21 Definitions_A candidate's guide to recruiter-speak

Very funny and interesting article about how recruiter speaks. Really makes me laugh badly. That's probably because it does happen in my daily life right now. Since I started my new role in Talent Acquisition (staffing/recruiting) team one month ago, I have heard lots of those kinds of conversations and usage of terms. I am surrounded by recruiters and coordinators who are talking to candidates, either screening or giving information on an unstopped basis every day. From company's view, the phone presentation of recruiters is stressed since it presents the company. But from candidate's point, be aware how you should interpret the message correctly. : )

21 Definitions

A candidate's guide to recruiter-speak

Wednesday, May 21, 2008 | by Matthew Charney

(cited from ERE http://www.ere.net/articles/db/A068149AAE174D659608A46A0694BD2B.asp)

Every industry and profession carries with it its own distinct jargon. In fact, it is the measure of recruiters' worth to be able to pick up on the unique lexicon of the positions for which they recruit.

Being able to spout off the verbal equivalent of Google Adwords also preempts most candidates' assumptions that as recruiters, we're slightly above amoeba but slightly beneath bonobo monkeys on the evolutionary ladder. (The monkeys do admittedly win by default, though like recruiters, they have been known to eat their young, although most of us do this figuratively through the invention of the concept of "entry-level" employment.)

There's been a lot of attention paid to the banalities of "corporate speak," those words such as synergy, deliverables, scalable, and, my personal favorite, paradigm shift, which sounds suspiciously like a Led Zeppelin cover band or a Tom Clancy novel.

Additionally, there is a preponderance of words that have absolutely no meaning whatsoever to anyone outside of a specialized functional area.

As an accounting and finance recruiter, I am able to speak quite convincingly about Tier One ERPs, f(x) hedging, and econometrics. In fact, I can come across sounding a bit like a wonk, which I will consider a professional asset, given my inability to do simple arithmetic.

I feel a little bit like an expatriate; I'm able to speak the language with some proficiency, but throw in an idiom or colloquialism, and I'm rooting around for my dictionary.

Meaningless Catch-Phrases Take Off

Slowly but surely, these buzzwords have trickled into the public consciousness because most of these words are reserved for candidates specifically. The overwhelming majority of our etymology, in fact, was specifically created for less-than-desirable candidates.

As recruiters, it is vocational anathema to create a negative impression on a candidate, or to in any way create a negative reflection on the organization we represent. A successful recruiter strives to make each candidate feel like his or her interaction with the company was a successful one, even if it was, in fact, the worst disaster since the Hindenburg.

To prevent further confusion, I've provided a quick guide for candidates to decipher recruiter-speak with the hope that it eases the search process by providing the subtext of the terminology recruiters use the most.

While corporate recruiters are honest, we are never brutally honest. Our errors are of omission, and we tend to accentuate the positive, whether in presenting an opportunity, rejecting a candidate, or even closing an offer.

A Growing List

This list is by no means definitive, but it is a start…any suggestions or additions are greatly encouraged.

