crowdsourcing Archives

4 Sourcing Tips for Recruiters

January 16, 2017 By Team Reflik

Here at Reflik we get a lot of questions about sourcing the best candidates for any given job requirement. While there is no one absolute method to go about it nor is there one place to find all of your quality candidates, we thought we would give you a few of our sourcing tips to find great candidates.

Sourcing Tip 1) Plan Your Search

It’s best to know what you are looking for in a candidate before you actually start sourcing. Recruiters often overlook what the client is asking of them. Understanding the exact requirements of the job opening/position is critical to finding the right person for the job: his or her title, skill, expertise. After conducting initial searches, make sure to break out the trusty internal thesaurus and begin searching for alternative titles, skills, technologies and etc.

Internal Thesaurus

Sourcing Tip 2) Figure out who to search for

It is a good idea to know what type of person is perfect for your role. An important rule of thumb is not to judge a candidate’s worth solely on his/her resume. Even professional resumes cannot detail every bit of a person’s experience and expertise.
A resume is a candidate’s attempt to remember his or her accomplishments, duties, and work experiences. So make sure to have a conversation with a candidate before writing them off. In addition, even if a particular candidate is not qualified for a job now he or she can be qualified for another job down the line, so always keep your candidates in the back of your mind!

Sourcing Tip 3) Search in the right places

Qualified candidates tend to receive hundreds of InMails from recruiters on LinkedIn in a week. Why take such a crowded path? Consider taking the road less traveled. Use other forms of social media, such as: Pinterest and Twitter. They may prove to be helpful tools in the talent search.
Pinterest is great for looking for creative talent. You can see a graphic designer’s and a web designer’s chops through their profiles or, at the very least, what inspires them. On the other hand, Twitter has a huge user base and an advanced search capability. With it, a perceptive recruiter can network and grow her candidate pool without breaking the bank.

Pinterest Portfolio

Why not also take things offline? Attending in-person recruiting events or attending industry-specific conferences can prove to be resourceful. Expand your network breadth. Do not leave any hidden talent pools untouched. Use all possible means and resources!

Sourcing Tip 4) Rinse, Switch-up, Improve

The last bit of advice we would like to leave you with is not to let your searches bog you down and to not allow your searches to get stagnant. Create dynamic searches for each type of role, person, and company. If certain combinations of role, person, and company indicate that Linkedin is the place to go, then go there. If another combination points to Pinterest then look there. Sourcing needs to remain proactive and not passive. Most importantly, you have to understand what kind of candidates you are looking for and where those candidates are. Find what works best for you and always strive to make it better.
Happy Hunting!

How Reflik is Transforming the Workplace, According to Forbes

July 22, 2016 By Reflik

Recently, Reflik was featured in How Crowdsourcing Is Transforming The Workplace in Forbes. Reflik CEO, Ash Vachhani described how talent crowdsourcing is positively changing the recruiting industry for recruiters, industry professionals, and employers!

Below is a brief excerpt from the article.

While crowdsourcing has become easily successful in the general marketplace, it has not always been present within a more traditional workplace. That was, until Reflik entered the arena. I heard from Ashish Vachhani, CEO of Reflik, on how the company works. “Reflik crowdsources talent – we find top candidates in half the time and for half the cost, through our extensive network of recruiters and industry professionals. We cast a wide net, which increases the chances of employers finding their dream candidate. Our proprietary algorithm and dedicated account managers filter and rigorously screen the most qualified candidates. We pick the ten most qualified and ready-to-interview candidates in less than ten days.”

The rest of article describes how crowdsourcing is transforming the workplace and many industries. Examples of other crowdsourcing marketplaces include UpWork, OneSpace, AirBnB, and Uber. The Reflik team is thrilled to be transforming the workplace by providing a recruiting marketplace that is helping recruiters, industry professionals. and employers place candidates more quickly and efficiently.

You can read the full article here.

Maximizing LinkedIn

February 17, 2016 By Ash Geria

LinkedIn is the most popular professional network for connecting with colleagues, advertising yourself as a candidate, and sharing content applicable to your trade. With so many people joining LinkedIn daily, it’s important to differentiate yourself with a well-organized and informative profile. The best LinkedIn profiles effectively summarize the key aspects of a user’s career and are interesting to read without providing unnecessary details. As LinkedIn becomes increasingly more important in the professional world, here are some of the most important ways you can maximize your LinkedIn profile.

