#Open Source Recruitment Software

[peoplezep]

Enhancing Candidate Experience in Recruitment with PeopleZep ATS

In today’s competitive job market, candidate experience has emerged as a pivotal factor in attracting and retaining top talent. A positive recruitment experience not only enhances your employer brand but also significantly influences candidates' decisions to accept job offers. PeopleZep Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is designed with the candidate journey in mind, providing tools and features that prioritize engagement, communication, and satisfaction throughout the recruitment process. In this blog, we’ll explore how PeopleZep ATS enhances candidate experience and why it matters for your organization.

 The Importance of Candidate Experience

1. First Impressions Matter

The recruitment process is often a candidate's first interaction with your organization. A seamless and positive experience can set the tone for their entire relationship with your company. PeopleZep ATS ensures that candidates feel valued and respected from the moment they apply.

2. Impact on Employer Branding

Candidates who have a positive recruitment experience are more likely to speak positively about your organization, regardless of whether they receive an offer. Enhancing the candidate experience can significantly bolster your employer brand, making you more attractive to top talent.

3. Reducing Drop-Off Rates

Long, complicated application processes can frustrate candidates, leading to high drop-off rates. By simplifying and streamlining the application process, PeopleZep ATS helps ensure that candidates stay engaged and complete their applications.

 Key Features of PeopleZep ATS that Enhance Candidate Experience

1. User-Friendly Interface

PeopleZep ATS features an intuitive, user-friendly interface that makes it easy for candidates to navigate the application process. A straightforward design minimizes confusion and allows candidates to focus on showcasing their skills and qualifications.

2. Mobile Optimization

With the rise of mobile job applications, having a mobile-optimized platform is crucial. PeopleZep ATS allows candidates to apply for positions, check their application status, and receive updates directly from their smartphones, making the process convenient and accessible.

3. Automated Communication

Communication is key to a positive candidate experience. PeopleZep ATS automates communication, providing candidates with timely updates about their application status. Automated emails and notifications keep candidates informed and engaged throughout the recruitment process.

4. Personalized Candidate Journey

PeopleZep ATS allows recruiters to tailor the candidate experience. From personalized email templates to customized application forms, organizations can create a more meaningful and engaging journey for each candidate, reflecting their unique needs and expectations.

 Building Stronger Relationships with Candidates

1. Enhanced Feedback Mechanisms

Feedback is essential for continuous improvement. PeopleZep ATS enables recruiters to gather feedback from candidates regarding their experience. This feedback loop allows organizations to identify areas for improvement and refine their recruitment processes accordingly.

2. Transparent Processes

Transparency is critical in recruitment. PeopleZep ATS provides candidates with insights into the hiring process, including timelines and next steps. By keeping candidates informed, organizations can build trust and enhance the overall experience.

3. Candidate Support

PeopleZep ATS includes resources and support for candidates throughout the application process. From FAQs to live chat options, candidates can access assistance whenever needed, ensuring they never feel lost or unsupported.

 The Benefits of Enhancing Candidate Experience with PeopleZep ATS

1. Attracting Top Talent

Organizations that prioritize candidate experience are more likely to attract top talent. A positive recruitment experience positions your company as an employer of choice, making it easier to secure the best candidates in the market.

2. Increased Offer Acceptance Rates

When candidates feel valued and respected throughout the recruitment process, they are more likely to accept job offers. By enhancing candidate experience with PeopleZep ATS, organizations can improve their offer acceptance rates and reduce the likelihood of losing top talent.

3. Positive Impact on Retention

The candidate experience often sets the stage for future employee engagement and retention. Candidates who have a positive experience are more likely to become engaged employees, contributing to higher retention rates in the long run.

 Conclusion

In a landscape where candidate experience is paramount, PeopleZep ATS stands out as a solution that prioritizes engagement, communication, and satisfaction. By leveraging the innovative features of PeopleZep ATS, organizations can enhance their recruitment processes, attract top talent, and build a strong employer brand.Invest in the future of your recruitment strategy with PeopleZep ATS, and transform the way you engage with candidates. With a focus on candidate experience, you’ll not only fill positions more effectively but also cultivate a positive perception of your organization in the job market.

[peopleszep]

The Future of Learning and Recruitment: Peoplezep Innovative Approach

As the workforce landscape transforms, companies are turning to technology-driven solutions to bridge gaps in recruitment and learning. The need for an integrated, data-backed approach is becoming more apparent than ever, as businesses seek tools that can support both effective hiring and continuous employee development.