• Sourcing (v) Usage: "I sourced your resume and thought that you might be a great fit…" Definition: The entry of keywords onto a job board.
• Exciting (adj.): Usage: "We've got an exciting opportunity currently available…" Definition: An open headcount that needs to be filled as quickly as possible.
• Prescreen (n) Usage: "I'd like to set up a brief, exploratory prescreen." Definition: The conversation by which recruiters ascertain if they can afford the talent in question.
• Visibility (adj.): Usage: "This role has high visibility to all levels of management throughout the organization." Definition: The phrase most often used to describe a position with the smallest margin for error and highest turnover rate in the company.
• Growth (n): Usage: "This position is really a great growth opportunity." Definition: The naturally occurring phenomenon by which workers find fulfillment doing exactly the same job in a different company.
• Ad-hoc (adj.) Usage: "There will also be some ad-hoc projects required." Definition: A catch-all phrase used by corporations to describe the countless hours of manpower invested in activities unrelated to one's job function, generally evoked at the whim of departmental heads.
• Expectations (n) Usage: "What are your expectations for your next position?" Definition: The test commonly used during the screening process to see whether the candidate is capable of reading a job description and changing tense from third- to first-person.
• Stable (adj.) Usage: "It's a very stable business unit." Definition: When the collective tenure of a department's employees preempt any consideration of change or improvement upon the status quo.
• Reinventing (v) Usage: "We've had challenges in the past, but we're reinventing ourselves and our processes." Definition: A commonly used tactic employed by recruiters to explain recent or forthcoming layoffs (see: derecruit, reorganization, shared services, offshoring, outsourcing, et al).
• Competition (n) Usage: "You've got some pretty stiff competition for this position." Definition: A word used by recruiters to preempt disappointment for the candidate by establishing expectations upfront. Alternative definition: A tactic employed to make an extremely undesirable position appear more enticing.
• Team (n) Usage: "We're looking for a team player." Definition: The intangible qualities associated with a candidate who will not make waves and demonstrates the willingness to accept abuse by supervisors and fellow staff.
• DOE (acr.) see also depending on experience.Usage: "I am unable to provide a salary range for the position as it is DOE." Definition: Whereby a company unable to pay market rate for a position compensates by placing the blame on candidate deficiencies.
• Best practices (n): Usage: "We're a best practices organization." Phrase has not yet been defined. See meaning of life, UFOs.
• Work-life balance (phrase): Usage: "We put a real premium on work-life balance." Definition: The ratio of one's time at home to one's time at work. The smaller the ratio, the more likely the employee is paid on an hourly basis.
• Overtime (n) Usage: "There may be some slight overtime involved." Definition: An institution imposed by corporations to increase shareholder value without increasing headcount by maximizing working hours of employee population, up to and including Saturdays, holidays, and seminal life events.
• Feedback (n) Usage: "I'll provide feedback from my hiring manager as soon as I get it." Definition: Generally construed as a one- or two-word answer by which hiring managers summarily reject top candidates.
• Next steps (phrase) Usage: "We'll be in touch regarding next steps." Definition: A phrase used to put off rejecting marginal candidates for as long as possible until an offer is accepted by a more qualified party.
• References (n) Usage: "We're going to begin checking your references." Definition: The process by which a recruiter contacts previous coworkers of a potential hire from a list provided by the candidate in an attempt to bring objectivity to the hiring process.
• Background check (n) Usage: "You're our final candidate, but I can't extend an offer until your background check clears." Definition: A control imposed by corporations in order to slow recruiters' ability to extend an offer for a period of time that perfectly coincides with a candidate's extension and acceptance of other offers. Alternate definition: An industry whose practitioners continue to thrive despite the Internet's abilities to perform the same functionality at a fraction of the cost.
• Benefits (n) Usage: "We are proud to offer a comprehensive, competitive benefits package to all employees." Definition: A tactic used by corporations to attract full-time employees and entice temporary ones into menial labor.
• Offer letter (n) Usage: "Congratulations on joining our team. I'm sending over an offer letter that contains all the information you're going to need." Definition: A document or set of documents that contains all information relevant to one's employment with a company, denoting the last communication between recruiter and candidate until the candidate becomes eligible for transfer consideration.

AMA (American Management Association) seminar

There are some free recorded webcasts and podcasts available online on the topics in:
§ Business Writing
§ Communication Skills
§ Customer Service
§ Finance and Accounting
§ Human Resource Management
§ Information Technology Management
§ Interpersonal Skills
§ Leadership
§ Management and Supervisory Skills
§ Marketing
§ Office and Administrative Support
§ Presentation Skills
§ Project Management
§ Purchasing and Supply Management
§ Sales
§ Strategic Alliance Management
§ Strategic Planning
§ Thinking and Innovation
§ Time Management
§ Training and Development

Below is the note from one of webcasts that I just had in Business Writing
How to Write d Darn Good E-mail? By Philip Vassallo, Ed.D.
1. Get Started Quickly : 3As
a. Aim (reason to write)
b. Audience (reason to read)
c. Area (issue to address)
2. Write Attention Subject Line, Opening and Closing. Getting to the point.
a. Purpose in subject
b. Purpose in first paragraph
c. Use a do and a to for purpose statement
3. Create Clear, Concise E-mails that Get Results
a. Include ONLY what your READER need to know
b. Focus on reader benefit
c. Separate the beginning from the middle, and middle from the ending
4. Maintain a Professional Tone
a. Remember the durability of the written word
b. Do not demean, harass, or threaten readers or subjects
c. Consider whether e-mail is the best way to reply
5. Polish to Perfection: clear, concise, correct (use pullet points)

It seems very easy to understand but hard to keep in mind in every mail you send out. I totally agree with “durability of the written word” and “professional tone”. Every word you send out stand for yourself. There is nothing should be compromised if doing so would hurt your professionism. Also, not only for the written words, the way you talk, behavior, and look always matter. Many times, perception becomes the reality even though it is not the fact at all. Keeping on top of it, you gotten learn how to shape the perception, and how to project your image in a consistent way while packaging yourself to impress different audiences.

