Say hello to the new Destination Talent.

Our aim is twofold.

Firstly, we want to make it easy for buyers and sellers of recruitment products and services to find each other. Our particular focus is to connect and educate organisations, mainly SMEs, on the role and relevance of third-party recruitment service providers. Secondly, we want to contribute to the improvement of recruitment processes and thinking in Australia, mainly through quality research. Our new site is a small first step. We hope you will join us.  Read more...

• Friendship at work: A fascinating look at Zappos’ work culture. Here’s an excerpt:

“ we’ve begun tracking employee relationships. When employees log in to their computers, we ask them to look at a picture of a random employee and then ask them how well they know that person — the options include “say hi in the halls,” “hang out outside of work,” and “we’re going to be long time friends.” We’re starting to keep track of the number and strength of cross-departmental relationships — and we’re planning a class on the topic. My hope is that we can have more employees who plan to be close friends”.  Read more...

It pays to be #1.

Seth Godin, in his books (first in the Ideas Virus and in The Dip), often referred to Zipf’s Law which basically asserts that the most widely used word in English is used ten times more than the tenth most popular word. In other words, the #1 player in any field get significantly more returns (revenue, web hits, exposure …whatever you are measuring) than those ranked below.  Read more...

Thought for the week

Social media is the fancy awning that hangs from a building; human interaction is the bricks and mortar. – Karyn Polewaczyk, Free Agent Nation

Face-to-face meetings
With social networks almost ubiquitous, Karyn Polewaczyk asked ‘is old fashioned ‘meeting up the new black?

Linkedin in Australia
Linkedin is popular in Australia. Close to a million Linkedin profiles exists. Q&A with Cliff Rosenberg, the newly appointed GM of Linkedin Australia  Read more...

Nothing endures but change – Heraclitus (540 BC – 480 BC)

Here’s a reminder that our world is changing rapidly. Version 4.0 of the popular ‘Did You Know’ series.

At Recruittech I argued that the balance of power has shifted to job seekers. I highlighted three trends which I think made this scenario possible:

1) Information asset increased: Barriers to corporate information and employment opportunities are broken. We are in an environment where job seekers know more about an employer then vice versa.  Read more...

Forget Twitter, Facebook and other new communication tools, it’s an old communication tool Australians are in love with – SMS. A new research by Pure Profile (Sponsored by Telstra) found Australians prefer using SMS to communicate. One in three Australians choose SMS to announce major live events like a job promotion or the birth of a child.  An average Australian SMS 1-5 times a day.

Leaders from a cross section of society are congregating at the Future Summit, to discuss, ponder and plan how Australia will face the enormous challenges coming its way (You can follow the tweets here).  Read more...

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Secondly, please help me understand more about you; the contents you find useful, and those which aren’t so useful.  Your feedback will help me produce more relevant and useful materials. Please participate in a quick survey (three questions only). Thank you in advance for your assistance.

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Talent is the problem
"In fact, most companies need very little talent. What they do need is persistent, hard-working, determined, honest people who bring all of their resources to bear on the job at hand”. John Sumser’s opinion on ‘talent’ ignited a mighty debate.

Twitter for recruitment
An argument why recruiters should use Twitter to recruit. A more detailed look at using Twitter to source candidates.

30 ways to recruit in a down economy

Ken Gilbert, Head of human capital, Mercer, talked about Australian HR trends in unprecedented times 

Download WMV file (27 MB) . Also check out the Mercer Workplace 2012 report

How Harvard university recruits talent
One would have thought that the best and brightest will flock to Ivy league universities like Harvard. What emerged is a lot of hard work and planning goes into recruiting the best students. BusinessWeek had a fascinating look at how Harvard, in spite of its brand reputation as the best educational institution in the world, works hard to win the hearts and minds of future students. Perhaps, the reason Harvard remains the best is because they do not rest on their laurels or rely on their brand name.  Read more...

• Mining sector wobbles
  The mighty Australian mining sector is showing signs of being rattled by the current downturn. While there are no mass layoff, employers are cautious and putting recruitment on hold. The key will be China’s GDP growth, which is predicted to continue at 7% (currently it stands at 9%). 

• Sourcing overseas IT professionals
  A contentious issue for a long time. The government finally admits that market forces (mainly employers and industry bodies) should have a greater say in deciding how overseas IT professionals are granted visa to work in Australia. 

 Read more...

• October Job figures tells another story – Growth.
• Australian healthcare system at risk because of skills shortage and red tape. Australian rigid laws gets international coverage (This was on CNN front page)
• Yet another look at Generation Y (bored brats or brilliant businesspeople?)
• Regardless of the global credit crunch, the lure of UK continues to be strong amongst Australian lawyers.
• Forget the economy; Christmas is coming, start hiring now.

17 October is the International day for the eradication of poverty. Only two days ago, fellow bloggers were up in arms, and rightly so for a scourge which continues to claim its prize in human lives. According to the World Bank there are 1.4 billion people still living below the poverty line, surviving on $1.25 or less a day. 26,000-30,000 children die everyday from poverty according to UNICEF.

Understandably, most of the attention is directed to those who face extreme poverty in third world countries.  Read more...