Month: May 2017

Evaluation – Can the newly discovered Molecular mechanism treat Alzheimer? (Content Princess)

What is Alzheimer disease?

Alzheimer is a brain disease, which sees the organ deteriorate at an alarmingly fast rate; this can be caused by chemical changes, and cells being destroyed – disabling the brain from making connections and signals, a vital method for your body to have motor skills, speech, sight, hearing, and logical thinking.

Symptoms can include:

  • Memory loss.
  • Losing use of limbs and other bodily functions.
  • Loss of logic and problem – solving abilities.
  • Severe stages can lead to loss of independence and need for care.
  • The disease eventually results in death, when the brain has deteriorated to the point of not being able to function.

What current treatments are available for Alzheimer’s?

There is no current cure, but similar to cancer, it depends on the stage the disease is at, to how much the treatment can prevent it from progressing, and for any future damage to your motor skills.

Treatments available for early stage Alzheimer’s:

  • Cognitive stimulation – exercises for improving thinking, logic and memory.
  • Cholinesterase inhibitors – Galantamine, Rivastigmine or Donepezil – these drugs can stop disease progression, and help people to function better.
  • Memantine – these are for severe forms of the condition, where the drug can reduce some of the symptoms, but it cannot stop progression or cure the disease.

What’s the new Molecular mechanism that’s been discovered?

A molecule, known as NCAM2, was found to be very low in Alzheimer sufferers, which was discovered in alive and dead patients – a scientific breakthrough, that has never been detected before with the disease.

It was also discovered that the clumps found in the sufferers’ brain were beta-amyloid proteins, which were destroying the NCAM2 chemical.

Why is this important?

This means that by identifying the new brain pattern, it can lead to a very effective measurement of the condition and a much earlier diagnosis of the disease, which allows for more options to be available for the patient – with a much higher chance of stopping progression very early on.

Benefits of the new Molecular mechanism:

  • Gives a direction for new treatments to focus on the balance of NCAM2 patients, which seems to be the strong offender in causing the disease.
  • Opportunity to discover the disease in very early stages – giving the patient a much higher chance of recovering.
  • Having a measurement of NCAM2 levels gives a lot of information about the stage that the patient is at with the disease – with even the potential for future medicines to increase levels in sufferers, thus reversing the Alzheimer’s.

Disadvantages of the new Molecular mechanism:

  • Although the data is there, with a much higher understanding, it is still a wide open field with a lot of questions that need to be answered.
  • Time and expense in doing the brain procedure.
  • It still hasn’t brought a cure, but a more effective indicator of Alzheimer’s development.

Evaluation:

This new finding is a breakthrough, which has provided a lot more understanding about Alzheimer’s for medical scientists – with even a new direction to look for when trying to find cures for the future.

However, for the here and now, it is still under testing and hasn’t been released mainstream yet to the public. But the measurement for NCAM2 has high potential, especially for checking a patient’s progress, which would be a lot more accurate in knowing what treatment they should choose.

Facebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmailFacebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail

Reprogramming Genes to Prolong Life: A theory or possibility? (Content Princess)

How is Reprogramming Genes possible?

It may sound like something out of a science fiction story, as up until the latest breakthrough, cell engineering had almost been impossible to achieve. The main challenge for scientists was being able to refract information from a single human cell.

What has changed?

Technology has now progressed, which enables us to make cellular adjustments, on both epigenetic and genetic angles; at the same time, we have also come closerto changing somatic cells into induced pluripotent stem cells.

What does this mean?

By using the resources from this technology, it is now possible to reprogram the gene sequence, to prolong a healthy youthful body for a much longer period.

The benefits of Reprogramming Genes to prolong life:

  • Improve the quality of life, by having full use of our bodies, which will surpass whatever age you are.
  • Prevent your body from diseases or deterioration.
  • Not having to retire early/prevent sickness from work (loss of earnings).
  • A Healthy body means a healthy mind, giving you a longer life fulfilment.
  • You will have a much longer life expectancy (on the circumstance of natural death, not including accidents, murder or other such circumstances).

