Project Management Newsletter
 
NEWSLETTERS
 

CIO.com updates, insights and advice on technology, management and your career.

 
 
 
LEADERSHIP
 
CIO Executive Programs
The Leader in Face-to-Face Education for Senior Executives

Offering regional and national programs, CIO (and CSO) events bring together some of the most respected names and thought leaders in information technology and security. Presented by CIOs and other senior level executives, these invitation-only programs offer timely topics and strong networking. Learn More »

 
CIO Executive Council
A Peer-Advisory Service and Professional Association for CIOs

Mid-Market CIO Panel: Tips and Techniques for Improving Vendor Relationships

July 15, 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM U.S./Eastern (GMT-4)

We'll highlight relationship priorities and best practices identified in a Council study, and we'll interact with a CIO panel on the approaches they've used to improve strategic vendor partnerships.

Secrets of Successful Vendor Contract Negotiations for the Mid-Market

Sept. 10, 2009, 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM U.S./Eastern (GMT-4)

On this free public Council teleconference, Matthew A. Karlyn, attorney at Foley & Lardner in Boston, will share tips on negotiating tactics and new, creative contract terms to help mid-market CIOs make better deals.

Executive Competencies Assessment Tool

Assess Your Business Leadership Skills with the Council's new benchmarking tool. Rate yourself in change leadership, strategy, customer focus and more.

More / Register »

Learn more about the CIO Executive Council »



 
 
RESOURCE CENTER
 
 
 
SUBSCRIBE TO CIO
 
Are you involved in setting the direction for your company's IT budget or strategy?

Apply today for a FREE subscription to CIO Magazine!

 
 

Onerous Hiring Processes Prevent Companies from Competing in White-Hot Labor Market

By Meridith LevinsonFierce competition for information technology workers is forcing some employers to reassess their hiring processes, according to executives ...

 

February 01, 2007CIO

By Meridith Levinson

Fierce competition for information technology workers is forcing some employers to reassess their hiring processes, according to executives with IT staffing firm Spherion.

“Organizations are evaluating how they’re acquiring talent to ensure they’re in a position to claim the best and brightest,” says Sean Ebner, a regional vice president for Spherion who’s based in Scottsdale, Ariz. “Many entities had adapted very stringent hiring processes [during the economic downturn] which are starting to get in the way of their ability to attract and retain the best talent.”  

Ebner points to a client whose strict criteria for selecting candidates weeded out perfectly good ones. The client, a bank (Ebner declined to offer the name), wouldn’t hire anyone who held more than four jobs in seven years, regardless of their skills and experience.  

Another financial services firm with which Spherion works makes all prospective employees, regardless of the position for which they’re applying, take a battery of tests to assess their personalities as well as their English language, writing and cognitive reasoning skills. Ebner says the financial services company is realizing that it needs to figure out the kinds of jobs for which certain tests would be necessary instead of making every candidate take every test, which slows down its hiring process.  

Executive Response

Not all IT leaders are sold on the idea of streamlining their hiring processes, however.  

“I have no interest in hiring someone if they’re not what I want, regardless of how many [job] offers they have,” says Tom Gosnell, CIO of Cuna Mutual in Madison, Wis

Because recruiting is one of his most important activities as CIO, Gosnell says he can’t let the challenges associated with a tight labor market force him into knee-jerk hiring decisions. He says he’s gone so far as to tell his managers that even though the 550-person IT department needs Microsoft .net skills, he doesn’t want to hire someone who has .net expertise but who lacks other skills, because such an individual won’t have opportunities for career growth. “I want people who understand the business and have an interest in growing the business and have a deep technology competency,” he says. 

Although Gosnell is not inclined to forgo parts of his hiring process for the sake of beating a competitor to the punch on a job offer, he admits that his company does need to continue to improve its overall processes for recruiting. Specifically, he’d like to see his company strengthen its relationships with recruiting firms and enhance the online recruiting capabilities on its website.  

 
 
Loading...
 
WHITE PAPERS

The Convergence of IT and Facilities

If IT and Facilities could work collaboratively, organizations can operate more efficiently and effectively...
 

The Gartner Magic Quadrant for IT PPM Applications

This report evaluates 19 vendors on their ability to execute and completeness of vision.
 

