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...

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...

Mobile recruitment
Many pundits are bullish that mobile platforms will be the new frontier for acquiring talent. From the humble but ubiquitous SMS to sophisticated smart phones, the adoption of mobile tools for recruitment is gaining noise. Here’s another white paper on how ‘an unwired world is changing recruitment’.

457 visa debate re-ignited
The perennial debate on the pros and cons of the 457 visa system surfaces again.  Calls to reduce migration intake in the light of the  global recession has been rejected by the government.  Read more...

Job Ads falls but its not all doom
Job ads number continues to fall. The fact is, times are harder than before. However, its not all doom and gloom. One need to only look at the performance of recruitment firms. Contracting will continue to be popular, if not a growth sector.

Hire people with strong process skills
Seth Godin compares the difference between content and process. HR and recruiters tends to focus on domain expertise, but the more valuable emotional intelligence (process) is often ignored.  Read more...

Employers confidence 
Employers are reluctant to hire, and confidence has taken a beating (down by 19.9%), finds the latest Hudson report.  Does the collective panic masked the reality?

Do we still need recruiters?
Discussions (podcast) between BTech magazine and Kelly Magowan of Sixfigures on the roles of recruiters.

Female workers better
Harvard explores how women who are star performers tend to fare better than man after changing jobs  Read more...