The disadvantages of Reprogramming Genes to prolong life:

  • Still a lot of difficulty in reprogramming the host genome.
  • Controlling the gene expression is very problematic.
  • It’s a very long and complicated process, especially in transferring the new genes over.
  • Unstable in gene rearrangements.
  • The process would consume a lot of time and money, with the risk still being enormously high that it would be unsuccessful.
  • Controlling and suppressing ‘nature’ can usually end in consequences.
  • If successful, the human population would outgrow the planet, from the amount being born into the world and the decline in people dying – the resources on the planet may not be sufficient to cater to an even larger population boom.

Evaluation of Gene Reprogramming:

Although the feasibility is low at present, it is an enormous field that has opened up with a lot of hype in recent times. Gene Reprogramming has a lot of potential for mankind in the future, with the technology getting better at a very quick rate and the mastermind human understanding along with enormous amount of research they have collected already.

Prolonging human life expectancy, although there are the disadvantages with a population boom in general, it does mean we could keep our grandparents, or even great – grandparents for much longer and there would be a lot less grief in families.

Another benefit for the future mankind is being able to keep humans alive a lot longer in space, to discover and conquer other planets; to spread humanity outside of the planet that we live on.

Summary

I agree with the notion of editing human genes, for a much healthier, longer and better quality of life, as it is evident that illness and disease are caused by those unfortunate enough to have bad genetics.

Although, there is still a lot of work to be done, for the process to not only be effective but also the technology to provide it on a larger scale. So it would be crazy to rush through it and introduce it to the market when a lot more research is needed.

What else can I do to make my genes are healthy?

A lot of environmental and external factors play an important role in the health of our genes, so applying these methods should contribute to giving you a prolonged and healthy future:

  • Eating healthy e.g. vegetables, fruits, fish, minerals, etc. Eating the wrong foods can play a huge role in the way your genes shape themselves.
  • Exercise plenty.
  • Be happy with life – general wellbeing effects the way our cells work. If you are the type to suffer depression, then try and stimulate your mind by activity engagement, exercise (as mentioned above), or finding a passion that you love. There are many ways to bring positive changes to your life to obtain a happier mind.
Facebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmailFacebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail

Your Life and Death Could Depend On Your Sleep (Content Princess)

Everyone Wants to Live Longer

It is a difficult task to find people who do not want to extend their lives. There is always something more to see, to experience, to live for. It is one of life’s greatest goals to find a way to live as long as possible.

Most people know the common factors, eating healthy and exercising. But what most people do not realise, is that your sleep can have a huge impact on your health, and thus on how long you can live. One of the best ways to be healthy is to ensure that every night you get enough sleep.

Sleep Studies

To understand why sleep is such an important factor in our health, many researchers have conducted sleep studies. Such studies have been being conducted since 1925, researching on how you sleep, and the effect that it has on your body.

Recent studies have begun to focus on why we sleep. Most of the studies have shown that sleep can affect the health of both our body and mind, as well as regulating many of the processes of our body. These processes include memory and metabolism. When you lack in sleep, you help fuel diseases that can wreck your body.

Vital for Now

The issue of how sleep affects our bodies has never been more important than it is today. Americans are becoming more and more “24/7”, meaning that they work all day, everyday.

Resting has become less important than working. As the cost of living continues to increase, people feel forced to work more to keep up. As a result, many Americans are developing sleep disorders that are going undiagnosed.

More than 70 million people have sleep disorders, and more than 20{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} of Americans have a poor sleep pattern due to their work hours.

Sleep Disorders and Breathing

One of the biggest problems which accompany sleep disorders is breathing problems while you sleep. The study of sleeping and breathing came to the forefront in 1998, with David Gozal’s study pointing to children with obstructive sleep apnea. These children were found to have a harder time with their academic performance as well.

It helped spur a series of studies on the effects of sleepdisorders and breathing in both adults and children. This is, however, only part of the picture. Many sleep disorders are fuelled by the inability to fall asleep at night, going to bed too late, and trouble falling asleep at night.

Don’t Ignore Your Sleep

Sleep can affect a broad variety of aspects of both your mental and physical health. To maintain a healthy sleeping pattern you can follow the following tips:

  • Keep a normal sleeping schedule, no matter what. Wake up at the same time everyday, including weekends.
  • Calm your mind before bed, and try to avoid going on any screens before bed.
  • Use your bed for only sleeping and having sex.
  • Keep your bedroom clean and clutter-free to help keep your mind clear.
Facebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmailFacebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail

Using technology to find and keep the best techies (Content Princess)

The changing face of the workplace, with many companies working globally and remotely, means recruitment has become a far more diverse process than it used to be.

