Should Recruiters Attend Networking Events?

Recently Erik Deckers, owner of Professional Blog Service, and the co-author of Branding Yourself: How to Use Social Media to Invent or Reinvent Yo..., presented a webinar on branding yourself as a recruiter to the members of DirectEmployers Association. The following is a guest blog post from Erik.

I've been a heavy networker for several years, and one thing I can count on when I attend a networking event is that I will never see a single "back office" person at the game. It's always, ALWAYS, ALWAYS the sales and marketing people.

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Always

We've heard all the reasons why this is so: They're the "face" of the company. You don't do sales or marketing. Office people aren't "people." Everything you need to do your job can be found right here in the building.

Bull!

There are professional associations and networking groups for just about any profession you'd care to name. I've attended meetings and gatherings of technical writers, purchasing managers, foundry production managers, printing professionals, sign makers, and even HR professionals.

Everyone has had something to contribute to each other, to their association, and even to their industry. But where the great networking happens is when someone shows up to a meeting they usually wouldn't attend,  just because the two sectors are related, even a little.

What would happen if a technical writer and a professional printing meeting? Or a foundry production manager and a purchasing manager? Or even an HR professional and a sign maker?

I don't know either, but I'm willing to bet you could see some pretty cool stuff happen.

So Why Should RECRUITERS Attend Networking Events?

Because it's going to make your job easier. It's going to make it possible to find the professionals you've been searching for.

Let's say your job involves recruiting a lot of computer software engineers. Where are you going to find them? Online is going to be your best bet, but it's not the only place. You can stand out from your competition — yes, you have competition: other recruiters who are trying to win those same professionals — by going to the places where those computer software engineers gather.

No, not Star Trek conventions.

User groups. Association meetings. Networking groups. Conferences and conventions.

Because even professionals in a so-called "solitary profession" like software engineering still need to gather with other software engineers, share information, and socialize.

The best place to find a bunch of software engineers all gathered together at once is at their meetings or conferences.

The phrase "fish in a barrel" comes to mind.

The whole point of networking is not to meet as many people as possible or to find one person to spend talking to for an entire hour.

It's a simple psychological thing. Similar situation is describing in Chinua Achebe's most famous work Things Fall Apart. I won't retell all plot in this article, but if you don't know what this story about, strongly recommend you to read it : https://artscolumbia.org/literary-arts/prose/things-fall-apart-summary-42656/.

It's to see a few people you can find time to talk to later over coffee or lunch, develop relationships with, and possibly use as a resource to help with future recruiting efforts.

Consider attending some of the events and meetings of some of your target job candidates. Join their organizations. Serve on committees that will put you in contact with the decision makers, thought leaders, and best-connected people in the organization.

Those are the people who will know who's looking for a job and can refer them to you. They're the ones you'll call when you have an opening and need a top-notch candidate. They're the ones who will pass the word to their networks, saying, "Janice at Global Services has an opening for a network manager, and needs to fill it yesterday."

By getting out of the office and going to the gathering places of your target candidates, you'll make your job much more comfortable, and your success rate much higher. It just takes some effort and some willingness to shut off your computer and get out of the office. At least, until after you finish this blog post.

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Solutions to Keep Your Home Clean

If you are really focusing on keeping your house clean then there are several ideas you can actually follow. To be honest, it doesn’t take much time and effort to keep your home tidy. Many would say it’s an impossible task but if you have a daily habit to clean your space then nothing like it. Browse through the internet and you will come across many blogs and articles talking about house cleaning solutions. However, here we have come up with the best tips for the lot which would help you in every possible way.

For example, you have recently invested in a property, say, an apartment in Kalinganagar Jajpur but aren’t sure of the right methods to keep the house clutter-free. This is the place where our tips can help you and your family stay organised. It is said that people in America spend at least an hour every day to clean their house. This is mostly practised by the average Americans as per the Bureau of Labour Statistics. Of course, hats off to these people who make it a point to find time between their work, parenthood and confusion of their everyday life and keep their house clutter-free.  So, when these folks can do then why not us.

