Move beyond old-fashioned job postings

The job board is slowly becoming an obsolete tool for recruiters. As the job market turns around and social networking continues to grow, active job-board-seekers will near extinction. However, with some creativity and innovation the job posting can still be an extremely useful part of the sourcing process. You just need to repurpose the job description and start proactively seeking candidates yourself.

Each field of information in a job posting can be used as search criteria in any database or social network to refine the pool of candidates and find the perfect match. Use an advanced search tool to hone in on candidates with experience in your industry and preferences that match your job opening's location and function. Looking for a candidate with specific certifications or degrees? Make sure to include it in your boolean search strings. The more information you include in your search the better the quality of hire.

These simple innovative techniques can help recruiters move beyond old-fashioned job postings -- making the job board the first step in a more proactive and effective sourcing process.

These aren't the Androids you're looking for

The Android versus iPhone debate will never die. But Androids do.

The one thing I've always loved about my Apple products is that I never have an issue with them "not working" or dying. Before I bought my first Mac, I had two HP laptops and a Sony Vaio. Between those 3 computers I had 2 failed hard drives, 2 failed screens, and a handful of other Windows-related software issues over a 5-year span. I have had my MacBook Pro for 5 years now and have yet to have a single issue with the hardware or software.

Beyond computers, I also love every Apple mobile device I've ever owned. Okay, so maybe I'm a fanboy. But I wasn't always! I grew up on PCs running Windows. I actually liked Clippy.  And I'll never forget how cool I felt when I first found the Microsoft Bear easter egg in Windows 3.1. I even had a Treo 700w, a handful of flip-phones, and a handful of problems before I bought my first iPhone. But to this day, I still have every single iPhone I ever owned -- an iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, and now an iPhone 5 -- and every single one still works perfectly.

But don't just take my word for it, recently, in a study by FixYa, the iPhone was rated as the most reliable smartphone on the market -- 3x more reliable than Samsung smartphones and 25x more reliable than Motorola phones. So if you're looking for a mobile device that doesn't die? These aren't the Androids you're looking for.

You are what you bookmark

I'm no psychologist.  Nor a philosopher.  But I don't think you have to be to see that the websites you have bookmarked in your favorite web browser speak volumes about who you are as a person.

And whether you sync your bookmarks (using iCloud, Chrome, or some other extension) or you have two separate set of bookmarks (one for work and one at home) says something about you too.

Take my bookmark bar (see above) for example:

• Synced across all devices = geek
• Abbreviated to save space = perfectionist
• In Google Chrome, the fastest browser = busy
• Different folders for different jobs/companies = multitasker
• Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, and LinkedIn = social
• Different folders for different Facebook and Twitter links = very social
• Blog = blogger
• iCloud = Apple fanboy
• Gizmodo = technophile
• Digg = been online since "web 2.0" was a term people used
• Fantasy Football = sports fan
• Amazon = online shop-a-holic who likes receiving things in the mail
• Nike+ = fit / brand loyal

That literally sums me up. Perfectly.

But now I'm curious. What do you have bookmarked? And what does it say about you?

[INFOGRAPHIC] Recruiters go mobile

Today, MBA recruiters use a mixture of traditional on-campus, in-person recruitment methods, and new digital recruitment tools to aid them in this complex process. This infographic from MBA Focus, "Digital MBA Recruitment: Top 10 recruiting tasks done by device," gives you a glimpse into how companies are recruiting top MBA talent using their computer, mobile device, and good ole-fashioned pen & paper. It clearly shows that recruiters have not only gone mobile, but also social, as more than 45% of recruiters use social media apps on their smartphone as part of the recruitment process.

Surviving the social game: Survivor vs Big Brother

Big Brother and Survivor are two of the most popular reality TV shows of all time. But besides some obvious differences -- one takes place inside a locked home for $500,000 and the other in the great outdoors for $1,000,000 -- the two shows are very similar.

A group of complete strangers come together to compete for money and vote each other off the show. In order to win that money, you must be the last man (or woman) standing at the end of the show. To get to the end of the show, you must not only win competitions, but also be socially accepted.

The way to win the social game is the one key difference between Survivor and Big Brother.

On Big Brother, you have to be strategic. You can't just lay low and cruise to the "small table" (the "small table" is brought into the kitchen to replace the "big table" once the house is down to 8 housemates). On Big Brother, you have to either be a leader, or align yourself with a leader. Then stick with your alliance until you have to make a move. Sometimes, the winner of Big Brother is the loudest, most-outgoing, socially-unaccepted person in the house, but they make moves. On Big Brother, making strategic moves gives you the power to survive.

On Survivor, you can be too strategic. If you make too many moves, you won't survive. On Survivor, you just have to keep calm and lay low. Sometimes -- if you're not too opinionated or too outgoing -- you can lose every single challenge, and just by laying low you'll make it to "the merge" ("the merge" is when the previously separate and competing teams come together and the show becomes every man and woman for himself or herself).

It always amazes me that contestants on Survivor can't keep calm long enough to make it to "the merge." It's the only thing you need to do to survive longer than half of your competitors. Sometimes people on Survivor make it to the merge before I even learn their name!

Maybe I am just speaking for myself -- a level-headed long-fuse? And granted the producers do cast the most overly-dramatic short-fused personalities they can find. But it's for one million dollars! C'mon!

Then again, I do get pretty cranky when I haven't eaten.