It’s also more important as hiring and retaining the right talent can make the difference between a company succeeding or not, so it is one of the key objectives of many chief executives.

Recruiters now face very different challenges from say, ten years ago, for example, trying to understand the motivations and needs of the so-called millennials is a major issue.

However, by far the biggest challenge across the globe is recruiting and retaining top IT talent. Being so in demand, IT candidates don’t need to promote themselves or actively look for a role, so they can be hard to find.

They are not the kind of people who would respond well to cold calling or head hunting either, which means recruiters need to find alternative ways to approach them in the first place.

A personality clash can also be part of the problem – while recruiters tend to be natural “people” people – by virtue of the kind of job they are doing – techies have a tendency to be more reserved. Also, many recruiters have no idea how to write an appropriate IT job spec, or what questions to ask in interviews because they don’t understand the subject.

It is all too common for highly skilled tech people to turn up for interviews and be asked to do the most menial IT problems as part of the process, which is not only insulting but highly likely to put them off the company for life.

This is where some of the new technology approaches to recruitment can help – funnily enough! It’s no good searching the normal job sites to find candidates for specialist tech jobs as they won’t be there.

But they are likely to be online chatting with other tech specialists on forums, in discussion groups, and on sites where they can share ideas and talk about solving technology problems, so venture into their natural habitat.

Using the candidate’s online footprint – looking at where they go and what forums they are active in, works well. If you are looking for a developer don’t search on a job site, join a developer discussion forum on LinkedIn.

There are many free candidate source websites out there, offering to search the whole of the web to see who is online and what they are doing, but this is casting far too wide a net.

However what might be worth trying is one of the new Talent Search platforms which have sprung up recently which enable you to hone your search, much more specifically creating more likelihood of success for a specialist role.

If you are trying to find the specialists who aren’t actively looking, and don’t want to be found, this kind of technology might help in honing a successful strategy to attract them anyway. Making use of the right technology could just be the key to find and keep the best techie for your company.

Facebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmailFacebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail

Is Faith just as important as Trust in a Marriage? (Content Princess)

Marriage is one of the most important bonds a person can ever make. There are certain things which make this bond thrive despite the ups and downs of life. Trusting your spouse is one of the most important factors.  As a Christian, your bond with Jesus is also of great importance – married or not!

So is it true that placing such an important bond in higher priority than the bond of marriage ends up weakening a marriage? Or does it improve the strength of your marriage?

Common Misconceptions

Many people hold the view that Christian couples divorce at the same rate as non-Christian couples. People hope to use this statement to undermine the faith in marriages. However, enough research has been done to suggest otherwise. Couples with an element of faith are less likely to divorce on the whole.

Research has shown that Catholic couples are 31{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} less likely to divorce than couples that aren’t religious. Protestant couples are 35{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} less likely to divorce, and Jewish couples have incredibly strong marriages – with a 97{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} less likelihood of divorce.

Having said this, the chance of divorce is increased when the couples are conservative Protestants, compared to being liberals or a non-religious couple.

Requirement of steadfastness

Further research outlines a few patterns about happy marriages.

  • While only 7{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} of struggling couples have said that ‘God is at the centre of our marriage’,
  • 53{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} of happy couples have said this statement.
  • 30{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} of struggling couples disagree with the statement ‘God is at the centre of our marriage.

This goes on to show that the likelihood of a better marriage is increased when the focus of each person isn’t their spouse, but rather the significance of their bond in the eyes of God.

It is also interesting that Protestants have a 35{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} less chance of divorcing, whereas another research shows that Protestants have a 20{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} more chance of divorcing.

This is because the latter Protestants are those who keep their Christianity mainly in the name rather than in their actions. Those who regularly go to church and are more ‘active’ Christians have a much happier married life on the whole.

This suggests that the stronger one’s relationship is with God, the stronger is the relation with their spouse – a positive correlation.

A Happy Marriage

Some people find it hard to believe that a ‘happy marriage’ is possible since spouses are always getting into heated arguments. The reality is that those heated arguments are mostly over nothing; they are the type of arguments you would look back at, and laugh about in future.

To avoid the arguments which damage marriages you need to make sure that the petty ones don’t escalate. That only happens when you realise that your relationship with your spouse is far more important than who misplaced the remote.

