @Shoheb

A5) Unclear JD’s and Imprecise feedback #sourcingchat #candidate_experience

• Manish Pipalwa @pipalwa

A5. – Lengthy Hiring TAT, Delay in Feedback, and Recruiter Laid back attitude etc.

#sourcingchat

• Rakhee Jha @rakhee_jha

A5) Just one word “Time” Ans for all 5 questions #SourcingChat

• Sourcing Adda @SourcingAdda

Q.6 How can you minimize the effect of these factors? #SourcingChat

• Shoheb Shaikh @Shoheb

A6) Provide candid feedback #sourcingchat #candidate_experience

• Rakhee Jha @rakhee_jha

A6) Screening should be done properly + Time management #SourcingChat

• Sourcing Adda @SourcingAdda

Q.7 Does your organization conduct a candidate experience survey? #SourcingChat

• Manish Pipalwa @pipalwa

A7 We do During offer process and Post Joining Feedback & also feedback sheet on each

weekend interview event #sourcingchat

• Shoheb Shaikh @Shoheb

A7) No, but not sure if companies would want to invest in #candidate_experience

#sourcingchat

• Sourcing Adda ‏@SourcingAdda

Q. 8 Bottom-line – Is candidate experience – A need or a buzzword #SourcingChat

• Sanjay Singh Negi @hrsanjaynegi

@SourcingAdda A8) It’s a Need & don’t make it Buzzword #SourcingChat

• Chenthil Kumar @ChenthilTKumar

@SourcingAdda A8. Both need and Buzzword #SourcingChat

A closer look into these tweets surprised us as there were a lot of views expressed of which a few were similar to ours. That was quite impressive and interesting too. If you’ve enjoyed these tweets and want to know more then follow @SourcingAdda.

As Talent Acquisition Professionals we are constantly in search of talent for vacancies that crop up at regular intervals. With that being said, getting candidates that meet all the requirements isn’t easy. In such a scenario we start looking for ways and techniques that can help boost the candidate search. This got us thinking whether creativity has something to do with the candidate search hence the question, “what difference can creativity make when Recruiters are already meeting their targets?” This was the focus of the WhatsApp Group Chat that was held. Here’s what we found out…This discussion that we had was amazing with interesting inputs to the question. A look into the discussion made us realise that we’ve never thought about these aspects. Well, we got the answer to the question that was posed earlier on in the write up. But if you’ve also added to your knowledge and would like updates to similar upcoming chats then follow @SourcingAdda.

The advancement in technology has undoubtedly brought people closer together. As a result we have become more globally connected. While the internet serves as a very good tool for getting connected and being connected with your friends and relatives; whether close and far off it should be noted that it is also an exceptional tool for recruiting too.

Modern recruiters now focus on social media recruiting and sourcing therefore a job seeker’s first impression is no longer done during a personal interview but rather through social networks such as Facebook. So if you have an online presence it is essential that you watch what you post and display as recruiters relay on these platforms to get a first impression of a potential candidate.

Statistics of Digital Recruiting

Several studies have been conducted and the statistics in recruitment showed that 30 % of all google searches are mostly job related, 94% of recruiters either use or plan to use social media for recruiting, close to 78% of recruiters have already hired via social media, over 1 billion endorsements are done on LinkedIn and 93 % of recruiters now look at social profiles. Lately a new trend is followed in recruiting with 43% of job seekers now looking for and applying to jobs through mobiles. 73% of job seekers within the age range of 18 to 40 year olds have used social networks and landed their last job via these platforms (careerenlightenment.com).

Top Social Recruiting Sites

Of the several social media sites the top and the most used by recruiters due to the results obtained are LinkedIn with 94%, followed by Facebook with 65%, in close competition to Facebook is Twitter with 55%, followed by Google+ and YouTube with 18% and 15% respectively. In addition 94% of recruiter’s use Social media for their own job hunting (careerenlightenment.com).

