Employees and Supervisors should collaboratively identify the most relevant and applicable learning for an employee’s role with the University. The following learning opportunity resources can be used as an idea starter to assist in determining appropriate learning as it pertains to professional development and job growth. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of resources. The guidelines have been updated with a JEP Learning Plan Process.

The main features of HiringThing include job posting, résumé import, candidate matching and more. We were able to test out nearly all of them for their ease of use.

Syndicated Job Posting

It’s easy to find the “Create a New Job” button right when you log in to HiringThing. Upon clicking that, it takes you to a form where you populate all the necessary information for your job listing.

Right when you log in, the “Create a New Job” button is easy to find.

HiringThing’s new job post screen

When you’re done with the job post, you can save it as a draft to come back to later or simply hit “Publish,” and it instantly posts to free job boards, such as FlexJobs and LinkedIn Limited. The system then directs you to more job boards you can purchase access to. These job boards include but are not limited to:

• CareerBuilder
• DiversityJobs
• Indeed
• LinkedIn
• Monster
• ZipRecruiter

Unless you’re already a subscriber to these premium job boards and can simply link your account to HiringThing, the cost of adding each one through HiringThing can add up quickly. For this reason, HiringThing may not be the most cost-effective option for specialized, high-demand and hard-to-fill roles.

Résumé Import

You can import an applicant’s data through drag and drop or via email with HiringThing’s Resume Import Tool. Dragging and dropping or uploading a file from your computer’s hard drive into the system automatically converts it into an applicant file.

You can also import applicant documents via email by sending the file to the job posting’s specific email address found in the system. However, you have to go into the job itself to find the email address specific to the job posting and copy and paste it into your email, which can be cumbersome.

HiringThing’s Resume Import feature via email

The system needs about one hour to reflect the uploaded files in the system, which is a long time, making it easy to forget to check if the upload worked. We were able to add a file manually using the first method, but we did not see a new applicant file created under the applicant section of the dashboard, even after one hour had passed.

Candidate Matching

HiringThing has keyword tagging and customized pre-screening questions that help you more quickly identify the most qualified candidates for any given position.

Keyword Tagging

When creating a position, you can add a series of keywords separated by commas. HiringThing will then surface applications that best match those keywords, and you’ll see an alert displayed when there’s a match.

Form Builder

For applicants who apply directly from your career site, you can set up a customized form that poses pre-screening questions related to anything from job experience to specific certifications. This can be helpful to screen out candidates that don’t meet minimum criteria.

However, keep in mind that applicants applying from job boards won’t see this form, so you should choose the option that doesn’t allow applicants to apply from the job boards. When selecting that option, applicants will be redirected to your career site where they can proceed with their application.

You can get to the Form Builder feature either through a specific job listing’s settings or by navigating to “Account Details.”

When testing out the Form Builder, we had the option of creating a template to save time in the future. When creating the template, you can choose what types of questions to ask:

• Text-based
• Essay questions
• Multiple choice
• List of checkbox attributes
• Yes/No
• Date for applicant’s earliest start date
• Employment history
• Education history

For some question types, such as Yes/No questions, you can set a rule that automatically tags or archives an applicant based on their response. For instance, if a minimum criterion for a new Sales Associate is at least two to three years of experience, you can filter out applicants that select “no” to the question about whether they have that experience.

The employment and education history questions require applicants to type in that information manually, which can make for a frustrating job candidate experience, as the résumé usually contains this information already.

However, HiringThing gives you full control over the kind of screening questions you want applicants to fill out, so you don’t have to necessarily pose questions that require manual data entry.

HiringThing’s Form Builder

Scorecards for Candidate Evaluation

HiringThing enables you to create customized scorecards before you start evaluating candidates in order to mitigate bias in the review process. You can enter customizable text fields, called “Titles,” and those fields will appear in an applicant’s review section.

The “Title” field is misleading because it’s not the job title. Rather, it denotes the attributes by which you want to evaluate candidates. For example, if hiring for a Sales Manager position, you may want to add titles such as “integrity” or “leadership.”