Marriage is certainly a very difficult instrument to play, and if you want to hit the right notes, you need help from a special being; help from God. Once you place God in the centre of your relationship, you will hit the right notes, and it will be worth it.

Facebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmailFacebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail

Recruitment of the Right Data Scientist for Your Company! (Content Princess)

What is a Data Scientist?

Data Science is a field that specialises in data interpretation and the formulation of future predictions by using numbers. It is a method that is beneficial to a company, which seeks to accurately predict finance and profits. This technique is commonly used for minimising risk assessment for decision making.

Your data doesn’t require any form of structure, as there are a lot of tools and methods to gather the information you need.

Helpful Hint: If an Excel sheet puts you to sleep, then you may need a Data Scientist!

What methods does a Data Scientist use, to accurately interpret my data?

  • Statistics
  • Model predictions
  • Market Optimisation
  • Data Preparation
  • Machine learning
  • Public policy
  • Analytical Marketing
  • Detection of Fraud
  • Risk Management

Data Science is heavily influenced by mathematics, IT, Information Science, Chemo metrics, Probability models, data engineering, learning pattern recognition and computer programming – to name a few.

What are the benefits of using Data Science?

Data Science is a huge benefit to a majority of businesses, mainly for its use of providing answers to a formed corporate decision. They can sift through the external and internal data, to analyse the strength and future forecast of profits or loss.

Business sectors that most benefit from using a Data Scientist:

  • Firms that use brands
  • Ecommerce
  • Retailers
  • On-demand services
  • Content

However, an increasing number of markets that have branched out online for business have found many great advantages from using Data Science and have enjoyed success.

How to employ the right Data Scientist?

Data Science has become increasingly popularwith a huge market over recent years, so it can be a very daunting task when it comes to hiring the correct Data Scientist. Here are some brief tips on obtaining the full benefits and complete value, with a reliable service.

Determine what data needs interpretation, and for what purpose. To forecast future profits, knowing what you want is important, and DataScience is no exception!

  1. Google ‘Data Scientist Services’ and read through the multiple services available.
  2. Check forums, so you can check customer reviews on services – if there’s a highly rated popular service then research them further.
  3. Always make sure you compare fees to get the best deal!

Warning:

It is important to note whether the data will be processed by a machine or by humans, as it won’t work for both – the processes are different.

Machine Data Science:

  • A computer is used as the decision maker, through the recommendation of products, targeting ads, etc.
  • Complex digital models can use insights from huge amounts of data, which can display stock trades and adverts.
  • Statistical, mathematical and computer fluency will provide future predictions.

Human Data Science:

  • The calculations will be done by a human, who will understand retention and growth.
  • Data must be in a readable format for human understanding.
  • Although a computer can handle much larger data in quicker time, the benefit of having a person as a decision maker is that it will be more thought out and not automated (ideal for decisions requiring higher attention to detail).

To sum it up

Data Science has grown enormously over the last decade, especially for a business that wants to obtain an edge over its competitors.

Many companies store huge amounts of data, and it is usually not used properly or misunderstood; hiring a Data Scientist can help you to use your information more shrewdly for future decisions and investments.

Facebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmailFacebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail

Finding the Unfindable: How Online Recruiting Platforms will Revolutionize Your Business (Content Princess)

In 2016, a troubling and unsettling statistic emerged from the trenches of the IT industry: A whopping 83{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} of mid-level or high-level employees would leave their current job if recruited by a company with a better reputation. As we enter into 2017, the question everyone is asking is this: How do I keep my best rising-star employees from jumping ship to another company? How do I attract good applicants to enrich my company, and use my brand to beat out the competition?

I am a firm believer that social media and online recruiting platforms are going to define the IT recruitment landscape in the coming years. Any worthy candidate in the industry is going to have a strong presence on social media, and these are the exact people you want to recruit. To attract the best talent, unless you are a huge multi-million dollar company already, you can’t just depend on your company’s branding and expect potential employees to come to you. You have to reach out and go where the tech-savvy talent is, and that’s online networking platforms.

Informal Branding on Social Media is more valuable than your company account

Every company needs to have a presence on social media. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, the list goes on. However, you don’t just need to recruit through your company’s formal social media accounts. People on the job market trust their friends and company employees far more than they trust the abstract, large voice of the company itself. Amazingly, only about a third of recruiting companies ask their employees to post about the company on their personal social media accounts.