Peoplezep is at the forefront of this change, offering a dynamic platform that unites Applicant Tracking System (ATS) and Learning Management System (LMS) capabilities. By combining recruitment and learning under one platform, Peoplezep is leading the way in providing a cohesive, streamlined experience that benefits both organizations and their employees.

This article explores how Peoplezep integrated solution is reshaping the future of learning and recruitment, empowering companies to attract, onboard, and develop talent seamlessly.

The Changing Landscape of Talent Management

The traditional approach to talent management often splits recruitment and employee training into separate functions. As organizations have evolved, they’ve recognized the importance of a more unified approach—one that connects recruitment to learning and development, creating a smooth transition and fostering a continuous growth mindset.

Why Companies Need Integrated SolutionsDisconnected systems can lead to inefficiencies, redundant data entry, and missed opportunities in both hiring and training. Peoplezep innovative ATS and LMS integration addresses these gaps, offering a single platform where data flows easily between hiring and learning functions.

How Peoplezep Merges ATS and LMS for a Unified Experience

Peoplezep platform combines the efficiency of modern recruitment tools with the capabilities of a full-featured learning management system. Here’s how this integration works and why it’s beneficial for today’s forward-thinking companies:

1. ATS Features for Efficient, Targeted Hiring

Peoplezep ATS offers tools designed to streamline recruitment from start to finish:

Automated Resume Screening: Filters applications with smart algorithms, allowing recruiters to identify top candidates quickly.

Customizable Hiring Workflows: Tailor recruitment steps based on job requirements, offering flexibility to different departments or roles.

Engagement Tools: Automated messaging and updates keep candidates informed, improving their experience with the brand.

2. LMS Features for Continuous Employee Development

Peoplezep LMS enables organizations to create, manage, and track training programs that support employee growth:

Customized Learning Paths: Create courses tailored to different roles and departments, ensuring relevant skill development.

Progress Monitoring: Track individual or team progress on training modules, providing data-driven insights for HR and managers.

Certifications and Assessments: Reward completion with certifications and use assessments to measure knowledge retention and proficiency.

3. Data-Driven Insights Across Recruitment and Learning

Peoplezep analytics provide deep insights into recruitment performance and learning outcomes, helping companies make informed decisions.

Hiring Analytics: Track time-to-hire, source efficiency, and candidate engagement.

Learning Analytics: Evaluate training effectiveness, identify skill gaps, and monitor long-term employee development.

The Advantages of Integrating Recruitment and Learning with Peoplezep

By merging ATS and LMS capabilities, Peoplezep offers a streamlined solution that enhances productivity, improves data flow, and empowers companies to build stronger, more engaged teams.

1. Enhanced Candidate Experience

A well-integrated ATS provides a smooth, transparent hiring experience. Once hired, employees can immediately begin training with Peoplezep LMS, creating a seamless transition that builds confidence and readiness from day one.

2. Reduced Time-to-Productivity

Peoplezep LMS allows new hires to start job-specific training immediately, shortening the time required to become fully productive. This advantage is especially crucial for fast-paced industries where early productivity can drive competitive advantage.

3. Cost Savings on Talent Acquisition and Development

Using separate platforms for ATS and LMS can be costly, with added expenses for software licensing and data integration. Peoplezep all-in-one platform reduces these costs, offering a budget-friendly solution for growing organizations.

4. Consistent Employee Development

The integration of hiring and learning creates a continuous path for employee growth. With Peoplezep, new hires and seasoned employees alike can access relevant training, ensuring consistent skill development that aligns with organizational goals.

5. Data-Driven Talent Management

Peoplezep platform generates valuable data insights across both recruitment and learning functions, giving HR leaders a complete view of the talent lifecycle. From pinpointing hiring trends to tracking employee progress, these insights drive strategic planning and enable proactive management.

Future Trends in Learning and Recruitment Technology

With the workplace constantly evolving, here are a few trends shaping the future of talent management and how Peoplezep is positioned to address them:

1. AI-Powered Hiring Solutions

Artificial Intelligence is increasingly used in recruitment, from initial resume screening to matching candidate skills with job requirements. Peoplezep incorporates AI to streamline hiring, ensuring faster and more accurate candidate selection.

2. Personalized Learning Experiences

As companies recognize the value of individual learning paths, Peoplezep LMS allows personalized course recommendations and tailored training based on role requirements, helping employees reach their full potential.

3. Remote and Hybrid Workforce Adaptability

With remote work on the rise, companies need systems that can support distributed teams. Peoplezep cloud-based platform allows access to recruitment and training tools from anywhere, providing flexibility and scalability for remote and hybrid teams.

