faayda.com

Faayda.com has come a long way.

It’s been a year since we started working on faayda.com and it have come a long way since then, I wouldn’t say the journey was easy… the fact is that it was anything but easy. When I launched faayda.com as a job search engine last year, I very well knew the segment I was getting into, Job is one of the top most searched keyword on the net in India and with everything which has a lot of searches, comes a lot of competition. Our competition was with the topmost players in the field… Naukri.com, Monster India, Indeed.com and a few others. Not only were these companies in business for many years but also enjoyed a strong brand presence… to say the very least.

At the time of the launch, if someone typed ‘faayda’ in Google search, it would result in a “Did you mean…” spelling error. Today I am proud to say that even Wikipedia recognizes the meaning of the word faayda, which is one really big achievement. Today a Google search on ‘faayda’ results close to 200,000 options.

Faayda.com is ranked the number 1 job search engine in India and number 10 in the world. Faayda.com started off with 5-10 jobseekers visiting every week, today we have thousands of jobseekers and recruiters visiting every single day.

It is through sheer determination and God’s grace that faayda.com has come this far, I am sure in the time to come we will be able to make faayda.com synonymous with jobs in India.

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Social Networking Websites and Job Search – Solving the Puzzle

The entire world is chanting about online social networking. Suddenly, ‘networking’ is gaining prominence in every field, including job search. Social and professional networking websites are mushrooming, the prominent ones being Facebook, Orkut, twitter, MySpace, Linkedin and others.

I understand the power of networking. And almost everybody is preaching it too. However, what concerns me more is how to harness this power of networking successfully and achieve the desired results effectively. Just spending hours online, enrolling in social networking websites, making friends and joining communities would not help. It actually requires much more time, patience and tact.

The key is to do this tactfully and subtly. It is not a one time work. You are jobless right now, you need a job, you go online and enroll yourself in a number of social as well as professional networking websites, create a profile and start asking for any job openings. Hardly anybody is going to respond to you!

What one needs to realize is that it is ‘networking’ and networking takes time! You need to build it slowly and steadily. You can not build a well when you’re thirsty! Similarly, you just can’t expect effective results instantly with networking websites.

So, how do you go about it? The most important point is – do not wait till the last hour to join the social networking websites! Join in this very minute. The earlier you join and the longer you have been around in the networking websites, the better. Make friends and join communities that interest you, where you can be active. Remember that its not just size of the network, but the level of interaction within the network that matters.

So ensure that you take part in it actively. Exchange notes, update about events which you might think may benefit the group, ask questions and help others with their queries… when you need help, these same people would be the ones providing it!

It is also very important to maintain the right balance between your social and professional communications. Social networking websites are much more than just search engines. You keep in touch with your friends, family and colleagues. You share your personal life with them. If you are not doing so and are strictly using it for your professional needs, it would not work. At the same time, if you are maintaining only social contacts and are not leveraging the networking website for your professional requirements, the entire idea is nullified. Hence, it is important to maintain a correct balance of both. The bad news is that there is no equation or formula for this. It’s all about trial and errors and your personal instincts.

Also remember that social and professional networking websites are not a substitute to the personal offline networking. You will still need to make calls, meet people personally and maintain that human touch. The edge these online networking websites gives you is that it is available 24 hours and enables you to keep in touch from anywhere. It compliments your personal networking skills.

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The Importance of Researching in a Job Search

The most powerful tool of any job seeker is information and knowledge. The more knowledge he has the better are his chances to acquire a successful career. But how does one get this knowledge? Only by relevant researching at every step of the process.

A job seeker needs to research at various levels. Firstly, he needs to identify which companies he should apply for, followed by researching about the company he is planning to pursue. Let’s take this step by step.

While looking for a job, the first step is to identify the companies that you would like to apply in. Find the companies that are not only best in their industry but also that best suit you. Start by doing an industry research. What exactly is happening in the industry you are exploring? What are the economics? Which are the top companies in this industry?

Research the industry as a whole and identify the companies you would like to work with. They might not always be the top most companies. This part of research depends a lot on your own expectations and wants.

