BCjobs Blog

It’s a fundamental law in recruiting that you “are limited to hiring individuals who have applied for a position” (even direct sourced candidates will at some time will be requested to acknowledge application). Assuming you want an applicant pool that is bulging with superior talent, a logical question would be, ‘What factors restrict qualified individuals from applying?’. Prior to the most recent global economic meltdown, most recruiting professionals guessed that the top factors were pay, benefits, and employer reputation, which are important, but one factor has always trumped them: geography.

How to attract the players when the game itself has changed?
AART – Accessibility, Authenticity, Relevancy and Trust. These are the traits that your company must exhibit to attract and recruit Generation Y (born between ~1979-1999), according to Lauren Friese from www.talentegg.ca in a recent webinar. A member of the ‘where you want it, when you want it’ generation herself, Lauren has some excellent assertions which I think really embody this demographic.

The Canadian government has decided that it is time for temporary foreign workers to make their decisions about remaining in Canada more quickly. With the implementation of the new regulations effective on April 1, 2011, foreign workers will only be allowed a maximum four year work permit period at a time. At the end of each period, these individuals are required to return back to their home country for another four years before being eligible to apply for another Canadian work permit. There will be no reprieve for individuals on a work permit awaiting their permanent resident status approval. Even if they are pending the issuance of their landing status, foreign nationals will be required to return home to await final PR approval.

I watched another webinar today that addressed social media and how it can be leveraged for HR and recruitment professionals. It was great to see company branding and marketing as part of the recruitment process as it is increasingly becoming an essential part of a company’s talent acquisition strategy.

I was listening to a discussion the other day about reference checks and heard someone ask the question, “What can an employer say”?
I have been in human resources for many years and held management and supervisory positions prior to that – so I’ve been asked to supply references for years. There is no doubt that reference checks are not given as freely as they once were because of lawsuits that have challenged previous employers because of things said or not said about an employee. The thing is: reference checks help employers make good hires.

It is undeniable that the culture of BC is shifting quickly along with the pace of technology. A few years ago very few people knew of Facebook and now it is hard to find someone who is not on it. Generation F- the Facebook generation, refers to those of us who have grown up “online”. This is a generation who is highly capable of retrieving information on the net.

Think back three short years when skilled candidates were scarce. Some businesses closing their doors for lack of employees; wages at Tim Horton’s in Alberta rose close to $20/hour, university students were working all summer, and even if you were fortunate enough to hire skilled employees, retaining them was another matter!