Come let us share with you the solutions as follows:

De-Clutter the Counters

The key to de-clutter the counters is to maintain them on a daily basis – either every morning or evening.  All you need is five minutes to manage the counters.

Put away the dishes, load your dishwasher and then rinse off the dirty ones immediately.

To de-clutter the area, store the items in a drawer, which would actually keep them away from everyone’s sight.

You can add your personal touches like placing a beautiful family photo frame on the counter, treating yourself with a small flower bouquet and so on. This would not just bring a smile to your face but make the place look presentable.

Organize Your Bed

A messy bed leads to a messy head. This has been a common statement usually stated by the mothers. Several studies have proved that keeping a bed organized is perhaps the easiest task in comparison to others. Soon after you wake up from your bed, perform this job immediately because it needs very less time and there can be no excuse to avoid. Just keep the bedding plain and simple, thus, creating a relaxing space overall.

Have Designated Baskets

Either look for inexpensive baskets or create baskets on your own. Each basket should have its individual role. Say, for example, there should be a cosmetic basket where you should keep your makeup items back when you are done with them. When you are organising the things and items know their designated baskets where you shall keep the things, thus, de-cluttering the space.

Organize Your Bathroom

Add a storage place in your bathroom to keep your soaps, shampoos, toilet papers, combs, sprays, gels and other necessary products. Either you install a rack or create a storage space to hang your towels and clothes. Make sure before you step out of the bathroom, every scattered thing have been properly organized. Whatever you do, the place where you stay must be clean and organized. 

Above everything, you have options to mount racks in the wall space to hang things. However, make sure they are always not in any open space and if at all they are everything should look presentable enough.

Hope, the above-mentioned discussion was helpful and would guide when you required.

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Repair your roof before it needs restoration - Tips for proper roof maintenance that prolongs roof life

Spring is the ideal time for roof inspection as the wintry season has just gone by leaving its marks on the roof. The roof contractors have a busy time in spring as people are ready to spend money to protect the roof because poor maintenance can lead to roof replacement which is quite costly.  Rather, an easier and affordable way to restore your roof is to identify damages early by inspecting the roof regularly.  Early damage detection ensures timely repair at less cost that increases the longevity of the roof.  While spring is the best time for roof cleaning and inspection, summer is the best time for carrying out any kind of roof repair that may be required.

Proper maintenance can reduce the cost of repair as it can prevent damages that occur due to the inability of homeowners to foresee it. Ongoing through this article you will come to know how to carry out good roof maintenance.

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Check for signs of early damage

The later you notice any damage to the roof, costlier would be the repairs, and in some cases, it might be even beyond repair. It is very surprising that despite knowing this, many homeowners become aware of roof problems when the signs show up inside at some places like the ceiling or the wall adjacent to the roof. Cracks within guttering and broken shingles can flood your home but arranging for a roof inspection after cleaning it thoroughly can bring such damages to your notice early. Since you might not be aware of roof vulnerabilities and some damages may escape your attention, take help from roofing experts to inspect the roof.  Their experience with all kinds of roofing materials and technical knowledge enables them to identify defects and judge its impact that helps to take the most appropriate repairing decision.

Keep gutters and drains clean

 As the summer season begins and the weather starts warming with fewer or no chances of rain, use the opportunity of clear weather to clean all gutters and drains connected to the roof. It is common that leaves, twigs, dust and dirt and some other debris collect in the gutters and block drains thereby raising the chances of water accumulation on the roof. Water collected on the roof can be very damaging for the roof material that you must avoid at all cost. When cleaning gutters, check for accumulation of black particles in gutters which if amounts too much would point to damaged shingles that need replacement.

Check the home ventilation

 Moist and humid environment affects the performance of roofing systems and to protect the roof structure you have to ensure proper ventilation of your home. Analysing monthly energy bills would provide the trend of how much load the HVAC system has to handle. If there is a consistent increase in energy bills, it means that there are problems with your home insulation that could put more stress on the roof.

Proper roof care ensures good health of the construction because all problems begin with a failing roof.

Related article: Statistics about Rain Gutters

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