4. Skills-Based Hiring and Development

The focus on skills over job titles is reshaping recruitment and training strategies. Peoplezep integrated approach supports skill assessments in both hiring and ongoing learning, helping companies build versatile, skilled teams.

Why Peoplezep Stands Out as the Future of Talent Management

With many solutions available in the market, Peoplezep offers unique value by combining ATS and LMS features in a single platform that’s scalable, customizable, and designed for the future. Here’s why companies are choosing Peoplezep:

1. All-in-One Solution

Peoplezep integration of ATS and LMS provides a single solution that minimizes complexity and enhances usability for HR teams, recruiters, and employees.

2. Focus on Employee Growth

By providing an ongoing learning path from day one, Peoplezep helps companies foster a culture of continuous improvement, making it a perfect choice for businesses that prioritize employee development.

3. Scalable for Growing Businesses

Whether you’re a small business or a larger organization, Peoplezep offers scalable solutions that grow with you, supporting everything from recruitment to advanced employee development programs.

Transforming Employee Journeys with Peoplezep

The journey from candidate to seasoned team member is smoother and more impactful when managed through an integrated platform. Peoplezep focus on uniting hiring and learning ensures that every employee’s journey aligns with the company’s goals, maximizing both individual potential and organizational growth.

Benefits Across the Employee Journey:

Efficient Hiring: Find and hire top talent faster with advanced ATS tools.

Engaged Onboarding: Provide new hires with targeted training from day one.

Continuous Growth: Offer opportunities for ongoing development aligned with career goals.

Informed Decisions: Use data-driven insights to improve both recruitment and training outcomes.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does Peoplezep handle data privacy across ATS and LMS functions?

Peoplezep takes data security seriously, following industry standards to protect candidate and employee data at every stage of recruitment and learning.

Can Peoplezep be customized for specific industries?

Yes, Peoplezep ATS and LMS are customizable to fit unique needs across different industries, from role-specific workflows to industry-tailored learning paths.

Is Peoplezep suitable for remote and hybrid teams?

Absolutely. Peoplezep cloud-based platform enables access to both ATS and LMS tools from any location, making it ideal for remote and hybrid work environments.

Conclusion

The future of talent management lies in integrated, data-driven solutions that streamline the entire employee journey. Peoplezep innovative approach to merging ATS and LMS capabilities empowers companies to build effective teams, enhance productivity, and create a culture of continuous growth.By investing in Peoplezep, organizations gain a scalable platform that supports their recruitment and training needs, transforming their approach to talent management. Ready to redefine your hiring and learning processes? Explore Peoplezep innovative ATS and LMS integration today and step into the future of talent management.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

"Open" "AI" isn’t

Tomorrow (19 Aug), I'm appearing at the San Diego Union-Tribune Festival of Books. I'm on a 2:30PM panel called "Return From Retirement," followed by a signing:

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/festivalofbooks

The crybabies who freak out about The Communist Manifesto appearing on university curriculum clearly never read it – chapter one is basically a long hymn to capitalism's flexibility and inventiveness, its ability to change form and adapt itself to everything the world throws at it and come out on top:

https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/ch01.htm#007

Today, leftists signal this protean capacity of capital with the -washing suffix: greenwashing, genderwashing, queerwashing, wokewashing – all the ways capital cloaks itself in liberatory, progressive values, while still serving as a force for extraction, exploitation, and political corruption.

A smart capitalist is someone who, sensing the outrage at a world run by 150 old white guys in boardrooms, proposes replacing half of them with women, queers, and people of color. This is a superficial maneuver, sure, but it's an incredibly effective one.

In "Open (For Business): Big Tech, Concentrated Power, and the Political Economy of Open AI," a new working paper, Meredith Whittaker, David Gray Widder and Sarah B Myers document a new kind of -washing: openwashing:

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4543807

Openwashing is the trick that large "AI" companies use to evade regulation and neutralizing critics, by casting themselves as forces of ethical capitalism, committed to the virtue of openness. No one should be surprised to learn that the products of the "open" wing of an industry whose products are neither "artificial," nor "intelligent," are also not "open." Every word AI huxters say is a lie; including "and," and "the."

So what work does the "open" in "open AI" do? "Open" here is supposed to invoke the "open" in "open source," a movement that emphasizes a software development methodology that promotes code transparency, reusability and extensibility, which are three important virtues.

