Oracle Buys Taleo for almost $2B. I miss Cheesman!

Oracle Buys Taleo for almost $2B. I miss Cheesman! A few years ago I read a blog every single day.  It was written by Joel Cheesman, who was the unofficial watchdog of the employment and career software and recruiting space.  He was sharp, witty, and uncensored. He called things like they were, without any sugar coating.  If I heard of some big news in the papers, Id see what Cheesman had to say about it.  His opinion was worth 1ox anything Id read in other articles. But he moved on I miss him.  I would love to know what he thinks about Oracle buying Taleo for $1.9 billion. You can read about it on ZDNet or eWeek or TechCrunch (or many other places). Heres what I think: this takes it more levels away from the job seeker. Job seekers across the country have told me how much they HATE Taleo and Brassring.  Dont know what those are? If you have ever had to apply for a job on a company website, it is likely powered by Taleo or Brassring. I remember my frustration with this 6 years ago the process was ridiculous.  I would upload my resume, and then I had to fill out a form what basically was copy-and-paste from my resume.  It could take an hour to fill out the form.  And sometimes it crashed during the process. You know how frustrating it is to be in a job search.  And apply to jobs.  And all the frustration that goes with that.  Now, imagine spending an hour applying, only to have the system crash, and you have to start over. I think my record was spending 2.5 hours trying to apply to a job. I wanted to pull my hair out by the end of that time! Will Oracle fix it?  I doubt it but there is plenty of opportunity for a smart entrepreneur to make software that is much, much better than the competition Oh Cheeshead, where are you to comment? Oracle Buys Taleo for almost $2B. I miss Cheesman! A few years ago I read a blog every single day.  It was written by Joel Cheesman, who was the unofficial watchdog of the employment and career software and recruiting space.  He was sharp, witty, and uncensored. He called things like they were, without any sugar coating.  If I heard of some big news in the papers, Id see what Cheesman had to say about it.  His opinion was worth 1ox anything Id read in other articles. But he moved on I miss him.  I would love to know what he thinks about Oracle buying Taleo for $1.9 billion. You can read about it on ZDNet or eWeek or TechCrunch (or many other places). Heres what I think: this takes it more levels away from the job seeker. Job seekers across the country have told me how much they HATE Taleo and Brassring.  Dont know what those are? If you have ever had to apply for a job on a company website, it is likely powered by Taleo or Brassring. I remember my frustration with this 6 years ago the process was ridiculous.  I would upload my resume, and then I had to fill out a form what basically was copy-and-paste from my resume.  It could take an hour to fill out the form.  And sometimes it crashed during the process. You know how frustrating it is to be in a job search.  And apply to jobs.  And all the frustration that goes with that.  Now, imagine spending an hour applying, only to have the system crash, and you have to start over. I think my record was spending 2.5 hours trying to apply to a job. I wanted to pull my hair out by the end of that time! Will Oracle fix it?  I doubt it but there is plenty of opportunity for a smart entrepreneur to make software that is much, much better than the competition Oh Cheeshead, where are you to comment?