Public Speaking_Toastmasters International

Recently started again to have some training on my public speaking/communication skills through the Toastmasters International. Since last time having the formal public speaking, it has been about one year that I didn't have really stand up and do the public presentation. In Toastmasters International, theere is the educational program consisted of series of projects on public speaking to learn different experiences.

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Here are two major professional organizations for speakers:

The National Speakers Association (NSA)
is the leading organization for experts who speak professionally. NSA's 4,000 members include experts in a variety of industries and disciplines, who reach audiences as trainers, educators, humorists, motivators, consultants, authors and more. Since 1973, NSA has provided resources and education designed to advance the skills, integrity and value of its members and speaking profession. Visit NSA's Web site at www.nsaspeaker.org.

Toastmasters International
is known as the number one source for Public Speaking information. Their main goal is to help you become a better speaker, thinker, listener and leader by exposing you to a wide range of communication experiences. Includes lots of tips and information about local chapters.

Other resources: check http://www.speakermatch.com/showcase/resources/skills.htm

Use Your Strengths to Strengthen Others

Use Your Strengths to Strengthen Others

Found this very interesting article while browsing through Workforce.
Source from http://www.workforce.com/section/09/feature/25/45/14/index.html


The real impact of human resources comes when HR professionals turn their knowledge and skills into productivity for others, author and consultant Dave Ulrich contends.
By Dave Ulrich

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You can’t walk into a conference these days without bumping into a speaker who is trumpeting the value of building on your strengths. It’s easy to understand why this message resonates. From the time we start school, we are evaluated on our weaknesses. Most of us dread this. "Build on your strengths" sounds like one of those alternative schools where people played sports, painted or sang and danced all day instead of memorizing dates in history or taking pre-algebra. Who wouldn’t rather sing and dance or play sports?

The logic of "build on your strengths" comes from outstanding work by Martin Seligman, who with his colleagues defined and shaped the field of positive psychology. Instead of focusing on what is wrong with individuals, they emphasize what is right. Instead of overcoming depression, they offer clients ways to find authentic happiness. Instead of diagnosing pathologies and overcoming them, they want to identify strengths and build on them. In Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification, a 2004 book written with Christopher Peterson, Seligman and colleagues identified 24 generic strengths that individuals might possess in six domains:

Wisdom and knowledge: the ability to acquire and use knowledge (creativity, curiosity, love of learning)

Courage: the ability to accomplish goals in the face of opposition (persistence, vitality, integrity, bravery)

Humanity: the ability to tend to and befriend others (kindness, social intelligence)

Justice: the ability to experience a healthy community life (fairness, teamwork, social responsibility)

Temperance: the ability to protect against excess (forgiveness, humility, self-control)

Transcendence: the ability to connect to a larger universe and provide meaning (gratitude, hope, playfulness)

A simple definition of a strength is that it’s something that we find easy, energizing and enjoyable. The authors’ premise is that when you do well in what you identify as a strength and capitalize on it—rather than trying to shore up your weaknesses—you will have more success and more positive experiences. You’ll find happiness. (You can take some of Seligman’s strengths tests here.)

It is very hard to disagree with this logic. Marcus Buckingham and others have argued that discovering what we do well is a first step to lasting success. Leaders whose strengths are around creativity will be more successful in innovative organizations and work environments, for example.

But building only on your strengths is not enough if those strengths do not create value for those you lead. In college, I majored in English. I developed a knack for reading novels. I could read two or three novels a week and found this easy, energizing and enjoyable. But what I have since found is that few people care about my strength of reading novels. What they really care about is my ability to analyze a situation in ways that help them reach their goals. Reading and interpreting good writing is a sustainable strength when it informs my ability to diagnose and help others work through their problems.

According to the recent movie The Bucket List, the Egyptians believed that the gatekeepers of heaven ask new arrivals two questions about their lives on Earth: Did you find joy? Did you bring joy to others? The first question is about building on your strengths to find joy. It is necessary, but not sufficient. It is about the self, not others. The second question shifts the focus of joy to helping others find it. Put in terms of our strengths discussion, this means that we should build on our strengths that strengthen others.

"Building on strengths that in turn strengthen others does not mean pandering. It does not mean you will say and do anything someone wants. it means having a clear sense of self."

