Top HR Products for 2014

Human Resource Executive^® magazine, the premier publication focused on strategic issues in HR, today announced the winners of its Top HR Products of 2014 Awards. The winners will be recognized at a special luncheon to be held on Wednesday, October 8, 2014, during the 17th Annual HR Technology® Conference & Exposition taking place at the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

The Top HR Products of 2014 competition is judged by the editors of Human Resource Executive^® magazine, who make their selections based on each product’s level of innovation, user-friendliness and value added to the HR profession. These top choices of HR products will also be detailed in the Oct. 2, 2014 issue of Human Resource Executive^® magazine.

The winners of the Top HR Products of 2014 are:

Appcast.io

Appcast.io, Lebanon, N.H.

Appcast.io is a new ad-exchange platform that allows employers to promote their open, hard-to-fill positions on a “pay-per-applicant” basis, across a network of approximately 6,000 career and consumer sites through the use of programmatic, rules-based ad buying. Rather than paying per word (as one would when placing a classified ad), per posting (via job boards) or per click (via job aggregators), Appcast.io allows employers to set their own price on a “cost-per-applicant” basis within the Appcast Publisher Network. Meanwhile, the process works with all applicant-tracking systems and is invisible to both recruiters and candidates.
www.appcast.io

Entelo Diversity

Entelo, San Francisco

Entelo’s proprietary algorithm is designed to help organizations find candidates whose social profiles indicate a high probability of meeting specific gender, race or military experience requirements (without relying on specific keywords such as “black,” “female,” “veteran,” etc.). Using data about a person’s alma mater, professional and social affiliations, and job titles, the algorithm determines the person’s likely gender, ethnicity or race, and whether he or she has military experience. Because such information is layered on top of a candidate’s qualifications and skills, the algorithm can provide a level of objectivity intended to prevent discriminatory hiring practices.
www.entelo.com

Halogen 1:1 Exchange

Halogen Software, Ottawa, Canada

Halogen 1:1 Exchange is a one-on-one meeting-management tool that works with other Halogen TalentSpace modules and is designed to spur greater communication, collaboration and coaching. It lets managers facilitate ongoing regular meetings with their employees to review and track goals and development plans, and discuss a variety of other organizational or employee-specific topics. Employees, meanwhile, can use the exchanges to ask questions, clarify expectations, share progress and get feedback on their performance. The module tracks the frequency of these one-on-one meetings to provide employers with evidence these discussions are occurring. It also correlates the impact they are having on performance ratings, engagement scores and turnover. Agendas are automatically generated based on an employee’s recent activity in the Halogen TalentSpace suite.
www.halogensoftware.com

Health E(fx)

HealthCare Impact Associates, Minneapolis

Health E(fx) is a stand-alone solution designed to help employers avoid penalties while optimizing their benefits strategies, decisions and costs within the Affordable Care Act environment. Users can track eligibility, affordability and penalty risks associated with the ACA’s multiple measurement and wait periods in order to comply with how the new law will manage this data. They can also look ahead by leveraging integrated benefits-management and ACA-compliance information to run cost-optimization scenarios, produce compliance reports required by the Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department, and access historical data and reports to audit for ACA compliance. Health E(fx) is compliant with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, and is designed not only to help employers’ benefits and HR professionals navigate the ACA, but third-party benefits brokers and consultants as well.
www.healthefx.us

HireVue Insights

HireVue Inc., South Jordan, Utah

HireVue Insights relies on patented algorithms to evaluate what’s worked for organizations in terms of candidate hiring in the past and uses the data to make better hires in the future. Insights employs a patented analytics engine known as Iris, which was built from approximately 3 million interview responses. Iris’ algorithms discover various attributes that predict performance, then scores candidates on how they compare to existing top performers. In addition to scoring candidate interviews, the product also allows organizations to identify interviewers who are finding top performers. Companies can then use that information to determine which interviewers might be in need of coaching. HireVue Insights works in conjunction with the company’s Talent Interaction Platform.
www.hirevue.com

IBM Social Learning

IBM, Armonk, N.Y.