People on the outside trust word-of-mouth far more than official company memos. A great strategy is to get your employees to post their genuine thoughts and mention positions the company is looking to fill online to their friends and acquaintances. This way, your recruitment umbrella will stretch much further, and usually, encompass way more talented candidates than the random people who respond to official company “Now Hiring” memos. Your employees’ voices on social media is a key aspect of your company’s branding, and you need to use this megaphone to your best ability.

Recruitment on Formal Online Platforms

Personally, I think casual social media like Facebook and Twitter often attracts more talent than formal job search platforms, because you attract people who are connected to those whom you trust, and the platforms aren’t saturated with other job seekers and recruiters. When you enter a platform specifically for recruitment, you risk being overwhelmed by the competition, and you are also only seeing one specific side of a potential recruit’s personality: the side they present for recruitment. If you can see someone’s content on Facebook or Twitter, you see more of their true personality, and you can better analyze what they might bring to the company as well as what weaknesses they have.

Despite this, networks like Meetup, LinkedIn Talent, iCIMs, and Jobvite can be useful for recruiting. Mainly, you should be using them as a supplement to your recruitment tactics, not the biggest aspect.

Sources:

https://blog.beamery.com/recruiting-statistics-2016/

http://www.cio.com/article/2915834/careers-staffing/13-top-recruiting-software-platforms.html#slide6

Facebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmailFacebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail

The right people in the right places (Content Princess)

It’s never the easiest thing to keep up with the pace of change, and in the ultra-fast world of Tech, it gets harder even still. You need the right men and women to do the job, but how do you go about finding them? Do you put an ad in the newspaper in this day and age? Of course not. 21st-century recruitment needs 21st-century solutions. A “Help Wanted” sign isn’t going to bring you the employees you need.

Good employees are like gold dust. I don’t mean those who are simply qualified to do the job; you know how to find them. Simply wait outside the colleges for them to finish. No, by good staff I mean those who are qualified and who have the right attitude, the right stuff. Those people who’ll go above and beyond the call of duty for your business. Henry Thoreau wrote: “Do not hire a man who does your work for money, but him who does it for the love of it.” Now, I’m not suggesting you hire someone who’ll work for free, but finding someone who can do the job and enjoy it at the same time is the Holy Grail of recruitment, as such staff is worth a fortune in the long run. 

But who are these people you want to hire? There’s a rapidly growing demand for IT professionals all across the region, and the skill-sets are becoming increasingly specialised. It can be difficult to tell your E-Commerce Analyst from your Keyword researcher. Finding out what skills you need to hire is as important as the who, and savvy recruiters are increasingly using technology to find the right people for the right job.

In the online environment, everyone has a digital footprint, and that footprint can be revealing about the sort of person they are. Social media has been a game-changing catalyst for recruitment, suddenly everyone has a public face and is easily accessible, we can get a feel of what our candidates are like. The internet knows our likes and dislikes, what football team we follow or what we last ate. But it also knows our skills and abilities.

Moving forward, these skills will be even more searchable than they are now. Talent search engines scour the web for the best and brightest available. The old days, of putting a job ad up and simply having to deal with who came to you are gone. Now, you can go to them, using the internet to track down the right people for the right job as the search engines sort them by their relevant skills and experience. You can proactively look for the right person.

This isn’t the only way, professional networks, the businesslike siblings of Facebook and Twitter, feature a whole host of talent crammed in one place. Sites such as LinkedIn or Meetup are full of highly qualified, professional and motivated individuals.

The old ways of recruiting don’t cut it these days. If you want to find the brightest and the best to work for you, then it’s a matter of going and looking for them. Before somebody else does.

Facebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmailFacebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail

What Will the 76ers’ 2017 Lineup Look Like?(Content Princess – SEO)

As the year comes to a close, many fans of the Philadelphia 76ers are wondering what’s in store for the team for 2017. There are a couple of major players who are purportedly considering leaving the team, but also some potential for new superstars coming into the 2017 season. The roster projections have been all over the place, but now that they seem to be settling down, let’s look at some potential predictions for what the 76ers’ 2017 season will look like.