Keep Your CMDB On Course

Learn how configuration drift can challenge configuration management database integrity.
 

Meet Rising Demands on IT and Cut Costs

Strategies for Modernizing IT, Reducing Costs, and Improving Operational Efficiency
 

Save On Data Center Costs

Using a five step process one organization was able to eliminate more than 2,000 servers from their IT infrastructure
 

Deliver Higher-Performing Technology Services with ITIL

Enable the business and your IT organization to cope with the effects of economic stress.
 

WEBCASTS

Managing Client Systems in the Enterprise

Keeping client systems costs under control is just one of the many initiatives IT must address when trying to manag...
 

BMC Service Assurance Demo

What if you could predict disruptive IT events and automate their resolution -- all before they disrupt your busine...
 

BMC Service Automation Demo

BMC Service Automation automates repetitive, manual tasks (such as provisioning, patching and compliance) to reduce...
 

BMC Application Performance and Analytics: Predictive Intelligence in Action

See the highlights of BMC's Application Performance and Analytics; a predictive, resourceful and intelligent soluti...
 

Taking the Service Desk to the Next Level

Listen to this conversation with Doug Mueller to learn how standards and processes have evolved to bring us the ser...
 

How to Reduce Eclipse BIRT Development Effort for Data Visualizations

Live Webcast: Wednesday July 15th 2 PM ET / 11 AM PT

Web applications can come with a long list of visualiz...
 

Resource Alerts

Get instant email notifications by topic when white papers, webcasts, and case studies are added to our library.

 
FEATURED SPONSORS
 
 
 
SPONSORED LINKS
 

Taking the Service Desk to the Next Level

Maximizing the Business Value of the PC Infrastructure

How Interactive Viewer Reduces the Effort to Meet Visualization Requirements

Top 10 Business and IT Drivers for the Wealth Management Sector

BPM Survey Results: The Real-World Analysis

BPM: Leveraging Competencies and Streamlining Processes to Achieve Operational Excellence

Achieving Pervasive Performance Management

Automating the Generation and Secure Distribution of Excel Reports

Improve ROI, lower TCO and reduce energy consumption.

Introducing the new HP ProLiant G6 server family

Accenture: Outsourcing for Competitive Advantage. More...

Better spam protection with Postini for just $1/user/mo

Introducing the new HP ProLiant G6 server family

infoBOOM! - The Mid-Sized Company CIO's Exclusive Community

Accenture IT Consulting: Logical meets technological. More . . .

The Fraudster Economy Model: Operating a Business in the Underground

Payback in 9 months with CA Spectrum solutions

The Case for Investing in Business Analytics Technology. Read white paper.

Live Webinar: Applying Business Analytics. Click here to learn more

Developing A Dynamic, Real-Time IT Infrastructure

Data Loss Prevention: A Better Way to Approach Security

Using Open Source to Deploy Web Applications

Cloud Computing: Read about VMware's compelling vision & set of products

Enterprise PBX Buyer's Guide

Secondary Market Primer: Your Network at Half Price

Seven Ways ITIL Can Help You in an Economic Downturn

Communications and Collaboration Needs at Business Organizations

Top-line Performance that's Bottom-line Efficient

5 Steps to Automating Accounts Payable

BPM ROI calculator

Disciplined Autonomy: Resolving the Tension Between Flexibility and Control

Smart Decisions: The Role of Key Performance Indicators

64-page prescriptive guide to security, compliance, and IT operations.

Get Google Enterprise Search for your business information.

Accenture IT Consulting: Enabling high performance. More...

Top Five CIO Challenges

Insight makes it easy to spend your Microsoft subsidy check.

Five minute business analytics assessment. Immediate results.

Dangerous Collaboration Practices: 5 Ways IT Can Minimize Risk

Accenture: Outsourcing for uncertain times. Click to learn more.

Keep online transactions fast with CA Wily APM

Get agile IT security with CA Security Management

Trade in your old laser printer and get up to $1000 back!

Revolutionizing Enterprise Application Deployment

Why Data Loss is Increasing--and What You Can Do About It

Learn how to managing client systems in the enterprise.

Build a High-Performance Open Web Platform

Mid-Sized Company CIO Community: infoBOOM!

Enterprise PBX Comparison Guide

Getting Value from Outdated Networking Equipment