We found two ways to create a scorecard. For the first method, you have to navigate to the main menu > Account Details > Feature Management, and scroll down to the “Scorecards” section. It’s important to note that once you enter titles this way, they automatically apply to all subsequent jobs that you post after creating the scorecard and cannot be applied retroactively to existing job openings.

This can be frustrating if your general criteria change over time because changes can’t be applied to current openings, and you’d have to enter them into those individual jobs manually per the second method below. It’s therefore important to settle on a general set of criteria that you’ll rarely, if ever, need to change.

The second way to create a job scorecard is to edit a specific job and expand the “Advanced Options” section, and the titles will appear in each applicant’s “Review section.” We found this method more intuitive. Plus, we like that you can add specific criteria for specific jobs.

HiringThing’s Scorecards display different pre-set attributes, and you provide a star rating and optional notes for each candidate.

Candidate Relationship Management

HiringThing facilitates candidate relationship management via email and SMS.

Managing candidate statuses and communication were some of the easiest tasks we tested out in HiringThing. You can individually change an applicant’s status or do so in bulk to save time. You can add statuses including “offer extended” and “offer accepted/rejected” in the “Workflow” section of Account Details.

It was very easy to select a pre-made email template for requesting an interview, rejecting a candidate or other typical recruiter communications. Paying customers have access to HiringThing’s SMS option as an additional communication method.

Interview Tools

HiringThing enables collaborative interview scheduling by syncing with your Outlook, Exchange, Microsoft 365, Google or iCloud calendar. You can select a specific date or time or, even better, allow the candidate to select from a range of dates and times that you provide them.

Using a Google account will automatically use Google Meets as a videoconference tool, unless you link your account to another videoconference tool such as Zoom. Otherwise, 8×8 is the default videoconferencing solution for HiringThing.

Workflows and Automations

HiringThing helps you expedite your hiring process by automating job requisitions, candidate screening, interviewing and any other workflows you set up.

HiringThing enables you to set up a workflow for opening, approving and posting job requisitions. Rules for screening questions noted above also automate the candidate selection process by filtering out candidates who don’t meet the minimum requirements and automatically sending them a “Thanks but no thanks” email. That way, you won’t spend time sifting through résumés from unqualified candidates or sending rejection emails.

HiringThing’s new automated interviewing workflow allows you to send an automated interview invitation in one of two ways: as soon as anyone submits an application to the job or based on a change in application status.

You might want to use the former if you’re hiring for a niche position that draws few candidates, all of whom you want to interview. Otherwise, you’d more likely utilize the second workflow option that invites candidates to an interview after you change their status. However, with either option, make sure all who are involved in the process keep their calendar availability up to date.

Unfortunately, we weren’t able to try out the workflows setup in the test environment, as this feature is only available to paying customers.

Remote interviews have their own unique quirks, challenges and qualities. These HR professionals shared how candidates can navigate them.

More than 30,000 leading brands rely on Sprout Social’s all-in-one social media management platform to gain data-driven insights into their marketing and create deeper connections with their audiences.

What should a candidate do to prepare for the remote hiring process at Sprout? 

Test your tech. First off, be sure to check that you have a strong and stable WiFi connection. In case there are any connectivity issues during your interview, contact your recruiter and ask for a dial-in option. I also recommend familiarizing yourself with the video conferencing software you’ll be using and ensuring that you have the latest version downloaded on your computer. If you plan on presenting a slide deck for a presentation and have to share your screen or plan to use a second monitor, it’s important to practice and work out all the kinks the night before. Lastly, don’t forget to turn off the notifications on your computer and smartphone so the interview isn’t interrupted.

Do your homework. At Sprout, we appreciate when candidates come prepared for their interview having researched our company, solutions and values. If the information hasn’t been provided to you in advance, ask your recruiter about the structure of the interviews and if there will be any focus areas or themes that will be covered during your conversations. I would also review the LinkedIn profiles of the interviewers you’ll be meeting with and have questions prepared for each of them.

