Millennials, Web 2.0...Recruiting Challenges In The Brave Flat World

The world of recruiting is experiencing a transformation and keeping up with the shifting trends requires a great deal of fortitude and education. The baby boomers of the fifties and sixties are starting to leave the work force in record numbers, making room for the up and coming Generation X. The fifty one million Gen’xers, those workers born between 1965 and 1976, appear to be accepting the mantle of leadership with some deference. The real paradox of employment as the world continues to flatten and more boomers retire is the future of the workforce and the emergence of the new Generation Y “Millennials.” Much has been written about the seventy five million Millennials who are entering our employment world with their independence, idealism and view of what a career in today’s labor market means to them.

The expansive growth of international workforces in India, China, Eastern Europe, Chile, Russia and the entrance of the Millennials to the workforce create a rather new set of challenges for Recruiters. These factors combined with Web 2.0 and the advances in technology are requiring a fundamental shift in how we go about identifying, recruiting and attracting employees in this Brave Flat World.

Recruiting in the Baby Boomer years consisted of running advertising in the classifieds section of local and national newspapers, putting help wanted signs on the front lawn, and attending career fairs in hotels to attract top talent to our organizations. Our CRM systems consisted of a Rolodex (card browser) or 3X5 index cards. Today’s recruiter must be much more technically savvy, surfing the web is ethereal, and today to identify top talent one needs to be familiar with Web 2.0, social networking, blogging and host of other new evolving technologies to keep up with the trends of how the new generation explore career changes. The profiles, interests and how candidates go about considering a new career has changed with the convergence of the latest technology and the emergence of the Millennials.

As the terms and conditions of the new work force continue to evolve, the fundamentals of a successful Recruiter are transforming as well. The telephone remains a staple of the trade and yet the tools and technology have really started to morph at light speed. How strong is your network has always been essential to a Recruiters success, but with today’s six degrees of separation and the internet, it is not as much about who you know, but who do they know and how fast can we get to all the folks they know, that really changes the paradigm in today’s Web 2.0 universe.

Recruiters in today’s world need to be Social Networking guru’s and connect to folks through any number of the tools that are permeating the Web. Using the likes of Linkedin (30 Million) is becoming almost passé with tech savvy Recruiters looking to tap into the likes of Myspace (110 Million active users each month), Facebook (120 Million), Orkut, Bebo, Plaxo and a host of other new sights that sprout up seemingly out of nowhere and then become the latest rage. Still others are connecting to folks using the ever-popular Twitter (Do you Tweet?) while others explore more exotic sites like Second Life. Learning how to use these tools effectively and implementing them for successful networking is one of the most difficult challenges that Recruiters are facing today.

The work force may shift to other parts of the planet but as Thomas Freidman has poignantly demonstrated the world it is getting flatter and how we identify and recruit employees to our workforce remains pretty similar across our regions. These tools are catching on no matter where you live and candidates are very technologically savvy with the Millennials almost demanding that Recruiters keep up with the times to reach out to them. You can follow someone in Twitter across the globe and reach out to social networked candidates from anywhere, and thus the transformation has begun and keeping pace is now the ultimate challenge. There is no Huxley like soma chemical out there to make it all align perfectly, the real quest for Recruiters, today and in the future, is the ability to harness the technology, understand this new generation and educate our management teams about The Brave New Flat World so we can continue to attract the best and brightest here to Oracle.

The author of this article is Jan Ackerman who has been in IT Recruitment for 20+ years is Vice President of Oracle's APAC Recruitment Team.

Using Twitter to Land a Job: Real Life Examples

As readers of our blog may know I am an advocate of Web 2.0 technologies and Social Networking Tools - specifically as it applies to Job Searching and Recruitment.

I have just read an article by Jonelle Marte titled “Twitter Yourself a Job .

Jonelle Marte writes "Looking for a new job, Alexa Scordato didn't email or call her contacts about possible openings. Instead, she messaged them via the social-networking Web site Twitter.com.

Her brief message: "Hey there! Looking for a Social Media job up in Boston. Are you guys doing any entry level hires?"

