4 Innovative Strategies to Hire Top Emerging Tech Talent in 2020!
Article published on https://www.infojiniconsulting.com/blog/4-innovative-strategies-to-hiretop-emerging-tech-talent-in-2020/
Over the next few years, companies will spend millions of dollars to attract the top emerging
tech talent. The problem is simple, the demand for niche talent (ML engineers, data scientists,
IoT consultants, salesforce consultants, blockchain, etc.) far outweighs the supply, making it a
candidate-driven market.
To put this into perspective, the average time-to-hire for a niche role is around 56 days which
is twice when compared to generic roles like HR and professional services. While one in every
three developers is open for new job roles (Stack Overflow Survey), they are being wooed by
2-3 employers at the same time. In fact, some of these candidates receive so many openings in
their inbox that they have to unsubscribe the posts from potential employers.
The Way Forward
Recruitment teams have no option but to look for innovative strategies to curate fresh talent
pools. Experienced recruiters, engagement tools, and data-driven recruiting will all come to
the fore. In this article, we’ll tell you about the 4 innovative strategies that you can use to hire
top emerging tech talent in 2020.
1) Invest in Technical Recruiters
Recruiters need to be adept with all the tech forums where candidates hang out. Some of the
important tech forums where you can get quality talent include Stack Overflow, Hackr.io,
GitHub, TechSpot, TechCrunch, Ubuntu, and more. It’s important to prepare a pipeline of
qualified candidates from these forums. Not only this, recruiters should also be given
preliminary workshops on the technology they are hiring for. For instance, someone hiring
Salesforce Developers should know the difference between Lightning and Fuel. Someone
recruiting data scientists should know the difference between R, SAS, and Python.
Other important factor to take care of is upskilling of recruiters which includes regular
workshops, trainings, and seminars. Recruiters should be given trainings on passive
recruitment strategies as well as innovative sourcing techniques. They should be encouraged
to take certifications and provided with SME assistance for the same. Some of the certifications
that recruiters should be encouraged to take include:
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AIRS Certifications
LinkedIn Recruiter Certifications
Social Talent Certification
SHRM Certification
HRCI Certification
Passive Recruitment
Sourcing Strategies
2) Data-driven Retargeting
Many times candidates come on your website or careers page but don’t interact, they simply
go through the job openings and leave. Companies should use retargeting to segment visitors
based on the specific pages they visit on your website. Pixels should be setup on your website
which would help you create retargeting audiences. Some of the audiences that you can build
include:
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Candidates who visit your careers page
Candidates who were applying online for a role but left midway
Candidates who visited your Contact Us page
This information can then be used to create personalized retargeting campaigns on Google,
LinkedIn, and Facebook. Once firms garner interesting leads, they can engage these candidates
with employer branding content that differentiates your firm from the competitors. These are
some of the campaigns that you can run:
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LinkedIn Retargeting (Sponsored Content, Lead Gen Forms)
Email Retargeting or Contact Targeting (LinkedIn, Google, etc.)
Display Ads on Google
Facebook Retargeting Campaign (Engagement, Lead Generation)
Retargeting on CDN’s like Outbrain and Taboola
3) Use Non-traditional Mediums
Companies should also use non-traditional mediums to hire the best emerging tech talent.
Some of the mediums they can use are:
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Interactive coding contests or puzzles on LinkedIn
Using the relevant career and job hashtags on Twitter
Podcast sites for job seekers
Job fairs and career seminars
Flyer distribution (local meet-ups and diversity associations)
Personalized video posts on YouTube etc.
4) Get Leads from AI Chatbots
Candidate engagement and personalization go a long way in attracting the right emerging tech
talent. Companies can use chatbots like Mya to automate candidate interactions. Mya not only
imparts personalized touch to your communication but it also records candidate data which
helps you create a passive pipeline. Apart from increasing recruiter productivity and conversion
rates, Mya also leads to higher candidate engagement. Since Mya can also pre-screen qualified
candidates, it also reduces the time-to-hire metric. Some of the other candidate engagement
tools that you can use include SenseHQ, Talent Bin, etc.
To get the best results, firms should integrate their recruitment, data, and digital marketing
efforts. Each department can share insights with the other which can help achieve better results.
Also, every stakeholder involved should be up-to-date with the latest trends in recruitment
ensuring perfect collaboration.