Once you have identified the potential companies, research about each company individually. Find out whether working with that company would satisfy your career objectives. Research the financial standing of the company. You can do this by visiting the company website and going through the financial. Find out about the stability of the organization – the number of years they have been functioning, their work history, if they have made any major layoffs, if so, how frequently. It is extremely important to research the job security of any company before you decide to apply in it.

Next, research the inside environment of the company. How well does it pay compared to others in the same industry? What is the work culture like? Do they have really long hours and frequent travels? These may seem as minor points but they have a huge effect once you’re an employee.

Try to talk to people who are already working within the company. If you have any friends or acquaintances working there, talk to them. If not, there are many sites online that can help you research. Log on to these sites. Use your professional as well as social network to enhance your research. The more you find out, the better position you are in.

The company websites are a great source to get information on the company vision, product line, their clients, any awards or recognitions they have achieved in the industry… as any company would love to flaunt it.

But none of these would ever show you the real picture of the salary and work environment of the company. To know the truth about how it functions in reality, you will have to research by asking around or by visiting sites that give salary and company reviews.

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Money Saving Tips on Recruitment

The economic recession is affecting companies worldwide. While there are some that are shutting down completely, others are facing the crunch and are implementing cost cutting and money saving strategies across the board.

One of the prudent cost cutting areas for an average business is the recruitment process. Now, you may ask that why should one hire during recession? On the contrary, recession is the best time to hire. It’s like shopping when there is a sale! You would get the best talent at the best prices. A lot of companies are hiring even at this ‘recession’ phase and are using ‘economic recession’ as an opportunity for acquiring better talent. After all, business is all about working smart and making the most of all situations.

How does a recruitment process usually work? Most medium and small corporates tie up with recruitment agencies which short list suitable candidates. The corporate pays fees and commission to these recruitment agencies and this sum can be huge and unnecessary.

You can save a considerable amount of money on your recruitment process by following these money saving tips

- Avoid as many intermediaries as possible. Let your HR team do the sourcing of candidates themselves rather than paying the outsourcing agency. After all, the recruitment agency is going through the job search sites which your HR team can also do.

- Use alternative and innovative methods for recruitment. These may include employee referral program, blogging, networking sites, effective advertising and others. According to the survey conducted by AIM group, employee referral is the most effective way of sourcing candidates, followed by job search sites.

- It is important to select the right job search site for maximum effectiveness. Apart from targeting the most popular sites, also consider local and niche online job search portals.

- Choose a site which lets you post jobs for free.

- Look out for sites that offer innovative tools such as one time coding for bulk job postings, so that you don’t have to post each one manually every time.

- Choose a site that offers effective costing such as pay per click, where you pay only for the number of times a candidate has clicked on your job posting.

- Business networking sites are ranked number 3 for effective recruitment with least spending. Be active in professional and business networking sites and use them smartly for sourcing candidates. According to the survey, the recruitment through business and professional networking sites has gone up by nearly 55% in 2008.

- Use your advertisements for recruiting. A lot of companies are now merging their advertising campaigns and recruitment requirements and are thus saving effectively.

- Based on your requirement and your business model, choose a combination of the above alternatives for best results.

- Track the results. See which channel is giving you the best outcome and strategize accordingly.

Building an effective recruitment strategy may take a while. But once you have evaluated the various options and have created a strategy, you can save millions on your recruitment process.

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Social-Professional Networking and Job Search

How strong is the connection between social and professional networking and job search? In today’s world…well, they are indispensable! Given the current job market scene, social networking and professional networking has become an integral part of the entire recruitment process. Be it searching for a job, getting hired for one or simply retaining the job, social and professional networking plays a key role in each step.

Searching for a job
Networking is of immense importance while searching for a job. Statistics shows that nearly 90% of job seekers actually find an opening either through their networking – friends, family, ex colleagues or online network buddies, or through online job search sites. And even when one does find a job opening through online sites, he would prefer to know someone, even distant, who could give any inputs.

