Shiftgig the mashup of classified gigs and your contact list

Heading into to the weekend there are restaurants and carters all over Los Angeles looking for quality staff, tonight! If your scheduled staffer can't make is there friend qualified, are any of your standbys available? Enter Shiftgig, they are positioning themselves as the hotter all grown up version of Craigslist gigs.

LA Times

Shiftgig is Linkedin for the tech savvy food service industry. Based in Chicago a great food city and Los Angeles is one of the early markets they've entered since launching in 2011. Here's what they've got cookin' (I couldn't resist).

For employers: The ability to post jobs and have those posts syndicated to multiple job boards.

                          View the profile of potential candidate for various food.

                          Search for qualified people based on skills you desire.

                          Build a profile of your business to attract the best employees.

                          Know your getting the best people for you position with the built in filtering system. 

For Gig seekers: Build a profile and showcase you skills.

                             Search jobs you want.

                             View the profiles of places you are considering.

                             Get pushed to the top of the pile based on the depth and quality of the profile you build

                             Ability to show some love for the places you enjoy working by giving it a favorite.

Like Linkedin the basics are free. There are fees involved for certain premium features. I look forward to learning more to share with you. 

Does Shiftgig sound like a tool you would use or does your informal network/contact list get the job done? 

How to post job listing that will go viral!

Remember that college summer intern seeker who's cover letter went viral? What if your next job posting did the same but only to your ideal candidates? Hiring is coming back so you will have your work cut out for you. Given the vast number of unemployed workers and indications of increased competition for the best candidates, attracting quality people will be a challenge. You had better consider these tips when posting your next job.

from: Small Talk, Big Results

Ask for help in you job posting: Everyone wants to feel important. One of the best ways to do that is solving a problem for someone. Your job as a recruiter is to clearly state how their contribution will help the company. Don't just say you need a top sales performer. Tell potential candidates what specific changes can happen with the revenue coming from their direct efforts. Paint a picture so a rock star can say "because of me the company....".

Show off your feathers: If birds of a feather flock together then highlight qualities of existing staff you want to see in your next hire. Take a moment to describe the type of people who are successful in your firm. Convey the culture of the company as a whole as well. It is all about fit, we often need to be in the right environment to shine. So set the stage and the right performers will thrive on it.

Remove the performance guess work: The office is not the place to play guessing games, unless it is for fun. Tell candidates upfront how they will be evaluated. Knowing what the company values in terms of hard results, career development, etc. is attractive to results oriented people. Even hospitality staff that make your clients feel warm and fuzzy don't want fuzzy metrics from you. They want to know in certain terms how their execution of the "warm and fuzzy" job is valued by you. Give numbers, track them, and reward them. Rock stars want to know.

And what's so cool about you? Before you launch into how your app, product, or service is going to disrupt the market and how much fun everyone will have making that happen, think about the type of person you want to think you are cool. A job posting should tell the right candidate and only the right candidate why you, your company, and the position will be cool. What problem will you solve for you customers, what will successful employees get to add to their resume, how will they be compensated (not just money)? 

Now you have the makings of a job posting that will go viral and only infect the people who will really make a difference in your company. Ideally you want job seekers weed themselves out, leaving you with a select group of candidates you and them wanting more.

Network like a job seeker for better employees

Employers, especially smaller ones must apply the advice given to job seekers when recruiting to fill a position. The reason we share the tactics listed below with young job seekers in particular is the same reason small businesses need to follow the same advice. Nobody is looking for you by name. President Obama will not have to look for a "job" after his 2nd term, opportunities will stacked a mile high. Legends like Phil Jackson have to tell teams that he will never coach again so he have some peace and quite. If you're not one of the big names in town or your industry you need to network like an unemployed college grad that was just dropped of in a foreign country with no money. Here's how.

• Attend events where likely candidates may be like college campuses, trade association meetings and shows, the local chamber of commerce, etc.
• Make friends with hiring managers/owners that have all the people they want and some you might like to have too. I'm not advocating poaching, just figure our where the good hires are coming from.
• Ask others what they are asking in interviews to filter the best employees.
• Interview all the time. It will help you hone your interview skills. By doing this you will build a pool of talent you can tap into when the need arises. Also, you may come across a person that is so good you create a position for them until the right one opens up. 
• Leave an impression on candidates. Send them a thank you note for coming in. When their choice comes down to you and the big dog in your market who knows their stuff doesn't stink that note can tip things in your favor.
• Develop a reputation. Publish articles and blog posts or leading a group on Linkedin. The more digital bread crumbs you leave the easier it is to build a flock of purposeful job seekers. 
• Turn your staff into recruiters. If there is an underground job market that job seekers are told to pursue, there has to be a corresponding hidden talent pool. Employ your staff in such a way that they can't help but tell a friend.