4 Ways to Make Your Hiring Practices Disability-Friendly!
Article published on https://www.infojiniconsulting.com/blog/4-ways-to-make-your-hiringpractices-disability-friendly/
While the US is the largest economy in the world with some of the lowest unemployment
levels, 34% of people with disabilities are looking for work. Whereas companies like JP
Morgan Chase, Microsoft, and Walgreen have created recruitment programs for people with
disabilities, the industry needs a collaborative effort to make their hiring practices disabilityfriendly. There is a strong need to translate diversity and inclusion plans into actual hires. For
the transformation to work, the D&I policies have to be supervised by dedicated committees
who genuinely feel about inclusion and have active representation from different communities.
According to a white paper by Accenture on accessibility, companies have marked 28% higher
revenue by incorporating disabled candidates. Many organizations, non-profits, a network of
companies, and government agencies aiding people with disabilities have experienced reduced
turnover, productivity boost, and better customer outreach. So, what should your firm do if it
wants to make its hiring practices disability-friendly, in this article we present 4 effective ways
to implement this transformation.
1) Partner with Non-profits and Diverse Associations
Employers should partner with non-profits and diverse associations that work for people with
disabilities. They should share their job openings with these organizations as well as distribute
flyers in local schools and colleges. A small diversity recruitment team can be set up internally
to prepare a passive pipeline of resources belonging to different communities. Apart from
partnering with non-profits, employers can also partner with state employment agencies and
meet-up groups for people with disabilities. These are some of the organizations that you can
partner with.
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Ability Jobs and Job Access
Disabled Person
Job Accommodation Network (JAN)
Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD)
The Arc etc.
2) Implementing Disability-Friendly Hiring Policies
A good way to improve your hiring practices is by taking the feedback of people with
disabilities. Make sure your career pages and website have the right feel. Your job descriptions
should be inclusive, the interview process should be flexible (face-to-face, remote, etc.), the
customer support numbers should be working, and your social media pages should market a
diversity-friendly employer brand. While employers should take care of these facets, the
workforce too should be sensitized through trainings. These are some of the practices that you
should implement in your hiring cycle.
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Implement Blind Hiring
Use the same interview-set for every candidate
Have more minority representation in the hiring team
Use diverse sourcing channels
3) Training Your Workforce Is the Key
Staff training is one of the critical aspects of inclusivity that shouldn't be ignored. Inclusive
hiring strategies and processes require proper training of the staff on EEO, anti-discrimination,
cultural-awareness, and bias-free hiring. The recruitment team should also be trained on
innovative sourcing channels for diversity hiring. It’s also the responsibility of every employer
to have an annual diversity plan in place which includes the different diversity trainings that
the staff should take. These are some of the initiatives that you should implement.
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Hire a certified trainer to educate leadership on cultural-awareness
Conduct bias-free recruitment sessions for managers, recruiters, and SMEs
Create an employee handbook that details the company’s stand on discrimination,
harassment, EEO, etc.
Organize training for employees on respect & inclusion, unconscious bias, antidiscrimination, etc.
Organize role-play scenarios for HR that demonstrate how to deal with sensitive
situations
4) Partner with an External Agency
There are many agencies that help firms in planning their diversity recruitment strategies. From
creating annual goals, assigning the right roles and responsibilities to partnering with diverse
associations, these firms help you optimize your hiring strategy. Since these firms have worked
with many clients before they can help you get access to local recruiter networks for diverse
hiring. These agencies also train your recruitment team on innovative sourcing strategies and
360-degree engagement cycle which helps you prepare a solid pipeline of qualified resources.
Making your hiring practices disability-friendly is easier said than done, that is why you require
a dedicated plan and passionate people who are willing to change the outlook. Innovation in
sourcing and collaboration among stakeholders are going to be your biggest assets on this
journey, so make sure that your company’s vision is aligned with the roles and responsibilities
of the workforce.
How Nurses Can Stay Healthy During Night Shifts - 4 Expert Tips
Article published on https://www.infojiniconsulting.com/blog/how-can-nurses-stay-healthyduring-night-shifts-4-expert-tips/
Night shifts can result in tiredness, sleep disruption, and sometimes, frustration. Nurses who
work these shifts often eat irregularly, snack un-healthy, skip meals, and find it tough to keep
up with regular exercise. If your idea of surviving night shifts includes loads of coffee, zombiewalking, and a smoke or two, then these four tips from experts can come in handy. Do note
that getting accustomed to night shifts requires a nurse to make adjustments in his/her personal
and professional life.