The snowflake syndrome. Are todays students too touchy

The snowflake syndrome. Are today’s students too touchy In 2016, ‘snowflake generation’ was added to the Collins English Dictionary’s words of the year. The definition? “Young adults of the 2010s, viewed as being less resilient and more prone to taking offence than previous generations”. In a list which included Brexit, what made this one equally topical? Guest contributors   Inspiring Interns  share their perspective. “Kids these days…” They said it in the 60s, when our parents were smoking weed and listening to the Beatles. They said it in the 90s, when ‘heroin chic’ and raves were the rule. And they’re saying it now, in the age of social media and political correctness, but what exactly are the crimes of Gen Y compared to our predecessors? The stats suggest we’re doing better. Drug use has fallen, teetotalism has risen and teen pregnancies are down among the youth. Crimes committed by under-18s have fallen 70% in the last eleven years. It can only be good, right? Wrong. Rather than celebrate these achievements, under-30s have been labelled boring, conservative and uninspired by older gens â€" ‘new fogeys’ in the making. And that’s not our only shortcoming. It seems that, as well as being ‘too nice’, the student body has been judged overly considerate. Professional provocateur Claire Fox puts it best. “As I argue in my new book I Find That Offensive! Generation Snowflake believe it’s their right to be protected from anything they might find unpalatable,” she writes in one Daily Mail outburst. “Students demand that universities are ‘safe spaces’, free from opinions that will make them feel uncomfortable… We need a younger generation that’s prepared to grow a backbone.” Inflammatory acts Anti-student sentiment has grown in recent years. Recent ‘no-platforming’ developments attempts to bar speakers with controversial views from unions and events â€" have not helped the perception of young people as self-centred, oversensitive and fragile. Journalists mutter perversions of ‘freedom of speech’, while tutors roll their eyes at their wards’ protestations. It’s obvious it’s gone too far in some cases. Warning forensic science students that they may have to look at blood and/or corpses is like apologising to mathematicians for subjecting them to numbers. But who can fault universities, in an era of blame culture, for protecting themselves from potential legal action? Of course some student campaigns are ridiculous. But many are also misreported in a way designed to render students ludicrous. Take, for example, the recent efforts of the union at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) to reduce concentration on white philosophers in their courses. This is not a crusade against white people. It’s an effort to prioritise the study these young people have signed up for: that of Oriental and African viewpoints. What was true for the previous generation is not so for our own. To apply the same standards of laissez-faire is to ignore all the change that has occurred over the past few decades. Snowflakes have it worse The world is different today to how it was fifty years ago. It’s harder to get a job, harder to buy property and, with social media everywhere, harder to make your mistakes in anonymity. Politically, Millennials have suffered major setbacks in 2016. Arguably, the votes of disaffected older generations ultimately determined the outcome of the EU referendum while young voters (the ones who will bear the brunt of the economic repercussions) looked powerlessly on. And efforts from Clinton to sway younger voters turned out to be in vain, as the older generation opted primarily for Trump. Guardian commentator Deborah Ore takes a more nuanced view than most: “You can choose to see ‘generation snowflake’ as a bunch of wimps,” she writes, “or you can observe that there is plenty going on in the world to traumatise a sensitive child â€" or adult. Then you can think a bit about how traumatised people make bad decisions, and conclude that the aggression, the fear, the shame, the self-harm â€" it has to stop.” Mental health is a serious issue for Gen Y. A 2015 NSPCC poll showed that over 80% of people aged 18-21 have either self-harmed or knows someone who has. The number of cases of self-harm among young people has similarly jumped in recent years. Maybe it’s because we’re poorer than the generation before. Millennials are more financially dependent and, as a result, more anti-consumerist than their parents. Many young people in urban areas are forced to work a ‘side hustle’, i.e. a second job, to make ends meet. Of course, it’s not all bad. Most sub-30s have access to food and clothing, while many young people own smartphones of which the processing power exceeds that of the entire Apollo programme. But the fact remains: Gen Y is experiencing issues that X never had to. Outlook Dismissing the youth’s concerns as the whines of a lost generation is not only ignorant but misguided. Say what you like about society not needing change: it does. The impact of sexism, racism and homophobia in Western civilisation has been significant and the traces remain â€" sometimes in tangible form. If students occasionally go too far in their efforts to counter this, that’s a price Millennials are clearly willing to pay. Gen Y is an enlightened generation, a more liberal generation than those that came before. Our keenness to campaign for political and societal change doesn’t signal the ‘lack of backbone’ Claire Fox claims; it shows that we have more of it than our parents ever did.

Reach More Customers for Your Brand with Influencer Marketing - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Reach More Customers for Your Brand with Influencer Marketing - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career A trusted brand recommendation is important when attracting the right leads. HIgh-level influencer connections can help you connect with those prospects, which can make a significant impact on your visibility and sales. How can your brand gain more customers online? By forging the right relationships with individuals and business leaders. Daily conversations can help your brand could generate more recommendations, especially when it’s from a trusted source. Purchases based on trust save on marketing costs, and can garner a high rate of return. Because of this brands should include connecting with the right influencers as an important part of their strategy, especially on social media. There are a few simple ways you can use to attract the right people to your brand. Connecting Top Influencers for More Leads New customers come through a good brand image for your personal brand, which is built over time through daily interactions. Drive more sales with these tips: Be relatable Publish content that relates to your industry in a timely manner. Questions and feedback are a good way to track the latest trends. Focus on a few industry leaders and find out what they are publishing, engaging in conversation where you can. The more your brand interacts with these individuals or companies, the stronger your community will become, which generates more interest in your content as well. Stay active on social media Brands can better spread the word on the social networks that their community is most active in. Find out which platforms are generating the most buzz, and reach beyond your posts and tweets with regular interactions and shares. You can go even farther by participating in live chats, live streaming events, professional groups, offline meetings, and hosting your own online events. Promote your influencers Your feedback and recommendations of others can directly impact your brand’s level of influence, which is a big factor in drawing attention from the right industry players. This in turn can compel them to share your content, and even invite you to become a guest blogger on their website. One mention from a high-level influencer can dramatically impact your sales. Connecting with the right relationships online is worth the investment in time and effort. As more opportunities open up for your personal brand you can build a strong lead base that can be converted into sales. Personal connections are more valuable than ever, and can help your brand stand out from the rest.

