Applicant Tracking

Trying to find the right solution for a company’s applicant tracking problems can be difficult, particularly so for a small to mid-sized business.

These workplaces suffer something that larger corporations usually don’t have to contend with, limited funds, which means that the focus must be placed on getting the best program for the least amount of money.

NowHire.com believes that its recently-released nowHire Elite Business Edition can provide quality applicant tracking solutions with a price that is affordable to smaller companies.

According to a recent press release, the software program is geared toward offering both small and mid-sized offices the same hiring management advantages enjoyed by their larger clients.
This new edition is Web-based and focuses on making it easier to automate the recruiting process, which for many smaller businesses can easily become overwhelming.

For its larger corporate clients, nowHire created an automated system that follows applicants through the employment process, from start to finish and also monitors the continual professional development of current and new employees. The company believes that this program, which is a “talent management system,” is too much for the needs of smaller businesses.

“We’re increasingly talking to companies that know they need to automate their recruiting and hiring, but just don’t need to invest the time and budget to bring on a full-featured, enterprise ATS,” Joseph Impastato, nowHire.com’s founder and chief executive office, said. “Still, they want to be sure the basic system can be scaled to their talent management needs as they grow.”

One of the better features of the Elite Business Edition is the fact that it allows companies to offer what they call an “Extreme Support Philosphy.” NowHire provides toll-free phone and e-mail support to job applicants in hopes of showcasing employer responsiveness.

The goal is to help the candidate feel more assured that their applicantion has been received and is important to the company they have applied to. NowHire believes that this customer-service feature will impress job applicants by giving them the feeling that they are applying for a job with a company that has a “culture of communications” and values the time of potential employees.

Other features of this ATS include applications geared toward allowing users to easily manage job requisitions, candidate’s, interviews and background checks. The Elite Business Edition also helps out in the pre-screening and ranking of candidates and scheduling interviews.

Perth Jobs

Perth jobs with wood processing manufactures are taking a hit due to the gas crisis.

Industry heads are blaming the problems on the lack of publicized information coming from Apache Corporation, whose Varanus Island facility’s June 3rd accident caused the shortage.

Wesbeam, which is 33km north of Perth, has already laid off a dozen casual contractors since the explosion. Currently they are focusing on trying to keep their full-time employees engaged while the on-going crisis continued.

“Every consumer of gas has a meter … all the information is there, it’s not complex, it’s not rocket science, it’s just arithmetic,” James Malone, Wesbeam’s chief executive officer, said. “I’m a little bit surprised about the relative dearth of numeric information when that information is not unavailable.”

Dardnaup, another wood processing pant located about 160km south of Perth, released 21 of its 200 workers earlier this week. Ron Adams, the company’s managing director, is currently receiving 15 hours’ notice of gas supply availability to his business. At this time he is questioning how the addition of more coal-fired power stations will effect the situation.

“I find it extremely difficult in a business sense to understand … some of the information,” Adams said. “Trying to get hold of good reliable information has been very (difficult).”

The lack of information is caused by the fact that the West Australian government’s Office of Energy (OOE) is refusing to provide up-to-date figures the consumption of electricity. The OOE has said that they adopted this stance “for practical reasons and matters of commercial confidentiality.”

A fact sheet released by the OOE on June 25 2008 included four paragraphs of disclaimer on the topic.

“The State of Western Australia, the Minister for Energy, the Coordinator of Energy, the Office of Energy and their respective officers, employees and agents do not make any representation as to the accuracy of the information contained in this document,” it stated.

A spokesperson with Alinta, a private gas supplier, has said that they are, however, constantly communicating with the businesses that are being effected by the shortage.

“At this time we can only allocate on a daily basis, but we are working hard provide businesses most affected with as much information as is available so they can plan in advance,” they stated.

Recruitment Software Company Partners with CoAdvantage

Recruitment software company Cytiva Software, Inc. has announced its partnership with CoAdvantage, a provider of human resources and benefits solutions.

Under the new arrangement, Cytiva's SonicRecruit software allows CoAdvantage to provide clients with a recruitment software solution that interfaces with the company's payroll, HR and benefits administration technologies.

"We chose Cytiva after completing due diligence on other recruiting software technologies and found SonicRecruit to be a reliable and successful vendor, from sales support and pricing to training and integration," Jordan Conley, vice president of technology at CoAdvantage, said in a press release.

"CoAdvantage is known for its high level of service and HR expertise," Cytiva CEO Jason Moreau said in the release. "This kind of partnership allows SonicRecruit to complement CoAdvantage's strong offering and increases our visibility within their loyal client base."

Scott Millson, CoAdvantage's human resources outsourcing president, hopes the partnership will further the company's mission to serve clients with excellence and innovation.

"We seek best-in-breed partners for our clients in the SMB marketplace who assist us in providing solutions that reduce administrative headaches and overhead so our clients can focus on strategy and results," he added.

Medical Jobs Continue to Increase

The nation's economy is in turmoil and nearly every industry in the country has suffered month after month of job losses. However, the healthcare industry, which is often considered to be recession proof, continues to add medical jobs.

During March, 14,000 jobs were added to the healthcare industry, according to the United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. The industry employed 19,149,000 people nationwide and had an unemployment rate of 4.5 percent. During February, the industry had 592,000 job openings and 463,000 hires.

Ambulatory healthcare services accounted for the most new jobs during March, adding 7,700 employees. At the same time, hospitals lost 700 jobs, which was the first reported decline since the recession began.

A slight drawback, the industry's first quarter job growth averaged 17,000 per month compared to 30,000 per month during first quarter 2008.

The healthcare and social assistance sector is made up of establishments that provide health care and social assistance for individuals. There are many career opportunities within the sector, including jobs in ambulatory healthcare services, hospitals, nursing and residential care facilities and social assistance.

In 2007, there were 773,730 home health aides; 606,020 licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses; 194,010 medical and health services managers; 1,257,790 nursing aides, orderlies and attendants and 2,097,590 registered nurses.

In January, workers in the healthcare and social assistance sector worked an average of 32.5 hours per week and earned an average of $19.67 per hour, a slight increase from the average pay of $19.65 per hour in December 2008.

The occupation that pays the most is medical and health services managers at an average of $83,470 per year, followed by registered nurses at $62,510 per year; licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses at $38,710 per year; nursing aides, orderlies and attendants at $23,660 per year and home health aides at $20,520 per year.

As for the future, the healthcare and social assistance sector is expected to greatly increase. In 2006, the sector employed 15,930,300 workers. That number is expected to increase to 19,979,500 workers by 2016, an increase of more than 25 percent.