When Bryan Colangelo inherited the team, it was impossible that he would not make some significant changes. After all, the team’s record was 10 wins to 72 losses, a record that can’t stand for a chance at stardom in the NBA. He also got a whopping three first round draft picks, so that opened the door for him to fill the team with a winning lineup. He extended Hollis Thompson’s contract for another year and signed a few free-floating players: Jerryd Bayless, Sergio Rodriguez, and Gerald Henderson.

Who may be leaving?

There are a couple of players who seem to be fed up and wanting to move to another team, or hoping to retire. Nerlens Knowl, who plays centre or power forward, had a rookie contract which is now up, and his future on the team is unclear. He has experienced multiple injuries and was in physical rehab for much of this season.

Ersan Ilyasova also has an uncertain future on the team. His contract expires after the 2016-2017 season is up. After being traded for Jeremi Grant for the 76ers to have first round pick in 2020, he is the second top scorer in the team. However, he has also played for a while, and his contract is especially costly for the team.

Hollis Thompson, the small forward, has the longest history on the current roster. He has played for head coach Brett Brown for more seasons than anyone on the team. He is not one of the team’s most powerful scorer, but his game seems to be increasing, even while his court time is decreasing.

Who will fill the space in the 2017 roster?

The team has a pretty good chance of getting first round draft picks for the first three choices. It is currently estimated that the team will select for raw talent rather than make stealthy moves to improve future draft picks since they have such a good chance at getting top players this season. They will have an opportunity to try out for the team after the summer training is over.

The 76ers are pretty well known for picking up young talent, as they have in previous years, and will likely adopt a similar strategy. Colangelo has been mainly scouting from international teams to find players to bring into the NBA. Two major prospects coming out of the Euroleague are Vasilije Micic and Furkan Korkmaz. Young, tall players who would likely play as point guards could significantly change the dynamic of the team next season.

The 76ers may not have finished so strong this season, but there is an excellent chance that the combination of new incoming talent and a high position in the draft pick will lead them to a much better performance next season.

LSI keywords: 76ers, draft pick, Philadelphia 76ers, roster projections,  Bryan Colangelo, Ersan Ilyasova, Jeremi Grant, Brett Brown, Vasilije Micic, Furkan Korkmaz, Euroleague, NBA, Hollis Thompson, 2017 roster

Facebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmailFacebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail

Using technology to find and keep the best techies (Content Princess)

The changing face of the workplace, with many companies working globally and remotely, means recruitment has become a far more diverse process than it used to be.

It’s also more important as hiring and retaining the right talent can make the difference between a company succeeding or not, so it is one of the key objectives of many chief executives.

Recruiters now face very different challenges from say, ten years ago, for example, trying to understand the motivations and needs of the so-called millennials is a major issue.

However, by far the biggest challenge across the globe is recruiting and retaining top IT talent. Being so in demand, IT candidates don’t need to promote themselves or actively look for a role, so they can be hard to find.

They are not the kind of people who would respond well to cold calling or head hunting either, which means recruiters need to find alternative ways to approach them in the first place.

A personality clash can also be part of the problem – while recruiters tend to be natural “people” people – by virtue of the kind of job they are doing – techies have a tendency to be more reserved. Also, many recruiters have no idea how to write an appropriate IT job spec, or what questions to ask in interviews because they don’t understand the subject.

It is all too common for highly skilled tech people to turn up for interviews and be asked to do the most menial IT problems as part of the process, which is not only insulting but highly likely to put them off the company for life.

This is where some of the new technology approaches to recruitment can help – funnily enough! It’s no good searching the normal job sites to find candidates for specialist tech jobs as they won’t be there.

But they are likely to be online chatting with other tech specialists on forums, in discussion groups, and on sites where they can share ideas and talk about solving technology problems, so venture into their natural habitat.

Using the candidate’s online footprint – looking at where they go and what forums they are active in, works well. If you are looking for a developer don’t search on a job site, join a developer discussion forum on LinkedIn.

There are many free candidate source websites out there, offering to search the whole of the web to see who is online and what they are doing, but this is casting far too wide a net.

However what might be worth trying is one of the new Talent Search platforms which have sprung up recently which enable you to hone your search, much more specifically creating more likelihood of success for a specialist role.

If you are trying to find the specialists who aren’t actively looking, and don’t want to be found, this kind of technology might help in honing a successful strategy to attract them anyway. Making use of the right technology could just be the key to find and keep the best techie for your company.

Facebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmailFacebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail