it's ALL about the experience

Web Site Creation the Simple Way

As we at Improved Experience like to open dialogue between employers and job seekers and are especially interested in candidate experience, we are pleased to provide the following job seeker tip from our guest writer, Lennard Pierson.  Thanks for dropping in, Lennard! 

With competition for good jobs heating up this summer, along with the weather in Texas, I've been pondering about ideas that would help a job seeker stand out from the rest of the herd.

Coming up with new ideas is being driven by, no surprise, new technology. The old ways of rustling a job--sending in your resume to prospective employers or cold calling, for example--have ceded turf to the Internet and online job application.

Having your own web site on which to spotlight key examples of your work makes more sense in today's world market. The web site puts an important tool in the hands of the job seeker, and I'm all for exploiting such a tool.

Up to now, however, the drawback to designing your own web site was lack of knowledge and expertise in that field, not to mention that it seemed a tad daunting. Not just anybody could design a web site, you hear.

Today, this is no longer true. Anyone who can read and follow clear instructions can create a web site in a few minutes. Several companies now offer web site templates for the non-expert that makes creating your own web site a piece of strawberry cake.

One of the companies peddling this new product, which is free for a trail period of 30 days and $30 a month thereafter, is Simplweb, out of New Hampshire. With the help of a video and tutorials and whatnot, even I could set up my own web site in a matter of minutes. Okay, it was more like 90 minutes or so.

To land the near perfect job these days, we need to think of new ways of landing that big fish. A web site, for starters, is one way to go.

For more information about Simplweb, check out their web site at www.simplweb.com. However, there are others that provide this service. Google away.

Lennard L. Pierson a former journalist, writes fiction and poetry but also writes for a living by writing and editing news, articles, speeches, features, and he also translates from English to Spanish and Spanish to English. You can read his writings at his Web Blog: http://lennard4.wordpress.com

Technorati tags:  candidate experience, website creation tool, job search.

How is your Japanese?

It's a safe bet that many of your prospective hires are blogging.  According to Technorati, there are some 37 million blogs in the world - and new blogs are being created at the rate of one every second.

What's even more interesting is this: English is not the most popular language of the blogosphere - it's Japanese.  37% of all blogs are written in Japanese, 31% in English, and China is rapidly rising in third place with 15%.

So perhaps it is time to start asking candidates if they have a blog URL?  You may find that many of them do - and their posts probably give some insight into what they really think.

Technorati tags recruiting hiring blogging

The price of a bad experience

Mark Hurst has great things to say about the value of a good customer experience, and his message applies equally to candidate experience.

In his post Mr. Hurst says:

Good experience sells itself.  It's the customers themselves who do the selling - and only then based on the actual experience they had. The best TV ad in history, plus a bad customer experience, equals a bad referral…

Candidate experience works the same way. Every contact with a potential employer sends the candidate back on the street with her own version of what happened.  The best company in history, plus a bad candidate experience, equals a bad referral to every one of her colleagues and peers.  And guess what? You won't be there to balance the perspective when that happens.

As the war for talent heats up on a global level, it isn’t too late to figure out how to use candidate experience as your secret weapon.  From the sound of Gerry Crispin’s recent blog entry, you’re probably well ahead of your competition if you do.

Technorati tags: employment brand attrition hiring turnover

In search of "Candidate Friendly"

This is an excellent article by Liz Ryan about how easy it is to create a “candidate friendly” employment brand with some easy-to-implement strategies.

One idea that is really interesting is creating a moderated email group for job seekers to learn more about your company. Ms. Ryan writes:

You could, for example create the "XYZ Corp Talent Pool" discussion group to share information on the company's plans, new hires, and hiring processes. An online discussion group is also a great place to answer candidates' questions about working for your company or getting in the door, and — by observing the conversation — to spot likely candidates and invite them to take the next step.

She points out that by moderating the forum, a company can filter comments before they are actually published live.

This idea is similar to podcasting (mentioned in this earlier post); however, it gives job seekers a greater opportunity to interact with your company by asking questions directly to see if it's a place they want to work.  And if job seekers are concerned about anonymity, they can use an alias e-mail address to pose questions.

While strategies like this and podcasting won't fix broken recruiting processes, and don’t address the resources needed for one-to-one interaction with large volumes of job seekers, they can help shape a positive perception of your company. And that's a nice start toward building perception of a good work experience, and differentiating your company from competitors.

Technorati tags: recruiting employment brand hiring

Podcast your brand

Is your Internet recruiting strategy a bit like your father's Oldsmobile? Or is it something a bit different?

If you are trying to reach an Internet-savvy audience, podcasting is an interesting tool.  Employees at all levels of your company could spend a few minutes talking about why it is a great place to work, what they are learning to grow professionally, and the company's vision for the future.  In addition to differentiating your company, podcasting creates opportunities to connect with prospective hires.

And if you're worried that no one will listen to the broadcast, don't be.  Digital Bulletin reports that as many as a quarter of all adult internet users will listen to a podcast in the next six months.  Accordingly:

Among adult internet users, 17% have downloaded a podcast in the last six months, rising to 28% among 16- to 24-year-olds, and 24% are likely to download a podcast in the next six months.

Something to think about for your recruiting efforts.  We think it can be used effectively to promote your employment brand.

Technorati tags: recruiting employment branding hiring