What is the Future of Employer Branding

What is the Future of Employer Branding Employer branding, while still relatively new, is constantly changing. It is a space that promotes innovation and creativity. So if it is changing this much now, what will it be like in the future? In the final employer branding panel piece, we discuss the future of employer branding and what direction the industry is heading into. Hannah Fleishman Employer branding today is more of a press conference than a dialogue. Companies publish content about the best aspects of their workplace and culture, and then wait for top talent to come to them. There isn’t a whole lot of power given to the candidate. I think that will change soon. We can already see the impact sites like Glassdoor have on the recruiting process; candidates want to get and give honest feedback, and ask questions of employers. We have to not only make ourselves accessible to talent, but make the experience engaging, personalized, and relevant. Thanks to more and more technology being introduced into the recruiting space, I think this will become the norm. So for companies who are ready to embrace that shift and put the candidate in the driver’s seat, it’s an exciting time to be doubling down on your employer branding. Hannah Fleishman, Inbound Recruiting Manager, HubSpot Jennifer Johnston The future of employer branding is taking a holistic approach to creating an engaging employee experience across every stage of the employee journey. It starts with building a solid employer brand that attracts the best talent. Next your onboarding process needs to help new employees adopt your culture and ways of working. Then comes the hard work â€" making employees feel deeply engaged and set up for success on an ongoing basis. If you do that well, you win their loyalty and their advocacy while they are employees, and beyond to when they become alumni. Jennifer Johnston, Senior Director of Global Employer Branding, Salesforce Sarang Brahme The evolution of AI, machine learning and digital will have a positive impact on employer branding technologies as they will provide an opportunity to personalise the experience in the employer branding journey. Also, big data is a great tool to aggregate, listen and analyse employee feedback to improve the strategy. As humans move towards wanting more personalised approaches in everything they do, big brands will need to align their messaging to suit each individual, using all of the aforementioned tools to enable that. Sarang Brahme, Global Social Recruiting   Talent Brand Manager, Capgemini Carmen Collins It’s meeting candidates where they are, and creating content the way they consume it. The Alpha generation has never NOT had mobile devices, so how you’ll communicate with them will change how you think about employer branding. For them, it won’t be enough to have a mobile-friendly Careers site â€" you’ll need to have a mobile-FIRST website. If they build their networks on messaging platforms, you’ll need to develop a strategy for messaging platforms. If they speak in emoji and text, you’ll need to adapt to their language. It’s not about what you want to say and how you want to say it, it’s about them and the skills they have to bring to the future of work. Carmen Collins, Social Media Talent Brand Lead, Cisco Estela Vazquez Perez The future is for CEOs to embody the the employment brand. As employment brands become most relevant in business,  there is no revenue growth without humanity. Here is why, the business has realized that operational excellence can be achieved by partnering with artificial intelligence but critical and unusual questions are always made by humans so culture becomes a high priority in opening and sustaining markets. If you want the right results, you need the right people and culture. Your employment brand will draw the best out of everyone and their special kind of discretionary effort and non-scripted behaviors will be differentiators in business. The future of employer branding is to be recognized as a lever for culture transformation. Estela Vazquez Perez,  Global Employment Brand Director, Royal Bank of Canada Ton Rodenburg The future is expressed in my former observations. An integrated, holistic approach to build the talent community that builds great companies. In that sense it will be interwoven and part of all other strategies: identity, corporate brand, marketing brand, HR strategy and other. The employer brand will be the most forceful, because it will generate the true energy; passion, dedication, inspiration, and performance of people that make the difference. Ton Rodenburg, Employer Branding Strategy Director, ARA M/V Human Resource Communications Jaclyn Campbell Two things. People today are comfortable posting on their social media accounts about their personal life, but not their work life. I believe we’ll start to see a massive increase in careers related content, especially from employees of companies that actively encourage and support team members to share their experiences.  Secondly, I think more marketing professionals will start to make the switch into employer branding. I see a lot of talent acquisition specialists move into this space, but from my perspective this work is much more of a marketing role than it is recruitment. Marketers are starting to realise this is the place to be. Jaclyn Campbell, Employer Brand Consultant, Optus Audra Knight Recruitment content is going to continue to get more advanced and more valuable to the seeker. We will see less spammy “We are hiring a XYZ” and more personalized useful content delivered based on user behavior. Video storytelling will also continue to rise but I think phone videos and live videos with less production will be preferred over expensive ones that look like commercials. Audra Knight, Recruitment Operations Manager, Tenable Shaunda Zilich BIG! Employer Brand will be the center of Talent Acquisition or Recruiting as we currently know it.   I see an evolution happening already to Talent Marketing where it is Employer Brand + Data/AI + Coach.   No more job descriptions or even ‘jobs’.   We will have project work in the gig economy and brand will be everything!   Not only will it be the center of TA but it will also be the more important brand for the company.   If you don’t attract and keep the top talent you cannot provide top solutions. Shaunda Zilich, Global Employment Brand Leader, GE Jörgen Sundberg Well I’d like to think that the employer brand function could broaden its scope beyond talent attraction/retention and act as a change agent for improving the workplace across the organisation. Jörgen Sundberg, Employer Brand Consultant CEO, Link Humans