Personalization

While populating your account with pertinent career information should be your primary goal when editing your LinkedIn account, select personal details make all the difference in making yourself appear more personable and interesting. For example, adding a few personal interests in your summary can serve as an easy ice-breaker for new connections eager to learn more about you.

A background photo to replace the dull blue stock background that we all started with can inform viewers of your current city if you post a skyline or your favorite sports team if you choose an applicable background.
Many companies provide free headshots to staff specifically for LinkedIn, but even if that’s not your circumstance, a headshot is worth the investment to land your profile more attention.
Another key detail on LinkedIn is the personal URL. On your personal page under your picture, name, and education there should be a small bar that allows you to change your stock URL to something more personable for a business card or email signature.

It’s All About The Details

In your summary, you should give an overview of your professional career complete with what you do at your current position, career ambitions, any pertinent skills, and as mentioned previously a few personal details to liven up your profile.

For experience, you should summarize your current position and past positions with important accomplishments, an overview of tasks performed, and whenever possible a record of quantifiable achievements (ex. annual sales total). There’s even a section for volunteer activities, which can allow you to connect with other volunteers at organizations all over the world.
The Education section on LinkedIn is pertinent especially to college students or recent graduates but visitors to your account will certainly pay attention to important details like your Alma Mater, activities you took part in at school, pertinent courses you took, and your GPA.

Posting and Interacting

A personalized LinkedIn account isn’t complete without regular interactions with connections.

Posting regularly puts your profile at the forefront of your connections’ minds and allows you to show some of your personal interests. Liking and sharing connections’ posts also shows them that you’re interested in their content.
You can post articles associated with your industry or you could even post open positions from Reflik, if a connection applies to the position from your link and is hired, you’ll be sent the referral reward for the hire.
Endorsing a connection’s skills similarly demonstrates interest and encourages them to in turn endorse you for a skill.
Make sure to join groups that have to do with your interests or career on LinkedIn. Type a few key words into LinkedIn search to see what’s out there and check out what your colleagues or college friends belong to on LinkedIn. Groups are a great way to show off your interests as well as find valuable new connections.

Leveraging LinkedIn

After following some of our tips for maximizing your LinkedIn, you can get started making the most of your newly edited profiled! Here are a few ways you can leverage LinkedIn to your benefit.

With an edited profile it will be far easier for connections to find you online or recruiters to reach out to you with new job opportunities.
Export your LinkedIn information into resume format or at the very least utilize it as a resource when editing your resume.
Post open positions from Reflik on LinkedIn and earn money when candidates that use your links are hired!
Advertise your business or work by posting content on LinkedIn.

The Crowdsourcing Disruption: Airbnb and Reflik

February 3, 2016 By Ashish Vachhani

Crowdsourcing is the process of acquiring services or information by seeking contributions from communities, particularly from those that are online. Some of the most successful new companies on the market are currently using this process to make people’s lives easier and better. Reflik will regularly be releasing blog posts from a number of authors on the Crowdsourcing Revolution, where we will be comparing the origins and strategies of the exciting new companies that are utilizing crowdsourcing at the core of their business.

Airbnb’s rise from a San Francisco startup to a global success with 1,500,000 listings and a valuation at $20 billion certainly did not occur overnight. Co-founders of Airbnb, Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia began their entrepreneurial journey humbly in a small apartment trying to get by while working on a completely different venture. With barely enough money on hand to eat, they rented out a room of their apartment with the promise of breakfast in the morning. They created a simple website and quickly had three renters sign up for a cost much lower than the average hotel. Soon after, ‘Airbed & Breakfast” was born just in time for the 2008 Democratic National Convention held in Denver, Colorado, where hotels were filled to the brink and passionate politicos needed places to stay.

As Airbed & Breakfast rapidly scaled its operation, the founders found a brilliant set of products to take advantage of the 2008 presidential election. They bought generic cereal in bulk and designed new boxes named Obama O’s after Senator Barack Obama and Cap’n McCains after Senator John McCain. This terrific idea raised $30,000 for the venture and the team was quickly proving that their creativity could be highly profitable. Soon after in 2009, Airbed & Breakfast joined Y Combinator and earned an additional $20,000 in funding. Seeking a catchier name, Airbed & Breakfast was renamed Airbnb and the team began the hunt for more funding, eventually receiving an offer of $600,000 from Y Ventures and Sequoia Capital.

