EntryLevelJobs.net Acquired by CollegeRecruiter.com

As first reported by Cheezhead, CollegeRecruiter.com last week acquired EntryLevelJobs.net.
We acquired ELJ when the opportunity arose primarily because of their very strong search engine rankings for just about every popular search that includes the keyword phrase “entry level jobs.” We’ve already made some modifications to the site and more will be forthcoming over the months but for the time being most users will see few changes. The biggest change so far is that we’ve replaced the job postings on their site with postings from CollegeRecruiter.com so that candidates who want to apply to postings they find on ELJ will be directed to CollegeRecruiter.com to apply to the same jobs. That will increase the number of applications that our employers are receiving.

Thank You Notes – Write ‘em, Twice

What’s the best way to send a Thank You note after an interview? The big debate — should you send an email, or go the traditional route and hand write a note?The best approach is both. Candidates like the immediacy of sending an email thanking the interviewer for their time. However, we all know that this is seen as impersonal at best; and at worst it’s seen as the easy way out. Handwritten notes are always appreciated, but the downside is that it can take several days to work its way to the hiring manager’s desk. Simple solution — send both. We recommend that you send a same-day Thank You note by email, and also drop a handwritten Thank You in the mail.
A few things to remember:

1. Always ask the interviewer for their card so you’ll have both their email and physical office addresses.
2. Thank You notes need to be well written and include a reference to something that you discussed during the interview.
3. Keep it short and sweet.
4. Tell the interviewer that you appreciate their time and that you look forward working with them.
5. The one-two punch of an email and a handwritten note shows that you are interested in the opportunity and that you are organized, thoughtful, capable of following through and that you exceed expectations.

Everyone intends to send a Thank You note, but very few get around to doing it. By carefully and thoughtfully following up, you will separate yourself from the stack!
Got get ‘em!
By: Brian Cohen, http://blog.globalpitch.com/
Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching entry-level jobs and other career opportunities.

Interview on Demand is TiVo for Hiring

OK, I have to confess: I’m so spoiled, I don’t think I could live without my TiVo. I think the DVR is the greatest technological convenience ever. (Besides my cell phone, of course.) I am no longer a slave to the schedule of TV programmers who don’t take into account how busy I am. I no longer have to patiently wait and suffer through commercials I can’t stand. TiVo has changed my life. (Yes, I know that seems pathetically shallow to some of you, but that’s only because you don’t have one yet.) At the touch of a button, I can watch what I want, when I want. It saves me time because I can skip commercials. And if I need to see something again, I hit Replay. It’s EASY.
TiVo is revolutionizing media in America-from what we expect as consumers, to marketing practices, to advertising, to what we can imagine might come next.
I am here today to tell you (and you knew this was coming, right?) that Interview On Demand is TiVo for job interviews.
Like TiVo, Interview On Demand is convenient. Interview On Demand makes it easy to arrange interviews to fit your schedule. Watch the interview when it’s best for you. With no hassles involving traffic, airlines, or hotels.
Like TiVo, Interview On Demand saves you time. Interview On Demand gets you the answers you need in the fastest amount of time possible. Video interviews consistently take less time than in-person interviews. You can skip over interviews that you can tell won’t be a good fit.
Like TiVo, Interview On Demand is easy to use. Interview On Demand is intuitively easy to navigate. Once you’ve contacted Interview On Demand, we can walk you through setting up interview questions. We contact your candidates by e-mail and offer them tutorials on how to video interview . Once the interviews are done, we store them for you (or any member of your hiring team) to access online anytime. And you can hit Replay if you want to see them again.
Interview On Demand is revolutionizing the hiring process just like TiVo has revolutionized TV watching.
Join the revolution.
By: Carl Chapman, http://www.interview-on-demand.com
Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching entry-level jobs and other career opportunities.