Tip 1: Get Enough Sleep
Working at night interrupts your natural sleep cycle. Nurses should take necessary measures
that will help them get an excellent conducive sleep. Use curtains that darken the room and
disconnect sleep disruptive devices such as phones, doorbells, and electronics. Shift nurses
must acclimatize their bodies to fall asleep and remain asleep for a longer time without any
interruption. Eliminate noise and light while you sleep by using eye masks and earplugs.
National Sleep Foundation (NSF) suggests to keep the same bedtime and wake schedule even
on weekends; in addition, avoid consuming caffeinated beverages/foods and alcohol close to
bedtime.
Tip 2: Snack-up Healthy
Stamina, energy, and performance levels primarily depend on the food choices we make.
Similarly, meals and snacks a nurse chooses before and during the night shift will have a
significant impact on his/her health. It’s essential to identify whether the food you prepare for
your shift provides energy or makes you drowsy. Nurses should consume frequent but smaller
meals that include nuts, fruits, salads, and veggies. The meal should be well rounded and
balanced with all the macro nutrients such as complex carbs and protein. These are some of the
points to take care of:
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Avoid eating large amounts of refined sugar
Instead of sugar, go for dried fruits that provide a sweet boost of energy
Go for gluten-free bread instead of the regular ones
Drink ample water throughout the shift. Dehydration can cause headaches and fatigue.
Tip 3: Connect with Your Co-Workers!
The night shift is an entirely different setting than the day shift which means the mood and the
environment is completely different. To run the shift smoothly, nurses must bond with their
co-workers. Bonding with co-workers makes the night shift easier to handle as nurses usually
tend to rely on each other for several activities. Your co-workers must become your friends
during the arduous night shift.
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Try to know your co-workers professionally and socially
Take your coffee or tea breaks with them
Try to have dinner together
Invite them for family get-togethers
Tip 4: Exercise Regularly to Stay Alert
When the feeling of fatigue starts to take over, combat it with a bit of exercise. Shift nurses
usually experience more fatigue and drowsiness around 4:00 a.m. They should avoid doing any
monotonous task during that time and should avoid any heavy meals around this time.
Exercising may not be possible for nurses who work 12-hour shifts, but if full-body workout
is not an option, take a brisk walk. Here are some of the things that you can try.
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Try using the stairs instead of the lift
Do light stretching
Plan light workout sessions early morning or evenings (before your shift starts)
Try using public transport every once in a while
Make sure that you incorporate discipline in your daily routine and eat a healthy diet. Being
consistent with these rules will not only help you maintain your energy levels but it will also
keep you focussed.
The Rise of AI in Recruitment
Article published on https://www.vtechsolution.com/the-rise-of-ai-in-recruitment/
The major news in recruiting for the year 2017 was undeniably AI, and with its increasing
adoption, this trend is only expected to increase in 2018.
By working with tools like ATS, recruiters have used technology to make their jobs easier,
faster, and better or, in other words, highly efficient. Employees are the company’s most
important asset, which makes talent acquisition strategy the foundation for ongoing success.
AI is capable of considering a probable employee for a particular position by looking at
candidate’s background and matching up with those workers by identifying certain
qualifications, educational history, work experience, and other factors that consider a candidate
has the background to emulate the top performers at your organization.
According to a study by Harvard Business Review, it was found that 44% of businesses
incorporate AI into their IT functions, and 19% use AI to predict their customers’ future
purchases and present them with suitable offers. Businesses are also beginning to see the
benefits of AI in recruitment. According to Ideal, 96% of senior HR professionals consider that
AI can highly leverage talent acquisition and retention.
Here’s how AI can help:
1. In Posting Jobs: AI can use programmatic advertising techniques, which gives the user
the ability to place highly targeted ads in front of the targeted audience based on their
browsing history, online activity, and cookies. Cookies can be used to track candidates
who visit career pages, allowing us to compile records of what other pages they’re
browsing and what type of jobs they’re looking for.
2. Sourcing candidates: AI, in the form of machine learning, sources, and qualifies
candidates online in resume databases such as CareerBuilder, Indeed, and Monster for
recruiters to follow-up with. The process often uses Sentiment analysis, which
comprises of the use of natural language processing, text analysis, computational
linguistics, and biometrics to identify, extract, quantify, subjective information
systematically. It can also help recruiters in creating job descriptions with keywords
that attract a more diverse candidate pool.
3. Resume screening: Manually screening resumes is a fairly tedious task; however, by
using the machine learning ability, AI screening can be automated by learning what
existing employees’ skills and qualifications are. By assigning certain rules and
triggers, conversations related to specific hiring or job queries, and receive instant
answers can be automated.