But "open source" itself is an offshoot of a more foundational movement, the Free Software movement, whose goal is to promote freedom, and whose method is openness. The point of software freedom was technological self-determination, the right of technology users to decide not just what their technology does, but who it does it to and who it does it for:

https://locusmag.com/2022/01/cory-doctorow-science-fiction-is-a-luddite-literature/

The open source split from free software was ostensibly driven by the need to reassure investors and businesspeople so they would join the movement. The "free" in free software is (deliberately) ambiguous, a bit of wordplay that sometimes misleads people into thinking it means "Free as in Beer" when really it means "Free as in Speech" (in Romance languages, these distinctions are captured by translating "free" as "libre" rather than "gratis").

The idea behind open source was to rebrand free software in a less ambiguous – and more instrumental – package that stressed cost-savings and software quality, as well as "ecosystem benefits" from a co-operative form of development that recruited tinkerers, independents, and rivals to contribute to a robust infrastructural commons.

But "open" doesn't merely resolve the linguistic ambiguity of libre vs gratis – it does so by removing the "liberty" from "libre," the "freedom" from "free." "Open" changes the pole-star that movement participants follow as they set their course. Rather than asking "Which course of action makes us more free?" they ask, "Which course of action makes our software better?"

Thus, by dribs and drabs, the freedom leeches out of openness. Today's tech giants have mobilized "open" to create a two-tier system: the largest tech firms enjoy broad freedom themselves – they alone get to decide how their software stack is configured. But for all of us who rely on that (increasingly unavoidable) software stack, all we have is "open": the ability to peer inside that software and see how it works, and perhaps suggest improvements to it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBknF2yUZZ8

In the Big Tech internet, it's freedom for them, openness for us. "Openness" – transparency, reusability and extensibility – is valuable, but it shouldn't be mistaken for technological self-determination. As the tech sector becomes ever-more concentrated, the limits of openness become more apparent.

But even by those standards, the openness of "open AI" is thin gruel indeed (that goes triple for the company that calls itself "OpenAI," which is a particularly egregious openwasher).

The paper's authors start by suggesting that the "open" in "open AI" is meant to imply that an "open AI" can be scratch-built by competitors (or even hobbyists), but that this isn't true. Not only is the material that "open AI" companies publish insufficient for reproducing their products, even if those gaps were plugged, the resource burden required to do so is so intense that only the largest companies could do so.

Beyond this, the "open" parts of "open AI" are insufficient for achieving the other claimed benefits of "open AI": they don't promote auditing, or safety, or competition. Indeed, they often cut against these goals.

"Open AI" is a wordgame that exploits the malleability of "open," but also the ambiguity of the term "AI": "a grab bag of approaches, not… a technical term of art, but more … marketing and a signifier of aspirations." Hitching this vague term to "open" creates all kinds of bait-and-switch opportunities.

That's how you get Meta claiming that LLaMa2 is "open source," despite being licensed in a way that is absolutely incompatible with any widely accepted definition of the term:

https://blog.opensource.org/metas-llama-2-license-is-not-open-source/

LLaMa-2 is a particularly egregious openwashing example, but there are plenty of other ways that "open" is misleadingly applied to AI: sometimes it means you can see the source code, sometimes that you can see the training data, and sometimes that you can tune a model, all to different degrees, alone and in combination.

But even the most "open" systems can't be independently replicated, due to raw computing requirements. This isn't the fault of the AI industry – the computational intensity is a fact, not a choice – but when the AI industry claims that "open" will "democratize" AI, they are hiding the ball. People who hear these "democratization" claims (especially policymakers) are thinking about entrepreneurial kids in garages, but unless these kids have access to multi-billion-dollar data centers, they can't be "disruptors" who topple tech giants with cool new ideas. At best, they can hope to pay rent to those giants for access to their compute grids, in order to create products and services at the margin that rely on existing products, rather than displacing them.

The "open" story, with its claims of democratization, is an especially important one in the context of regulation. In Europe, where a variety of AI regulations have been proposed, the AI industry has co-opted the open source movement's hard-won narrative battles about the harms of ill-considered regulation.

For open source (and free software) advocates, many tech regulations aimed at taming large, abusive companies – such as requirements to surveil and control users to extinguish toxic behavior – wreak collateral damage on the free, open, user-centric systems that we see as superior alternatives to Big Tech. This leads to the paradoxical effect of passing regulation to "punish" Big Tech that end up simply shaving an infinitesimal percentage off the giants' profits, while destroying the small co-ops, nonprofits and startups before they can grow to be a viable alternative.

