One thing about the hiring process is true: It leaves much room for speculation. Whether you got the job — or you didn’t — most job seekers want to know why. Why were you chosen over the next guy? Or, better yet, why weren’t you? Was it your experience, your attitude, your interview answers, your outfit?

We decided to ask hiring managers directly: What seals the deal when you choose to hire a candidate? Why do you choose one person over another Their answers will give you some insight as to what you should pay attention to the next time you’re up for a job.

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Ever applied to a job online only to have your résumé seemingly vanish into a void?

From crafting a winning cover letter to acing an interview, landing a job is tough enough in this market. But millions of job seekers can’t even get a foot in the door as they apply to countless positions and seldom hear anything in response.

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Most applicant tracking systems do not have auto referral source tracking because it’s really hard to do and it is cumbersome to implement. Those that do have it typically require users to generate site-specific tracking codes that need to be placed in external postings. We think those are bad ideas and require too much manual labor, so we’ve automated the process and made it ridiculously easy to implement. Simply log in to your Hirebridge account, click on the Administration tab and look for the Automated Candidate Referral Source Tracking Maintenance link.

If you need any help setting this up, send an email to support@hirebridge.com and we’ll get back to you promptly with details.

Dr. John Sullivan’s recent article, Determining the Correct Source of Hire: the First Step in Recruiting Excellence, (ERE.net website) addresses these issues and points out what it he believes is ultimately the best approach. It’s an interesting read and covers some new areas that others haven’t addressed.

Here’s a link to the article:
http://bit.ly/7EotM

Employers throughout the world are increasingly struggling to keep pace with expanding hiring needs. A recent workforce planning study conducted by Aon Consulting for one of its clients showed that nearly 60 percent of its key knowledge workers and leaders would need to be replaced in the next five years.

But, demand for talented employees exceeds the supply, leaving many organizations wondering what strategies to adopt to retain and expand the workforce to maintain competitive advantage. Systematic workforce planning linked to key strategies and business challenges is a foundation for informed talent strategies and processes that will impact the bottom line favorably.

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A recession might seem like good news for employers looking to hire: with unemployment rates up, you’ve got more people to choose from and the opportunity to hire at a lower price.

While the current economic situation might make this a great time for you to expand your team, it can actually make hiring more expensive. Post a job ad and you’re likely to be swamped with potential applicants; and if budget is tight on your end, you’ve probably got limited capacity to screen a large pool.

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How can any employer reasonably cope with that flood of candidates?

Those corporations, healthcare organizations and government departments using an applicant tracking system find they have a powerful, enterprise-wide job acquisition and talent management solution ideal for businesses in hiring mode – or even those that are fully staffed.

Today’s ATS provides web-based applicant tracking and candidate management systems that empower businesses with easy-to-acquire and easy-to-use tools to reduce costs and streamline business operations. They automate candidate application and resume management – and create an invaluable competitive advantage.

The solution starts at the beginning of the job requisition life cycle. Job requests entered into the system automatically are distributed to Indeed.com, SimplyHired.com and GoogleBase, expanding the reach of the company’s corporate career center and saving thousands of dollars in premium job board costs. Some ATS providers even leverage social media sites for locating applicants.

Once applicants begin responding, that’s where the magic occurs. Employers with an ATS solution in place make quick work of managing inbound resumes and pre-qualifying candidates. Even unsolicited resumes are handled easily and quickly. Every required form or document, from resumes to supporting documentation, is submitted online and stored on the host server. No more paper resumes and faxed applications, thereby simplifying handling, review and storage needs. Once reviewed, the candidate immediately can be entered into the prospect pool, or saved for future consideration.

The solution manages applications by categories, enables cross-department searches, facilitates job requisition approval chains, and allows for feedback on specific candidates from anyone in the organization– even if those submitting feedback aren’t paid users on the system.

What about the list of qualified applicants who weren’t hired? Companies used to delete or toss those applications. No longer. An ATS enables companies to retain documentation of pre-qualified applicants for when job openings arise. Just search – by geography, criteria, skills or other fields – from among the pool of highly skilled candidates who already have been vetted and met company criteria. Having this storehouse of candidates close at hand makes filling openings fast and easy.

An ATS also enables a company to be less reliant upon its human resources staff for such processes as forwarding applicants to appropriate departments or managers for review. The system collects and organizes information in a centralized database accessible not only to a particular HR staffer’s computer, but to anyone with account access.

A well-designed ATS also is highly scalable to meet the needs of a growing organization. Like many software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions, the modern ATS is an evolving tool. New features and functionality that help users gain efficiency and streamline the candidate management process are added seamlessly. More recent additions include background check, onboarding and payroll functions. This makes today’s ATS an end-to-end solution for the entire candidate-to-employee life cycle.

Moreover, the best solutions feature a short learning curve. They’re staffed by experienced advisors with a wealth of knowledge about candidate management, and customer service representatives are standard as part of the service.

Simply put, a right-priced ATS application delivers leading-edge solutions and compelling return on investment. Starting at $100 a month, an ATS can be a cost-effective solution at a reasonable expense – regardless of whether your company is hiring today or tomorrow.

There’s been an interesting discussion in the NACE JobPlace discussion list about the perception by many employers that students who do a more effective job of searching for employment opportunities will have a better chance of being hired.

I agree but caution those who believe that the best candidates are those who try the hardest to be hired.

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It is packed with interesting stats that most recruiters will find useful and informative, for example, “While the Internet is it not yet a universal tool, it approaches that in certain demographic groups. And as it continues to mature, usage patterns are continually changing. Three years ago, major job boards were all the rage. Then niche job boards started gaining ground. Now it’s all about Twitter, Facebook and social media.”

Here is a link to the report: http://staffing.org/library_ViewArticle.asp?ArticleID=450

A recruiter who left Google last year says that the company had maintained a “do not touch” list of companies including Genentech and Yahoo, whose employees were not to be wooed to the Internet search giant.

That revelation could be significant in light of this week’s disclosure that the U.S. Justice Department is investigating whether Google, Yahoo, Apple, Genentech and other tech companies conspired to keep others from stealing their top talent.

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