Recruitment Process Flow Chart

http://bit.ly/dBRTgv

I really enjoyed making this flow chart. It took me more time to create the layout than to write out the process. I wanted to make it as clear as possible to people who are novice to recruitment processes in staffing agencies. The funny thing is that the process seems pretty quick but it's actually very long. It's great to be able to synthesize long processes with technology. I'm sure this Google application will be useful for other processes related to my work and maybe even to my personal life!

Roommate Application - Google Form

http://bit.ly/drMzsq

This was my first time using and creating a Google Form. I tried to think about how it could be useful to me not only in my job but also in my personal life. My roommate and I have been spending a lot of time looking for the "perfect" roommate to come live with us. We usually try to "interview" everyone who replies to our ad on Craigslist. During the interviews, we ask them a multitude of predetermining questions. After just one week of interviewing, we got really tired and that's when I got the idea to create a roommate application by using Google Form. All of the predetermining questions are asked in the application: some type of preselection process saving us time and energy. It's great to able to adapt "professional procedures"-an employment application becomes a roommate application-to my daily life. It makes everything quick and simple and shows me how New Technology can be useful in every aspect of my life.

Web 2.0 Video-Thoughts

I really enjoyed watching this video. It made me think about how our communication has changed throughout the years. I remember learning to write when I was little. The French education system stresses the importance of learning how to hand write. We use a special type of paper with lines and are taught to clearly shape and form our letters within these lines. Hand writing is an art in France. It shows a lot about someone's personality. Emails and blogs, as well as new and various types of new technology communication, seem all standardized and not as personalized as hand written communication. Although there is no hand written input to the way we communicate in emails or in blogs, New Technology still allows us to personalize our written communication: font, size, colors, pictures.... We have created new ways and options for written communication which has become quick and more accessible. Although, I love writing emails and am starting to like blogging more, I still enjoy hand writing letters to my Grandma who lives in France.

Example of paper used to learn how to write in France: http://data0.eklablog.com/charivari/mod_article472796_3.jpg

Did You Know? Video-Thoughts

I really enjoyed watching this video that I actually watched it 3 times. I was amazed by all of this information.
Technology has really become a world for the entire world. The Internet, for example, has become a place where anything is possible and accessible: reading worldly news, watching movies, meeting new people, ordering food from the grocery store, buying airplane tickets, attending classes... and it's moving so fast that we need to keep ourselves updated with New Technology to anticipate for the future.
There is so much more openness and transparency than ever before. "Today's learner will have 10 to 14 jobs by the age of 38". That is something that was not well viewed a couple of years back. Tenure was important. However, with the continuous change of New Technology and people exploring new interests the world is becoming more diverse and people have more freedom to discover what they like and what they really want to do.
It's also interesting to think that we are the ones who created computers and in a couple of years from now "computers will be exceeding computational capabilities of the entire human species". Interesting and somewhat disturbing...

From Playing with Technology to Using Technology

We live in a world of constant change and innovation where keeping ourselves updated is no longer optional but necessary. When I moved to San Francisco, I received an iPhone from my brother, as a welcome gift. At first I thought "what a great toy!". The camera on it is better than the one on my previous phone, I can upload my music to it, I can actually configure it to military time and know what the weather is like in Paris (my hometown). To my surprise, I found myself starting to use the more useful applications like my professional email account, the internet and the GPS. I would never have thought a phone could be so helpful.

As I look at my job today and see how the economy has affected my staffing agency, I wonder if this New Technology might be of help again. We're a small staffing agency, still in start-up mode and with limited financial resources. We are only subscribed to one job board, we are not well known by clients and candidates and are not technology savvy. What can help us market and brand ourselves? I thought. As I logged into Facebook for the 7th time in one day, I realized some of my friends were actually advertising a variety of different postings from concert tickets they were selling to apartments for rent... That's when I realized how I could turn technology from entertainment to professional networking. I started exploring my options. I created a Linkedin profile, got in touch with the SF French community on Facebook and attended professional mixers and events.

Reading the article "Top 10 Predictions for HR in 2010" helped me re-evaluate, redefine and reinforce the use of New Technology in my staffing agency. Although we still do not have the budget to implement New Technology to better manage and retain talent, we are developing our professional network and continue to succeed through our values: the quality of our staff and the trust relationship with our clients and talent.