How Employee Authored Content Can Build Employer Brand

How Employee Authored Content Can Build Employer Brand Companies love it when their employees claim it’s the best place to work. Real opinions from real people really do matter, especially in the world of recruitment. So how do you make sure your company is the most talked-about for the right reasons? Well this week I’ve been speaking to Phil Strazzulla, founder of NextWave Hire who says it’s all about capitalising on employee authored content and he explains why. Have a listen to the podcast below and make sure to  subscribe  so you’ll never miss an episode. What is employee authored content? So in my opinion, employee authored content is everything from somebody having a conversation in a bar with their friend about working at the company, to somebody posting something on Glassdoor, writing a blog post on an employee blog, or Snapchat. Its basically any sort of information offline or online that talks about working at the company. I think about the definition of employer branding in two parts. One is, what do people think its like to work for your company? The second is, what is it actually like to work at your company? And I think that employee authored content has implications for both. If you think about it from that perspective obviously, your employee voices are informing the world about whats it like to work with the company, and theyre doing that on Glassdoor. Theyre doing that in one-on-one conversations. Maybe theyre doing it in more formalized sorts of places that youre curating, like a blog or a Snapchat channel or what have you and so, it is imperative to sort of understand that trend and get on it to make the most of it. This is the way that youre going to be able to attract and convert talent. And there’s a couple of different reasons why. Employee voices, in my opinion, are the most important aspect of your employer branding. If you look at the Edelman Trust Surveys, there is some data that says that your employees are more trusted than marketing, recruiting, C-level, or the company itself. And so, we look at employee voices as trusted sources of information as outsiders. Employees also have really in-depth content. I think its something like 68% of those in talent acquisition dont truly understand all the roles that theyre recruiting for and its not surprising. If youre recruiting for 10 different roles, are you really going to understand the ins and outs of all those different roles? Probably not. But guess who does? The employees. And so, if we can leverage their voices to get at the specific pieces of information that candidates care about and get that information in the right places then thats huge in terms of attracting and converting talent. Talent acquisition is only so many people within an organization, but employees make up the rest. They make up the entire organization. They are so many more voices. And if we can do employee authored content in a way that gets the right information in a scalable way, distributed in scalable way, that makes it fun and easy. Thats huge. That is the biggest marketing channel that any company could ever have. And going back to that second part of the employer branding definition in terms of, whats in it for the company? There are a lot of insights that you can glean from what people are saying about the business. And many times, when companies start thinking about their EVP and that outside facing thing they start to say ‘lets do some employee focus groups,’ and lets transform that message into something that is easily digestible etc. A bit like a marketing type of message, which I have opinions on but I wont get into them now. But, essentially the outputs of those focus groups are the outputs of your Glassdoor views or the non-anonymous content thats going on all over the place . That informs the second part of that definition which is, whats it actually like to work at your company? And therefore, its super important because we always want to create an awesome place to work for the right person. That kind of gets our goals accomplished as a business. What kind of employee authored content is the best? My philosophy is that, a lot of times, what comes out of the kind of polished production quality, whats it like to work in a company should actually be more of the raw information. I think that the reason that people go to Glassdoor, despite understanding that some of the content is quite biased, is because it is that raw unfiltered information that you can sort of interpret as a person and understand better what its like to work at the company. I think that in many cases, companies will be well-served to do something similar on their own websites. Weve actually just started this new experiment, which is proven to be really successful, where we essentially host chats. For example, one of our employees will talk about a particular project that they worked on. So maybe an engineer talking about how they just use Python to do some web scraping. Or just generally whats it like to be an engineer, account executive, whatever, at our company. And its a pretty raw chat which is not filtered and theres not a lot of moderation. The answers arent perfect, but I think that, that sort of transparency really resonates with people. And thats the sort of thing that helps us to attract and convert talent. What is your step by step guide to getting your employees to be the voices to build the brand? Get buy-in from the C-level. We have a pretty robust onboarding process with our customers to make sure theyre successful. So, for example, we have just signed this customer which is a 400-person company, not huge. And within the first hour they had 100 pieces of employee content which is just crazy, literally within one hour. That onboarding process is something to the extent of, lets get buy-in and hopefully buy-in from the C-level where its like, Hey, culture is another weapon in our war for talent. We can use this to build our brand, to get the right people in, and really share what its really like to work at our company. And getting that buy-in then translates at the high level to the employee level where the message might change a bit to really sharpen what’s the business case? Why are we doing this? Why do employees have to do this? Why am I taking time out of my day to do this? Well, its because youre special. Its because you know what you do better than anybody else. Becau se we want more awesome people like you. Were going to make you feel good about this thing. So its kind of like aligning that incentive. Make it super easy.  