4. Messaging and data collection: Chatbots that use natural language processing to
collect data from candidates, in the form of screening questions, chat responses, answer
FAQs about the job, and schedule an interview. Information from a candidate collected
by the chatbots is then fed into a job portal/s or sent directly to a human recruiter to
follow up with the candidate. This process reduces the need to respond to emails, phone
calls, and text messages without compromising on candidate experience.
AI technology is capable of changing many things. However, it still is not equipped enough to
remove complete human interaction. AI can help bypass back-end and repetitive processes,
ultimately assisting recruiters in finding the right talent. The technology is here, but it is not
all-encompassing; conducting face-to-face interviews may still promise a satisfactory match
than otherwise. While AI can assist in many parts of the recruitment process, human
involvement remains imperative.
In the very near future, most recruitment models will involve AI. AI is already transforming
every business vertical; in medicine, AI is taking the role of a clinical assistant to help
physicians make faster and reliable diagnoses. Companies like General Electric & Siemens are
using AI for monitoring machine fleets and factories.
Artificial Intelligence is also rapidly evolving in the Staffing Industry and is bound to change
the game of recruitment. Jobinvote CEO, Dan Finnigan said, “If recruiters and companies can
learn to pair themselves with a specific AI, they can train it to understand a particular corporate
mission and culture, so that recruiters feel like they leverage these chatbots and other similar
technology as extensions of their teams, not as replacements for them.” In the words of
Cyberpunk author William Gibson, “The future is already here, it’s just not widely distributed.”
Build the Firewall: How Government Shutdown is Affecting US
Cybersecurity?
Article published on https://www.vtechsolution.com/build-the-firewall-government-shutdown-isaffecting-us-cybersecurity/
The war over how best to protect the US-Mexico border is severely impacting the nation’s
cybersecurity, and with the longest federal government shutdown in the history of this
country underway, our cyber defense capabilities have taken a massive blow.
While the short-term impact is severe, the long-term effects could prove even more
catastrophic. According to several recent reports, with every passing day, we have started to
rely on something similar to ‘luck’ than ‘strategy or systems’ to keep our cyber ecosystem
secure.
Several federal agencies including the Department of State, Homeland Security, Department
of Agriculture, Department of Commerce and Department of Housing and Urban
Development, The Environmental Protection Agency, Internal Revenue Service, The National
Institute of Standards and Technology and the National Park Service have lost funding due to
the shutdown. According to Tom Gann, chief of public policy at security research firm McAfee,
“Many of these agencies are on the hit-list for hackers, organizations that specialize in highend security intrusions and nation-state actors.”
“Cybersecurity at these agencies and departments could be degraded because lower-level
government employees who bear the brunt of the shutdown often are on the front lines of basic
computer security monitoring work,” Gann said. “A major part of cybersecurity work at these
agencies is performed by contracted employees who are also not available, as they are not
getting paid during the government shut down,” Gann said.
Former Federal Chief Information Security Officer, Gregory Touhill, said that during the
closure, “skilled people qualified to respond to the alerts/alarms may not be in place or even
available due to the shutdown.”
Another notable point is that during the shutdown, it will be easy for hackers to define what
the United States considers to be its critical systems. They will be looking at detailed activities
in our cybersecurity ecosystem.
By current estimates, roughly 800,000 federal workers are currently unavailable
including
– 45% of the staff from the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and
Infrastructure Security Agency, which is responsible for defending critical infrastructure from
cyber and physical threats.
– 80% of the National Protection and Programs Directorate, which controls the Office of Cyber
and Infrastructure Analysis and the Office of Cybersecurity and Communications.
– 85% of the National Institute of Standards and Technology(NIST), which designs the
Cybersecurity Framework of private and public sector security standards.
Currently, several of NIST weblinks effectively lead you to a dead end. There is a growing
concern among the government’s cybersecurity professionals that hackers will indeed take
advantage of the partial shutdown, tampering with sensitive government data, or stealing
citizen’s information. Cybersecurity is a hard-enough job with a full crew. It’s a battle just to
keep up with the emerging cyber threat. Working with less than half strength means that we
are at significant risk; The impact on our nation’s security grows with each passing day. While
there is no doubt that all the agencies and departments have a good plan in place to keep
essential systems and functions running, but with the bare-bones staff, there is only so much
that can be done.