Within a week, she had an interview. Within two weeks, she had a job.

...It's been criticized as a site for sharing mundane details about everyday activities. But people like 22-year-old Ms. Scordato, who used Twitter to privately message some people she'd met at a conference, show the site can be more than that.

"I would guess that if I had just sent them a long email with my résumé, I might not have gotten a response as fast as I did," says Ms. Scordato, who was hired by Mzinga, a Boston-area company that helps businesses use social technology.""

This is a fantastic example of the changing way that companies and candidates are now using Social Networking Tools to connect with each other. I do not believe tools like Twitter have gained widespread acceptance in the Recruitment Industry yet (I stress the word yet as it is becoming more mainstream) but it is quickly becoming a more viable tool and will soon be common practice in Recruitment. To stay connected with candidates companies will need to integrate these tools into their recruitment strategies and be less reliant on using job boards and traditional means of recruitment to attract top candidates.

My Twitter ID if you want to connect is http://twitter.com/DavidTalamelli

Job Searching in a Difficult Economic Climate - By Prashant Singh

Hello and Namesta to all.

We have all read recently about the economic meltdown and the number of layoffs and redundancies from various organisations. This is definitely a shift from the climate we have seen over the past few years and this has affected millions across the Globe. We cannot ignore the situation, but it does not mean we need to put our careers or job searching on hold. Despite the economic downturn there are still good job opportunities out there.

How can candidates make make the most of their job search in this environment?

1) In the current market the number of job openings will be fewer. Pick the information channel that best suits the specifics of your career and your preferred position. For example: If you see a requirement for a Technical role and you feel your strength is more on the Functional side then this may not be the ideal role for you. You should focus on finding a role that you want to do and one that fits your skills and experience. It may still be worth contacting that company and making them aware of yourself as they may have a suitable role that is not advertised.

2) Contact Recruiters about opportunities. I would advise to call and speak to the concerned Recruiter regarding opportunities that are either available or may be coming up. Take the opportunity to find out about the team you may be working in, the culture, the working environment, work/life balance, etc…. A 10 minute conversation with a Recruiter can be a goldmine of information.

3) Look for opportunities in the Hidden Job Market: As blogged about earlier in “The Hidden Job Market How Do I Find It” many opportunities are not posted on job boards and many roles can be found by connecting with your network of contacts (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Plaxo, etc…). By relying solely on using Job Boards in your job search it is likely you will not see all of the roles actually available but will see a much smaller percentage of the actual roles available than what there really is.

4) Ensure that your resume is up to date and has all the details and skills that you possess,For example: If you are a Technical Architect, make sure that along with your role and responsibilities in the projects you have worked on that you also detail the environment that you have worked in, what technologies that you have used, etc….

Make a difference in you career today…for a better tomorrow. Wish you all a very Happy and Prosperous New year ’09.

The author of this article has been with Oracle India Recruitment Team for the past two years and can be contacted on prashant.x.singh@oracle.com

2008...A Review and 2009...A New Beginning

Happy Holidays to all of our readers.

Work wise, it has been a quiet few days over the holiday period that has been spent enjoying time with family and friends. It is good to take a break and reflect on the year that has been and on the New Year that is upon us.

2008...A Review

2008 has been an exciting year for our Recruitment Team here at Oracle, we have welcomed a number of new employees into our family (either from acquisition or as new hires) and it has been great to see these people contribute to our overall success. Personally I have had the opportunity to meet and interact with some truly talented individuals and it is great to see so many people passionate about what they are doing.

I began posting on this blog in May 2008 with the hope of sharing information about Oracle and also to share my thoughts and ideas in the IT and Recruitment Industries. Over the past 6 months this blog has grown to include contributing writers from our China and India Recruitment Teams and we have had 6000+ views of the Oracle APAC Recruitment Blog. I hope that the information we have shared has been informative and/or useful to our readers.

2009...Time to think about new beginnings

2009 will be an exciting year it will bring us new challenges in the global markets and businesses will be working in a much different economic climate than 2008. I find it is often at these times when we tend to grow and innovate to continue to be successful.

