29.6.10

Facebook pushes search further ahead - has "Like" replaced the "Link"???

I don't know how many of you stayed up and watched the Facebook F8 developer conference at 2am recently but I did. I wrote about it in this blog and it for me marked the start of a whole new web called the "Social Semantic Web".  While the company was vague about a lot of details the company has confirmed  that “all Open Graph-enabled web pages will show up in search when a user likes them”.  This is huge and could mark the start of some new forms of machine learning. Google are rumoured to be bringing out their own new search engine "Google Me" and what it means has been doing the rounds on the Internet of late. This is going to be healthy competition as ever for the user.

To all the SEO heads out there this now poses the question what is Facebook SEO and what is possible via the Open Graph.  What is clear now though is this marks the start of the beginning of Facebook's internet strategy.

At the technical level interesting questions that pop to mind are given that all of the OGP metadata is basically RDFa - theycould index the same info if it supported the OGP schema/namespace. The good news is FB is open to changing the OGP spec to better support the standardised version of RDFa http://groups.google.com/group/open-graph-protocol/browse_thread/thread/cc03368ef0d12c1a

As one commentator I read in a forum highlighted " What we really need is for Google Snippets to better support RDFa and also a standardised version. As does Yahoo (Search Monkey) Twitter (Annotations/Search) and eventually Bing. That way every website can add in a standard set of RDFa metadata to create semantic search engines which also creates better SEO for every website. My big fear right now is that each company will split RDFa efforts (now part of HTML5) and create their own namespaces."

It's got very interesting all of a sudden. What a day! I wonder what else is to come... it's hard to keep up with it all!!! :)

Vantage launch Ireland's first IT recruitment iPhone app!

Vantage Resources has come out today with some excellent innovation around the launch of their new iPhone app.  Here's what they had to say:

"The Vantage Resources App is now available to download free of charge from the iTunes store. Our App allows the user to create and manage their own profile allowing them to tailor the job information they want to receive based on their specific skill set, location and job requirement. Once a job matching the individuals’ details comes available the Vantage recruiters will update the candidate by sending text and video clip details to the candidate’s iPhone. "

Simon Martin, MD of Vantage Resources says” The iPhone has created a big buzz in the world of mobile phones and technology. Vantage specializes in IT Recruitment and our customer base is at the forefront of today’s technology. We wanted to design an iPhone app that puts the personal touch back into recruitment and is easy and exciting to use! This is just one of the many steps we are taking to be prepared for the recovery in the jobs market when the economy picks up in 2011. We believe this will play a key role in our online marketing strategy and will be a vital medium for Vantage to keep in touch with all active and prospective candidates. Our aim is to satisfy our client’s vacancy requirements quickly and ahead of our competitors.”

The app can be downloaded here.

Ireland is moving ever closer to the new world of cloud recruitment. Congrats to Simon and team on a job well done!

LinkedIn Groups have additional functionality

Following on from the recent video posted by LinkedIn below here is a little more detail on the changes:

LinkedIn Groups allow you to:

* Quickly discover the most popular discussions in your professional groups.
* Have an active part in determining the top discussions by liking and commenting.
* Follow the most influential people in your groups by checking the Top Influencers board or clicking their profile image to see all their group activity.
* See both member-generated discussions and news in one setting.
* Easily browse previews of the last three comments in a discussion.
* Find interesting discussions by seeing who liked a discussion and how many people commented.

Group Managers

Manage your Group with new moderation tools.

LinkedIn’s new moderation toolkit helps you keep the quality level high within group discussions.

* Managers and moderators can now delete inappropriate posts right from their email box using the new option “Send me an email for each new discussion” in More > My Settings.
* Managers and moderators can now delete inappropriate comments right from their email box by clicking “Delete” within any followed-discussion email alert.
* We are introducing the ability for members to flag items as inappropriate – initially this is a way for us to gather important data and in a few weeks, this capability will enable members to flag items into the moderation queue or, if you choose, delete the content outright after an adjustable number of flags.
* The moderation queue will allow group managers to decide how many member flags can delete a thread or a comment.
* Managers can now restrict the move-to-Jobs capability to themselves. Users still will be able to “Flag-as-job” to move an item into the moderation queue.
* Very-low-connection users will now be flagged as such in groups’ request-to-join queues.
* Very-low-connection users will no longer be admitted directly to open-access groups but routed to the groups’ request-to-join queues.

Featured Discussions

Feature your top discussions as a Manager’s Choice

LinkedIn’s new Groups introduces the first of several changes to featured discussions:

* “Featured Discussions” are now called “Manager’s Choice” in response to user confusion about whether group managers or LinkedIn featured the discussion.
* Original user discussions, user-submitted articles, and RSS items can all be featured by clicking “Add to Manager’s Choice” from the top of any item’s detail page.
* The top Manager’s Choice will be visible in a module on the right side of the most visited page within groups: the discussion detail page.
* The top Manager’s Choice, rather than the top five, appears on the group homepage in a module on the right side of the page.
* Managers can re-order up to 10 Manager’s Choice discussions from the “See All” link in the Manager’s Choice module.
* Manager’s Choice discussions will soon see top billing in the group digest email.