Tips for Tech Savvy individuals

• Be careful of the information you share and what you do online, as there are lots of fake job search sites that use your information for illegal use. Besides be prepared for someone checking up on you.
• Beware of sites that don’t name the people involved, don’t offer contact information and ones that have an inadequate privacy policy.
• Use a separate email id for job searching or create one that doesn’t say too much of you. Make a simple one such as your name@email address.domain.
• There are chances that a potential employer will check up on your social media site, so be sure to add information regarding your volunteer work and work experience.
• Don’t conduct your job search at your current employer’s expense, as many companies monitor your computer use and email and will know if you are job searching instead of working.

These are some tips that most individuals with an online presence tend to forget or don’t pay attention too. So if you are a sourcer, recruiter or simply a job seeker you too need to focus on these aspects as it has a bearing on future career prospects.

If you are someone who still relies on traditional methods of recruiting its probably time to wake up and be In with the crowd as your chances of acquiring a job via traditional methods is rather miniscule. As you need to adapt to modern methods of recruiting if you want results and speed up the process.

Hiring a great candidate isn’t easy; ask any recruiter and even more so hiring a marketing candidate at that! As a result recruiters have a hard time landing that perfect candidate for the firm that they represent. As such even corporates that seeking out such individuals share in the brunt of inefficient employees. Therefore there are, “3 Interview Questions every Recruiter should ask a Marketing Candidate” in an effort to recruit an efficient marketing candidate that you might encounter. So let’s find out what these interesting questions are…

What’s the difference between marketing and selling?

This is probably the most important questions that will help you identify an efficient candidate. This is a common question with mixed answers, as most individuals tend to confuse the two when it comes to the individual roles that each one performs. This confusion then leads to conflict between the two as employees that are part of the sales group tend to be more focused on making the numbers and it is difficult for them to perceive and appreciate the ground work that marketing create. Similarly, a marketing professional will find it difficult to perceive and appreciate the complexity of the steps involved in making a sale. Regardless of this conflict it will affect either party’s productivity of the organisation on the whole.

How would you contribute, if you’ve temporarily been assigned to the sales groups?

This is a nice way to cross check the applicants that you receive and a way to build bonds between sales and marketing groups. And even if this is not your objective, nonetheless you should still pose this question as it is the practical aspect of the previous question, for the candidate. This question will definitely give you an idea as to the kind of personality the candidate has. If you get an answer like, “I’m sure that I’d be good at selling, but an assignment such as this would not be the best use of my talents.” This response suggests that if the candidate is hired then they are likely to have difficulty in creating marketing programs the delivery of products that are useful to the sales teams as well. But the ideal answer would be something like this, “I’d learn everything that I can and then bring that knowledge back to the marketing group to help make it a more effective one.”

Tell me about your brand

This is a bit tricky, for the simple reason that on the surface it provides an opportunity to the candidate to apply and talk about their unique experience in the industry and how they come out to the outside world. All very important aspects for the job profile. This will also highlight whether your candidates priorities are to either help your marketing team to build a stronger brand or to build a personal brand for themselves to advance in their careers. You want to hire someone who defines their personal brand in terms of service, working in a team and helping the company to be a success. A candidate displaying more of a personal brand to be independent is sure to be problematic for corporates. These individuals usually tend not to get along with co – workers and are bound to affect the performance of others.

So there you have it the questions that might just be the key to unlocking doors to catch that perfect candidate which you effortlessly seek but leads to an attempt of futile effort of gathering those hard to get candidates. Now that you have some more information on making a hire, you should probably be implementing it in to your list of strategies to land a perfect hire! You can also leave your views in our comments section and we’ll be glad to implement them.

You know what time it is, well it’s time for a recap on the discussion that we had in our WhatsApp Group Chat platform. And I’m sure you are impatiently waiting to refresh your memory on the aspects that were discussed. So find out what our fellow Talent Acquisition professionals had to say about, “Are Present day Recruiters well equipped to assess the culture fit of a candidate?” If you weren’t present then you’re in for a thought provoking session and are likely to gain interesting insights too.

Now weren’t you glad that you went through the entire chat, I’m sure you’d have forgotten some of it already. If not then you have added to your learning and you know something more than what you originally did. How great is that. I bet you can’t wait for our next WhatsApp Group Chat. Wait no more all you have to do is follow us @SourcingAdda for timely updates.

