It’s not easy to be the head honcho these days.

Across the globe, CEOs are reeling from the financial crisis. PWC’s Global CEO survey (pdf) found the number of CEOs who are confident about their one-year revenue growth prospects dropped to 21%, the lowest it has been in six years.

CEOs are predicting headcount to further fall in the next twelve months (graph1). However, a vast majority (97%) believes ‘talent’ is a critical driver of success and remains at the top long-term priority list (graph 2). In other words, while hands are currently tied, hiring will eventually pick up.  Read more...

Sam at the Interpreter took a dig at the Australian Public Service. A frustrated job seeker responded (reproduced below) to Sam’s post.

I noticed your article on the linguistic — and stylistic — problems in APS recruitment. I, too, read the advertisement in this week’s Economist, but it didn’t raise my ire so much as it has yours; not because I don’t agree with you, but because, after six months of responding to entry-level selection criteria, I have become quite accustomed to it.  Read more...

Last week, I attended an information session for post-graduate students held by my alma mater UTS, exploring if a PHD is a mountain I dare climb.

Information sessions conducted by universities are often slick marketing affairs aimed at winning new students. And UTS didn’t disappoint. From the day I received an invitation as part of my alumni club membership (How universities capitalise from their alumni network is a story for another day) to being entertained with drinks and food on the night of the event, the whole affair to recruit new students is a well oiled operation.  Read more...

Résumés have a special place in the recruitment industry. Databases are created to house them. Sophisticated technologies are designed to track them. Business models are built to harness and profit from them. Fortunes of Job boards are dictated by how many they can collect. Recruitment firms buy resumes, repackage them and sell at a higher price. Employers invest significant resources to get to the right résumés. On any given day thousands of résumés are exchanged, in the process lives are transformed and fortunes of companies altered.  Read more...

Recruitment trainers play a critical role of championing quality and best-practice methodologies in an industry whose image is often tarnished by lack of proper standards. Trainers are largely at the forefront of improving the productivity, image and overall professionalism of recruiters. Unsurprisingly the demand for training services has increased significantly.

We spoke to Ross Clennett, a personal coach, speaker and recruitment trainer based in Melbourne. Ross sheds some light on the status of the training market, critical skills recruiters lack and the services he provides.  Read more...

Roughly 110,000 students graduated each year from Australian colleges and universities, and majority of them (84.5%) joined the workforce within four months of graduating.

Meanwhile, competition for graduates is heating up each year; graduate vacancies rose from 9.8% in 2003, to 11.2% in 2008. Often employers’ problem includes the inability to fill graduate job vacancies.  Read more...

Australian HR Award 2008 winners
            Employer of Choice (more than 1000 employees) – Accenture
            Employer of Choice (fewer than 1000 employees) – Teachers Credit Union and Sparke Helmore
            Employer of Choice (public sector) – Glen Eira City Council
            Best Talent Management Strategy – Janssen-Cilag
            Innovation in Recruitment and Retention – Deloitte
            Best Employer branding Strategy – Vodafone

View other category winners.

Anthill Cool Company Awards 2008
Four talent solutions providers recognised  Read more...

• The thirst for workers continues in the Australian oil & gas industry.
• Gen Y job board Hippo celebrates one year anniversary. 
• Want to work for Facebook? Brush up your maths.
• No recruiters allowed, new contractor hiring portal launched in New Zealand
• How to find the right retail staff, Frontline Recruitment GM spilled the beans.
• Indigenous job program gains pace, one-on-one buddy systems launched.

• Deb Loveridge, Vedior’s CEO, Asia-Pacific, argues that "recruitment companies that care attract the right talent" 
• Sheryle Moon, Managing Director, Julia  Ross, rants on 457 Visa restrictions placed on recruitment firms.
• AFR BOSS announced Young Executive 2008 Winners. "This year’s winners are really aware of their own personal desires and achievements that are non work related" declared the judges.