Ive seen a lot of companies with employee blogs that die over time because theyre asking employees, can you write 500 to 700 words about what you do within the company? And people are just like, Oh, gosh. What do I write? How do I structure it? etc.. Most people arent great content creators but if you give them questions that theyve probably already been asked when theyre interviewing somebody or that conversation at the bar with their friend and you allow them to answer them in really easy ways, like, on their phones or with quick videos or with pictures, that means that the barrier to create that content goes way, way down. And somebody in 10 minutes can answer five different questions in a really in-depth way and share information that is not necessarily going to get out there about most companies. So thats sort of like the start of the playbook. Consider where we want to distribute this.  We know that, from the research The Talent Board  has done, and other organizations, your career page is basically the most important place to share your EVP, to share whats it like to work at the company. And so, for us, the number one place that we put content is on the career site. And that could mean rebuilding the site, that could mean creating a culture site. It could just mean enhancing existing pages. But it really has to be there so that we can get it in front of the right audience. And then, of course, your other kind of places that youre trying to build awareness could be LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, or maybe youre paying for a Glassdoor profile. Basically, all the different places where candidates are going to interact with this, and kind of mapping it to the candidate journey for your individual roles in your company. Who decides which employee authored content gets shared, whether it’s good or bad? I think we all live in the age of Glassdoor, and there is a visceral reaction for many people in talent acquisition when you mention the name Glassdoor. Within our platform you can approve the content before it goes live, and in fact, you have to approve it before it goes live. I think the stat is 98.5% of content is approved. And usually if its not its maybe because somebody rambled on a bit in a video, or maybe just wrote something that was very grammatically incorrect and you say ‘this doesnt really make any sense.’ Very, very rarely do you find employees that are looking to rant and rave about their boss in that sort of format. I think that Glassdoor is almost designed in some ways to collect that sort of information, which in many ways is helpful for candidates to understand that side of the business as well. But in my experience, Ive found very few times when this has backfired. A great example of this and if you want to know which companies are doing this well? One is Cisc o. Cisco has a really great Snapchat channel. They get a ridiculous amount of views. I forget the exact numbers but its massive, and this is a fairly new initiative. And my understanding is that when they first started doing this they were very, very selective about who they would let take over the Snapchat channel for the day. And thats the way that program works, is each day somebody gets to be the person who controls the Cisco Snapchat. And theyve never really had a problem. And at first, it was like, Oh, gosh. What if somebody does something really inappropriate? Well, I guess some Snapchats will go away really quickly. So were not taking that big of a risk. But theyve just built this audience and seen that it sounds like a huge ROI, especially considering that Snapchat is free, from doing this and they havent had a problem with somebody getting on there and saying something inappropriate. What company is doing this well? I think that the case study that I love, honestly, is the US military. And this was from a couple of years ago. It was at the height of the Iraq, Afghanistan wars. Recruitment was down, people werent signing up anymore. That initial burst of patriotism after 9/11 kind of went away, And it was like, how do we get more people to become soldiers? And this guy David Lee, he basically put out a call and he said, Hey, I want you to submit stories from the front. And they couldnt send cameras to Iraq, It was too dangerous and it was too expensive. So they basically had people take videos on their phones and submit little letters. And I think they got over a thousand stories. And I dont know the exact number, but their recruitment numbers went through the roof because people were going to this website. And there was just that personal humanizing connection with what was going on over there. Why it was important? What its like to do this job? And they were able to turn that deluge of stories into more and more applicants. And I think that if the US military can do this, one of the most bureaucratic organizations in the world, and they can do this in a way that doesnt violate security. I think they never changed a single story that was submitted, which is crazy. People were just submitting these on a form. They never had to change anything. There was no sort of security issues even though the war was going on. And if they can turn that into a positive ROI, in a time where it wasnt that attractive to go and join the military, that just speaks volumes about the power of these individual personalized stories. Follow Phil on Twitter @PhilStrazzulla and be sure to subscribe to the Employer Branding Podcast.

