• Be proactive, seek out your employees and ask them to think about the best people they have worked with.  Depending on the role you are trying to fill, ask questions like “Who was the best manager?” or “Who provided the best customer service?”.
• As part of your orientation process, ask new hires for names or at a minimum, talk about the importance of referrals to your Credit Union.
• Network, or better yet, blog with other Credit Unions and employers to see what is working for them.  Brainstorm, and share best practices.
• Provide an inexpensive gift like a gift card or movie tickets.
• Provide recognition.  Be creative – use what works best in your Credit Union.  A newsletter, staff meeting, etc.
• Brand your referral program.  Create a slogan, remind people the reason behind their referral.
• Set goals.  Motivate, and raise awareness.  Make a chart or graph touting results.
• Give a rotating plaque, put their picture in it, put it in the lobby.
• Lunch with an Executive.  Either one on one, or ask your CEO to hold a quarterly luncheon – include those who have referred candidates and those that have been hired through referrals.
• Say thank you! Remember to stop by to say thanks, or pick up the phone if you’re in a different location.
• Hold a drawing for those employees that have referred candidates.  Give a free vacation day, talk about a motivator!

Here is an article by Lester Rosen containing valuable information on the dangers of using search engines, myspace, or facebook for hiring decisions.

Check out the newest recruiting blog to enter the blogosphere – The Talent Buzz, and a post on creating an engaging experience for candidates on your career site.  The Talent Buzz also has a LinkedIn group for HR and Recruiting professionals, and features a link on the with recruiting jobs.

CUhire has partnered with Standout Jobs to offer the Reception service, FREE! This free service allows Credit Unions to create a career site in minutes, and leverage the interactive capabilities of the service including a blog, polls, workplace news, and more.

Hosting a summer intern? The first highlight in this week’s water cooler talk is a post from HR Search Marketing titled "Why Do or Don’t You Blog?"  A quick read, yet provides valuable insight on why organizations should consider blogging.  

If you are considering hiring a recent grad, check out "How to Hire a New Grad:  Lessons from a Gen-Y perspective."

And last but not least is an article from ERE highlighting Employee Referral Program Killers.

In part 1 of Selecting the Right Niche Site to Post Your Jobs, Sharon focused primarily on getting your jobs cross posted and aggregator sites.  Part 2 will focus more specifically about job sites marketing to candidates.

So, we’ve all heard the example of hiring “A” players, passive candidates, or even Michael Jordan.  Would we expect these individuals to come to any specific job site, find your specific opening, and apply? Not to mention, wait weeks for our process.  While arguments can be made either way about the differences between active and passive candidates, the fact of the matter is a variety of Credit Union job sites exist, and have very different models.

The primary advantage of partnering with CUhire for posting Credit Union Jobs is what happens the second you hit the submit button.  No, you don’t have to wait 24 or 48 hours for your posting to be approved, or live on the site.  It’s immediate, and the cross posting to Monster, Jobster, LinkedIn, and other sites begins shortly thereafter.  And, payment is secure, on-line, and instant.  We like  to refer to it as another On Demand service!

Once a job is submitted, our Talent Scouts begin proactively searching – and marketing to candidates from a variety of databases, associations, professional networking sites, user homepages, and blogs to drive targeted talent to your posting – both active and passive.  What’s the catch? There is no catch.  As Sharon mentioned, it’s $185 for a 60 day posting and it includes it all.  Post your Credit Union Job now, or contact us for more information.

In the end, it’s the results that matter.  Our tagline isn’t Credit Union Talent – On Demand for nothing! Post a job now, or contact us for more information.

Are you looking to hire interns or graduates from college campuses? This week’s water cooler talk and links starts with a post on how to "Make the Connection:  Branding on College Campuses".

Up next is a great article on ERE titled "To Catch a Thief".  It provides several easy to use sourcing ideas. 

Last up this week is a post on Recruiting Fees.  If you like the approach, research CUhire’s Total Recruiting Solutions for Credit Unions, and our approach to Executive Search which is all backed by a 2 year guarantee. 

Job boards are everywhere, and new boards are being added to the web – almost daily.  There are tens of thousands in existence today.  Google “Job Boards”, and get back an astonishing 2.6 million hits.  The trend has shifted over the past several years from the big boards, as their traffic continues to decline, to niche and aggregator sites.

When considering the countless options you have to post your Credit Union jobs on-line, I recommend taking several areas into consideration prior to selecting the right site for you.  I will focus today’s post on cross posting – and aggregator sites. 

In today’s competitive environment, cross posting is essential.  If the niche site you are considering doesn’t cross post to other sites on the web, RED FLAG! Do they have the traffic, audience, and opportunities to promote your job? More importantly, have job seekers heard of the site and would they happen to jump on or find that site the day your job is posted?  With the CUhire Credit Union Job site, we leverage our growing partnership with a network of job boards, blogs, user home pages, professional networking and association sites.

In addition to getting the furthest reach for your job posting and branding your Credit Union, we aggressively search and market to a variety of associations, databases, and professional networking sites to drive additional targeted candidate traffic to your opening.

And finally, with the most competitive value in the industry, a 60 day posting on our Credit Union Job Site is $185.  Did I mention this includes getting your job on popular sites including Monster.com, Jobster.com, LinkedIn, and MySpace to name a few.  Are you ready to save hundreds of dollars? If so, post a Credit Union job now.