It’s time to refresh our memories on the SourcingChat (#SourcingChat) that was conducted by our all-time favourite Community, Can you guess which? Yes, you’ve guessed right Sourcing Adda (@SourcingAdda). We at Sourcing Adda would like to thank all our participants for sharing their interesting insights about “Candidate assessments, does it matter at every level?” It was quite informative for the ones present. But let’s get right to the point and find out which were the Top Tweets of the SourcingChat (#SourcingChat). Interesting enough…

• Sourcing Adda @SourcingAdda
  • 1 What are the various types of assessments followed? #SourcingChat

• Mettl Inc. @mettl_
  • #SourcingChat #Aptitude and #Psychometric, at a ground level. Tools today enable you to mix and match, and get the output you want!

• QuodeIT @quodeit1
  • @SourcingAdda A1. (1/2) Depending on the position there are mainly 3 types of assessment 1. Aptitude 2.Technical 3.Psychometric. #Sourcingchat

• QuodeIT @quodeit1
  • (2/2) And these assessments can be clubbed and taken accordingly. #SourcingChat #QuodeIT

• Sourcing Adda @SourcingAdda
  • 2 Does your organization have assessment for all level of hiring? #SourcingChat

• Mettl Inc. @mettl_
  • A2 Organizational fitment is needed at every level => it makes sense to assess at every level, and hence, YES. #SourcingChat

• Sourcing Adda @SourcingAdda
  • 3 How does assessments differ from lower level to higher level hiring? #SourcingChat

• Mukta Patil @MuktaPatil4
  • A3: At a lower level we stress more on technical know-how, whereas higher level we stress more on achievements and function #SourcingChat

• Vethamoorthy A @vethamoorthy
  • lower level concentrates on theory while higher levels focuses on problem solving experience #SourcingChat

• Sourcing Adda @SourcingAdda
  • 4 When it comes to employee referrals, are the assessment results seriously considered? #SourcingChat

• Mukta Patil @MuktaPatil4
  • A4: 100% without a doubt! No matter the Source of the candidate, he/she had to go through the appropriate assessments #SourcingChat

• Parul Sharma @parulsharma23
  • A 4 #sourcingchat to some extent, Employee referral r given more weightage but certainly d level of assessment should be followed religiously.

• Sourcing Adda @SourcingAdda
  • 5 What are the key issues that arise out of having different assessments for different levels? #SourcingChat

• Mettl Inc. @mettl_
  • We really don’t see any issue. @mettl_ provides a one-stop solution for those who do. #SourcingChat

• QuodeIT @quodeit1
  • No issues. Different type of assessments only gives more options for assessing better! Assessment simplified at @quodeit1 #sourcingchat

• Sourcing Adda @SourcingAdda
  • 6 How has technology enhanced the assessment process for different levels? #SourcingChat

• Mettl Inc. @mettl_
  • Saves {financial+human+logistical} Capital & Time. Allows better selection based on fitment assessment. #SourcingChat

• Sachin Khurana @SachinKhurana05
  • A6) # Technology enables efficient, fast, measurable, common platform 4 assessments across all levels #SourcingChat

• Sourcing Adda @SourcingAdda
  • 7 Which is your favorite assessment tool? Why. What is the unique feature that sets it apart? #SourcingChat

• QuodeIT @quodeit1
  • Well, definitely @quodeit1 !! We do not brag about it but it’s not bragging if it’s true! #sourcingchat #CompleteAssessment #QuodeIT

• Sourcing Adda @SourcingAdda
  • 8 What is the most innovative way of assessment you have implemented or have come across? #SourcingChat

• QuodeIT @quodeit1
  • (1/2) QBBA (Quality Beyond Academic Aptitude) which is a Psychometric Assessment specially designed for fresher’s #sourcingchat

• QuodeIT @quodeit1
  • (2/2) QBBA is an innovative way of assessment which will help assess a fresher in future. It is under development at @quodeit1 #sourcingchat

Well this sure was quite informative, I mean there were things that I wasn’t aware of until the SourcingChat and I’m sure you too weren’t aware. Besides we had a lot of views expressed and I can say that it was a success this is because of the feedback we received from our Tweeters. If you’ve enjoyed the Chat then I’ sure you’re waiting to know when we’re having the next Chat. To get timely updates be sure to follow us @Sourcing Adda or #SourcingChat.