In 2009 I would like for our APAC Recruitment Team to continue to share with our readers on our thoughts and ideas on what is happening both here at Oracle and in the greater IT industry. I am hoping for more surveys, more stories, and also input from our readers.

I would welcome any comments/ideas/suggestions from our readers - if there is any topic or segment you would like us to cover or talk about let us know and we will answer your questions as best we can.


Thank you all for a fantastic 2008 and a Happy New Year and best wishes for 2009.

David Talamelli

Oracle Corp.: Ranked #1 Human Resource Company in China

Over the last five months, the major job portal in China, 51JOB conducted an extensive screening and selection process to identify the top 100 companies in China that have demonstrated best practices in the area of Human Resources Management.

Through their initial screening of numerous companies, followed by data collection and analysis of hundreds of companies, combined with telephone and face-to-face interviews, they have identified the 100 companies whose Human Resources practices have significantly contributed to their success.

This has been one of the most comprehensive, in-depth and far-reaching awards in the field of Human Resources in China and these 100 companies, with their demonstrated best practices, can and should serve as models for other companies in China.



In November 2008, it was announced that Oracle's China Recruitment Team is the winner of the 2008 “100 Best Human Resources Management (HRM) Companies” Award and won a second award of “Best Campus Recruitment Practice for 2008” as well.



Malcolm Bentley, Head of Oracle Recruitment Greater China and Korea, was interviewed in July this year in relation to Oracle Internal Recruitment Function and Campus Recruitment Program.

The author of this article is the Head of the Oracle Greater China Recruitment Team and can be contacted on mal.bentley@oracle.com .

Oracle Q2 Results: Results in Line with Expectations

Oracle today released it Q2 results and our second quarter was in line with expectations as earnings excluding charges hit targets on lower than expected revenue.

ORACLE REPORTS Q2 GAAP EPS OF 25 CENTS

Also of interest was news from Larry Ellison: “We signed our largest on-demand sales force automation contract this quarter,” said Oracle CEO, Larry Ellison. “This was just one of several recent wins over salesforce.com. We also sold our first database machine, launching an all new and important business for Oracle.”

In an article by Jim Goldman Oracle Withstands Currency Headwinds it was interesting to note that Brendan Barnicle, software analyst at Pacific Crest Securities, called Oracle's performance a "home run," especially in this climate, and especially with those currency fluctuations, pointing to the company's surprisingly strong applications software business and solid database unit.

Oracle had second quarter revenue from Asia Pacific of $822 million. This figure is up modestly from the first quarter and year ago quarter.

It is great to see all the hard work that we do here come together to achieve these results.

Other news facts include:


-Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) today announced fiscal 2009 Q2 GAAP earnings per share were $0.25, in line with GAAP earnings per share in Q2 of last year. Second quarter GAAP total revenues were up 6% to $5.6 billion, while quarterly GAAP net income was down 1% to $1.3 billion. GAAP software revenues were up 8% to $4.5 billion with new software license revenues down 3% to $1.6 billion. GAAP software license updates and product support revenues were up 14% to $2.9 billion. GAAP services revenues were down 2% to $1.1 billion. GAAP operating income was up 11% to $2.0 billion and GAAP operating margin was up 166 basis points to 35%. GAAP operating cash flow on a trailing twelve month basis was $8.1 billion, up 16%.

-“Our non-GAAP operating income grew 25% in constant currency to $2.6 billion in Q2, resulting in operating margins of 46%,” said Oracle Executive Vice President and CFO, Jeff Epstein. “In addition, Oracle generated $7.6 billion in free cash flow in the past twelve months, up 15% over the same period last year.”

Recruiting Survey Results: What would you do??

Last Thursday I raised the question "if you were approached by a Recruiter about a new opportunity would you be interested in exploring further?" with our readers. Over the past few days there have 20 responses to this question and the results were a little bit different than I had thought they would be.