The years-long fight to get regulators to understand this risk has been waged by principled actors working for subsistence nonprofit wages or for free, and now the AI industry is capitalizing on lawmakers' hard-won consideration for collateral damage by claiming to be "open AI" and thus vulnerable to overbroad regulation.

But the "open" projects that lawmakers have been coached to value are precious because they deliver a level playing field, competition, innovation and democratization – all things that "open AI" fails to deliver. The regulations the AI industry is fighting also don't necessarily implicate the speech implications that are core to protecting free software:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/04/remembering-case-established-code-speech

Just think about LLaMa-2. You can download it for free, along with the model weights it relies on – but not detailed specs for the data that was used in its training. And the source-code is licensed under a homebrewed license cooked up by Meta's lawyers, a license that only glancingly resembles anything from the Open Source Definition:

https://opensource.org/osd/

Core to Big Tech companies' "open AI" offerings are tools, like Meta's PyTorch and Google's TensorFlow. These tools are indeed "open source," licensed under real OSS terms. But they are designed and maintained by the companies that sponsor them, and optimize for the proprietary back-ends each company offers in its own cloud. When programmers train themselves to develop in these environments, they are gaining expertise in adding value to a monopolist's ecosystem, locking themselves in with their own expertise. This a classic example of software freedom for tech giants and open source for the rest of us.

One way to understand how "open" can produce a lock-in that "free" might prevent is to think of Android: Android is an open platform in the sense that its sourcecode is freely licensed, but the existence of Android doesn't make it any easier to challenge the mobile OS duopoly with a new mobile OS; nor does it make it easier to switch from Android to iOS and vice versa.

Another example: MongoDB, a free/open database tool that was adopted by Amazon, which subsequently forked the codebase and tuning it to work on their proprietary cloud infrastructure.

The value of open tooling as a stickytrap for creating a pool of developers who end up as sharecroppers who are glued to a specific company's closed infrastructure is well-understood and openly acknowledged by "open AI" companies. Zuckerberg boasts about how PyTorch ropes developers into Meta's stack, "when there are opportunities to make integrations with products, [so] it’s much easier to make sure that developers and other folks are compatible with the things that we need in the way that our systems work."

Tooling is a relatively obscure issue, primarily debated by developers. A much broader debate has raged over training data – how it is acquired, labeled, sorted and used. Many of the biggest "open AI" companies are totally opaque when it comes to training data. Google and OpenAI won't even say how many pieces of data went into their models' training – let alone which data they used.

Other "open AI" companies use publicly available datasets like the Pile and CommonCrawl. But you can't replicate their models by shoveling these datasets into an algorithm. Each one has to be groomed – labeled, sorted, de-duplicated, and otherwise filtered. Many "open" models merge these datasets with other, proprietary sets, in varying (and secret) proportions.

Quality filtering and labeling for training data is incredibly expensive and labor-intensive, and involves some of the most exploitative and traumatizing clickwork in the world, as poorly paid workers in the Global South make pennies for reviewing data that includes graphic violence, rape, and gore.

Not only is the product of this "data pipeline" kept a secret by "open" companies, the very nature of the pipeline is likewise cloaked in mystery, in order to obscure the exploitative labor relations it embodies (the joke that "AI" stands for "absent Indians" comes out of the South Asian clickwork industry).

The most common "open" in "open AI" is a model that arrives built and trained, which is "open" in the sense that end-users can "fine-tune" it – usually while running it on the manufacturer's own proprietary cloud hardware, under that company's supervision and surveillance. These tunable models are undocumented blobs, not the rigorously peer-reviewed transparent tools celebrated by the open source movement.

If "open" was a way to transform "free software" from an ethical proposition to an efficient methodology for developing high-quality software; then "open AI" is a way to transform "open source" into a rent-extracting black box.

Some "open AI" has slipped out of the corporate silo. Meta's LLaMa was leaked by early testers, republished on 4chan, and is now in the wild. Some exciting stuff has emerged from this, but despite this work happening outside of Meta's control, it is not without benefits to Meta. As an infamous leaked Google memo explains:

Paradoxically, the one clear winner in all of this is Meta. Because the leaked model was theirs, they have effectively garnered an entire planet's worth of free labor. Since most open source innovation is happening on top of their architecture, there is nothing stopping them from directly incorporating it into their products.

https://www.searchenginejournal.com/leaked-google-memo-admits-defeat-by-open-source-ai/486290/

Thus, "open AI" is best understood as "as free product development" for large, well-capitalized AI companies, conducted by tinkerers who will not be able to escape these giants' proprietary compute silos and opaque training corpuses, and whose work product is guaranteed to be compatible with the giants' own systems.

