Team faayda.com

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http://www.yourstory.in/entrepreneurs/participants/2348

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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.