At Sprout, we appreciate when candidates come prepared for their interview having researched our company, solutions and values.”

What is the most important thing a candidate should do during a remote interview at Sprout? 

Be specific. Let’s say you’re interviewing for a leadership role and you describe yourself as an inspiring people leader. Our interview teams would love to hear examples of how you’ve inspired your teams versus simply stating you’re an inspiring leader. Or, if you’re a people leader who’s been leading remotely over the last few years, we would welcome hearing some of the techniques you’ve implemented for motivating teams since moving into a remote setting.

Bring us your point of view. Once you’ve had the chance to meet with the hiring manager and additional members of the interview team, we encourage candidates to begin formulating their perspective on the role for which they are interviewing. We value hearing what you’ve learned throughout your interviews and how you could leverage your skills and background with our current team, processes and culture.
 

What other advice do you have for candidates looking for remote work?

I polled our team of 30 recruitment practitioners, and they overwhelmingly agreed that being authentic and present is the number one piece of advice they have for candidates looking for remote work. Now that most of us work remotely, we realize how it could be tempting to read prepared answers during an interview or provide a presentation by studying directly from your notes. Embracing the opportunity to connect from a distance and letting your genuine self radiate through the screen will resonate much better with the team and company with whom you’re interviewing.

Hello and welcome to Working It.

This week’s big FT workplace talking point is Pilita Clark’s column about tattoos now being widely accepted in professional settings. There are hundreds of reader comments. Everyone, it seems, has a VERY STRONG opinion about visible ink at work, with self-declared older people least tolerant. (And then there’s reader Happy Ever After: “I find tattoos disgusting.” 🤢)

I keep my upper arm tattoo under wraps at work — but I am of course firmly on the “pro-ink” side. Every piece tells a story, and many of them are fascinating.

Send (safe for work) opinions on tattoos, your furry co-worker photos to cleanse my palate, and anything else that you think we should be covering here to isabel.berwick@ft.com.

What does ‘good’ HR look like?

Whenever the FT covers workplace disputes, employment tribunals and allegations of sexual harassment, one theme often emerges: the shortcomings of human resources departments. Here’s FT special investigations editor Madison Marriage, on the Working It podcast:

“Every story I’ve ever written to do with bullying, harassment, sexual assault in the workplace, HR has been a malevolent force, not a force for good. So I would advise people to be very wary of HR. My experience is that they are there to help the company, not the people lower down the ranks.”

The HR department has an inherent tension because it “serves two masters”, as it’s often put: first the company, and its best interests, and second, the human capital (aka “talent”, but probably not called that when there’s a dispute going down). When powerful organisational interests, money and fear collide, things easily go wrong.

One big change that would help stop this rot, as we discussed last week, is having human resources executives on every company board of directors, so they have far more influence to make sure matters of corporate culture and staff satisfaction are taken seriously — and measured — at the highest levels. Brand new research from the CIPD, the UK HR sector’s professional body, shows a bleak situation: “In all, 99 per cent of boards have a chief financial officer or a finance director among their board members, but just 2 per cent have an HR director as an executive board member.” 😳

That’s big-picture thinking. But what does “good” everyday HR look like? By this I mean the kind that will create a healthy corporate culture and help to prevent catastrophic situations. I put this question to Meena Anand, incoming chief executive of the City HR Association.

Good HR, she says, is about “creating some guardrails around organisations — being clear about what is expected from individuals”. Meena had a long career in global HR and saw many situations where internal communication was . . . less than clear 🌫️.

“Whenever there is a disconnect it is always mismanaged expectations. I have done loads of disciplinary and grievance issues and the one thing that comes up time and time again is that the manager has a set of expectations and the employee or their team has a different set of expectations.”

