Cheezhead

experience vs. confidence

By Jenny Floren - With the presidential race and all of the discussion that goes with it, I can’t stop thinking about the debate between experience and confidence.

If a candidate has relevant work experience, but hasn’t developed the “soft” skills to back it up, does that make him/her a more viable candidate? Or what if someone has the confidence to succeed, but doesn’t have the industry experience to back it up – do you trust your gut?

Experience vs. Confidence: When evaluating two candidates, which gets more weight?

talent and the video age

By Susan Burns - The use of video for recruitment is nothing new. It may not be widely used yet but its nothing new – in 1999 while at Macy’s Inc. we launched our first college recruitment site with 20+ executive video interviews.

Even the use of video for candidate interviews is not really new – several years ago video-conference style interviewing was trying to emerge. It never happened, due to many of the same questions that remain today around the use of video resumes.

progressive’s brand strategy and more

By Vanessa Dennis - Just one look at Progessive Insurance’s career site and there’s the immediate impression that this recruiting team gets it. The site offers glimpses into specific careers via short videos, a talent network for applicants, and a selection of career paths so new grads can explore their potential. Their entire application process, from hello to handshake, is published front and center so that applicants remain educated on the evolution of their application.

I spoke with Progessive’s Brand Director of Employment and Marketing and their Manager of Executive Recruiting to talk about their recent push for brand consistency, their internal Facebook recruiting team, and what job board they’ve recently partnered with to supplement their ATS.

fat CATS

By Joel Cheesman - CATS, an applicant tracking solution, hit the market in 2006. Although throwing its hat into an already-crowded ring, the company cut through the clutter with an open source model that was free and gave users the ability to take the code and tweak it how they wished.

Since then, the company has gone to a traditional offering similar to those seen in services provided by organizations like Taleo and Kenexa. So how is the company going to stay competitive and grow with such stiff competition? We chatted up the gang at CATS to find out. Interestingly, the company is moving into new areas such as providing job boards to destination sites like blogs.