Could Facebook be a good indicator people’s job performance?  According to a recent study, maybe so.  To test the theory, three “raters,” including one professor and two students, were asked to review 56 Facebook profiles of undergraduate students who had jobs.  The raters were permitted to review each profile for around 10 minutes before answering personality-oriented questions about the people they were reviewing.  They looked through photos, groups, basic information, number of friends, and beyond to determine job performance traits, such as conscientiousness and agreeability.  After six months, the researchers collected evaluations from each of the students’ employers.  The results show a strong correlation between the raters’ evaluations and those of the employers.  Could Facebook become a trustworthy recruiting tool? Maybe one day, but much more research needs to be done first!

According to a recent survey by CareerXroads, there were some interesting hiring trends in 2011.  The survey found that the participating companies filled 59 percent of their openings externally, as opposed to internal transfers and promotions.  This percentage is considerably higher than 2010, when almost 50 percent of hires were filled internally.  According to recruiting expert Gerry Crispin, these results suggest that the economy is recovering, and hiring is slowly returning to normal levels.  Based on the survey results, most hires were the result of referrals and job boards—apparently not as much on the decline as once thought—followed by career sites and recruiter efforts.  While social media made up for a mere 3.5 percent of hiring, the increase is significant compared to previous years.

General Electric recently announced its commitment to hiring 5,000 military veterans over the next five years, adding to the 10,000 veterans who are already employed there.  A significant portion of those hires will contribute to its growing aviation unit—GE will be adding over 400 manufacturing jobs in the next year to jump start production at three new plants.  In addition to this “Hiring Our Heroes” partnership, the corporation has also committed to sponsoring 400 veterans’ job fairs, alongside the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.  Other companies are also showing interest in hiring veterans.  Five investment banks, including Bank of America, Citi, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, and Goldman Sachs, recently established VOWS—Veterans on Wall Street—an initiative dedicated to honoring and employing veterans in global financial services.  Has your company considered a veteran hiring program for 2012?

Are your employees happy?  It may have to do with the industry you’re in.  In a recent survey based on over 43,000 employee reviews, employees rated their happiness.  The ratings measured relationships with bosses and co-workers, work environment, job resources, salary, opportunities for growth, company culture, daily responsibilities, and a sense of control over one’s work.  Here is a list of the top happiest and unhappiest industries:

Happiest
1.    Government
2.    Education
3.    Wholesale & distribution
4.    Real estate & construction
5.    Tie between financial services and telecommunications

Unhappiest
1.    Agriculture & mining
2.    Nonprofit
3.    Software & internet
4.    Tie between media & entertainment and retail

Oracle announced today its acquisition of Taleo, a human resource technology company, for $1.9 billion.  The transaction took place in response to SAP’s acquisition of SuccessFactors, which occurred this past December.  Both Oracle and SAP were seeking to build out their cloud-based business – cloud software is becoming increasingly popular because it’s far less expensive and easier to implement. In addition, the transactions were meant to act as a buffer for lost sales to Workday, which recently announced its IPO.  Since the announcement, Taleo shares have increased 18 percent, landing at $46 per share.  Many experts in the space believe that more consolidation will occur within the industry over the next few years…Plan accordingly!

Although traditional job boards have received a lot of negative attention in recent years, it seems they still hold some value for job seekers and employers.  According to a number of recent studies, jobs board applications led to the greatest number of external hires this fall, followed closely by employee referrals.  Depending on the study, job boards made up for anywhere from 17 to 25 percent of hires!  However, recruiters shouldn’t get too excited—another report found that 75% of job board visitors do not take any action on the jobs they review.  In addition, when job postings are promoted too heavily, it can lead to an influx of applications that can take hours upon hours to get through.  So if you’re looking to use more recruiting tools, make sure you diversify!

Want to become a better recruiter?  Here are three tips to send you on your way:

1.    Referrals are key.  It’s pretty safe to say that your top performing employees know driven candidates with similar backgrounds, whether it be from school or a former employer.  Referrals can greatly expedite the recruiting process.

2.    Recruiters are salesmen.  Remember that recruiting is a two-way street.  You have to convince candidates that they want to work for your company, as much as they want to convince you that they would be valuable employees.

3.    Use talent acquisition technology to make your life easier.  Find a single platform that can help you streamline your recruiting process.  Don’t pick a bunch of un-integrated systems – they can slow you down!

Jobs are on the rise again!  The U.S. Department of Labor announced that the U.S. added 243,000 jobs in January, lowering the national unemployment rate to 8.3%.  This is the second month in a row that the job market performed better than economists’ predictions.  In fact, this is the largest jobs increase the U.S. has seen since May 2010!  Although the government is still cutting jobs, the private sector added 257,000.  Within the private sector, manufacturing contributed 50,000 new positions, while the professional services industry added 176,000.  Jobs in healthcare also increased, up by 30,900 workers, and accounting jobs were up by 12,500.  Unfortunately, both the finance and Information sectors lost workers—the majority of which were connected to the film and recording industry.  Interestingly enough, the Monster Employment Index, which monitors the number of job postings online, has been consistently declining since October.  Perhaps these new figures will reignite employers’ confidence, and we will see more recruiting efforts in the near future! 

According to a recent survey by Global Strategy Group, the majority of senior managers are underwhelmed by the recent college graduates applying for entry-level positions.  The study found that 65% of senior managers and C-level executives believe that entry-level candidates are only “somewhat” prepared for business success, while 40% of C-suite executives claim that these candidates are “not prepared at all.”  Almost half of these executives think that fewer than 25% of recent graduates have acquired the skills they need to advance past entry-level positions—skills such as problem solving, collaboration, critical thinking, clear communication, and persuasive writing.  These results suggest that companies are increasingly looking for candidates who are ready to hit the ground running, as opposed to their expectations in past days when recent graduates were not pressured to learn these skills until they entered the workforce. Career experts argue that this change in expectations is primarily due to the increasing competition for entry-level jobs.  Competition for great entry-level positions is fierce, so employers can demand more from their candidates!

How happy are your employees?  According to a recent survey, a significant percentage may not be!  The poll found that 31% of employees are not satisfied with their current jobs, and 74% of workers would consider leaving if they were presented with another offer.  Career experts argue that many people who feared losing their jobs during the recession are beginning to feel secure enough to start looking for new work again.  Here are the top five reasons employees are considering leaving their current places of employment:

1.    Salary: 57%
2.    Needing a change: 31%
3.    Career and advancement opportunities: 29%
4.    Change of profession: 22%
5.    Concerns for the employer’s future: 18%

So if you’re a manager or a recruiter, make sure you are aware of how your employees are feeling, and address them as best you can!  It may also be worth putting a plan in place for attracting new talent.  Hopefully we will see these frightening numbers go down soon!