So you want to fill a position in your organization and your recruiter has asked you to submit a job description…now what? Ideally, your organization will have already created job descriptions for similar positions that you can tweak to fit the needs of your position specifically. However, this may also be the first time your organization has hired for this particular type of position in which case you may be starting from scratch. In either case, following these guidelines when approaching the task of writing out a job description will help you to establish a relevant and comprehensive job description your recruiter can use to find the right fit for the role.

Many organizations today have the latest technology and the greatest physical resources. But if those organizations do not have the right people, they will always struggle to achieve the results they desire. Here are some of the most important components of a successful search I've learned over the years as a Recruiting Consultant for rapidly growing organizations across the Washington, DC metropolitan area.

At Helios, we are often asked to recommend how to best structure an organization’s HR Department. You may have heard the rule of thumb is 1 HR professional for every 100 employees. Unfortunately, it is not that simple and there is no “one size fits all” solution. There are a lot of factors that go into determining the right solution for your organization.

Do you have a message to deliver to your employees that may be tough for them to hear? How will you communicate the message in the most effective, genuine way? Sometimes it is necessary to deliver a message that will be difficult for your employees to hear, whether it is regarding negative financial reports, an acquisition, a change in leadership or even pending layoffs. How do you go about delivering this tough message?

I recently interviewed a prospective Human Resources Manager candidate and asked what one of her current challenges was. She gave an answer that included an example of two direct reports who once were the best of friends, but are now archenemies and have brought their issues with them to the workplace. In the industry that she is in, she explained that this is common behavior and that it often lands her in the position of being a mediator.

Last month at Recruit DC, I had the opportunity to sit down with Neil Costa of HireClix to discuss the best ways to improve search engine optimization (SEO) in recruiting. SEO, according to Wikipedia, is the process impacting your job opening’s (in this case) visibility in a search engine’s or site’s (such as Indeed.com) “natural” (organic) search results. The better your visibility (earlier in the results), the more clicks your job opening is likely to get. SEO matters and can have impact on the effectiveness of your recruitment advertising and your employment brand. And, most importantly, it doesn't cost much to make improvements.