What my Beagle can teach me about recruitment

So it is now almost the end of my 5th week in my new career path as a Recruitment Consultant with a niche recruitment consultancy, Electus Recruitment, and it got me thinking as to what my Beagle Rahi can teach me about recruitment. After all, he has given me some valuable lessons around networking (see: What my Beagle can teach me about networking), so let's see what the little fellow with the big nose and floppy ears has to add here.

Greet (happy to talk): no matter what type of day you're having (busy, frustrating, problematic), greet someone in a warm and friendly manner, and focus just on them, and not on whatever else is happening in your little part of the world. Rahi is always eagerly friendly with greeting friends; new or old, and everyone needs to be greeted.

Pay attention: don't just hear, listen, really listen and take in as much as you can. A dog handler once told me not to bother speaking to Rahi as he won't understand the spoken word ... ah, wrong. Rahi knows "walk", "drive", "bathroom", "sit", "bed", "dog park", plus a few more. Someone's been paying attention, big time!

Get to know you: okay, a Beagle uses his big black nose (normally wet) to really get to know you, and once he knows you, he never seems to forget. While I don't condone the use of a wet nose and smell, do take the time to get to know the person you are speaking to, and find out how you may be able to assist them.

Be positive: always interact in a positive manner, regardless what sort of day you're having, or what sort of news you have to deliver. If it is bad news, stand in the other person's shoes and work out how you would like to receive the news (especially if it is bad news). Rahi is pretty adept now at judging moods, and he leans in and cuddles in a bit closer, if he senses your day has gone to pot.

Feedback: Rahi thrives on feedback, and learns from it. He cannot read your mind, and relies on body language and other signals. Same with me ... if you don't tell me, and we are not sitting face to face, chances are I'll miss something important (and I cannot mind read). But, if you tell me, like Rahi, I can work on the feedback; good, bad, indifferent ... it's all very important to me.

Follow up: My Beagle is really rather clever at remembering people, places and things, and isn't backwards in coming forwards to follow up on these opportunities when he has the chance to (although it must be said, there are other things that he should not be doing (sitting on a bed perhaps?) and he blissfully chooses to be ignorant. And so it is with recruitment ... when a course of action is taken, follow up is an integral part of the work flow. I have been complimented on my follow up processes in the past, and it's one skill I was pleased to bring with me to the recruitment industry.

Be persistent: Beagles are known in the dog world as one of the most stubborn breeds, and a breed that doesn't normally just take "no" for an answer. Rahi is certainly no different. But thinking about it, neither do I, and I am known to be patient and persistent, when there is a task that I know has a conclusion that just has to be reached, and more importantly, I know it will add value to the other party, I will be persistent and follow through (Rahi on the other only thinks of himself with some of his wants *wink*).

Now to print this article off and tape it to the wall near my desk, so I am continually reminded of my Beagle's lesson about recruitment.

I hope you have a productive week.

Thomas

Why I choose BlackBerry as my communication device

If you didn't already know, I am @TferThomas on twitter, and it is crystal clear from my tweets I am very passionate about BlackBerrys and mobilised technology, and yes, I will fess up, I am biased.

Having said that though, I will NEVER EVER rubbish a person's mobile/smart phone choice. It is a basic fundamental right, as individuals, to be just that, an individual, and choose your weapon... oops, I mean phone, of choice.

As a result of my passionate tweeting of all things BlackBerry, a number of people have actually taken the time to ask me .... well, why? So the point of this blog post, is to try to explain why I choose BlackBerry as my weapon for communication (ha ha).

For the purpose of this blog post, I will use specifically my 9000 Bold as the example (I also have an 8100 Pearl and an 8300 Curve), and cover off what features and add on's that I use (this is NOT an exhaustive list).

Standard capabilities, staying in touch:
The BlackBerry Bold has a number of standard inbuilt features to enhance and make easier your day to day communication with others:​

• It is a phone....
do I really need to explain this any further, apart from a lot of people don't realise you can make conference calls, straight out of the box.​

•It has an email function...
apart from linking your web based email addresses to your BlackBerry (which can be done with basically any phone these days), by utilising a BlackBerry BIS plan (Business Internet Service, and no I am not going near BES, Business Enterprise Service, in this blog), you can have up to 10 email addresses pushed to your BlackBerry. Currently I am running 8 email addresses, neatly and tidily. Under most BlackBerry plans that I have seen, for a monthly BlackBerry plan fee, the number of emails per month is unlimited.​

• It can SMS...
Or as a colleague of mine calls it "Short Message System". Again, I don't need to waste time here.​

• It has MMS...
Multi-Media Messaging Service. Basically like a text message but for multi-media.​

• For BlackBerry owners across the world, we are spoiled with PIN messaging...
A messaging service between BlackBerry devices, using their individual PINs that are unique to each BlackBerry device (consisting of alpha and numeric characters). It is included in your BlackBerry Plan, and to talk to someone else, you must first introduce yourself and ask they accept you (sort of instant messaging, but only between consenting BlackBerrys)​

• IM...
Instant Messaging. This is the same service you can access and use on your PC, lap top or Mac etc, but is a mobilised, cut down version. A good example of this is the third party applications from MSN, Google and Yahoo. I must say, as a result of twitter, I very rarely use Google Talk these days, but it is still on the BlackBerry... just in case.