Leaders may strive to acquire strengths of authenticity, judgment, emotional intelligence, credibility and other noble attributes, but unless and until they apply these strengths in ways that create value for others, they have not been totally successful. Some in the strengths movement have missed the conclusion Seligman reached in his 2004 book, Authentic Happiness: "The meaningful life: using your signature strengths and virtues in the service of something much larger than you are."

For leaders, this means that it is not enough to do our work well. We must also use our strengths to deliver value to others. HR professionals who want to build on their strengths in order to strengthen others should consider the following:

Focus on outcomes, not activities. It is tempting to focus on what HR does without fully considering what HR delivers, but it’s an incomplete goal. The outcomes of an HR activity might include employee morale, but could also be expanded to customers, investors and communities outside the organization. We have asked HR professionals to answer the query "so that …" to turn an activity into an outcome. For example: "We are investing in a performance appraisal (training, 360, communication or other HR process) so that … ." The answer to the "so that" query focuses on an outcome, not an activity. Outcomes are what we should be measuring.

Help leaders define their results. Many leadership programs are filled with exercises and seminars meant to help leaders learn and grow as individuals. They can identify their strengths and build them. But unless and until those strengths help others, they are incomplete. My colleagues at the RBL Group and I have adapted a fantastic exercise from Marshall Goldsmith. In a workshop, we ask leaders to think about their personal strengths and what they want to improve to be better as leaders and as people. Then, we ask them to stand and talk to five to seven other people who can coach them about using those strengths to strengthen others. Suddenly the focus is not just on what they want to do better, but on how their personal improvements will help others do their own work better. HR professionals who coach leaders about behavioral change can direct those improved behaviors to improved results.

Build a positive culture from the outside in. Most people acknowledge that companies have a culture, or way of doing things. This culture filters who joins the firm and how people act once they are in the firm. But often this culture is an inside-out view. It is defined as how we do things, our norms, our values, our expectations and our behaviors. By focusing on strengthening others, HR professionals can diagnose a culture against the standard of how it reflects desired outcomes by those outside the organization—customers and investors, for instance. HR professionals can ask leadership teams questions like: "What do we want to be known for by our best customers (or investors)?" By focusing on the strengths that others want to see in us, then translating those expectations into internal leadership and organization actions, we can make a culture an enduring source of value. Strengthening others affects not only the individual but the organization.

Be a contributor by working with business leaders on their issues. HR competency models that focus exclusively on what the HR professional should know and do are insufficient. The real impact of HR professionalism comes when HR professionals turn their knowledge and skills into productivity for others. HR professionals should know the business so that they help their business leaders achieve financial and customer results. HR professionals should build innovative and integrated HR practices so that strategies turn from aspirations to actions. HR professionals should be credible activists so that they can help those they coach reach the results they desire.

Develop HR professionals who are curious. In doing HR work, HR professionals should start by identifying their audience and what they want and need. This requires HR professionals who desire to learn first, then act. HR professionals should ask questions about what the business requires, about what leaders are accountable for, about what employees need, and about why customers select one provider over another. By asking these questions, HR professionals spend less time on what they are good at, and more time on what they can do to help others succeed. Curiosity means HR professionals begin their work by learning what others want rather than what they know. Strengthening others means good HR is less about what HR knows and more about how that knowledge affects others.

Building on strengths that in turn strengthen others does not mean pandering. It does not mean you will say and do anything someone wants. It means having a clear sense of self. It means identifying, developing and investing in personal strengths without arrogance or compromise. But, it also means applying those strengths to the service of others.

As the strength logic evolves and applies to HR, successful HR professionals might quietly say to themselves, "I am able to help someone accomplish what they need to do." And that happened because they used their strengths to strengthen others.

Workforce Management, March 17, 2008, p. 28-29

Creating People Advantage: How to Address HR Challenges Worldwide Through 2015

BCG (Boston Consulting Group) Report

[PDF] Creating People Advantage: How to Address HR Challenges Worldwide Through 2015
by Jean-Michel Caye, Andrew Dyer, Michael Leicht, Anna Minto, Rainer Strack
April 14, 2008

People challenges are greater than ever before at companies, thanks to globalization, an aging workforce, and employee desires for work-life balance. This report, which is based on a worldwide survey of more than 4,700 executives, lays out a comprehensive approach to enable companies to understand the HR environment and how they can create a people advantage. When companies that understand how to measure the effectiveness of their people and harness their talents, they will achieve a lasting edge. This PDF is an executive summary.

