Category Archives: Recruitment

All about Recruitment

10 words you must NEVER use to describe yourself – Greg Savage

Article by Greg Savage

Who am I to tell you how you can describe yourself? Nobody. So ignore me at your leisure.

On the other hand, I can tell you for free that the words you use in your résumé, your LinkedIn profile, your Twitter bio, your cover letter, and in spoken language, create a response in the reader, which can condemn you faster than the blink of an eye.

Believe me on this. Recruiters, hiring managers, potential clients, and those in your social community will scorn you, even ‘delete’ you, based on the emotion these words evoke. I am not saying it’s right, but you will be judged if you use these words. And not judged well.

  1. ‘Guru’, ‘legend’, ‘maven’, and ‘ninja’: Incredibly, these are used a lot! They are very common in Twitter bios for example. Seriously? Have you paused to consider what these words actually mean?  What they imply? And you are happy to ascribe them to yourself? You are a ‘legend’, are you? And you say so? Publicly? Nothing writes you off, and smashes your credibility as quickly as describing yourself with words like these.
  2. ‘Expert’: Not as bad as the words above, but from the same stable. You have gone too big. You may be an expert. Just don’t say it. We will be the judge of that.
  3. ‘Humble’: Just by saying it, you prove that you are not.
  4. ‘Generous’: You may be, but if you are prepared to say it in public then you are not humble (see above). And we value ‘humble’. And we want our ‘generosity’ without thought for personal gain and acknowledgement. So don’t say it. Live it.
  5. ‘Honest’: If you have to say it, it’s clear you think it’s a ‘special talent’. We view it as a given. Do you have to work at it, we wonder?
  6. ‘Rock-star’: Oh, heaven help us! (Unless you are, in fact, a rock-star, but we doubt that)
  7. ‘Nice guy’: No seriously, I have seen this on three twitter bios recently. You are announcing you are a ‘nice guy’? Surely that is the ultimate accolade that has to be bestowed by others. Narcissistic, much?
  8. ‘Exceptional’:  Too big. Too much. Too bad.
  9. ‘Funny’: Pretty much every person I have ever met who describes him or herself as ‘funny’… isn’t.
  10. ‘Visionary’: Just (don’t) do it.

If these traits are true about you, then other people will say them about you. In references. On social media. In private conversations. Say them about yourself, you look silly at best, and a right plonker at worst.

MCI Direct Hire 2014 SA HR Recruitment Survey Results

The results of the MCI Direct Hire 2014 SA HR Recruitment trend survey are in. This survey ran for just over 30 days and received a massive 1263 responses from HR professionals across the country. Once again making this survey the largest of it’s kind to ever be conducted in South Africa.

60% of organisations do not primarily make use of recruitment agencies to fill their requirements

46% of respondents have between 1 & 5 recruitment agencies on their preferred suppliers list

66% of organisations use social media to recruit candidates

69% of organisations use LinkedIn, 23% Facebook, 5% GooglePlus and 4% Twitter

59% of organisations use Print Media to advertise vacancies

70% of organisations use job portals to advertise vacancies

53% of organisations use a recruitment management system

88% of organisations attempt to source and place candidates internally before approaching recruitment companies

53% of organisations rely on internal staff to refer candidates to HR for hiring consideration

46% of organisations have an employee candidate referral rewards program in place

74% of organisations have a careers section on their website

64% of organisations had an annual staff turnover rate of less than 10%

HR Recruitment Survey 2014 Infographic-1

The results of the MCI Direct Hire 2014 SA HR Recruitment trend survey are in. This survey ran for just over 30 days and received a massive 1263 responses from HR professionals across the country. Once again making this survey the largest of it’s kind to ever be conducted in South Africa

Career in Aviation – Ground Staff

This morning I received a request by a candidate who wanted to pursue a career in aviation working as a ground staff member. So I quickly did a Google search so that I can refer the candidate directly to the airlines. And here is what I found posted by my good friend Rob Baker of South Africa Travel Online.

Full Article on Airline jobs listing

For Airport Ground Crew you will need ACSA-disembarkation

  • South African identity document
  • Matric / grade 12 certificate
  • Diploma in travel and tourism (preferable)
  • No criminal record*
  • Clear credit record
  • Computer literacy essential
  • 1 year customer care experience
  • Good customer care and communication skills
  • English plus one additional language
  • Drivers licence
  • Well groomed
  • Willing to work shifts
  • CV with the following
  1. Brief employment history
  2. Brief additional qualifications
  3. Direct telephone contact details
  4. Certified copy of matric / grade 12 certificate
  5. Certified copy of identity document

Source: http://www.southafrica.to/transport/Airlines/jobs/airline-jobs.php5

Thank you Rob! It’s a small world.

Create visual job ads from your iPhone

http://www.careercloud.com/instajob/ Create visual job ads from your iPhone with this new app for employers, recruiters and small business owners. Works in conjunction with your existing social media accounts such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Take a picture, add a filter with your job title and career url then share it on social media. Its that easy.

Comparison: 2012/2013 SA’s Largest HR Recruitment Trend

MCI Consultants, the largest distributor of staffing software in Southern Africa, announced the results of its 2013 SA HR Recruitment Trend Survey which saw the participation of 1012 HR professionals from across the country over a period of 30 days.

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WeszMadz compares their 2012 results to 2013 results

Organisations that use a recruitment management system [2012 52% / 2013 43%]

Organisations that had an annual staff turnover rate of less than 10% [2012 58% / 2013 59%]

Organisations that attempt to source and place candidates internally before approaching recruitment agencies [2012 93% / 2013 87%]

Organisations that rely on internal staff to refer candidates to HR for hiring consideration [2012 56% / 2013 52%]

Organisations that have an employee candidate referral rewards program in place [2012 58% / 2013 61%]

Organisations that do not primarily make use of recruitment agencies to fill their requirements [ 2012 58% / 2013 56%]

Organisations that have between 1 and 5 recruitment agencies on their preferred supplier list [2012 40% / 2013 44%]

On Social Media

Organisations that use social media to recruit candidates [2012 53% / 2013 58%]

Organisations that use job portals to advertise vacancies [2012 64% / 2013 68%]

Organisations that use print media to advertise vacancies [2012 65% / 2013 65%]

2013 Social Networks that gave the best results

69% LinkedIn. 18% Facebook. 7% Twitter. 7% Google+

Placement Fees

Fees charged 21% Cost to Company [2012 2.8% / 2013 3%]

Fees charged 16-20% Cost to Company [2012 16.3% / 2013 14%]

Fees charged 11-15% Cost to Company   [2012 46.5% /  2013 46%]

Fees charged 6-10% Cost to Company [2012 17.6% / 2013 20%]

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A word from MCI

“This is the second consecutive year that we have run this survey.  Due to the overwhelming response, we can definitively say that this is the largest survey of its kind ever to be conducted in South Africa,” commented Rhett Davies, Partner at MCI.

“The results of this survey clearly indicate that HR departments and professionals of corporate SA have become extremely proactive and are managing a bulk of their recruitment internally. Interestingly though, there was an increase of 6% in the number of corporates utilising agencies as their first port of call. This year’s results also showed a remarkable increase of 5% in the number organisations utilising Social Media to recruit which aligns with the growing global trend.”

Wesley Says

  • More recruitment agencies are now charging less. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
  • Google+ and Twitter will definitely change those percentages in 2014
  • Print Media still hanging in there but Social Media Use on the rise. Recruitment firms brace yourselves or this decade will leave you behind
  • Am every worried about a decrease in recruitment management system use. How are you gonna manage all the social media responses if you don’t have a system?