“Cyber threats don’t operate on Washington’s political timetable, and they don’t stop because
of a shutdown,” Lisa Monaco, former assistant to the president for homeland security and
counterterrorism, told Axios.
Handling Disgruntled Employees and Keeping the Workplace Safe
Article
published
on
https://www.vtechsolution.com/handling-disgruntled-employees-and-
keeping-the-workplace-safe/
Just like any relationship, the employer – employee relationship is delicate and has the potential of
ending badly; it requires the soft touch and a stroke of genius to manage these separations gracefully. It
is easy for an ex-employee to create a ruckus when they are laid off. It can be a PR nightmare when a
former employee starts bad-mouthing the business online or offline, calling the office repeatedly, or
even showing up in-person to cause issues. It demeans the company, its management, and its employees.
Terminating or letting the employees go is really stressful and might require some skilful hands.
The first line of defence to manage or avoid such scenarios is the Human Resources department.
Proactive assessment of future troubles is hard to ascertain but HR should always perform detailed
background checks of their potential employee’s past jobs, their behavior both while on the job and
after leaving the organization. These checks can last for almost three to six weeks but play a major role
in identifying potential threats before they become a direct concern.
Even though the reason might be right enough to let an employee go and the company might have valid
arguments to prove the case in the court of law, that doesn’t necessarily translate to a clean image for
the company in the public’s eye, once a conflict arises. The actions may be conceived by the public in
different dimensions and hence, it is necessary to have a clear and concise strategy to implement the
action safely. Preventive measures are always advised.
Data leakage by disgruntled employees is also a very real problem. Employees, while leaving, often try
to take confidential and highly valuable data for malicious intent or financial gain. A study conducted
by Ipswitch, a Massachusetts based provider of file transfer solutions, showed that:
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Forty percent of employees admit to using personal email to send sensitive information to
themselves secretively.
More than 25% send proprietary data to their personal email accounts so that they can use that
information at their next place of employment.
Nearly 50% of employees send classified information via standard email weekly, putting
payroll info, social security numbers, and financial data at risk.
Forty-one percent of IT executives use their personal external storage devices to make copies
of data.
It is critical that employees only have access to what they should have access to; an ex-employee’s
orphaned account should not remain open and accessible after they leave the organization.
How to handle disgruntled employees, here are some Do’s and Don’ts that can be helpful:
Don’t Drop Everything for One Ex-Employee
Don’t let their claims take all your energy, efforts, and your management’s attention. Assign a person
to handle the situation, so others can continue with their work.
Keep Calm and Stay Professional
Discrediting the ex-employee or sharing juicy stories seems like a viable retaliation, but it could indeed
prove to be bad; studies have shown badmouthing someone has a boomerang effect making the taleteller
look bad. Thus, it’s important to maintain your cool and stay professional.
Bullying for Submission May Have Severe Consequences
Just because he/she is an individual against the might of a company, bullying them into submission can
have repercussions. Let’s take the case of an Ex-Tesla employee Martin who claims the company
intimidated and harassed him after he was fired, under allegations that he is a hacker and has transferred
secret information to third parties. This has caused company goodwill, forming some negative
perception among its employees that the company harasses its ex-employees.
Just Being Legally Right Is Not Enough
Last month Home Depot fired their staff member Maurice Rucker, a 60-year-old black man after he
reacted to an irate customer who hurled racist expletives at him. He was fired because he failed to follow
the protocol “disengage and alert management about a customer confrontation”. It doesn’t matter if the
company had proper grounds for his termination, the truth is that Home Depot has been facing serious
boycott issues from the thousands of angry supporters of Maurice Rucker. Your bylaws and legal
arguments may be enough for the court of law, but it is not necessarily enough when it comes to public
opinion.
A Small Gesture Goes a Long Way
A slight concession makes you look empathetic and generous. Loose some battles to win the war, let
them win something in a small way, it makes the situation deescalate faster.
Be Quick to Respond to Rumors and Keep Moving Ahead:
Rumors have a way of feeding the frenzy, slurs should be pacified with an accurate and persuasive
response. The response should be able to explain the counter-narrative without repeating the insult. It
is also important to keep moving ahead – don’t let this clog your wheels, it becomes more essential to
keep them turning. Make announcements and plans, restoring the status quo and bringing back things
to normal.
And finally, Learn, Adapt and Overcome. Facing such scenarios are inevitable for any business – some
terminations will be sour – it comes to learning what needs to be learned and fixing what needs to be
fixed, to avoid any problems in the future of similar nature.