The instrumental story about the virtues of "open" often invoke auditability: the fact that anyone can look at the source code makes it easier for bugs to be identified. But as open source projects have learned the hard way, the fact that anyone can audit your widely used, high-stakes code doesn't mean that anyone will.

The Heartbleed vulnerability in OpenSSL was a wake-up call for the open source movement – a bug that endangered every secure webserver connection in the world, which had hidden in plain sight for years. The result was an admirable and successful effort to build institutions whose job it is to actually make use of open source transparency to conduct regular, deep, systemic audits.

In other words, "open" is a necessary, but insufficient, precondition for auditing. But when the "open AI" movement touts its "safety" thanks to its "auditability," it fails to describe any steps it is taking to replicate these auditing institutions – how they'll be constituted, funded and directed. The story starts and ends with "transparency" and then makes the unjustifiable leap to "safety," without any intermediate steps about how the one will turn into the other.

It's a Magic Underpants Gnome story, in other words:

Step One: Transparency

Step Two: ??

Step Three: Safety

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5ih_TQWqCA

Meanwhile, OpenAI itself has gone on record as objecting to "burdensome mechanisms like licenses or audits" as an impediment to "innovation" – all the while arguing that these "burdensome mechanisms" should be mandatory for rival offerings that are more advanced than its own. To call this a "transparent ruse" is to do violence to good, hardworking transparent ruses all the world over:

https://openai.com/blog/governance-of-superintelligence

Some "open AI" is much more open than the industry dominating offerings. There's EleutherAI, a donor-supported nonprofit whose model comes with documentation and code, licensed Apache 2.0. There are also some smaller academic offerings: Vicuna (UCSD/CMU/Berkeley); Koala (Berkeley) and Alpaca (Stanford).

These are indeed more open (though Alpaca – which ran on a laptop – had to be withdrawn because it "hallucinated" so profusely). But to the extent that the "open AI" movement invokes (or cares about) these projects, it is in order to brandish them before hostile policymakers and say, "Won't someone please think of the academics?" These are the poster children for proposals like exempting AI from antitrust enforcement, but they're not significant players in the "open AI" industry, nor are they likely to be for so long as the largest companies are running the show:

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4493900

I'm kickstarting the audiobook for "The Internet Con: How To Seize the Means of Computation," a Big Tech disassembly manual to disenshittify the web and make a new, good internet to succeed the old, good internet. It's a DRM-free book, which means Audible won't carry it, so this crowdfunder is essential. Back now to get the audio, Verso hardcover and ebook:

http://seizethemeansofcomputation.org

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/18/openwashing/#you-keep-using-that-word-i-do-not-think-it-means-what-you-think-it-means

Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg

CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

[monetizeme]

Proton, the secure-minded email and productivity suite, is becoming a nonprofit foundation, but it doesn't want you to think about it in the way you think about other notable privacy and web foundations.

"We believe that if we want to bring about large-scale change, Proton can’t be billionaire-subsidized (like Signal), Google-subsidized (like Mozilla), government-subsidized (like Tor), donation-subsidized (like Wikipedia), or even speculation-subsidized (like the plethora of crypto “foundations”)," Proton CEO Andy Yen wrote in a blog post announcing the transition. "Instead, Proton must have a profitable and healthy business at its core."

The announcement comes exactly 10 years to the day after a crowdfunding campaign saw 10,000 people give more than $500,000 to launch Proton Mail. To make it happen, Yen, along with co-founder Jason Stockman and first employee Dingchao Lu, endowed the Proton Foundation with some of their shares. The Proton Foundation is now the primary shareholder of the business Proton, which Yen states will "make irrevocable our wish that Proton remains in perpetuity an organization that places people ahead of profits." Among other members of the Foundation's board is Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of HTML, HTTP, and almost everything else about the web.

Of particular importance is where Proton and the Proton Foundation are located: Switzerland. As Yen noted, Swiss foundations do not have shareholders and are instead obligated to act "in accordance with the purpose for which they were established." While the for-profit entity Proton AG can still do things like offer stock options to recruits and even raise its own capital on private markets, the Foundation serves as a backstop against moving too far from Proton's founding mission, Yen wrote.

There’s a lot more Proton to protect these days

Proton has gone from a single email offering to a wide range of services, many of which specifically target the often invasive offerings of other companies (read, mostly: Google). You can now take your cloud files, passwords, and calendars over to Proton and use its VPN services, most of which offer end-to-end encryption and open source core software hosted in Switzerland, with its notably strong privacy laws.

