Over the past few years, we have seen young managers occupying roles of mid- management in a short period of time. The concept of working your way up the corporate ladder has now been reduced to less than 2 years. With baby boomers becoming enamoured by very clever and ambitious youths, the young star is pulled forward to management positions. There is a 20 % increase in young managers being promoted over the past two years, which is a continuing trend.  Among the reasons for this pattern is the possibility that baby boomers are getting ready to retire, work part time or becoming consultants to ease their work load.

Being a young person myself, I am all in favour of for young managers because I can relate to them better and it makes me think that if I work hard enough I can attain their position. However, if the young manager steamrolls ahead of me and puts me down in the process then that might alienate myself and others which is not very beneficial to the organisation. These young managers might have brilliant minds and bring a lot of talent to the organisation including energy, enthusiasm, willingness to challenge existing management, and a big appetite for change. The only thing they lack is management skills. These are young managers who are so focused with getting ahead and doing their job right that they develop habits of work, work and more work but never learn how to become good managers.  

These inexperienced young managers are thrown into the deep end too quickly; they don’t get a chance to develop their managerial skills. An organisation should do a few things to help young managers become successful managers. These include:

• Start the development process 1-3 months before they begin their first management role. This will help them prepare for the management role by giving them a running start to get grips with the role and will give them the ability to develop a plan for how they will approach their new job.
• Early on, provide them with the tools and opportunities to achieve success. This could be a new manager skills workshop or a book on How to Manage Multiple Generations
• Help them build a business social network. This will include other young managers who can share their stories, tips and tricks. It may include other people in the business that can help them become the best managers possible. The most successful managers are the ones with the strongest networks.

With these tips and suggestions hopefully your organisation will be able to train your next young manager with the right skills to be a great manager.

There is a job ad that was advertised in Sydney Morning Herald and job boards such as CareerOne for a job that pays you $150,000 to live on Hamilton Island for 6 months. Over a million people have applied for this position; in-fact a women tattooed the Great Barrier Reef on her arm just to get this position. Let’s just say if you haven’t heard of Hamilton Island before you are guaranteed to have heard it now. Who wouldn’t want a dream job like this? This must be the best advert that Queensland Tourism has had!

Listed below is the advert that is being advertised.

________________________________

How would you like to be paid $150,000 to scuba dive on the Great Barrier Reef, feed ocean fish and live in luxury accommodation?

The catch? There is none.
Tourism Queensland is advertising for someone to spend six months immersed in the culture and beauty of Hamilton and promoting its tourism through a video blog.

Duties include feeding ocean fish, cleaning a pool and collecting deliveries of mail that arrive by plane but the employee is also required to go scuba diving, snorkeling and hiking and to enjoy at least 25 nearby island resorts.

To offset the drudgery, the state of Queensland is offering $150,000, accommodation in a luxury three-bedroom house and transportation to and from the island.

No skills or experience are required for the job that starts in July and there is no age requirement.
“We are looking for someone who is dynamic, charismatic and interested in the world of barrier reefs,” said Shana Pereira, Tourism Queensland’s Regional Director for the Americas.

Tourism Queensland created the job as an antidote to the global economic slump and is advertising in 18 countries including the United States and China, she said.

Applicants must submit a one-minute video expressing interest in the Great Barrier Reef, a vast coral reef system that is classed as one of the seven natural wonders of the world.

“It is such a fantastic opportunity, I wish I didn’t have a conflict of interest or I would apply,” said Pereira.

Recently in the USA there has been a conference dedicated to corporate social networks.

There are a growing number of recruiters starting a corporate network in order to participate and advertise on a MySpace or Facebook. It’s so easy, it’s like launching a blog. And just like a blog, a social network requires some thought, planning and work to be successful.

There needs to be a strategy in place when you are engaging with social networks or else it will not work and you will spend endless amount of wasted time.

So what sorts of things should a recruiter consider before launching a corporate network? ERE.net (Recruiting Intelligence. Recruiting Community) asked Lash and Ryan Esits, senior vice president a chief talent strategist at NAS Recruitment, for their advice. Here, in 2 minutes and 48 seconds, are the basics:

We keep reading how the world economy is about to go through a recession but does that mean companies should not have a Christmas party just to save on costs? Most employees don’t receive an end-of-year bonus and most people are overworked.  According to Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development's (CIPD) Annual Reward Management Survey 2008, 40% of UK employers are not having a Christmas party. The industries that are most effected are private sector, manufacturing and production, states the CIPD. Having no employer engagement could have long term damaging impact on employee and organisational performance.

A Christmas bash does not have to be an over-the top elaborate party. Giving your employees something shows them that employer appreciates their hard work. A few drinks and a few hours off are probably the least employers can offer. It gives work colleagues the opportunity for fellow employees who may or may not know each other the opportunity to socialise outside of their work roles.