Evaluating the opening
How can one evaluate the job opening and the company offering it? Obviously, by getting reviews from real people who have in some way been associated with that company or job. And how will you find and connect with these people? Only through networking… You can use your online social and professional network to get sound reviews.

Getting hired
All of us know how the recruitment’s final decisions are taken. Every good organization tries to find out about you from your previous employers. Gone are the days when they would call only the references you provided during the interview. They actually check your presence in top professional networks. Some might also want to check your social networking profile, to get a better insight to you as a person.

Retaining your job
It is a competitive world you need to keep up your pace. Getting hired is just the beginning of the journey. The main task is of retaining it. Apart from your hard work, it is important to connect with your team on greater level than just the professional interactions in office. Plus, keeping in touch with your ex colleagues talks about you as a more social person and people appreciate that. It is important to maintain the contacts you’ve made throughout your career, as you may never know who can be helpful when.

Maintaining that extra tinge of personal touch always helps. Social and professional networking has become an important part of the job search process. Many online job search sites do realize this fact and are working towards offering the same.

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Tips For Recruiters – Recruiting Online Via Job Search Sites

A friend of mine, who works in the recruiting department, came up with a very interesting observation last evening. He said that there is enough information and tips for job seekers, but hardly any tips for recruiters for searching suitable candidates through online sites. He was basically talking about his frustration over finding one for his company online via job search sites. Although he was just making a statement, it actually made me realize how true it is!

What are the basic areas recruiters find difficulty with? And how can they work smart around it? Here are some important tips for recruiting online via job search sites.

It is important to know the process of online recruitment. There are 2 basic ways of online recruitment.

1 – You skim through the resumes posted on the sites or
2 – You post your job requirement and search through the responses to your job posting.

The second option is definitely more preferable and is used by majority of the corporates and companies simply because it is more prudent and you have more control. Now comes the next difficulty. How do you present the job information such that you attract the right candidates?

The answer lies in choosing the right keywords and phrases and presenting the requirement in a crisp and precise manner. Avoid using flowery language and long dramatic sentences. Keep it to the point. Preferably, write bullet points to bring out the information clearly. The basic fields should be – Job description, Location of work, Minimum qualification required, Qualities you are looking for, minimum years of experience of the candidate and a brief background to the company. Give the basics and provide a link for more information.

Always provide the job posting date. Give the contact details which you would be accessing regularly. Be prompt in replying to the responses. Also, ensure that you remove the job posting immediately once it is filled up.

Another area of difficulty is the posting of job requirements. Big companies and corporates have numerous job vacancies. The manual posting of each requirement takes up too much time and resources. In such cases, try sites which allow free and bulk upload of job entries. Preferably, look for a popular site that allows alternative ways of postings such as RSS and XML job feeds.

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Tips For Choosing an Effective Job Search Site

There are loads of online job search sites available. The key to successful job hunting is to know the right sites to apply in. Short listing the effective job search websites is an important exercise which most of us under value. Uploading your resume anywhere and everywhere is not going to help. You don’t want to make an online presence; you want to get jobs matching your criteria. And targeting them through the right websites is the first step.

Here are a few pointers you should keep in mind while choosing an effective job search site.

1. Give importance to the site popularity. Register yourself with not just the top ranking but also the fastest growing job search portal. The higher the traffic, the more you are going to get noticed.

2. Choose an integrated job search site which gathers postings from various job search engines and company websites. You can get all information in one place and hence save time and energy.

3. Give importance to the resume uploading facility. Ensure that the process is easy, instant and safe.

4. Lay emphasis on the search process. Does it allow you to search jobs via various parameters such as industry, location, years of experience, level of job etc? Ensure that the job search process is easy and precise.

5. Check the site not just as a job seeker but also as a recruiter. After all, it’s the recruiters you need to appeal to. It is important to judge the appeal of the job search site to the recruiters also.

6. Check how often companies are posting job requirements. Any good website would always mention the job posting date, so that you do not waste time applying for a job posted months earlier. The relevancy and the frequency of updating jobs are important criterion.