None of that guarantees that a Swiss court can't compel some forms of compliance from Proton, as happened in 2021. But compared to most service providers, Proton offers a far clearer and easier-to-grasp privacy model: It can't see your stuff, and it only makes money from subscriptions.

[mariacallous]

The Israeli spyware maker NSO Group has been on the US Department of Commerce “blacklist” since 2021 over its business of selling targeted hacking tools. But a WIRED investigation has found that the company now appears to be working to stage a comeback in Trump's America, hiring a lobbying firm with the ties to the administration to make its case.

As the White House continues its massive gutting of the United States federal government, remote and hybrid workers have been forced back to the office in a poorly coordinated effort that has left critical employees without necessary resources—even reliable Wi-Fi. And Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) held a “hackathon” in Washington, DC, this week to work on developing a “mega API” that could act as a bridge between software systems for accessing and sharing IRS data more easily.

Meanwhile, new research this week indicates that misconfigured sexual fantasy-focused AI chatbots are leaking users' chats on the open internet—revealing explicit prompts and conversations that in some cases include descriptions of child sexual abuse.

And there's more. Each week, we round up the security and privacy news we didn’t cover in depth ourselves. Click the headlines to read the full stories, and stay safe out there.

In a secret December meeting between the US and China, Beijing officials claimed credit for a broad hacking campaign that has compromised US infrastructure and alarmed American officials, according to Wall Street Journal sources. Tensions between the two countries have escalated sharply in recent weeks, because of President Donald Trump's trade war.

In public and private meetings, Chinese officials are typically firm in their denials about any and all accusations of offensive hacking. This makes it all the more unusual that the Chinese delegation specifically confirmed that years of attacks on US water utilities, ports, and other targets are the result of the US's policy support of Taiwan. Security researchers refer to the collective activity as having been perpetrated by the actor “Volt Typhoon.”

Meanwhile, the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, along with the FBI and Pentagon’s counterintelligence service, issued an alert this week that China’s intelligence services have been working to recruit current and former US federal employees by posing as private organizations like consulting firms and think tanks to establish connections.

DHS Is Now Monitoring Immigrants’ Social Media for Antisemitism

US Citizenship and Immigration Services said on Wednesday that it is starting to monitor immigrants' social media activity for signs of antisemitic activity and “physical harassment of Jewish individuals.” The agency, which operates under the Department of Homeland Security, said that such behavior would be grounds for “denying immigration benefit requests.” The new policy applies to people applying for permanent residence in the US as well as students and other affiliates of “educational institutions linked to antisemitic activity.” The move comes as Immigration and Customs Enforcement has made controversial arrests of pro-Palestinian student activists, including Mahmoud Khalil of Columbia University and Rumeysa Ozturk of Tufts University, over alleged antisemitic activity. Their lawyers deny the allegations.

Trump Revokes Security Clearance, Orders Investigation of Ex-CISA Director

President Trump this week ordered a federal investigation into former US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency director Chris Krebs. An executive order on Wednesday revoked Krebs’ security clearance and also directed the Department of Homeland Security and the US attorney general to conduct the review. Krebs was fired by Trump in November 2020 during his first term after Krebs publicly refuted Trump’s claims of election fraud during that year's presidential election. The executive order alleges that by debunking false claims about the election while in office, Krebs violated the First Amendment's prohibition on government interference in freedom of expression.

In addition to removing Krebs' clearance, the order also revokes the clearances of anyone who works at Krebs' current employer, the security firm SentinelOne. The company said this week in a statement that it “will actively cooperate in any review of security clearances held by any of our personnel” and emphasized that the order will not result in significant operational disruption, because the company only has a handful of employees with clearances.

NSA, Cyber Command Officials Cancel RSA Security Conference Appearances

NSA Cybersecurity Division Director Dave Luber and Cyber Command Executive Director Morgan Adamski will no longer speak at the prominent RSA security conference, scheduled to begin on April 28 in San Francisco. Both appeared at the conference last year. A source told Nextgov/FCW that the cancellations were the result of agency restrictions on nonessential travel. RSA typically features top US national security and cybersecurity officials alongside industry players and researchers. President Trump recently fired General Timothy Haugh, who led both the NSA and US Cyber Command.