28.6.10

The Social Network - Facebook film out in October - Check out the trailer



Rumour has it that Google are planning a Facebook killer called "Google Me", learn more here.

Judith Moffett of CPL Science is hiring a recruiter here If interested contact her on Judith.moffett@cpl.ie or 01 6146132

22.6.10

LinkedIn brings out new group functionality and adopts the Facebook Like Button

New Job: We're hiring a Staffing Admin/Junior Recruiter in Microsoft

This is a role working through our vendor CPL. Duration: July 1st 2010 – June 30th 2011 with possible extension

Job Description: Outstanding learning opportunity to be part of Microsoft’s world-class recruitment organization as a Recruitment Administrator working in a combined Administrative and Recruitment role supporting Microsoft Ireland’s Graduate Placement and Graduate Programmes. The primary objectives of this role will include providing day to day administrative support of the Graduate & Intern hiring process as well as recruitment responsibilities such as candidate selection, attending career events, and conducing HR Interviews. Administrative support will include applicant tracking, coordination of events, email communication with candidates, status updates, applicant tracking system updates, and various other administrative tasks related to University recruitment. This role provides a great opportunity for a talented Administrator to learn about Microsoft’s Business, hiring Graduate talent, and gain recruiting experience for broad Business and Software Engineering/Technical positions.

Requirements:
•Minimum 3+ years of experience working in administrative roles with a high level of attention to detail
•Exposure to recruiting/staffing including candidate selection/CV evaluation, interviewing, and client management.
•Excellent computer skills (Outlook, Excel, etc.) and ability to learn new tools quickly
•Good written and verbal communication skills with a passion for excellent customer service
•Ability to work in an ambiguous environment and problem solve under pressure
•Full-life cycle recruitment experience desired
•Previous experience supporting University/College recruitment activities desired
•Experience in providing Event Coordination/Logistics desired

To Apply: Please send your CV with a Cover Letter outlining how you map to these requirements and why you would be interested in this role to brynam@microsoft.com .

21.6.10

New Job: Digitial Group Recruitment Manager

Digicel's goal is to provide our customers with affordable and innovative mobile communications that fosters personal and professional connections between nations and people. Since our launch in 2001, Digicel has become the largest mobile telecommunications operator in the Caribbean and a recent new entrant to the Central American and Pacific mobile markets.

We are renowned amongst our customers for competitive rates, unbeatable coverage, superior customer care, a wide variety of products and services, innovative new technology and state-of-the-art handsets as well as community support and development.

On March 31, 2009 Digicel finished its last fiscal year with 8.2 million customers. We have operations in 26 markets in the Caribbean and Central America and Digicel Pacific Ltd, has operations in Papua New Guinea, Nauru, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji and Vanuatu. Digicel is present in 32 markets world-wide. We have recently been awarded a license in French Polynesia and the company is continually seeking new opportunities in the Pacific.
Digicel directly employs more than 6,000 people. We are the lead sponsor of Caribbean sports teams including the West Indies cricket team, Special Olympics teams across the Caribbean, the Haitian and El Salvador Football Federations amongst others. We are also the title sponsor of the Digicel Caribbean Championships and the Central American equivalent, Copa de Naciones Digicel, which are both important qualifiers towards the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Digicel is proud sponsor of rugby across the South Pacific including; Fiji Rugby, Digicel Fiji 7's, the Digicel Cup, Manu Samoa and the Digicel Suva Rugby Festival.

For more information please visit www.digicelgroup.com/ or www.digicelpacific.com/

The Digicel Recruitment Manager will work as part of a team to handle all aspects of the recruitment cycle for Digicel Group Headquarters in Jamaica as well as 32 markets across the Caribbean, Central America and South Pacific. This role reports directly to the Group Head of Recruitment and will be based in Kingston, Jamaica.

Main responsibilities will include:
•Building relationships with business and HR to understand business objectives to inform recruitment objectives.
•Modelling customer service approach to business relationships.
•Filling vacancies against rigorous time, quality and service demands, prioritising critical and "difficult to fill" roles – ensuring all work is delivered to acceptable and agreed time cost and quality measures.
•Partnering with the business to source, screen and select talent for current and future opportunities in Digicel.
•Utilising and developing innovative sourcing strategies to attract high quality applications from a wide range of sources – both locally and internationally where required
•Driving use of e-recruitment methodologies to achieve best practice to recruitment team.
•Providing quality screening and selection service to hiring managers – including CV screening, telephone screening, shortlisting and behavioural based interviewing.
•Acting as a subject matter expert of industry market and
•Handling salary negotiations and job offers that involve selling the candidate.
•Managing agreed KPIs for own area(s) of responsibility.