Throwing an end-of-year bash should never fall onto one person. The more you get employees involved in planning and choosing which type of event will result in more people having a good time.

Here are some tips for putting together an event that works for everyone:

Get out of the office.
1.    Nobody wants to stand around the copier machine drinking from plastic cups. For small companies you could take the whole office out for dinner. For larger companies you can hire a venue. Booking early and booking in November will save in costs.

Think Creatively
2.    If you are thinking about having drinks and nibbles at a bar you are not offering anything special. Think about breaking the event into a couple of pieces like an activity followed by drinks of lunch. Here at turboRECRUIT we are going to leave work early-around 3pm, have a scavenger hunt and follow it up with a dinner. There are other options such as lawn balls and lunch, cooking class, boat around the harbour and tickets for Luna Park.

Give Back to the Community
3.    Your company can donate to a charity or fundraiser by volunteering your time. You can collect toys or canned food-it’s all about remembering people in need and how to contribute.

Finishing off the year through rewarding employees gives the staff a well-deserved break. A poorly planned event will be forgotten quickly and even breed resentment. A fun and friendly event isn’t too hard to organise, be appreciated by everyone, and employers can reap in the benefits long after the party is over.

I would like to specially thank Glen Gutmacher at Jobmachine.net for conducting our first webinar session.

In the discussion Glen pointed out how to use Google and other search engines to find candidates resume on the internet. All you need to know are various search operators and place them into the search bar.

In fact,  listed below are some  examples which you can start using right away.

allintext: mountain people peru


This will find indexed items with the words “mountain” and “people” and “peru” in the text

intext:mountain people peru
This will find items with the words “mountain” or “people” or “peru” in the text
NOTE:  do not have a space between the intext: and the following word

allintitle: mountain people peru


This will find indexed items with the words “mountain” and “people” and “peru” in the title

intitle:mountain people peru
This will find indexed items with the words “mountain” or “people” or “peru” in the title
NOTE:  do not have a space between the intitle: and the following word

allinurl: mountain people peru



This will find indexed items with the words “mountain” and “people” and “peru” in the URL

inurl:mountain people peru
This will find indexed items with the words “mountain” or “people” or “peru” in the URL
NOTE:  do not have a space between the inurl: and the following word.

Now this is Cool!

Now what is really cool is that you can start to join up the queries for example
(intitle:resume OR inurl:resume) AND “747 Pilot”



This will search look for the word resume in the title OR the URL and the string “747 Pilot”
 
(intitle:resume OR inurl:resume) AND “snake charmer" AND "fire eater"



Now the above examples will by their very nature bring back very targeted results (how many snake charmers do you know that can eat fire?).

Here is another example of a search string that will help you find people with Sydney and Melbourne who have Sarbane Oxley experience and technology experience.
(inurl:resume OR intitle:resume) sydney melbourne (SOX OR sarbane AND technology).



But you can narrow the search even further by focusing on the document type.

Document Types
 
Most resumes are saved as Microsoft Word (doc), Rich Text Format (rtf), Ascii Text (txt), Adobe (pdf), WordPerfect (wpd), Microsoft Works (wps).  So a query such as to one below can yield some interesting results.

(filetype:doc OR filetype:wpd OR filetype:wps OR filetype:pdf OR filetype:rtf OR filetype:txt) AND (intitle:resume OR inurl:resume) AND "management accountant"



This search query including the file types brought back only 42 resumes.  If you didn’t use the file type in the query you would be presented with 1650 documents to sift through.

(intitle:resume OR inurl:resume) AND "management accountant"



Some other cool search operators are

Google also has other search operators that may help in your search for candidates in a passive manner.
Such as

(i)    The related: command.  This command will find other web sites that are similar to the web site domain that you have placed in the search engine.

For example if you know that the Australian Stock Exchange has a domain of asx.com.au, then you can find the other stock exchanges by inputting the following.



This can be useful if you want to search for candidates in highly specialized areas that may be members of associations.  Find the people listed on the association web site and give them a call!

For example the Australian Dental Association has a domain of www.ada.org.au.

The related: command yields similar organizations which you can find possible candidates to contact.



(ii)    The site: DOMAIN command.  This command allows you to search for items within a particular domain.

For example if you had used the above search to find domains related to the Australian Dental Association, then this command will let you find items within the chosen domain.  Let’s search the Australian Medical Association for items!

The command could be- Site:ama.com.au (“spinal surgeon”)



These are very practical skills that you can start using right away. If you have any comment please share your thoughts by clicking on the comment button listed below. If you would like to know more about  about Jobmaschine.net and their consulting services please visit jobmachine.net.