How to Use Professional Bio Template Word Documents

How to Use Professional Bio Template Word DocumentsProfessional bio template word documents can make all the difference when it comes to a company's image and marketing. When you are building your own template, it is important to get the right balance of design, functionality and continuity. A well thought out document is important in order to attract visitors and bring customers through the door. Word templates are easy to use and can be customised to meet your exact needs.Design: We all know that templates are usually designed to be attractive. However, this does not mean that you can just pick one off the shelf and slap it onto your document. You need to ensure that the design will be able to hold up and that the design is for your target audience. If you do not meet the target audience criteria then you risk losing potential customers.Word functions: If you have a great layout that is truly professional, it is important to add some functions into the document. Many template appli cations provide pre-defined and very useful functions. However, if you do not have a great layout, then you should consider adding extra functions.Style variations: This is another feature that can really help improve the look of your document. A great template can be put together by using different colours, different fonts and different designs. But if the document does not look like a professional document it is likely to put off potential customers.Containers: The document that you create should always come with a 'ready to print' container. This will ensure that the document is ready to go on the printer and be seen in less than half an hour. Therefore, it is essential that you build the template with the capacity to convert.Templates: Templates are generally an attractive design, but they will not produce the results that you want. They need to be customized according to your company and the type of marketing you want to achieve. Having the right templates is going to make a bi g difference to the outcome and longevity of your document.Contents: When you are creating your document, you need to think about how you are going to appear and what your final result will look like. The layout, colour scheme and design elements are just a few of the things that you need to consider when you are designing a document.With templates there is no better or more great way to get the document you want out into the market. However, they do require some work, so when you are starting out with a template you should consider making some modifications to ensure that it will be compatible with the platform you are using.

Top 5 Tips for Getting into Marketing

Top 5 Tips for Getting into Marketing So you want to get into Marketing? Good! Marketing is a rare beast: it’s creative, yet analytical; you need to have traditional skills, yet the environment is always changing. Here are my top 5 tips for getting into Marketing: 1)           Show your skills! If you want to tout yourself as a kickass copywriter, show it. Write for as many places and brands as you can. Whether you decide to write for a variety of websites or websites that focus on a key topic, it doesn’t matter just get your work out there! Twitter is a great place to find copywriting or marketing opportunities. 2)           Talking of Twitter, you need to put some effort into your social media accounts. If I’m honest, this is the kind of advice I’d describe as ‘the only thing to do with good advice is to pass it on’ as I really should put more effort in myself. But I’m currently on a mission, and you should be too! Spruce up your bios, update your contact info and decide the purpose of your accounts. My Facebook is for friends and family, with the privacy settings to match. Whereas my Twitter is more open and I use it as a ‘professional’ side. I follow people who work in marketing; I use it to keep up-to-date with industry news and movements. [ALSO READ:  World Map Of All Jobs On Twitter In Real Time] 3)           Teach yourself. Although I now have an extremely supportive employer, not everybody is that lucky, and before her I had to teach myself. You have to be a bit discerning but there are a lot of free resources for people who want to learn more about marketing. 4)           Become obsessed with world events. I don’t mean a quick glance at the free paper as you get on the bus. I mean starting your day with actual grown up news channels, following various news reporters on Twitter. The more you know about events and trends in the world, the more you can harness them. Show that you can tie your potential employers brand into world events (but obviously, keep it relevant to the brand, don’t just jump on every bandwagon that comes your way) 5)           Sharpen up your maths. Since gaining a C at GCSE level, I hadn’t touched my math skills (that’s what calculators are for, right?) But maths is an important part of marketing, in terms of dealing with figures. You need to be able to analyse the figures behind your recent campaign to see how it’s working, is it getting the brand message to the right person? Is it converting into real sales, or having a tangible effect? [ALSO READ:  5 Career Lessons You Should Know To Get Your Dream Job ] This is by no means a definitive list, and there are probably a lot more things you can do to make the path into marketing run smoother, but these are my top five. If you can think of any other tips or want to discuss them, tweet me @RebeccaCotzec. 7