IBM Social Learning, powered by IBM Kenexa learning solutions and IBM social-collaboration and analytics tools, is designed to help people engage with one another, contribute expertise and learn from others using interactive media in near real-time. IBM Social Learning is designed to streamline the learning process by applying analytics and helping reveal opportunities to optimize content, improve efficiency and increase learning materials’ longevity and relevance. It also gives employees the opportunity to connect to company-wide experts in any time zone who can answer questions in discussion forums or via live chats.
www.ibm.com

Match-Click

Match-Click, New York

Match-Click is a video-driven recruiting platform designed to let employers give job candidates a preview of their new corporate environment and potential supervisor and co-workers, through short, 20-second video clips featuring hiring managers and would-be colleagues describing the position and the organization. The videos, which can be recorded with webcams or smart phones, also allow employers to include additional information about the company, job, career path, location and other distinctive aspects of job opportunities within the organization. Job openings are posted on the Match-Click job board, where employers can provide links to their sites as well. Candidates can search for jobs by specifying job title, location and keywords, as well as other employment factors such as schedule. The platform is designed to be mobile-friendly.
www.match-click.com

QUEsocial

QUEsocial, Chicago

QUEsocial blends employer branding and social recruiting into a social talent-acquisition Software-as-a-Service technology platform. The idea is to enable recruiters and — by extension, employers — to “amplify and extend” the employer brand through individual recruiter and sourcing networks. QUEsocial offers about 50 business metrics to track employer branding and social recruiting. It also provides analytics designed to directly tie social-media activity to business outcomes, including referrals, interviews and hires. The intent is to equip recruiters with pre-approved employer branding at their fingertips for one-touch sharing with potential candidates. This is intended to help them convert social networks into referrals, interviews and hires.
www.quesocial.com

RecruitiFi

RecruitiFi Inc., New York

RecruitiFi is intended to offer organizations a new way to source talent by letting them select and post jobs to 250 expert recruiters from its membership pool of approximately 2,000. The recruiters are sorted by industry specialization and location, and are ranked based on RecruitiFi’s proprietary algorithm that evaluates each recruiter’s effectiveness. The platform acts as a single point of contact for both employers and recruiters.
www.recruitifi.com

Skillrater.com

Best Practice Institute, West Palm Beach, Fla.

Skillrater.com is a cloud-based performance-feedback tool that incorporates social networking and collaboration. It is designed to encourage employees, leaders, teams and organizations to collaborate and help each other improve over time. After completing any work activity, an employee can request a rating from a supervisor, peer, client or customer. Skillrater’s feedback is provided in the form of one-to-five ratings on day-to-day activities. Supervisors can identify the skills needed to excel at specific activities, and those skills become the criteria for the numeric ratings. Skillrater can also plug in to complement any integrated talent-management suite, such as Oracle Talent Cloud or SuccessFactors, or can be used as a stand-alone solution. It can also be used to help determine a return on investment in leadership-development programs and to track talent data for various HR developmental and organizational initiatives.
www.skillrater.com

via Human Resource Executive(R) Announces Top HR Products for 2014 – Yahoo Finance.

Top HR Products for 2014

5 Ways To Ease Your Nerves Before A Job Interview

Getting called for a job interview is great news! You made the short list, and the company would now like to meet you. It’s what you work hard to secure during a job search, but it’s still natural to be nervous. Interviewing is not something that most of us do frequently, so just the thought can leave us feeling anxious and worried.

If you can relate, here are five tried-and-true things you can do to help lessen the pressure you might be feeling:

1. Be Prepared For Tough Questions

While you don’t know what an interviewer is going to ask, there are standard interview questions for which it’s worth preparing. “Tell me about yourself,” “What are your salary expectations?” and “What is the most stressful situation you have experienced at work recently, and how did you handle it?” are commonly asked questions. Write out your answers and then edit ruthlessly to ensure energetic, crisp responses. If you have a real or perceived hurdle in your employment past, such as a gap in employment, own it! In an interview situation, it’s important not to be apologetic or remorseful. Be positive about your experience and background, maintaining an upbeat, matter-of-fact tone and “vibe.”

2. Be Relaxed With Practice

Having answers written out in a notebook or on index cards is a good start, but it’s important to practice speaking them. It may seem awkward at first, but the old saying that “practice makes perfect” is especially true here. Grab a friend or family member, set up the camera on your smartphone, and start talking. Body language speaks volumes to the interviewer, and the camera will ensure yours doesn’t ruin this important part of the hiring process. Reading through previously drafted answers only takes you half way. Combine it with practice in front of a camera for maximum benefit.

3. Be Ready By Doing Research

Find out as much as you can about the employer. You probably are familiar with the industry itself, but how much do you know about the company? Are they building new stores? Have they recently consummated a new contract? Did they just change leadership? The list is endless, but the point is to know specifics about your new employer. Being armed with this information gives you talking points and shows a level interest most interviewers find refreshing.