The results of the Survey were:

-No, I am comfortable and happy in my current role/company - 15%
-Yes, I am actively looking for a new role - 30%
-Yes, but only if it provided me with career advancement or other opps. - 35%
-Yes, but only if it was a significant increase in salary - 20%

I initially suggested that a larger percentage of people would say "No, I am happy where I am" - this suggests to me that people in today's environment are more open to the idea of new opportunities then they may have been as long as it falls in line with what they are looking for. One possible reason for this could be the changing demographics of the workplace. With more Generation Y workers joining the workforce, there is a shift in the thinking of what a career means to a person (note: this is a small sample size of 20, however I can see this shift in my daily interaction with candidates).

The other interesting point to note was that people who would move but are not actively looking for a new role are more interested in the career advancement more so than the salary increase. When changing roles, salary makes up only one portion of the reason people look to move and should not be the focus point - I do believe in the saying: do the work what you enjoy (love) and the rewards will follow.

Recruiting Survey: What would you do???

I had the chance to meet Thomas Shaw (CEO of Recruitment Directory) earlier today, it was great to meet him and we had a very thought provoking conversation.

As Thomas and I spoke about passive and active candidates, it got me to thinking of some statistics that I had been told years ago during some training and I thought I would put those statistics to the test.

A number of Recruitment Professionals classify candidates as either being Active Candidates or Passive Candidates. Active Candidates being people who are actively seeking a new role and Passive Candidates being people who Recruiters may approach about roles when they are not necessarily looking for a new role.

Loosely speaking the statistics generally look like this: out of 100% of the workforce: 15% of that workforce is actively looking for a new role. Out of the remaining 85% of the workforce 40% would say "no, I am not interested in a new role" if they received a call from a Recruiter, while the other 45% would say "yes, I would be interested in a new role" if they received a call from a Recruiter.



I have put this survey above together and would like to get our readers thoughts to see what they would do if they were to receive a call from a Recruiter about potential new roles or opportunities.

It would be interesting to see what the results. As you know Recruiters talk to both "Active and Passive Candidates" but regardless of what type of candidate you are I still believe the main thing is to find the right role for an individual that meets what they are looking for (whether it is money, career, work/life balance, etc...)

Can Work be both Challenging and Fun??? by Lucy Zhuang

As a Recruiter for Oracle in Beijing, the one question that I always ask candidates during the interview process is “Why would you like to work for Oracle?” I have received a whole range of different answers, but I have an answer that you may not have thought of from my own personal experiences and that is…..you may have a lot of fun working with us.



Early this year, a co-worker of mine volunteered me to participate in ORACLE IDOL. To explain, ORACLE IDOL was put together for Oracle China Employees and is a take off of the television show China Idol (as well as American Idol, UK idol, Australian Idol, etc…) where contestants sing and a winner is selected. I did not think it was a big deal to sing a song in a Karaoke contest even though I am not that good a singer, but I have to say I had an amazing experience from participating in ORACLE IDOL.



Oracle not only provided a very fancy location, but also offered us a professional make-up service, a photographer, music, a brochure and a banner for each participant’s fans. We were able to invite our families, friends and colleagues as fans to support us. I found that we have many excellent performers within Oracle whose singing and dancing skills almost reach professional level. It was a great experience and sitting there, I felt really proud of myself for being part of such a superb team and company.



So if you are talking to one of our Recruiters and we ask you why do you want to join Oracle? You could say that by joining our family you could be part of the fun too (as well as all the interesting work that we do as well). Yes, the work we do is challenging and exciting and at times can take up a lot of our focus, but with events like ORACLE IDOL it is great to be able to have fun at work as well.
The author of this article has been with the Oracle China Recruitment Team for the past two years and can be contacted on lucy.zhuang@oracle.com

Recruitment is Becoming an Increasingly Transparent Business

With the advent and increased usage of the various social networking sites available I believe recruitment will increasingly become a much more transparent business then it traditionally has been in the past.



In the past, it was the Recruiter's who held most of the information about a Candidate and vice versa about a Hiring Manager. A Hiring Manager or Candidate would have to rely on getting information they wanted about each other from the Recruiter. This put the control of the flow of information for the most part with the Recruiter.