One of my own issues with HR is that there’s just so much of it. Are these poor people being asked to do too much, meaning they can’t focus on their best work? No, says Meena. “The whole thing about HR is that it is about people, so it can’t just be about one thing.” HR, in other words, reflects the whole beautiful, messy world we inhabit. By way of explanation, Meena sent me the photo below.

I’m not sure it exactly addresses my concerns about HR professionals being spread too thin, but I like the style.

What does “good HR” look like? What are your experiences in navigating HR, good and bad?

This week on the Working It podcast

This week you have another chance to hear our popular episode on imposter syndrome, and how to turn this common form of self-doubt into a positive. My guests are Sian Beilock, a neuroscientist and academic, and Viv Groskop, a podcaster, stand-up comedian and executive coach.

We’ve had a short summer hiatus but will be back with new episodes very soon, with new producer Mischa Frankl-Duval in charge. A big welcome to Mischa — and do get in touch with your ideas for the podcast.

Office Therapy

The problem: I am pitching for a new role with larger team responsibilities but my manager believes I am not ready for it. To be clear, he is not denying me the role, but has warned that I will have to change my style of working and will need constant “coaching” to take tough decisions.

I feel he is setting me up for failure because he expects me to do as he does, even if I do not agree with his rationale (eg back to office five days vs hybrid). Any challenge to his decisions will be seen in light of (in his opinion) my inability to carry out “tough asks” from management. Should I manage the team the way he expects me to? Or stick to what I believe is the right way?

Isabel’s advice: It’s not you — it’s him, but as I have learned (rather belatedly), you are powerless to change other people — all you can change is how you respond to them. So you can work around this insecure man, doing his bidding while pursuing your independent course, as far as you can. Or you can decide to move, internally or otherwise🚶🏼‍♂️.

Michael Skapinker, a psychotherapist and coach, offers more nuanced thoughts: “I suggest asking for a discussion about your boss’s views of where you are and where you should be, so that you have a clearer picture of what he needs from you. I sense, too, that you have your own ideas of where things should be going, which are not your boss’s ideas. You can gently try to talk him round in your ‘clear the air’ chat. Or you can leave. It’s an unfortunate fact: the boss is the boss and you are not.”

Got a question, problem, or dilemma for Office Therapy? Think you have better advice for our readers? Send it to me: isabel.berwick@ft.com. We anonymise everything. Your boss, colleagues or underlings will never know.

Five top stories from the world of work

1. Why productivity is so weak at UK companies: An in-depth look at the UK’s poor productivity conundrum, by senior business writer Andrew Hill, who digs into the possible causes and then gets philosophical towards the end . . . what is productivity anyway?

2. Interview with LinkedIn’s CEO Ryan Roslansky: I somehow missed this last week so am re-upping Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson’s excellent interview. Ryan is behind the social platform’s reinvention beyond job-seeking, into careers and leadership. May contain humblebragging.

3. How I learnt to live with shyness: Not strictly a work-related article, but Emma Jacobs’ beautifully written piece covers many of the socially awkward experiences that will be familiar to shy people at work — and she highlights the upsides of this personality trait.

4. Leaner times will test employers’ commitment to worker wellbeing: The more employers help staff with mental health support, the more they will be open to claims that they are falling short if they cut spending as the economy contracts, reports Brooke Masters.

5. NatWest chief Alison Rose steps down after Nigel Farage row: Still an evolving story as this edition of Working It is finalised, this tale will perhaps one day serve as a case study of misalignment between “inclusive” values internally and wider business demands and obligations.

I have paused serious reader comments this week (but do keep them coming) to spotlight Tucker, occasional co-worker to the FT’s US newsletter editor, Emily Goldberg. I am especially impressed by the aesthetically pleasing and dog-matched background in her (parents’) home. More like Tucker, please 🐾. It is about to be August, after all.

One more thing

Anna Sinfield, the original producer on Working It when we launched, is an audio ⭐️ who has gone on to great things. Her new series, “The Girlfriends” is already number one in the podcast charts. It redefines true crime, reclaiming justice for Gail Katz, murdered in the 1980s by her husband. It’s all done through the efforts of a group of women — including some of his ex-girlfriends. It is, remarkably, funny as well as moving and anger-inducing.