4. Be Calm By Making Time To Exercise

Very little can compare to the confidence boost you get from a good sweat-fest within 12-24 hours before an interview. Your mind is sharper, your eyes are clearer, and your overall sense of well-being is greatly enhanced after a little gym time.

5. Be At Your Best With Enough Rest

Make certain you are well rested. You can celebrate after you land the job, but avoid such festivities the night before. Yawning and having bags under your eyes does not make a great first impression and may squelch the one chance you may have at this new position.

The smart approach to today’s job market is to assume that you’re facing stiff competition for any one position. Be the best you can be by following these simple steps. Your odds of having a successful interview will be greatly enhanced, and you’ll be one step closer to your next position.

via 5 Ways To Ease Your Nerves Before A Job Interview | CAREEREALISM.

5 Ways To Ease Your Nerves Before A Job Interview

How to Answer the Top 35 Interview Questions [INFOGRAPHIC]

This infographic (from Sample Questionaire) lists the top 35 most asked interview questions, and how to answer them!

How many of these have you been asked? Let us know in the comments below!

Highlights:

• Are you a team player? This needs a firm YES!


• What irritates you about co-workers? Say you deal with things softly, and you can get along with anyone once problems are solved.


• Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Speak as if you have vision, and follow what you placed in your resume.

via How to Answer the Top 35 Interview Questions [INFOGRAPHIC].

How to Answer the Top 35 Interview Questions [INFOGRAPHIC]

Why Companies Go Beyond The Resume And Hire People Via Social Media

The last time John Fischer sought resumes for an open position at his company, StickerGiant, he received more than 200 — a list that took precious time to condense to interview-worthy candidates. Today, StickerGiant uses online surveys to find the best and weed out the rest. Indeed, companies are using a variety of tools—chief among them social media platforms—to move beyond resumes to match the right people with the right jobs.

Resumes are not obsolete, but the concept of them has changed tremendously, said Josh Bersin, principal of Bersin by Deloitte, a human resources research firm owned by Deloitte Consulting.

“Now your resume must be online, and linked to your LinkedIn LNKD +1.87% profile, which you have to make sure is always current.”

And because there’s so much data available about people on the Internet, companies are mining job candidates’ social media footprints to find out about them, evaluate their strengths and weaknesses, and assess whether they’re a good cultural fit. Bersin noted that a number of startups–including Gild, Reppify and TalentBin–aggregate information about people via their social media profiles for recruiters to use when seeking talent.

The way that companies recruit can itself be a test of potential employees’ savvy in specific areas–including social media. For example, when Enterasys, a network infrastructure firm in Boston, recruited for a social media marketing position last winter, it posted the listing solely on Twitter. The firm promoted the position via tweets, and accepted applications only from candidates who tweeted their interest using the hashtag #socialCV. In addition, candidates had to have more than 1,000 active Twitter followers.

These criteria enabled Enterasys to quickly narrow down the field and hire “an award-winning social strategist.” Vala Afshar, Enterasys’ chief marketing officer, said the experience convinced him that Twitter recruiting is the way to go: “The Web is your CV [curriculum vitae], and social networks are your references.”

Optimizing resumes with online insights

If your company isn’t quite ready to hire someone via Twitter, don’t worry. There are plenty of organizations that still use the on-paper CV as a primary method for evaluating potential employees. But to reduce the woes that hiring managers like StickerGiant’s Fischer faced–too many resumes from under- or over-qualified people–Bersin of Deloitte’s Bersin recommends that companies ask all applicants at least one open-ended question that must be answered in long form.

“A good [question] will hone in on a person’s real work experience,” he said. “Like, ‘Describe a work experience in which you were successful: Why did you succeed? How did you do it? And how did you measure that success?’ The answer will tell you a person’s capabilities, experience and his or her interest in the position.”

Looking at it from the perspective of potential employees, Bersin recommends that job seekers spend as much time on their Internet presence as they do on their resumes.

“Recruiters are going to look at your LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter profiles, so you have to think about all those as your marketing tools,” he noted.

While jobs in communications, marketing or social media may benefit most from a candidate with a star online presence, taking the time to craft a digital profile for recruiters can benefit anyone in any industry. As proof of social media’s power in the job search in an increasingly connected world, Bersin described a recruiter scouting for an engineer who worked at nuclear power plants and was familiar with the failure of the Fukushima power plant in Japan after it was hit by the tsunami in 2011. He searched LinkedIn’s forums and found someone who had started a chat on that exact issue. The person obviously had some good qualifications, but it was his interest in the topic that made him the recruiter’s top candidate.

Social media do’s and don’ts

To effectively leverage social media in your job search, there are some things you should do and some things you definitely shouldn’t do.

Do set up accounts on the major social networks: Twitter, Facebook, and, especially, LinkedIn. Also, follow the companies you want to work for in the future.

Don’t let your accounts sit idle. It’s not enough just to establish presence on these sites; potential employers will be looking for productive activity on these sites, as well–ask questions, make comments, share. This is especially true for fields in which social is heavily leveraged and valued.

Do ask for people to write you references on LinkedIn, and write references for others yourself.

Don’t forget that everything you put online stays there–somewhere–and that anyone from prospective employers to former bosses and coworkers can find and see it. Questionable photos, potentially offensive comments, criticisms against current or former employers, etc., will come back to haunt you.

Not so long ago, employers and potential employees relied almost solely on resumes to, respectively, fill positions and demonstrate the ability to fill those positions. Today, a company’s Twitter presence could be the thing that attracts the next employee, while that blog you’ve been writing faithfully could be the thing that gets you that dream job.

via Why Companies Go Beyond The Resume And Hire People Via Social Media.

Why Companies Go Beyond The Resume And Hire People Via Social Media

How to prepare for and succeed at a panel job interview

Panel interviews are becoming increasingly common as the job market hots up and companies look for ever more rigorous ways to screen job seekers and spot the best talent. Often uncomfortable for candidates, panels save organizations time, particularly if they’re recruiting for a number of positions across a company’s various department.

As the name suggests, a panel job interview is where a candidate is interviewed by a group of interviewers. In most cases, they will be on their own with the panel, particularly if it’s for a senior position, but in other scenarios there could be several candidates and interviewers all in the room at once. In this situation, each interviewer will then ask every candidate a question in turn.

The whole idea of a panel interview is to put an interviewee under more pressure compared with a typical one-to-one interview. It could be the case that you have four or five people all asking you questions. The panel will consider how you cope under such demanding conditions.

Sound daunting? The good news is that with a decent amount of preparation, there are ways for candidates to shine in this situation.

Before the interview

As the saying goes: knowledge is power. It’s even more powerful in a panel interview where questions are being fired left, right and center. Make sure you study the job specifications and your resume and prepare as far as possible for likely questions.

At a minimum, the interviewers will expect you to have knowledge of the job role, the company, its products, services and competitors, how it’s viewed and issues within the market. Such information can be found online, on the company website, in the media and by speaking to experts such as recruitment consultants and industry bodies.

You’re likely to be asked for examples of when you demonstrated certain skills or experience. Have three to five success stories up your sleeve to bring out on the day and make them results focused. Think about how your individual actions and approach led to a positive result.

Also, check who will be on the panel by asking the recruitment consultant or person you secured the interview with. Read up on their job roles, career background and recent work success. That way you can ask questions that are relevant to them as well as to the role.

Rehearsing by asking friends or family to fire questions at you is a great way to help you get used to the environment. Look through your resume for any obvious curveballs – is there a gap in your employment that needs explaining? And, rehearse the answers to any difficult questions like this.

Think about your appearance, particularly as you will be judged side-by-side against other candidates. If in doubt about the company dress policy, always err on the side of caution – a dark, smart suit is usually best. Pay attention to detail such as tidy hair, polished shoes and subtle makeup and accessories.

Finally, check the finer details like the journey – always plan to arrive at least 10 minutes early; being late for any interview is inexcusable.

The day of the interview

The golden rule of a panel interview is to engage with the whole panel, not just one specific member of the group. When you first get into the room, look at all of the interviewers, try and remember the names of each and address them accordingly. Shake them firmly by the hand if you’re standing and then wait to be invited to take a seat. When sitting down, maintain an open, positive and engaged body position. Don’t fidget, sit up straight and lean slightly forward in your chair.

When you’re asked a question, maintain eye contact with the person asking it, but when you answer, address the whole panel. This will show that you’re confident and will help to build a rapport with everyone in the room.

Remember that each member of the panel comes to the interview with their own agenda. As the interview progresses, work out what makes each of the interviewers tick and use answers that will appeal to them. While it’s easy to address all your answers to the most engaged member of the panel, be aware that it’s often more effective to try and win over the doubters first.

Be optimistic but careful not to come across too confident and over presumptuous. There is a fine line between arrogance and confidence so wear a smile, relax and consider the tone and style in which you engage with the panel.

When the interview comes to a close, thank all participants promptly and gather business cards if you haven’t already done so. It’s also a good idea to send a thank you email later that day.

Finally, remember that panel interviews are nothing to dread. If you prepare, come armed with a positive attitude and plenty of success stories then you should have nothing to worry about.

via How to prepare for and succeed at a panel job interview | Guardian Careers | Guardian Professional.

How to prepare for and succeed at a panel job interview

The Most Common and Uncommon Interview Questions [INFOGRAPHIC]

Here are your essential parts and pieces to impressing your future employer, thanks to this infographic from our pals at HighestPayingCareers.

Takeaways:

• 65% of bosses say the dress could be the deciding factor between two similar candidates


• The average interview is approximately 40 minutes long


• First impressions matter; it takes about 90 seconds for your interviewer to make an overall assessment of you


• You had better think of your best MacGyver moment as it might come up as a question

via The Most Common and Uncommon Interview Questions [INFOGRAPHIC].

The Most Common and Uncommon Interview Questions [INFOGRAPHIC]

How Yahoo Hires: Recruiter-In-Chief

If you gave Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer truth serum and asked her about her hiring practices, she’d probably say she’s trying to put Yahoo on par with her former company, Google.

If you gave Yahoo employees truth serum and asked them about Mayer’s hiring practices and HR policies, they’d probably have a few – or perhaps more than a few – complaints.

The truth, as always, lies somewhere in the middle.

On July 16, 2012, Mayer was appointed CEO of Yahoo. Since, she has made several changes to the company’s hiring and HR policies, many of which have been controversial, both internally and externally.

Her most-publicized and controversial change was a ban on telecommuting, as many industry insiders claimed that Yahoo employees were abusing the perk. But she also instituted a more rigorous hiring practice that involves her signing off on every hire, gave employees free food and also established an employee-evaluation system that has led to hundreds of employees being fired.

The Changes

One of the first actions Mayer took when she was hired at Yahoo was naming herself “recruiter-in-chief” and made retooling Yahoo’s 12,100 employee-workforce a top priority, according to workforce.com. That included a controversial new hiring process where she signs off on every single hire, an idea she lifted from her former employer, Google.

The hiring practice at Yahoo requires at least four Yahoo employees interviewing each candidate, who each fill out a form, with HR compiling into one master form, according to Business Insider.Once the group has a recommendation, Mayer herself has to sign off on the hire, according to BI.

That move has proven controversial, as Reuters reports that it can take Mayer up to eight weeks to approve a hire. More damningly, Reuters reports that some Yahoo employees alleged Mayer was denying candidates who didn’t have degrees from prestigious universities, a charge Mayer categorically denied.

Along with a new hiring practice, Mayer banned telecommuting for all of her employees in 2013, after the benefit was allegedly being abused by Yahoo employees. The move was met with controversy, with women rights’ activist calling it “disappointing”.

Mayer also instituted a new employee evaluation system that led to more than 600 Yahoo employees being fired in the latter half of 2013 alone, according to allthingsd.com. The website reports that many employees agreed that Yahoo needed to “prune” its workforce, but did not like the way it was handled.

Mayer instituted some more popular programs as well, including extending the maternity time female employees get and giving all employees access to free food and a free smartphone, according to several news reports. According to Business Insider, Mayer also sent an early Saturday morning email to all employees at the beginning of her tenure saying she wants to make Yahoo the “absolute best place to work.”

Bottom Line

Mayer inherited a company in 2012 that, while successful, was lagging behind some of the other tech giants, particularly her old company, Google. There were also wide reports at the time that the company culture at Yahoo was lax and people were taking advantage of certain benefits.

Her new way is more of a top-down approach. Her hiring process, particularly, raises questions, as it essentially makes her the final decision-maker on all hires.

That can lead to biases – or at least the perception of biases – as opposed to a more data-driven approach. It can also lead to an overly-cumbersome hiring practice where strong candidates are getting hired elsewhere before they get an offer from Yahoo.

via How Yahoo Hires: Recruiter-In-Chief – RecruitingBlogs.

How Yahoo Hires: Recruiter-In-Chief