We all know that recruiters and other business professionals are always very busy and there never seems to be enough time during the day to get everything done.  Sometimes it can be hard to find the time to keep abreast of changes in the industry and technology. Anyone in the recruitment industry knows what it is like to multitask, so why don’t you put these natural talents to work for you and participate in our Lunch and Learn webinair sessions!.

RECRUITadvantage will be holding a series of mini workshop every quarter. It is only 30 minutes of your time during lunch hours and you will have the opportunity to hear a focused presentation from a noted expert on topics that are industry related.  No registration fees, no travel, just listen and learn. It’s absolutely free!!

The first workshop will be on October in Australia and the discussion will be around the latest searching techniques.

If you are outside of Australia or with in Australia and would like to participate in our webinar sessions please blog your comments in the Comments Section below this blog.

Britons work 2hrs more a week than most European countries. The only countries that work more then Briton are Germany, Bulgaria and Romania. According to Eurofound’s European Industrial Relations Observatory, Britons work an average 41.4 hours every week while the lowest working countries such as France, Italy and Denmark work 37.9 hours a week.

The average European country works 39.6 hours and with an average of 25.2 days of annual leave. The British only get an average of 24.6 paid leave days per year. UK workers are far off from the Swedes, where paid leave is the longest in Europe at 33 days.

New Zealand and Australia are not too far off the mark from Briton working 39 hours (NZ) and 38.2 (AU), which is more than the Average European Country. New Zealand typical paid leave is an average of 25 days while Australia has an average of 20 days paid leave.

We all know that the Japaneese (work 50hrs) followed by US (work 42hrs) the longest hours and have the shortest amount of paid leave with an average of 10 days.

With such long working hours do you think there is much worklife balance in London, Australia, New Zealand, USA and Japan? Please share your comments by clicking on the comments button.

I found the most interesting article from Recruiter.co.uk stating that Australian managers are more optimistic and happier than UK managers.

A new report, from the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) and the Australian Institute of Management, found that 65.5% of Australian managers felt their organisation was growing, while only 48.7% of UK managers felt the same. Most Australian managers (71.2%) are satisfied in their jobs, compared to 62.2% of managers in the UK.

The majority of Australian managers (62.3%) have more trust and confidence in their senior managers. Only 46% of UK managers had faith in their bosses, while 73.4% of Australians said they were fairly treated by their organisation, compared to 59.6% of UK managers.

Ruth Spellman, chief executive of the CMI, said: “Clearly management styles have a significant impact on morale and business performance. This report demonstrates how managers and leaders are viewed differently in the UK and in Australia with the Australians being more positive about senior management and enjoying higher levels of job satisfaction.”

What do you think? Please comment your views to today's.

When it comes to hiring candidates it is important that the employment opportunity is in-lined with what the candidate is looking. There are 3 key areas that a recruiter is looking for when screening a candidate.

1. Commitment and motivation
2. Cultural Fit
3. Remuneration

Communication and motivation is where the candidate should clearly articulate and communicate their background to the specific organisation and apply examples using the system STAR (Situation, Tasks, Action, and Results). Below is a very good example from Deloitte on the STAR approach for candidates to answer interview questions.

Cultural Fit is where the candidates work history and ethics fit must with a company. For example, if the candidate comes from a corporate background where they are used to having resources with limited restraints and the management is very structured. Would they fit in an environment that is not structured with very high restraint of resources like a non-for-profit?

Remuneration is usually the make or break deal for candidates to take a new job. The candidate must do their own research in the market and know their value worth. They must know their lowest remuneration and be realistic and genuine on what they want to get paid in order to live the lifestyle they want to.

A lot of time recruiters will cut the interview process if they know that a candidate is looking to get paid more then what is being offered. If a recruiter doesn’t specify the remuneration and the candidate goes very far in the interview process, then finds out that the remuneration is below their minimum requirements, the candidate will not take the job, which will result in a lot of time has been lost.

Please have a look at Deloitte’s Interviewing Tips and share your comment!

Whether you are a small or large recruitment company you are looking for an end to end recruitment software solution. In a study prepared by ADP Group, 1 in 10 medium size companies employ an en-to-end system to manage the recruitment process. There is no single recruitment software company that delivers 100% of the technology requested by recruitment companies because each company runs on a different business model. There are similar key requirement that a recruitment company is looking for in a software provider.

Key Recruiting Tasks are:
1.    Tracking Applications
2.    Find/search and match candidates to requisitions
3.    Post jobs
4.    Initial screening/scheduling and interviewing
5.    Track company compliance and produce management reports/analysis
6.    Process New Hires
7.    Prepare and manage requisitions
8.    Skill/personality assessment tests
9.    Put together job offers and write offer letters

turboRECRUIT helps recruiters with the above 9 keys recruiting tasks. If recruitment companies are looking for other key tasks turboRECRUIT can always be customised to the recruiters needs. BUT within reason.

Please feel free to comment.