Airbnb’s overnight success became a headache for the growing company as new policies needed to be added to support a wider customer base. With increased transactions and the obvious problems that arose with them, Airbnb was quick to remedy problems and install new policies. For example, Airbnb began providing insurance for those renting out homes and apartments to ensure vandalism or theft didn’t deter hosts. Partnerships with travel companies like Concur and buyouts of competitors like CrashPad and LocalMind have propelled Airbnb into global markets, spurring on the growth of users and hosts. With new features like Price Tips, a price recommendation tool for hosts, regularly being added to Airbnb, it is clear that the future is bright for this young company that seeks to revolutionize the hotel industry.

Just as Airbnb gained success crowdsourcing for the hotel industry, Reflik is gaining popularity by crowdsourcing for the recruiting industry. Homeowners now can rent out their empty spaces to individuals seeking an affordable alternative to hotels with Airbnb. In the same way, the recruiting community on Reflik.com leverages their existing database of candidates, social and professional connections, and social networks to fill open positions more efficiently for less money. The crowdsourcing phenomenon is successful because it provides platforms for individuals to market goods and services to each other without the formalities normally required of businesses. Uber, Airbnb, and Reflik are all leading the charge in providing opportunities for everyone to leverage their goods and abilities to a wider community, creating a virtual revolution that is disrupting the taxi, hotel, and recruiting industries.

By Ashish Vachhani

Source: TechCrunch

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The Crowdsourcing Disruption: Uber and Reflik

August 7, 2015 By Ashish Vachhani

Prior to becoming a global success worth tens of billions of dollars, Uber was merely an idea in the mind of StumbleUpon founder, Garrett Camp, and entrepreneur, Travis Kalanick. While hanging out one day, they realized that taxis ran an inefficient monopoly on transportation in San Francisco and that this system could be made more streamlined and cost-effective. They discovered that by connecting drivers directly to customers through a phone application, customers would pay less for rides and drivers could find customers more quickly.

Unknowingly, one of the First modern Crowdsourcing Ideas was Born

Camp and Kalanick had unknowingly just fathered one of the first crowdsourcing ideas, one where taxi services are crowdsourced to a wider range of riders and drivers, not just licensed taxi drivers and customers on the street. Their first prototype revolved around splitting the cost of a Mercedes and a garage, as well as creating a mobile application called Ubercab.

Three employees of the new company tested out Camp’s and Kalanick’s idea by driving through New York City to deliver customers found from the application to their destinations quickly and for less money than normal means. The test proved successful and Uber first went live in San Francisco in the summer of 2010. Despite legal issues, Uber became wildly successful and has expanded into 58 countries. This fascinating company will undoubtedly continue to innovate to make ride-sharing more cost-effective and exciting.

Uber Brings Drivers to Travelers Just as Reflik Connects Employers with Independent Recruiters and Jobseekers

Just as Uber disrupted the unimaginative and expensive world of taxi services, Reflik has made the disruption of the traditional world of recruiting one of its primary goals. A foremost cause of Uber is to increase efficiency, which it accomplishes for both the driver and customer. The driver has the ability to create their own schedule and use the car of their choosing, not just a mandatory yellow cab.

The customer has the ability to use their mobile phone to quickly hail a private car instead of waiting in the street for a taxi to come around the corner. In the same manner, Reflik increases the efficiency of the recruiting industry by directly connecting employers with third party recruiters and individuals to fill positions more quickly with better candidates. The slow moving recruiting industry of the past has experienced small improvements from online job boards but nothing can beat the speed of a referral-driven platform.

Reflik Drives More Hires for Less Money than Traditional Recruiting Avenues

Taxi services can also be incredibly expensive while Uber’s overall cost is usually lower than the cost of a taxi. In the same way, traditional recruiting methods can cost up to 20% of the hire’s salary, while a typical hire with Reflik’s crowdsourced recruiting can be accomplished with a referral reward of only $5000!

Reflik replaces the need for typical recruiting methods by exposing open positions to third party recruiters and individuals who can then refer their qualified social and professional contacts to those positions at no cost to the employer. If the employer finds a perfect hire then a referral reward is paid to the referring party. Ultimately, Reflik drives more hires for less money than traditional recruiting avenues just as Uber gets passengers to their destinations more efficiently than traditional taxi cabs.

Posting jobs is free, quick & easy! Get started today!

By Ashish Vachhani