However, with sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Personal Blogs, etc.... information about a Candidate or about a Hiring Manager is no longer just in the hands of a Recruiter. For example, with the right search criteria Candidates can find out what a company is like to work at, why a role is open, what a Hiring Manager is like, etc... I think our roles as Recruiters is changing. A Recruiter's role should be to act as a facilitator in the hiring process and be able to provide the relevant information to both Candidates and Hiring Managers for them to be able to make an informed decision.

With the information available online and on social networking sites, it is not just about finding the right person for a role, I think that is only half the job. It is also equally important to find out what type of role a Candidate is looking for in his next challenge. If a Recruiter can find the right fit for a Candidate and Hiring Manager then it leads to a road for success. If Recruiters are only concerned about meeting their KPI's or putting "bums on seats" it is hard to see that model being successful for a sustained period of time, especially in today's environment.

Inspecht HR Futures Conference - Feb. 26th 2009 - Melb. Australia

The Inspecht HR Futures Conference is a 1 day event on 26 February 2009 in Melbourne Australia. This will bring together speakers covering all areas of HR, Recruiting and Technology to discuss how social media, innovation, culture and technology empower, attract, engage and evolve employees.

I will be sitting on a Panel called: Future of Recruiting - This session will bring together Thomas Shaw CEO of Recruitment Directory, Riges Younan CEO of 2Vouch, Geoff Jennings Director & Founder of Online Recruitment and David Talamelli Principal Recruiter from Oracle Corporation.

Each panel member will have three minutes to give you their vision of recruitment in the future followed by an interactive questions and answer session. During the questions session you can explore topics from the day or the panelists views on the future of recruiting.

Michael Specht has put together a great list of speakers and panelists. I look forward to hearing their thoughts and ideas on the world of Recruitment.

A quick overview of the day is:

Time Session Speaker
8:30 AM Arrival & Registration with Tea and Coffee
9:00 AM Welcome and Introduction Michael Specht
9:10 AM Keynote - Thoughts from TED 2009 Stephen Collins
10:10 AM Implementation of Enterprise 2.0 and its Value in Organisations Sean Lew
10:50 AM Morning tea
11:10 AM TBD
11:50 AM Web 2.0 in recruitment Thomas Shaw
12:30 PM Lunch
1:30 PM Case study on informal learning Jasmin Tragas
2:15 PM Legal issues to consider for Web 2.0 Michael Park
3:00 PM Afternoon Tea
3:15 PM Reframing Professional Development with Enterprise 2.0 Anne Bartlett-Bragg
4:00 PM Panel: Branding & Social Media and its impact on HR Stephen Collins, Sean Lew, Jasmin Tragas, Anne Bartlett-Bragg
4:30 PM Panel: Future of Recruiting Thomas Shaw, Riges Younan, David Talamelli, Geoff Jennings
5:15 PM A few closing remarks Michael Specht
5:30 PM Informal networking


Details of the Conference and information can be found at http://hrfutures.inspecht.com.au/

Geographical Boundaries do not Restrict our Long Distance Relationships…..by Rajendra Prasad

Yesterday, I was speaking from Hyderabad (India) to three Hiring Managers – one in the US , one in the UK and one in the Philippines about their individual recruiting requirements. Soon after that, I went on a call with one of my colleagues from Noida (India), discussing a few critical requirements and later on had a call from my manager from Bangalore (India) inquiring on the status of some new joinees.

This is just a glimpse at a small segment of the typical work day at Oracle.

I imagine this is how many global organizations work today. Long, long gone are the days when all your colleagues are just a whistle away from your cubicle….When there was the personal touch to all your conversations. The team dynamics, of course have changed.

Or has it really changed?

As I don’t feel the change.

Even though I work in a global team and many of my colleagues are in different locations, I feel more of being a part of the team that has stood next to me all through. I have so many connect calls, one-on-one discussions, regular team meetings & outings, fun activities…. that it is impossible to think that I am a stand alone working remotely.