7. Give preference to sites with greater interactivity. Look out for blogs, forums or other interactive platforms within the job search website.

8. Check out for tools offered by the site enabling better management of your search. These may include flagging off, getting job alerts and notifications, facility for easy and fast uploading of resumes and simpler management console.

9. Check if the job search site offers something extra. That is, it goes beyond the actual services of recruitment. These may include stuff like company reviews and online networking platforms.

10. Check for privacy and safety of the job site. You definitely do not want to take any risks. Ensure that they are not using your email id to spam. Always read the privacy policy before short listing the search website.

Ensure that you check on the above factors before you short list the job search sites to register with. The site should satisfy the basic criteria of convenience, accessibility, easy management, interactivity, safety and other add on benefits.

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Recession Proof Jobs – Keep This List in Mind While Searching For Jobs

The statistics of people loosing their jobs because of the economic recession in the last few months is unbelievable. Recession, which put the entire wheel of economic slowdown in motion, has affected not just the big countries such as U.S.A, but has had a ripple effect world over. Experts say that this is just the beginning of the global recession and the worst is yet to come.

India has also been affected by the global recession. Thousands of Indians, whether they were employed abroad or at the home country, have lost their jobs with hardly any notice or compensation.
Though they are gathering up and finding new job avenues, they are definitely more cautious this time with their job search than ever before.

The job search sector has suddenly seen a boom in the number of people searching for jobs. The online job sites has more and more visitors. Employees all over are trying to secure their career and future. The biggest challenge is to find a job which is relatively more secure and would be affected the least by recession.

The good news is that there are actually sectors which are recession proof. Here is a list of recession proof jobs, recommended by international experts.

List of recession proof jobs and sectors

1. Health Care – Health care is one sector which will never shrink, no matter what the economic conditions are. Hence, it is number one in the recession proof job list.

2. Education – Another important sector which is least likely to slowdown. In fact, the more tough the economic conditions, more is the competition and hence more the value of education qualifications. So, if you can grab a career in Education field, as a professor or researcher, you are relatively much more safe.

3. Environmental Areas – With the world ecology suffering year after year and people getting more and more environmental conscious, any job related to the environment upliftment will only gain importance.

4. Security – The crime rate is not depended on economics. In fact, there is a tendency for it to rise during difficult economic times and recession. Thus, need for security personal, police officers, airport and sea port security, trained security for corporates and housing complexes shall always be in demand.

5. Business promotional activities – With the slump, business owners world over are accelerating their promotional activities. The demand for business analysts, aggressive sale executives, business consultants is higher than ever before. Everybody is looking for new innovative ideas to keep their business going and make higher profits. If you can fit the role, you have a bright future.

6. Accounting – Another section which is recession proof. The need to manage and update accounts for any business, large or small, is mandatory, irrespective of recession or not. In tough economic times, the regulations are enforced aggressively and books of accounts are checked in detail to avoid any possibility of a scam.

7. Software design and development – Every business now has an online channel. In fact, I know of paan walas and even small sweet shops having a website where customers can buy online! The reach of the online medium is phenomenal. And in current times, every business is utilizing this medium aggressively.

8. Content Writers – Just having a website hosted is not enough. It is important to get enough response through it. And this is where content comes into play. Moreover, it is also very important to that the site is Search Engine Optimized. SEO (search engine optimization) and SMO (Social Media Optimization) are gaining importance, and hence Content writing, SEO and SMO activities are one of the the top recession proof jobs.

When you are searching for a job, see if you can grab one in the above sectors.

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5 Pitfalls to Avoid While Searching Jobs Online

Most of us believe that once we have uploaded our resume on the top online job search sites, the work is done. In fact, it is just the opposite. The process has just begun!

Just enrolling yourself in a job site is not sufficient. There are many other factors that come into play for achieving the best results. Here are the most common pitfalls one should avoid while searching for a job online.