So, yes, you say, most of these are available (apart from PIN messaging) on my phone or smart phone. That's true, but then we start adding to the communication (both social and business) ability of the BlackBerry with dedicated specifically designed third party applications:

twitter...
Who hasn't heard of twitter? Basically twitter is a social and business networking tool, where you start by answering a simple question... "what are you doing?" which needs to be provided in 140 characters or less. You find people to follow, and people follow you. Yes, I know you know what it's all about, and there are a heap of twitterers out there who blog about using twitter every moment of every day, so I don't need to reinvent the wheel here.

Currently, I have access to 5 twitter tools:
1. twitterberry (twitter for BlackBerry) via a dedicated icon on your home screen (or wherever you decide to place it)
2. SocialScope (tool which integrates with twitter and facebook, via a dedicated icon)
3. yatca (yet another twitter client application, which works not only from a dedicated icon on your home screen, as well as from your option menus from any program's menu (very handy)
4. Viigo (as it is in beta testing, cannot say anything else here), but has a dedicated icon, and one of my used third party applications, and
5. Another one that is even more secretive from an existing webmail provider (and is integrated within the menu options). ;)

And as you only have 140 characters, you need to be able to shorten any posted url s, and sure you can use tinyurl.com (a web based url shortening site) or you can download bit.lify by Ubiquitous Systems onto your BlackBerry, which then adds a further option in your BlackBerry menu within any BlackBerry program.... very handy. Again, unlike tinyurl, this is a third party application that has been designed to integrate into the BlackBerry's menus.

Facebook:
Yep, I still have the "L Plates" on here as only a very recent, albeit unconvinced, Facebook participant. Via Facebook for BlackBerry 1.5 I can converse with my friends, view comments, send messages, upload photos, write on walls, etc.

I also use Socialscope which enables me to do some of these things, including uploading photos. And from the other "secret" web based application, again similar functions. Further, I can send a tweet (including photos, using twitpic.com as the bridge) to twitter, & it also updates my Facebook page... pretty cool hey?

Vlingo:
Voice activation is hear to stay with the BlackBerry, and with every application designed, it keeps getting more and more refined. Vlingo allows you to:
• Complete searches on the internet
• Compose and send updates to twitter and Facebook
• Compose and send SMS'
• Compose and send emails
All by using your voice (Google has recently introduced a voice activated search function as well for BlackBerrys (and no doubt almost every other phone operating system type). Furthermore, Vlingo again, like yatca and bit.lify is integrated into the BlackBerry's menu options.

Flickr:
I am sure most people have heard of Flickr, and the BlackBerry version, from a dedicated icon on your home screen, allows you to upload your photos to your Flickr account, which people can view etc. Why have I included Flickr as a communication tool?

Have a read of this....

"You've been sent a Flickr Mail from Emma J. Williams:

------------------------------------------------------------

:: Schmap Melbourne Seventh Edition: Photo Inclusion

Hi Thomas,

I am delighted to let you know that your submitted photo
has been selected for inclusion in the newly released
seventh edition of our Schmap Melbourne Guide:

Flinders Street Station
http://www.schmap.com/melbourne/sights_historic/p=70689/i=70689_76.jpg

On a desktop computer, you can see exactly how your photo is displayed and credited in the our guide at:

Flinders Street Station
http://www.schmap.com/?m=iphone#uid=melbourne&sid=sights_historic&p=70689&i=70689_76

Finally, if you have a blog, you might also like to check
out the customizable widgetized version of our Schmap
Melbourne Guide, complete with your published photo:

http://www.schmap.com/guidewidgets/p=32020117N05/c=SK50024930

Thanks so much for letting us include your photo - please enjoy the guide!

Best regards,

Emma Williams,
Managing Editor, Schmap Guides
www.schmap.me/emma.williams

------------------------------------------------------------"

By uploading this picture onto Flickr, via my Flickr account, Emma and I were able to connect.

In essence...
What I really like about all of these applications (some more so than others) is that they all integrate really rather seamlessly in with the BlackBerry OS (Operating System), which makes it dead easy for me to communicate with others, quickly and very efficiently.

Originally, the BlackBerry was a business tool for the high flyers, large corporates, or key government departments. Now, it's a totally different story... building on the second to none email efficiency and ability, the BlackBerry now appeals to a much wider audience (hey, I even know of a 16 year old girl who has one).

Finally...
The BlackBerry allows me to stay in touch, without the need for a laptop, desk, or even office. And that my friends, the very essence of flexibility and availability, is why I choose BlackBerry as my communication device, my phone.