What’s Your Tag Line?

Many years ago a recruiter connected with me. During our conversation he asked me what's my tag line. My tag line, what's that? I asked. He said, you know, like someone is a "Problem Solver", or "Deal Closer" etc. You need to have a tag line that describes you, he said to me.The conversation got me thinking. Before that time I had never thought what was my tag line. After some thought, I chose "Enabling People" as my tag line. I like to enable people deliver better, by creating an…

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Hiring Introverts and Extroverts

I recently became a little active on Quora. I came across a question there that caught my attention."As a decision-maker, when did you hire an introvert over an extrovert? Did you find them more productive or less?"I think it depends on the role you are hiring for. I have seen that when hiring for an individual contributor role, I might be okay to select introverts. I might even consider introverts for roles like testing, editing, proof reading etc. I am more likely to select an extrovert for leadership roles, sales roles…

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Recruiters, Wake Up and Use Social Networking to Hire

In a recent post, RWW reports that “In a study of 300 hiring managers and recruiters, Palo Alto-based social networking monitoring service Reppler reports that 76% of hiring managers look at applicants' Facebook profiles. An additional 56% are looking at Twitter, and 48% check out LinkedIn.”The fact that recruiters should be checking out basic info on social networks makes perfect sense to me. Unfortunately this doesn’t seem true, at least for Indian recruiters. I recently got a call from a recruiter, apparently someone involved in senior level recruitment in a…

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Changing Context

During a recent organizational development workshop that I attended, the facilitator talked about changing context. It was an interesting discussion that got me thinking about my changed context. I could recognize a few that I have experienced in the last couple of years.About two years ago my context as a manager and leader changed about the way I was managing my teams. I moved from "I have to do everything and I have get everything done” to “I have to enable people to do their jobs"This significantly changed my approach to…

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Progress so far – Unofficial Salary Survey 2010

It’s been a slow start to the 2010 Unofficial Salary Survey of eLearning, Content Development and Training jobs. You can now view the responses by following the Responses link.Some highlights so far:Functions that have participated are Instructional Designers (33%) and Technology/Programmers (22%), followed by Project management (17%) and Graphics and Media (11%).Most participants have 10 years work experience (28%) followed by 5 and 3 years (11% each).So far the survey seems to be dominated by male responders (72%).Only 28% people switched jobs last year.Mostly people from elearning/training vendors have participated…

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Unofficial Salary Survey 2010

It’s time to launch the 2010 Unofficial Salary Survey for elearning, content development and training jobs in India. There's nothing official about this survey. The survey is not based on responses by companies but based on responses provided by you, the employee. This survey is not associated with any organization. The survey is anonymous.This survey is for you if you are an Instructional Designer, Content Developer, Technical Writer, Project Manager, Graphics designer, Flash Programmer, Content Integrator, Tester, Editor, Trainer, Training administrator, SME, or any other role involved in elearning, content…

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Why an Updated LinkedIn Profile is Important

I recently discovered how I can effectively use LinkedIn to find potential candidates for recruitment. I simply update my status message with what I am looking for and get responses from interested candidates. Okay, I know this isn’t really new but hey, it’s new for me. Anyway this post isn’t about this discovery of mine. I received a few responses to my status updates. These were from people I know and have worked with in the past. Unfortunately, a few of the people who responded did not have an updated…

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Unofficial eLearning Salary Survey 2009

Update: Survey is closed for the year. You can view the elearning and content development salaries in India for 2009 here.Launching the Unofficial Salary Survey for eLearning / Content Development Jobs in India for year 2009. There's nothing official about this survey. The survey is not based on responses by companies but based on responses provided by you, the employee. This survey is not associated with any organization. The survey is anonymous. This survey is for you if you are an Instructional Designer, Content Developer, Tech Writer, Project Manager, Graphics…

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Employability, the biggest challenge

In my second part in the series, I share what Manish Sabharwal spoke at our annual strategy input conference. Manish Sabharwal is the Chairman and co-founder of TeamLease. Manish wanted to start a new company that was profitable, fun, and good for India. He co-founded Team Lease, a staffing company, and in six years his company has grown to 80,000 employees and $250 million company. It was great fun listening to Manish again this year.According to Manish, vocational training has to come with a job. There has been an employment…

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How to Select Candidates Online

Seth Godin writes about how he selected candidates for marketing and web internship. He was overwhelmed by the quality of applications he got, so he created a Facebook group for candidates to meet and hang out online. As he explains:It was absolutely fascinating. Within a day, the group had divided into four camps:The game-show contestants, quick on the trigger, who were searching for a quick yes or no. Most of them left.The lurkers. They were there, but we couldn't tell.The followers. They waited for someone to tell them what to…

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