You will have a Degree-level education, excellent customer focus skills, with a proven ability to build strong relationships and influence decisions. A passion for recruiting and knowledge of a wide variety of direct sourcing methodologies is important combined with excellent interviewing and assessment skills. As a collaborative team member, you will identify opportunities – and contribute new and innovative ideas - to improve the efficiency of the Digicel talent acquisition process. You must be results focused, with a commitment to measuring progress through agreed KPIs and recruiting metrics. With at least 5 years recruiting experience, including executive recruitment, and a track record for delivering results, you are ready to broaden your horizons internationally. Fluency in French and/or Spanish would be beneficial.

In return, you will have the opportunity to work in a fast-paced, enterprising environment, where your skills will be valued and rewarded. Digicel recognizes our staff and management team are largely responsible for our success to date. Digicel's unique culture is driven by an entrepreneurial style encapsulated by our Chairman, board of directors and management, all seasoned telecom executives and industry experts with vast experience in building, expanding and marketing mobile services globally.

If interested contact Colette Feeney: colette.feeney [@] digicelgroup.com

17.6.10

9.6.10

LinkUp and iPads

LinkUp, the job search engine that specialises in serving up “hidden” corporate jobs now has an iPad version of the site. The free app that launched last week is available on iTunes or via http://itunes.com/apps/jobsearchxl.

LinkUp’s iPad website says the app has the following features:
# Search job listings found only on company websites
# Basic and advanced search functionality
# Search jobs by keyword, location, company, or category
# Save jobs to Favorites and access Favorites via browser or feed reader
# View and reuse previous searches
# Receive email alerts when Favorite jobs are closed by the employer
# Create email alerts and get notifications when new jobs are posted
# Apply to job openings straight through the iPad
# Instantly email relevant jobs to yourself or friends
# Fluid interface that’s optimized for both portrait and landscape modes

iPhone 4 and iAD

I'm in San Fran today and passed the building where the Apple conference was on. I would have loved to been one of the lucky ones to get in to watch it live but alas it will have to be another time. As well as debuting the iPhone 4 which I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on the news that the iAd platform has got off to such a good start without officially launching yet is amazing. 60 million already!

This marks some clear lines between the iPhone and Google's Sprint EVO or Verizon’s Incredible (the two best Android-based phones out there).

iPhone is a head in a lot of categories when it comes to screen quality, battery life, sexiness, application choice, etc. However, when it comes to tethering the Evo let's you share your phone as a wifi hotspot and let's other devices use its data plans to surf the web. This is very cool for if I wanted to use my iPad for example on the train coming up from Waterford. Apple didn't mention tethering once. Also synch and is much better on Android. The iPhone has to be physically plugged in to sync the EVO does it wirelessly. No doubt, we'll see some of this come out from Apple soon and visa versa.

5.6.10

Irish Recruiters to try unlock the Swarm Badge


For those of you that haven't heard of Foursquare - you should check it out! It's the next Twitter a lot of folk are claiming. A big part of using Foursquare is unlocking badges and Irish Recruiters during its 29th of July Tweet Up is going to audaciously attempt to get 50 recruiters in the one location logging in at the same time to unlock the swarm! Who knows we might even get the prestigious super swarm badge some day!

To learn more and reserve a place go here to my Tweet Up page.

1.6.10

Reduce your phone calls with Skype using their iPhone and 3G

You can download it here. They're offering free Skype to Skype calls over 3G until the end of 2010. After that there'll be a small monthly charge.

Recruitment Job: In-house Recruitment Manager - Retail & Leisure Sector - Dublin

A new job in from Osborne Recruitment. Please contact Nikki.Waller@Osborne.ie if anyone interested or call 01-6384400. If anyone else has any other jobs they want to post let me know. Here is the information:

This international Retail & Leisure brand, undergoing significant international growth, currently requires an experienced Recruitment Manager to join their HR function. Initially, this is a six month contract which will entail an element of foreign travel.

As a project lead, you will provide expertise in ensuring proactive talent attraction to achieve the company’s growth objectives, with a particular emphasis on their Buying Department.

As Recruitment Manager you will manage all new positions within the Buying Dept, design and implement a campaign strategy, manage the resourcing budget, and manage the whole recruitment cycle through to offer stage. This will include conducting first line interviews, designing assessment days, providing accurate data on time/cost per hire and also continuously reviewing and improving the recruitment process. With an emphasis on direct sourcing, you will be proactive and innovative in your approach in sourcing talent in the market, whilst displaying true drive and enthusiasm. With strong candidate management skills you will have previous in-house recruitment in managing new openings and campaign management including volume recruitment. It will be highly beneficial if your previous experience has come from the Retail sector or a fast-paced customer focused environment. International Recruitment experience is also highly beneficial.

A strong market related package will be offered to the successful candidate, who must meet the selection criteria listed here.