Not having a strategy – Just submitting your resume’s soft copy would not do. You need to have a strategy, a clear picture of what you actually want and how you will go about it. Know exactly what you are looking for. Know the essentials required for the job and ensure you have them. If you have a generic cover note which you are going to use for every application, it might not prove that effective. Tweak the cover notes to make it suitable for a particular job.

Avoiding usage of ‘job jargon’ – Most applicants I know tend to avoid the so called ‘jargon’ in their resume or profile. But what they fail to realize is that in most cases, there is a software that is skimming the resumes for basic job keywords. Even when there is a human, he is ’searching’ using certain job keywords. These keywords are more jargon centric. If your copy does not have these, they would automatically get filtered out. Do stick to the job jargon to be filtered in!

Apply randomly – Another big mistake is to apply for a job everywhere. There is a myth that applying everywhere randomly would provide more visibility and increases the chances of getting a job. Wrong. In fact, it will only make you loose credibility.

Check on your job search only once a week or less – You have applied online, or submitted your resume online and you sit back. You need to be proactive. Keep a tab on each application, follow up aggressively, check your mails everyday so that you do not miss out on any opportunity.

Human networking is not required – Nearly 75% of people I have interacted with believe that if they are going the online way, they can easily evade human networking. But the fact is, that networking is important even then! Look out for any one known in the company you have applied in. Try getting in touch personally with the person who is going to make the decision. Give him a call, write in a mail, let there be a personal touch. Ensure you have a good online and offline networking through communities etc. It always helps.

It is important to realize that applying for jobs online is not the end, but the beginning of the process. After all, you want to land up in a job which you like and which meets most of your parameters and sustain it too…

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Searching For a Job During ‘Recession’

Economic recession is hitting world over, impacting the job market tremendously and churning millions out of jobs. You might be seeing the statistics over news, but it actually hits you hard when your own friends are suddenly jobless… and even harder when you see a threat to your own!

Although I myself am not an employee, almost all my friends and relatives are. The job insecurity has hit even those in high respectable positions. A considerable number have actually lost their jobs and are facing the bitter effects of the recession setting in world over. Even if they are actually not jobless, people are now more aggressively looking for alternatives and back ups.

When you are searching for a job, especially during this economic downturn due to recession, you need to be more alert and smart. Here are a few points to keep in mind.

Recession Proof Jobs – While searching for jobs, lay more emphasis on ones that are not going to get affected (or at least not as badly as others) by recession. There are fields like health care, education, food services, security, energy sector and environmental sector whose growth actually won’t be dampened. Try sticking to these recession proof jobs for higher job security.

Research the Company – Research well about the company you plan to apply for. Go through their financials, read up about them, ask experts… Basically keep a close watch. Study the company well for its soundness and steadiness. Its no guarantee that you will be 100% safe, but take measures to minimize the risks as much as possible.

Be aggressive – Be it searching for jobs, preparing for interviews or follow ups, be aggressive. Remember that there are many others jobless too. Be alert, subscribe to online job sites, check them regularly, be ready with cover notes, respond immediately and follow up frequently.

Polish your brand – In these hard times of recession, it becomes more important to sell yourself as a brand. Polish your brand, show off all your strengths and achievements, get all your recommendation letters together. It is important that you sell yourself smartly. Rather than just talking about your strengths, talk about how you can be an asset to them. Shift the focus to how does ‘you’ profit them?

Tread the alternatives – It is not necessary to follow the same path you have been on for years. Figure out alternatives, maybe you have a hobby which you can pursue and which can also add to you wallet. Also, you may take up small time or part time jobs until you find a suitable full time career. It might give you and opportunity to explore yourself better. Plus, it would add weight to your resume as well as your bank balance. Be innovative and don’t be afraid to try out new ideas.

Go high on social networking – network, network, network, be it online or offline. Attend seminars, social get-togethers, connect with like minded people, offline and online, join communities online etc. The more powerful your network, the more it will help you.

And lastly, do not let the talks on recession dampen your spirits. Don’t let all the hype on downturn economy freak you out. Be calm, take the challenge sportingly, just work a little smarter and you would realize its not that difficult a scene. Have a positive outlook and things will work out just fine.

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