And finally . . . can you help with this research 🙋🏽?

A callout from Working It reader Calum Carson, senior research associate at the University of Lancaster. He’s running its Inclusive Remote and Hybrid Working Study, and is seeking input from people in the UK with a disability and/or a long-term health condition with experience of remote or hybrid working in the past five years. You will, Calum says, “be part of helping to identify how employers can make remote and hybrid working more inclusive of disabled workers’ needs in the future”. Fill in the short form here and follow the project on LinkedIn.

KnowBe4 releases Q2 2023 global phishing report and finds HR related email subjects utilized as a phishing strategy and make up 50% of top email subjects

TAMPA BAY, Fla., July 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- KnowBe4, the provider of the world's largest security awareness training and simulated phishing platform, today announced the results of its Q2 2023 top-clicked phishing report. The results include the top email subjects clicked on in phishing tests and reflect the use of HR business-related messages that pique interest from employees and can potentially affect them.

Phishing emails continue to be one of the most common methods to effectively perpetuate malicious attacks on organizations around the globe. Cybercriminals are constantly refining their strategies to stay up-to-date with market trends and outsmart end users and organizations by creating phishing email subjects that are realistic and believable. They prey on emotions and aim to cause distress, confusion, panic or even excitement in order to entice someone to click on a phishing link or malicious attachment. In fact, KnowBe4's 2023 Phishing by Industry Benchmarking Report revealed that nearly one in three users are likely to click on a suspicious link or comply with a fraudulent request.

Phishing tactics are changing with the increasing trend of cybercriminals using email subjects coming from HR related to dress code changes, training notifications, vacation updates and more. These are effective because they may cause a person to react before thinking logically about the legitimacy of the email and have the potential to impact an employee's personal life and professional workday.

Holiday phishing email subjects were also utilized this quarter with four out of the five top holiday email subjects appearing to have come from HR. Incentives referring to national holidays such as Juneteenth and the Fourth of July, holiday celebrations and schedule changes were used as bait for unsuspecting end users. Additionally, the report reflects the consistent trend of utilizing IT and online service notifications as well as tax-related email subjects.

Story continues

"The threat of phishing emails remains as high as ever as cybercriminals continuously tweak their messages to be more sophisticated and seemingly credible," said Stu Sjouwerman, CEO, KnowBe4. "The trend of phishing emails revealed in the Q2 phishing report is especially concerning, as 50% of these emails appear to come from HR – a trusted and crucial department of so many, if not all organizations. These disguised emails take advantage of employee trust and typically incite action that can result in disastrous outcomes for the entire organization. New-school security awareness training for employees is crucial to help combat phishing and malicious emails by educating users on the most common cyber attacks and threats. An educated workforce is an organization's best defense and is essential to fostering and maintaining a strong security culture."

To get a copy of the Q2 2023 KnowBe4 Phishing Report infographic, visit here.

About KnowBe4
KnowBe4, the provider of the world's largest security awareness training and simulated phishing platform, is used by more than 60,000 organizations around the globe. Founded by IT and data security specialist Stu Sjouwerman, KnowBe4 helps organizations address the human element of security by raising awareness about ransomware, CEO fraud and other social engineering tactics through a new-school approach to awareness training on security. Kevin Mitnick, who was an internationally recognized cybersecurity specialist and KnowBe4's Chief Hacking Officer, helped design the KnowBe4 training based on his well-documented social engineering tactics. Tens of thousands of organizations rely on KnowBe4 to mobilize their end users as their last line of defense.

Media Contact
Amanda Tarantino
Public Relations Officer
KnowBe4
amandat@knowbe4.com 

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/knowbe4-phishing-test-results-reveal-half-of-top-malicious-email-subjects-are-hr-related-301884622.html

SOURCE KnowBe4