What Journalism Schools Should Be Teaching

The New Media revolution has left J-schools grasping for relevancy, writes Steve Boriss, who helpfully offers his blueprint for a 21st-century curriculum.
Lesson one: the customer is always right.
Should those seeking careers in news go to journalism school? Can today’s j-schools — with faculties that consist almost entirely of Old Media experts and practitioners, courses about conventional media tactics, and premises built upon now-failing models of objectivity and verification — prepare students for the new world of New Media? Of course not. Here’s a list of courses that j-schools should be teaching.
Introduction to Journalism: Back to the Future — Journalists mistakenly believe that news has been continuously evolving toward better forms when, in fact, we are in the midst of a century-old trend. In the early 1900′s an attempt was made to transform journalism from the rough-and-tumble craft it had always been to a science producing verified, objective, unbiased truths. This now-laughable proposition was sustainable only while technology, economics, and government regulation limited the number of challenging voices. This course will cover the last 600 years in search of business models to which we will return. It will focus on the days before the printing press when news was spread by word of mouth and, like today, everyone was a potential creator, editor, and distributor of news.
Remedial Studies: The Role of the Press in America — With the Internet now allowing everyone to exercise their freedoms of expression, a clear understanding of the Founding Fathers’ vision for the press is essential to success in news. This course will teach the correct interpretation of the First Amendment — that just as everyone has the right to speak their views (freedom of speech), everyone also has the right to publish their views (freedom of the press). This amendment did not grant elite status and special rights to a clique known as “the press,” which did not exist as we now know it at the time the amendment was drafted. The course will also analyze Thomas Jefferson’s wishes that newspapers serve as a “fence” to prevent government from encroaching on individuals’ lives. This will correct journalists’ common practice of “jumping the fence” by presenting government as benevolent and the people’s private sector as the greatest threat to our freedom, swapping the ideas of Jefferson for those of Marx.
Business for Journalists – Many journalists have become disoriented, losing track of where they fit into our economy. Some believe they are engaged in a public service, a branch of government, or an activist movement. This course will clarify that virtually every journalist works in the private sector for organizations that must maximize profits. This knowledge will be helpful in the workplace, as journalists may from time to time wish to avoid declaring independence from the demands of their employers, stockholders, business competitors, and acquiring corporations. The course will also highlight that their audiences consist of “customers who are always right,” and not “citizens who must be spoon-fed what journalists believe.” In a work-study portion of the course that teaches the humility required for providing customer service to average Americans, students will be required to clean the public toilets in a Wal-Mart.
Technology for Journalists — As technology advances, journalists will be both enabled and required to be self-sufficient. This class will teach journalists how to use a variety of independence-granting technologies such as search engines, content management systems, social computing, and video cameras. Would-be photojournalists who believe that ordinary breaking news requires extraordinary cinematographic excellence will be encouraged to apply to the film school.
Creative, Entertaining, and Very Short Writing — As everything now known as “media” converges to the Internet, journalists will soon be competing for audiences against former newspapers/TV news, prime-time programming, movies, video games, blogs, and even porn. Many now-common styles will not remain competitive, including the use of serious and faux-authoritative tones, the pretense of objectivity, and “inverted pyramid” articles that become increasingly trivial and boring the deeper one reads. This course will explore a variety of alternative and entertaining styles, including humorous, warm, crusading, inspirational, empathetic, and titillating. Students will also learn how to write catchy headlines and compelling text in 300 words or less, recognizing the mouse-trigger-happy character of news consumers.
The Argument Clinic — Journalists must stop using their mastheads as shields, and engage their audiences in civil debate to defend the accuracy of their facts and the validity of their opinions. This course will teach journalists how to differentiate left vs. right thinking, recognize their own biases, and treat critics as customers to be persuaded, not moral or intellectual idiots. Students will be re-educated to understand that “bias” is not a four-letter word, but a new way to attract audiences as news transitions to a multitude of voices competing in a freewheeling marketplace of ideas.
Until such a curriculum exists, J-schools will be, as journalist Ted Koppel once said, “an absolute and total waste of time.” They will also be places where old dogs teach obsolete tricks.
Steve Boriss, Associate Director for the Center for the Application of Information Technology at Washington University in St. Louis, MO. Originally published January 2, 2008 by PajamasMedia.com. http://www.TheFutureOfNews.com
Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching entry-level jobs and other career opportunities.

Five Tips on Finding a New Job

Useful article from US News & World Report (via Yahoo Finance):
“The jury’s still out on where the job market is heading, but one thing is certain: Employers have put the brakes on hiring. Job creation fell by 17,000 in January, the first month of decline in more than four years. Hard-hit industries like banking and real estate are already seeing layoffs and hiring freezes, and that means more qualified applicants are chasing fewer job openings.
Given that backdrop, job seekers should be prepared to dig a little deeper, says Cheryl Lynch Simpson, career coach with Ricklin-Echikson Associates. “The quality of your job search skills becomes more critical in an uncertain economic climate,” Simpson says. “In a nutshell, your skills need to be better, you need to be more aware of career branding, and you must be more strategic about approaching employers.” Here are five tips from the pros on how to land a job in this turbulent market:”
Five Tips on Finding a New Job
Some interesting questions seem to be emerging: have the big job boards gotten too big for their own good? If not (yet?), what can they do to avoid outgrowing their usefulness? Or do job seekers need yet more new ways to adapt to this ever-changing landscape?
To your success,
David B. Wright
Author, Get A Job! Your Guide to Making Successful Career Moves