Advice For Beginners In The Real Estate Game

Advice For Beginners In The Real Estate Game Today, the world of investments is a far more complicated one than our parents and grandparents were familiar with in years gone by. The time was when you put some money away in a savings account, perhaps invested in a few stocks and shares, and made regular contributions into a pension fund, and all you had to do was sit back and watch the money roll in. Sadly, those days are well and truly in the past. Pension funds are in crisis, with those approaching retirement age fearing that they will have to keep working into their 70s. Interest rates are so low that savings accounts are of little more value than hiding the money under your bed. And as for the stock market â€" the current economic climate makes this a more risky proposition than it has ever been.  No wonder so many people are exploring alternative investments as a way to make their money work harder for a financially secure future. Right at the top of the list comes real estate. Domestic property is continuing to rise in value at a consistent rate, and there are currently more buyers than sellers, pushing prices higher still. This in turn means that first-time buyers are finding it difficult to reach that first rung on the property ladder, forcing them to rent instead. As a consequence, there is an equally high demand for rental properties, and this is where the real estate investor comes in. Generating money Real estate investment brings returns in two different ways. On the one hand, the property will, if you choose right, be appreciating in value, so the equity that you have sunk into it will be growing. Secondly, it will generate a monthly yield through the rent that your tenant pays. Of course, if it was as simple as that, everybody would be doing it. There are a number of pitfalls along the way, and you need to choose carefully when selecting the type and location of property that you buy. Fortunately, there is no shortage of reliable advice available with experts offering guidance to those looking to make money from real estate. Do your homework The most important piece of advice is to make sure that you understand the dynamics of the real estate market before you go diving in with your checkbook in hand. Study prices, sales patterns, and trends in different locations, and narrow in on the niche that will work best for you. Location, location The single largest influencing factor on the price of your property and the rental income that it will generate is its location. Bear in mind that these are two distinct factors, which is why it is so important to understand market dynamics. Just because real estate prices are skyrocketing in a particular part of a particular city does not automatically mean that there is a significant rental demand there. Consider your tenants There are rental markets and then there are rental markets. Tenants come in all flavors, from down-on-their-luck families with limited income, to university undergraduates, to young professional individuals and couples. Where there is a demand, you can be the supply and make a profit, but be clear about which segment you are seeking to target. There are pros and cons to all, but a popular demographic among beginners in the property investment game is the young professionals. It is dangerous to generalize, as all people are different, but statistically, they are the least likely to give you problems such as non-payment or property damage. Going for this area of the market also means that you can look to invest in a modern, premium residence  that will have fewer maintenance issues and for which you can charge a premium rent. Focus on the numbers Like any investment, this is all about the numbers. Do not get swayed by a property because it seems like a great deal or it is in a wonderful location or it has the most amazing décor. Run the numbers, work out your projected yield over one, three, and five years, and only sign on the line if everything stacks up. Tread carefully The real estate game presents unrivaled opportunities to make your money work harder and bring you exceptional returns on your investment. Follow the above tips and you stand a great chance of success. However, always remember to take advice and think before you act.

The Proper Way to Write a Law Resume

The Proper Way to Write a Law ResumeTo get a job in the legal field, you must know how to write a law resume. You should put your best foot forward and show your interviewer that you have the relevant experience and training necessary to fill out the legal positions available. Using the proper resume format will help you show off your qualifications, accomplishments, and skills.When it comes to finding law jobs, it is usually the best advice to start applying for legal positions even before you have any formal education or experience. You will want to start with entry-level positions and work your way up from there. If you don't have any experience, you can always look for a job related to law enforcement or legal services.Because the type of work that is available for entry level law jobs is very broad, it is important to know what to include on your law resume. You should consider putting anything related to the law on your law resume. You should also include work experience with a ny additional relevant details about what you did.While you will not find many law positions in the accounting field, you will likely find some legal positions in the accounting field. It is important to remember that the law requires a certain amount of experience with the legal system. Some of the jobs that you will find include cases in litigation, labor and employment laws, and health and safety.If you are looking for some sort of criminal defense attorney, it is important to include any cases that you have worked on when you are preparing your law resume. Many employers will require a criminal record check. You will want to let them know if you have had any run ins with the law.Experience in litigation is another thing that should be included on your law resume. This is where you will want to focus on your experiences with either civil cases or criminal cases. By including this information, you will show that you have a great deal of experience in this area.Even though many law positions involve working for a corporation, you can still get a job as a trial lawyer. There are a lot of law firms that hire people for this type of position. You should be aware that some companies will require you to work as a part-time employee while they continue to look for a full-time lawyer.You will find many opportunities for law jobs in the legal fields. Depending on your educational background, you may be able to choose from many different types of law positions. In order to get the most opportunities for jobs in the legal fields, you should put some thought into how you will express your qualifications and accomplishments.