It is pretty short and well summarized, available on line at BCG website

Article from SHRM summarizing this report as well:

Global HR Professionals Learn They Are More Alike than Different

By Adrienne Fox

LONDON—Despite diverse languages, cultures and geographies, human resource professionals around the world face similar challenges. That’s the finding of a new survey conducted by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), a global management consulting firm based in Boston, and the World Federation of Personnel Management Associations (WFPMA). The results were previewed at the associations’12th Annual World Congress here on April 14, 2008. The full report, Creating People Advantage: How to Address HR Challenges Worldwide through 2015, was to be released May 5.

Managing talent, improving leadership development and managing work/life balance are the top HR challenges in every region and industry, according to the survey of more than 4,700 HR and non-HR executives in 83 countries. The study was enhanced by in-depth interviews with 200 executives.

The survey asked respondents to rank 17 HR issues in order of their most critical future challenges and asked how they plan to address them through 2015. In North America, respondents reported that managing talent, managing demographics, improving leadership development, managing work/life balance and transforming HR into a strategic partner are most critical. Susan R. Meisinger, SPHR, president and CEO of the Society for Human Resource Management and a WFPMA board member, said the transformation of HR could be helped by establishing two distinct career paths in the way finance and accounting have become separate, and sales and marketing have two different tracks. “Both functions are critical to HR,” she said, discussing the survey findings at the WFPMA Heads of Nations meeting here on April 13. “But one would handle compliance and administration while the other would be strategic.”

Common Challenges

The top future HR challenges in Latin America are managing talent and work/life balance. “We have a permanent mixture of business and personal lives,” said Horacio Quiros of Buenos Aires, president of the Interamerican Federation of People Management Associations. “We are facing a new confusion because there is no separation. It has to fall to the individual to balance work and life.”

Ernesto Espinosa of Manila, who becomes president of the WFPMA at the conclusion of the World Congress, said HR is stumped on how to address work/life balance because the phrase is a “misnomer. It should be called work/life harmony.”

Executives in China and India added becoming a learning organization to their list of top challenges. Respondents in other parts of Asia put managing globalization among their top three concerns. Pacific Region executives added managing change and cultural transformation to their top future HR challenges.

In Europe, demographics and managing talent were identified as the key challenges. Rudolf Thurner of Vienna, president of the European Association of Personnel Management, said HR needs to change its view of who is talented. “We reject the notion that only 5 percent of the working population is talented and the rest is disposable,” he said.

WFPMA board member Tiisetso Tsukudu of Cape Town, South Africa, agreed. “Talent is only seen at the top, and we in HR need to change this because we need long-term talent from lower levels. Talent is not the same as genius. Everyone is capable of being talented.” In Africa, the survey found, the most pressing concerns in addition to talent, work/life balance and leadership development are managing globalization and diversity.

Solutions

In response to the talent management challenge, 70 percent of North American respondents said they would need to develop tailored career paths for employees, even though only 41 percent are currently using that solution; 61 percent believed they would need to develop specific compensation schemes for top talent, a strategy only 38 percent are using today; and 48 percent said in the future they would source talent globally, with only 22 percent saying they cast the net globally now. In all other regions of the world, these three strategies were identified as the most effective solutions to managing talent in the future.

To better anticipate change in demographics, globalization and corporate change and cultures, the report advises HR to restructure its organization to be more nimble: “While restructuring is commonly viewed as a cost-reduction exercise, the topic also applies to growth scenarios.”

HR functions should assess and improve all HR processes systematically to enable the organization, the report states, starting by separating administrative services from strategic tasks in HR to increase efficiency and effectiveness.

Next Steps

The Creating People Advantage summary concludes with advice on how to use the findings in your organization. The first step is to understand the external environment by analyzing general industry and economic trends, business challenges and the corporate strategy. Then understand the internal environment by conducting an HR audit. “Ask your business executives how HR rates on the 17 HR topics and then select the top three most critical ones for your business,” Rainer Strack, partner and managing director at BCG in Düsseldorf, Germany, told the World Congress attendees. Once you identify the three challenges, initiate projects with dedicated teams to address them.

The study found that executives rated the performance of their company’s HR function 18 percent higher when dedicated teams of employees inside and outside of HR oversaw critical issues. Finally, secure top management support, which may be easier if teams are cross-functional.

“Maintain rigorous quality control on all 17 HR topics,” said Strack. “But reduce emphasis on existing HR topics that are not as critical to your company success” and steer resources accordingly.

Adrienne Fox, a freelance writer and editor in Alexandria, Va., is former managing editor of HR Magazine.