We are all selling ourselves each day to potential clients and future employees. What is the most unorthodox way you have found an star employee?

 

Do me a favor and don't give me the job

Even in this down economy with vast numbers of unemployed workers, choosing not to hire someone is just as important for the candidate at it is for you. There are many reasons we hire people and it is our job as employers examine them to make sure they are the right reasons. Take a look as some of these scenarios, maybe you will see yourself in a few of them.

Desperation: If you are desperate you will repel good candidates and attract desperate ones. You and the employee are better off leaving a position open than just getting a warm body in there. If that warm body is a dead fish they will stink up the place. Customers don't spend money in a stinky place.

Hiring potential: Entrepreneurs are born risk takers. We have to be careful that we don't get too adventurous because we "see" something in a candidate. Make sure the potential you are hiring is based on results even if how they handle the interview process are the only results they have to offer. If you are hiring an administrative person go over their resume and cover letter with a fine tooth comb (they did send a resume & cover letter right?). It should be impeccable and perfect. Did that sales person sell you from start to finish?

Employment by association: Some of your best hires have come from referrals. Often times those referrals come from existing employees. Even if your best employee who has referred you three other employees who have all been outstanding, evaluate the next one with the same scrutiny as if they came from a job board. Do this not because you don't trust the employee that referred them but because you don't trust yourself.

Tips to help you Employ Better:

Always be interviewing: Harvey Mackay wrote a book on networking call "Dig Your Well Before You're Thirsty". If you are always interview for quality talent regardless of position,a least two things will happen. 1) you'll become a better interviewer. 2) You will have a pool of candidates that you have a rapport with when you need to fill a position.

Have an interview buddy: If you are just starting out or don't have the money for a recruiter, find a partner in the hiring process. Ask a fellow entrepreneur to give a candidate the once over as well. Go ask the accountant down the hall to interview candidates of the financial position you are filling. You'll be surprised how willing people are to help. Just remember to return the favor. Better yet extend the offer to do it for them before you need to ask.

Have a hiring tool kit: No matter how long you have been doing it never walk into an interview without a list of questions and topics you want to cover. How would you feel if your orthopedic surgeon said "I've done this procedure 10,000 times, I'll see you in there." before consulting with the nurse or confirming with you which leg she will be operating on. Experience should help us refine and adhere to protocol not abandon it.

Following these steps and others like it will help you give the best gift of all. Giving a potential new hire the opportunity to find the right job not just a job. When the job you're offering is right the job for them you get a more productive member of your team.

What other rules do you follow to ensure you are bring on the right talent to your company?

Your best employees would pay to do their job

Stop looking for candidates who spend time & money looking for a job. Your next great hire is paying to do what they love right now and they spend a ton of time advertising it. There is an affinity group for all manner of hobbies that are easily accessible due to the social web. In each of these networks people build rich profiles about their hobbies. Build relationships with these networks and you will have passionate profitable employees at your finger tips.

• A knitting supply retailer has a branded community site with over 30,000 members. If used correctly they should never have to pay to fill a position at any level in the company. 
• Local bike shops have done this for years. The kid who is always hanging around ends up sweeping floors, then becomes a technician, and eventually buys the shop when the current owner retires.
• IT staff can be found through any number of online forums. Check out bleepingcomputer.com and ask for help, you are now interviewing a candidate while getting a problem solved.
• If you need someone with a creative background hang out at deviantart.com. Users are showcasing their portfolio for you to see right from you desk. This site is such an authority that many animation and comic book companies demand to see your deviateart work before you can interview.

"I don't have a branded community or retail shop to turn consumers into employees." There still may be an answer for you. There is a network for just about everything. Join groups on meetup.com that are related you business. Offering employment opportunities adds value to the group which will increase it's member and your pool of candidates from which to pluck your next great employee.