Why passion trumps security when choosing your course - Debut

Why passion trumps security when choosing your course - Debut This post was written by an external contributor.  Fergal Smiddy discusses why you should follow your dreams when choosing your university subject.   “So, what exactly is that degree going to get you?” While it may be a completely well-meaning and fair question to ask, it never fails to make my eyes roll, my patience wear ever so slightly thinner, and â€" on a bad day â€" my fists clench in what can only be described as a fit of pure and utter frustration. As a student of English Literature, it’s a question that gets thrown at me a lot. My course naturally lacks the sense of security and direction that comes with a more career-focused degree such as Chemical Engineering or Medicine. However, I would argue that worrying about job prospects shouldnt be the deciding factor in your hunt for your chosen subject. Instead of opting for a course that might bring you some reward in the future, you should be focusing on finding a course that you will enjoy in the present. It’s not an easy process, but it certainly can be done. Below are some tips, derived from my own personal journey, that I hope will aid you somewhat in finding an answer to the age-old question: “What should I study at university?”. Decide for yourself This is a topic that I know all too much about. Whenever I revealed that I wanted to study English at a higher level, and ultimately advance to a career in writing, almost every teacher and guidance counsellor had the same advice for me. They would say that Id be better off setting my sights on a degree with a more stable career path. Initially, this advice â€" and, arguably, scaremongering â€" led me to set my sights on a course in Applied Psychology. The course seemed vaguely interesting to me, and I figured that my love for writing would surely be satisfied to some degree. However, as the deadline for course applications drew nearer, the sense of uneasiness in my gut grew larger. On the final night before applications were due to close, I rushed to my computer and made what has turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life. I changed my chosen subject, allowing me to do what I always knew I wanted to do: study English Literature. I chose not to bow to the pressures imposed upon me by those who wished to dictate my career path, and went with my gut feeling. Fast-forward two years, and it’s clear that the decision I made that night was the correct one. Im excelling academically, purely because I love the course that Im doing. Had I stuck with the “safe” option, Im certain that things would not currently be going as well as they are. So, make sure that your decision is entirely your own. Trust in yourself and go for the course that you believe youll enjoy the most. Your enjoyment will lead to achievement, and your passion will turn to success. Don’t let the word ‘employability’ scare you For the secondary-level student who has yet to make the transition to third-level education, it seems that university is always synonymous with careers. Of course, thinking about your possible career paths is important. But what they don’t tell you in secondary school is that uni is about far more than simply earning a diploma, tossing a cap in the air, and heading off into the merry land of jobs. It’s about personal development â€" finding out who you are, making connections with people, and advancing your skills outside of the classroom. For example, my choice of course has allowed me to become surrounded by people who have the exact same goals and passions as me. Getting myself involved with societies is a great way of opening doors and building new skills. Thanks to my involvement in student media, Im currently holding a paid editor’s position with my university newspaper and am already in the process of building a CV that brings me closer to my dream of a career in writing every single day. Don’t sweat it This may not seem like useful advice, but, believe me â€" coming from someone who was in your position only two years ago â€" it is. Nobody (especially at the age of eighteen) knows the exact career path that theyre going to take. Nobody knows where they are going to end up in thirty, twenty, or even ten years from now. Neither do you, and that’s okay. When people ask me: “What exactly is that degree going to get you?”, I still tell them that I don’t know. What I do know is that I’m happier now than I ever could have been had I not followed my heart and changed my college course application that night. Im loving every single second of university. Im making friends who are in the exact same boat as me, and Im building my skills towards a career in writing every single day. I may not know what my degree is going to get me, but I have loved every second of what it’s gotten me so far, and that’s good enough for now. Download Debut  and  connect with us on  Facebook,  Twitter  and  LinkedIn  for more careers insights.