Legal Questions On Blogs? Turn To St Louis Blawggers

A blawg is a blog written by a lawyer. Clever, isn’t it? In St Louis, we happen to have several practicing and recovering lawyers who write blogs. Of the practicing lawyers, I’ve met two, and I figured I’d give them a shot in the arm today.
Dennis Kennedy: Dennis is a technology lawyer for Thompson Coburn, and a genuinely nice guy. His entire site is helpful, and he’s an excellent networker to find other law blogs.
George’s Employment Blawg: George Lenard is an employment lawyer with Harris Dowell & Fisher, and he’s been the defacto legal expert for the recruiting blog community. His site regularly covers matters of employment, hr, compliance, and of course, blogging. He also aggregates stories from around the legal blogosphere in helpful RSS feeds. George has been featured in Time Magazine, Fast Company and several other publications.
Both are top notch lawyers with fine blogging credentials.
Article by Jim Durbin and courtesy of StlRecruiting.com

Does The Way You Interview Prevent You From Hiring The Best Candidate?

I was reading through John Sullivan’s mullings about Notchup, the service that pays candidates to interview, and a paragraph leaped out at me.
My experience and research has found that as much as 50% of the reasons that top candidates refuse to consider firms’ job opportunities are directly related to the design of the recruiting strategy and the hiring process itself. Any combination of weak employment branding, negative comments found on the Internet, neutral or negative comments by current employees, a weak corporate jobs website, requiring multiple interviews, and a slow hiring decision will scare away up to 50% of the most qualified candidates.
John has real data to back up those assertions, which means that for companies that lack strong branding and employment processes, the pool of the best available candidates starts out at half strength. And human nature being what it is, these companies don’t even know they’re missing out.
You can’t measure what you don’t see. If your recruiting process and your employment brand turns off candidates, you don’t even get the chance to interview them. This can only lead to a disastrous misreading of the employee marketplace.

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Will A Recession Impact The Talent War?

As salaries rise and the difficulty of finding new employees increases, I have a feeling some managers are actually looking forward to a recession. Maybe not consciously, but the last recession gave companies reasons to rein back on information technology salaries, and brought some sanity back to the hiring process.
Of course, many companies took their cuts and pay cuts too far, but that’s a management issue, not a structural one. When your employees are able to demand $10,000 and $20,000 raises, or when you see people leave taking jobs for twice what you pay them, it’s only natural to hope for some wage relief.
Like a thunderstorm that cools off a hot summer afternoon, a brief deluge can give you some breathing room in your budget. There’s just one problem.
There’s no rain in sight.

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LinkedIn Entry Hit a Raw Nerve

I guess yesterday’s blog entry in which I asked why more college students and recent graduates don’t use business networking site LinkedIn really hit a nerve. As of 9pm CT tonight, I’ve received six comments to the blog entry when most blog entries don’t receive any comments and about twice as many via email.
The consensus seems to be that most don’t use it because they don’t know about it. Social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace are known and used by almost all college students and recent graduates so that’s where the buzz has been but few college career service office professionals use LinkedIn so aren’t able to teach their students how to use it. Kennedy Information’s free LinkedIn webinar on March 4th should fill in a few of those gaps. But the bottom line is that so far few college students use it so there’s little viral spread on campus like there is amongst recruiters, sales people, and other professionals. Hopefully that will change.
But college students and recent graduates who are looking for a connection into an industry, organization, or department will find few tools as powerful as LinkedIn. I have a couple of thousand connections so am only a few degrees removed from virtually everyone who is part of LinkedIn. Want to become part of my network? My pleasure. Join here.

Screening Your Staffing Agencies

Hiring a staffing agency is easy. Simply let the market know you have open positions, and account managers from staffing firms will call you to tell you they can fill you jobs with the best people.
Like most corporate decisions, the time-crunched decision maker is forced to rely on salespeople to decide who is the best fit for the company. That process isn’t going to change, but one that might is the questions that staffing firms are asked before they are given open positions.
Rob Neelbauer of Job Matchbox writes on the subject of questioning your staffing firm before giving them open reqs, and as a former recruiter and current hiring manager/owner, he has a unique perspective.

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