I have never felt this bonding with the rest of the team in my earlier organizations, not to this level. Then what’s different at Oracle?

I attribute this connected feeling with the rest of my team spread across the globe – to the people involved. Here at Oracle I believe it’s PEOPLE are the determining factor.

Geographical boundaries do not restrict our long distance relationships…..!!!

We talk to each other, we inspire each other, we commit mistakes together, we share our successes and our failures – but help ourselves to rise and finish the marathon. We are all a part of the family…we are ORACLE.


The author of this article has been with Oracle India Recruitment Team for the past two & half years and can be contacted on rajendra.p.prasad@oracle.com

Create your own Luck – by Prashant Singh

Hello folks, I am one of the Recruiters for Oracle based out of Bangalore office.

We often get to hear how someone got lucky to get a job or was lucky to be promoted, etc… While some people think they just got lucky in life and that’s that, I honestly think you tend to create your own luck in both your work and personal life.

To reach our goals, the secret to success is within us, what do I mean by this?
I think that this means that by using the Laws of Nature you create your own reality - Good or Bad. Good thoughts and actions create good outcomes and vice versa. The Positive energy created from within us influences each one of us to move towards success. It’s the feeling that we create in our day-to-day life, at work, at home or anywhere else.

People create their own luck by doing the things that puts them in a position to succeed. For example – by having a LinkedIn account, messaging on Twitter, submit their resume’s in recruitment portals, being involved in the IT Community, etc… it is more likely you will get noticed and called up “out of the blue” by a Recruiter. While some people think getting a call like this is lucky, it is not luck at all but really the work that someone does to make themselves get noticed and be found by Recruiters.

In short, you can create you own luck by getting things done at the right place and at the right time.

Earlier this year at our Recruitment Kickoff in India I heard other success stories, thoughts and the passion for recruitment from members of our Recruitment Team. So many of our colleagues here at Oracle share a passion for recruitment and have the zeal to innovate – I think we are creating our own luck through our great teamwork and dedication. If you are interested in “creating your own luck” contact us, we may have that next career role you are looking for.

The author of this article has been with Oracle India Recruitment Team for the past two years and can be contacted on prashant.x.singh@oracle.com

Oracle at the Australian Corporate Games

The Australian Corporate Games are being held this weekend in Melbourne and Oracle has again shown its sporting drive and enthusiasm with 150+ participants being entered this year by Oracle. Special Thanks to Oracle AU for providing the support for us to get involved in this event each year.



This year I competed in the 5km run on Saturday morning and the Men's Basketball held on Saturday night. It was a great chance to get out, stay fit and have a run. It is also a great chance to compete and play with colleagues from our greater Oracle Team - we have had people from every business line involved and we really come together as "One Red Team".



We have some gifted athletes here at Oracle - congratulations to Kate on finishing 3rd in her division in the running event. I have included a few photos of Oracle's Men's and Mixed Basketball Teams. We had a great time playing and look forward to doing it all again next year.

Coming Soon: New Blog Contributing Writers...Oracle India

For regular readers you may have noticed the title of this blog has changed to "Oracle Asia Pacific Recruitment Blog" recently.

Oracle has a global team of Recruiters who help identify and bring talented people into the organisation. Our APAC Recruitment Team covers operations across the region including Australia, New Zealand, China, Singapore, Philippines and India as well as many other countries.

We are looking forward to new contributing editorials from members of our India Team (thanks Sreejith, Deepak and Prashant for offering your commentary) on our Recruitment Blog.

Below is a picture of our Oracle Recruitment Team in India.



and a brief overview of Oracle in India:

More than twenty years ago, before India became recognized as the dynamic force in information technology that is known to be today, Oracle was one of the first multinational software companies to set up operations in India.

This early commitment to the country marked Oracle's vision for India as both a domestic market and a center for research and development. The company became the first multinational company to establish core software development operations in India to support its global product development strategy and to address the needs of the local market.

Today Oracle has offices in Bangalore and Hyderabad and sales and marketing offices across six Indian cities. We look forward to hearing more from our team in India.