A Caring Nature The Career Options For You - CareerAlley

A Caring Nature The Career Options For You - CareerAlley We may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners. Often it can be quite difficult to know what we want to do as a career. Some people are fortunate enough to know exactly what role they want as soon as they leave school or university, perhaps even choosing study courses with that goal in mind. Other people are a little unsure. Which is why it isnt a bad thing to look at your own personality traits to decipher what kind of career would be right for you. Which is why I thought i would cover some of the best career choices for people that happen to have a caring nature. If it sounds like you then maybe one of these options could be the career path you are looking for. Image Become a nurse A nurse is one of the most thankless jobs you can do. You may see many patients each day and take care of their daily needs, as well as implement medication and be caring about their general welfare. Being a nurse can be as specific or general as you wish it to be. Some people train in specific areas of nursing, for example, midwifery, a childrens nurse or even something to do with body parts like bone specialists or surgical hands during surgery. However, it can be one of the most rewarding jobs you can have taking care of people each day and literally nursing them back to health. Work in mental health Working in the mental health industry can be equally as rewarding, and there are many job sectors to consider. Perhaps training to be a councilor and taking an online course like a masters in clinical mental health counseling or again looking into the research side of things and studying in psychology. There are other areas to consider like ing a specialist in particular treatments, for example, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. Again any job role can be demanding, but it is rewarding to know that you are helping people live more fulfilled lives each day. Image Become a care worker for the elderly As we get older, we need more and more care, and some elderly folks end up being taken care in homes. So its important to have caring people to take care of them each day. Helping administer medication, being a support to getting them mobile or from one place to the next, or simply being a listener to all of those stories they can tell. Train to be a doctor or surgeon Something that requires a huge amount of training and qualifications, but yet equally requires that caring nature is becoming a doctor or surgeon. Again you are helping people get back to health each day, by either being a doctor in general practice handling straightforward illness to repairing ligaments and organs in complicated surgeries. Consider a job role with animals Finally being caring doesnt always just extend to people, it can also mean caring for animals. So perhaps a job as a vet, vet nurse, or even looking after pets in kennels or groomers could be the ideal career for you. Animals need extra special care, just like we do. I hope this has inspired you to consider some different career choices. We are always eager to hear from our readers. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or suggestions regarding CareerAlley content. Good luck in your search,Joey Google+

How to Write Address on Resume

How to Write Address on ResumeHow to write address on resume is not that hard if you know how to read the address format and how to structure your resume accordingly. Here are some basic tips to help you out.The first thing you need to know is what the subject of your resume is. You must know who you are applying for and what they are looking for. If the employer is looking for a job candidate who has great typing skills, they will most likely ask you to fill in the details of your education and job experience. Just make sure that you write in the subject you want on the top line of your resume.Next thing you need to know about how to write address on resume is that the first line should contain all your educational qualifications. If you don't have any degree or certificate, then do not write in this line. For those who have no college degree, I suggest you leave this section blank. You don't want to give any ground to employers by showing that you have little education. As long as you have the right qualifications, you can always add them later in the career section.The second line should be filled up with your job title. While, I suggest you don't include your real job title in your resume, you can include it at the end of your resume if you want.The third line should contain your full name and that of your spouse and/or your children (if any) and/or your parent's names. It should also include the year of your birth, if you are the same age as the employee. If you are over the age of forty, you may not include it, but if you are older than that, you must include it.The fourth line should contain your job title. This is the most important part of your resume. The employer is going to read your address on the first line only, and if it is something that the employer can recognize easily, then you should include it in your resume.The fifth line should contain your own address. If you are an unmarried person, just put your full name. If you have someone else as a co-spouse, just put their name.These are basic tips to help you out when you are about to how to write address on resume. After all, it is the key to impress your interviewer.