Articulating Why Someone Should Hire You Is A Game Changer - Pathfinder Careers

Articulating Why Someone Should Hire You Is A Game Changer - Pathfinder Careers Articulating Why Someone Should Hire You Is A Game Changer One of the first and most critical steps of starting the career management process is for each of us to take ownership of why employers should consider hiring us. In all likelihood, this is a reasonable interview question you might get thrown in your direction: “Why should we hire you?” Most people have a tough time answering this question. The root cause? This could be one instance where we really can blame our parents. From our childhood, we’ve been taught not to boast, and our parents always encouraged us to always be modest about our accomplishments lest we become braggarts. The result? Most of us are actually terrible at saying what exactly makes us good at what we do. This is a good news / bad news scenario: the good news is that candidates applying for the same position aren’t doing much better than you are in selling themselves. The bad news: you aren’t doing much better! Want to be successful and stand out? Think about what it is that you do best, and use that as the focal point of developing your career messaging. It can have a profound impact on your future!

Unconventional Techniques For Uncovering And Securing New Opportunities - Hire Imaging

Unconventional Techniques For Uncovering And Securing New Opportunities - Hire Imaging 25 different angles to approach your job search from. Barb Poole gives you some starting points to find those jobs that always seem to go to someone else. If you see a classified ad that sounds really good for you, but it only lists a fax number and no company name, try to figure out the company by trying similar numbers. For example, if the fax number is 555-4589, try 555-4000 or 555-4500.   If this works, get the full company name and the correct contact person so you can send a more personalized letter and résumé. Send your résumé in a Priority Mail envelope to serious job search prospects. It only costs around $3, but it will stand out and get you noticed. Check the targeted companys Web site; they may have postings there that arent listed elsewhere. If you see a classified ad at a good company but for a different position, contact them anyway. If they are new in town (or even if theyre not), they may have other non-advertised openings. Always have a personalized card with you in the event that you meet a good networking or employment prospect. Always have a quick personal briefing rehearsed to speak to someone. Network in network environments, such as a happy-hour restaurant/bar, an airport, class or a local business (Chamber etc.) or community event. Network with your college alumni office. Many college graduates list their current employers with that office, and they may be a good source of leads, even out of state. Most newspapers list all new companies that have applied for business licenses. Check that section and contact the ones that appear appealing to you. Call your attorney and accountant, if you have one (or your familys) and ask them if they can refer you to any companies or business contacts; perhaps they have a good business relationship that may be good for you to leverage. Contact the Chamber of Commerce for information on new companies moving into the local area. Dont give up if youve had just one rejection from a company that you are targeting. You shouldnt feel like you have truly contacted that company until you have contacted at least three different people there. Join networking clubs and associations that will expose you to new business contacts. There now are a number of networking Web sites. Make sure you ascertain their legitimacy. Ask your stockbroker for tips on which companies they identify as fast growing and good companies to grow with. Make a list of everyone you know, and use them as a network source. Put an endorsement portfolio together and mail it out with targeted résumés. Employ a hiring-proposal strategy. Post your résumé on the Internet, selecting news groups and bulletin boards that will readily accept it and match your industry and discipline. Dont forget to demonstrate passion and enthusiasm when you are meeting with people, interviewing with them, and networking through them. Look your industrys trade journals. Nearly all industries and disciplines have many such publications, and most have an advertising section in the back that lists potential openings with companies and recruiters. Visit a job fair. Most dont recruit for managerial positions, but you may discover a hot lead. If a company is recruiting, you should contact them directly for a possible fit. Dont overlook employment agencies. They may seem like a weak possibility, but they may uncover a hidden opportunity or serve as a source through which to network. Look for companies that are promoting their products using a lot of advertising. Sales are probably going well, and they may be good hiring targets for you. Call a prospective company and simply ask them who their recruiting firm is. If they have one, theyll tell you, and then you can contact that firm to get in the door. Contact all recruiters in town. Befriend them, and use them as a networking source if possible. Always thank them, to the point of sending them a small gift for helping you out. This will pay off in dividends in the future. Recruiters are always good contacts. BUT remember, they usually work for the employers not you; so treat them well!