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Become a better leader, a super hero or just improve your office meetings!

January 23
Hero become-a-better-leader-a-super-hero-or-just-improve-your-office-meetings
Leadership is a big deal. Employers and recruiters need to have leadership on the mind when hunting for new talent. Will potential candidates be able to grow with your company, take on more responsibilities, become leaders? How can you foster leadership in them? How do you know if they're ready? Are they a Cyclops (Middle management at its finest) or a Wolverine (Reluctant to lead, but born ready!)? A Batman (So moody, but inspires you to do better) or an Iron Man (Let's hope not!)? Doctor X is, of course, my favorite example of leadership. He knows how to foster creativity, initiative and drive from his team. This is, of course, in part due to his mind-reading abilities, but I'm sure he also honed many of these skills ……Read More

Facebook Graph Search is the Next Big thing for Social Recruiting

January 21
Hero facebook-graph-search-is-the-next-big-thing-for-social-recruiting
The internet is blowing up with articles about Facebook Graph Search. Such as : Facebook Graph Search is going to revolutionize social recruiting, Facebook Graph Search is bad news for LinkedIn, Facebook Graph Search is not that big a deal (yet), or, actually it is a huge deal but has a terrible name soon to be replaced by simply “Facebook Search”. Phewf. And it’s still just in Beta phase.Honestly, as of right now, there’s really not much actual Graph Search to speak of and there won’t be for a quite while. That’s not to say we shouldn’t pay attention, stay informed, and tinker with the prospect. But it certainly doesn’t mean adjusting recruitment strategies or creating new job titles (though “Facebook Graph Master” would be ……Read More

Facebook Graph Search, Recruiting, and Psychic Kitties

January 16
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"A hugely powerful way to be creepy on Facebook"That is my favorite quote about Facebook Search so far. Although, with the amount of attention the topic has been getting, I'm sure it will be replaced shortly by something even wittier. Despite not even being available to the general public, Facebook Search has got the blogosphere atwitter (social media puntastic!) If you want a good laugh, as well as a succinct explanation of Facebook's upcoming new feature, you really should check out Kyle Wagner's article on Gizmodo. Kyle also shares some tips about how Facebook Search will eventually be able to help you find a cat-loving lady in your area! (For recruiting, not dating, obviously). I was going to do a post about leade……Read More

Gamification and Recruiting? Keep it Simple Yoshi!

January 14
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Today we're going to talk about how to improve the process of hiring through gamification. Before reading any further, I suggest you gather your team and engage in some research and skill-building — namely by battling each other at Mario Kart. This will get everyone excited about gamification. It will also make you the office favorite. At least until someone brings in a really tasty batch of cupcakes. So, what can we learn from Mario? Simply put, make it fun. Injecting some levity into the recruiting process is more important than you may have been led to believe  The reason gamification works so well for training is because it makes training more enjoyable, like... you guessed it, games! This works for the recruitment proc……Read More

Social Recruiting Controversy, New Google+ Features and HR Blogs Worth Following!

January 9
Jobcast Careers
We are well into the new year, but the best-of lists just keep rolling out! In the last week I've read dozens of articles predicting the future of "Social". Personally I think it's potlucks in the short-term, but picnics are going to own the market starting sometime in May. Unless you live in a climate that allows for perennial picnicking, in which case, I am so jealous it hurts. As far as social media goes, I'm kind of shocked to read that Google+ is making a comeback! The blogosphere is once again abuzz with posts about it. Most notably, Social Media Examiner posted an article claiming that Google+ Can Now Engage Anyone, Tech Crunch recently featured multiple articles about Google+'s end-of-year features blow out, and both ……Read More

Social Recruiting vs. Gamification

January 7
Hero social-recruiting-vs-gamification
Gamification is a huge buzzword in recruitment lately.For those of you thinking this means discovering top talent by forcing applicants to compete in epic games of capture-the-flag… you’re half right! But I’ll give you a quick summary anyway.Basically, gamification is about the use of game mechanics outside of traditional gaming (think Fitocracy and Free Rice not Monopoly, Mario, or Words with Friends). Gamification was one of the hottest topics in social media last year and it will be even bigger in 2013.For recruiters and employers, gamification can be used in three main ways. To engage candidates, to assess potential talent and to train new hires. As an added bonus it can also promote employer brand. Gamification for ……Read More

Apps and Articles to Guide Your Social Recruiting for 2013

January 2
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Hopefully everyone is well recovered from their New Year's Eve shenanigans. Mine were quite easy to recover from, as they involved mostly fireworks, running and pancakes (running from fireworks towards pancakes). I thought I knew what fireworks were all about until experiencing them Dutch-style. There were blasts of light exploding in the sky in every direction I looked. The Dutch spend 70 million on fireworks for New Year's Eve, and set them off from canal boats, parks and rooftops. The results are pretty darn magical. Speaking of starting 2013 off with a bang (and, of course, a cheesy pun!) I thought I'd dedicate this Link Love to articles and apps that provide inspiration. The hardest part of any project is getting st……Read More

Social Recruiting Trends for 2013

December 31
Hero social-recruiting-trends-for-2013
Happy New Year’s Eve!I love New Year’s, possibly more than Christmas, possibly more than chocolate… Okay, definitely not more than chocolate, but a lot.I do not love it because of the parties and booze — I’m definitely more of a “stay home and watch a movie” kind of gal. I do not love it because I think of it as a fresh slate or have any delusions of becoming a better version of myself (although making resolutions is always fun). Nope, I just love all the “best of” and “predictions for the new year” lists that flood the blogosphere this time of year.I love the best-of lists because they catch me up on all of the things I am behind on and I love the prediction lists because they are the lazy man’s way to look like you know what y……Read More

A celebratory Link Love of all things wonderful

December 26
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The Dutch celebrate Christmas on both the 25th and the 26th. So, in keeping with tradition, instead of a whole bunch of informative links, I’m just going to post some cool stuff and this kitten picture!Links!This amazing Infographic shows how employee volunteering brings happiness into the workplace.Need a new podcast to blow your socks off? Check out the New Yorker Fiction Podcast, it’s lovely, promise!If you didn’t already do enough shopping, Apartment Therapy’s amazing best of 2012 store profiles should put you over the edge.Think all Santa-related art has to be cheesy? Think again! Artist Creates 500 Santa Sand Sculptures — from DesignTAXI.com.Apparently “No” is the most powerful word you can use in 201……Read More

Happy holidays from all of us at Jobcast!

December 24
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Oh! It's Christmas Eve. Already? How did this happen!?! Sooo ... happy holidays! I'm going to put on some Christmas oldies now. Much better! Living in the Netherlands, far from family and Canadian friends, it's been pretty easy to ignore what time of year it is. There's also a significant lack of reminders in my general surroundings : No mall Santa, no huge pre-Christmas sales and crazy shoppers, no holiday music blasting my ears or Starbucks employees tempting me with sugary pepperminty holiday beverages. When I first noticed this I asked my lovely friend K.J. what Dutch people did for Christmas. He responded by rolling his eyes and saying, voice dripping with mock disdain:"We celebrate the birth of Jesus!"They d……Read More