[sarkariresultdude]

Engineering Recruitment Results: A Comprehensive Report

 Recruitment for engineering roles is a vital interest that guarantees the organization's technical competencies align with its strategic goals. This file analyzes the effects of a recent engineering recruitment marketing campaign, detailing the tactics, key metrics, observations, and strategic guidelines for development.

Engineering Recruitment Results

Overview of the Recruitment Process

The recruitment marketing campaign spanned 3 months, from [Insert Start Date] to [Insert End Date], focused on key engineering roles consisting of software program engineers, mechanical engineers, and structures engineers. The intention changed to fill 15 open positions to aid ongoing and new tasks in innovation, product development, and operational performance.

Stages of Recruitment

The recruitment technique is divided into six key tiers:

Needs Assessment: Identification of competencies gaps and introduction of unique activity descriptions.

Sourcing: Utilizing various channels together with online activity boards, company websites, referrals, and recruitment agencies.

Screening: Initial evaluation of 820 programs based totally on qualifications, experience, and talents.

Interviews: Conducting technical, behavioral, and cultural healthy checks.

Offer Negotiations: Aligning candidate expectations with organizational budgets and benefits.

Onboarding: Seamlessly integrating selected applicants into their respective teams.

Key Metrics and Results

The recruitment pressure noticed fantastic successes and demanding situations, summarized inside the following metrics:

Applications Received: 820

Relevant Applications: 480 (fifty eight.Five%)

Non-Relevant Applications: 340 (forty one.5%)

Screening and Shortlisting:

Candidates Shortlisted for Interviews: a hundred and fifty (31% of applicable applications)

Average Time to Screen an Application: 2 days in step with utility.

Interviews Conducted:

Technical Interviews: 95

Behavioral Interviews: eighty (a few candidates required more than one round)

Final Round Interviews: forty

Offer Conversion Rate:

Offers Extended: 20

Offers Accepted: 15 (75% acceptance rate)

Diversity Metrics:

Female Applicants: 25% of overall packages

Female Hires: 6 out of 15 (forty%)

Time-to-Hire:

Average Time-to-Hire: forty-five days in line with the role

Fastest Time-to-Hire: 25 days

Longest Time-to-Hire: 60 days

Cost of Recruitment:

Total Recruitment Cost: $60,000

Average Cost per Hire: $4,000

Insights and Observations

The recruitment process discovered several insights that could tell destiny strategies:

Talent Pool Quality:

While the entire range of programs became robust, approximately 42% of the candidates had been now not a good health. This suggests a need to refine task postings and improve focus on strategies.

Candidate Engagement:

A majority of candidates expressed high-quality feedback about the enterprise’s set-off verbal exchange and based interviews. However, 10% referred to delays in remarks, impacting their notion of the hiring manner.

Diversity Efforts:

Diversity outcomes have been higher than anticipated, with women representing forty% of hires. However, the percentage of women making use of for roles remains lower than preferred, highlighting the want for targeted outreach.

Technical Assessment:

Technical interviews efficaciously identified excessive-ability candidates but had been time-intensive. The average length of every technical interview turned into 90 minutes, adding to the overall time-to-hire.

Competitive Market:

Several candidates declined due to higher repayment packages from competitors. This emphasizes the want to re-examine income benchmarks and beautify non-financial advantages.

Onboarding Success:

The onboarding process was smooth, with new hires rating it a mean of 8.5/10 in a feedback survey. Early integration sports like mentorship assignments had been especially appreciated.

Challenges Faced

High Dropout Rates During Negotiations:

Five applicants were rejected throughout the negotiation phase, citing discrepancies in salary expectancies instead of offers made.

Prolonged Time-to-Hire:

Although the time-to-lease turned into inside industry requirements, delays passed off due to scheduling conflicts and extended background verification processes.

Limited Reach of Job Postings:

Despite leveraging multiple channels, certain niche roles like systems engineering had lower-than-expected applicant volumes.

Skills Gaps Among Applicants:

Many candidates lacked the specialized abilities required, especially in rising technologies such as AI, IoT, and renewable energy structures.

Strategic Recommendations

Enhance Job Descriptions and Posting Strategies:

Use statistics-pushed insights to craft precise job descriptions.

Partner with an area of interest process forums and enterprise institutions to reach specialized skills.

Leverage Technology in Screening:

Adopt AI-powered applicant tracking systems (ATS) to automate initial screening and prioritize excessive-capability applicants.

Improve Compensation Packages:

Conduct market benchmarking to ensure aggressive salaries are maintained.

Highlight non-economic blessings like bendy working alternatives and professional improvement packages.

Foster Diversity:

Partner with universities and companies promoting women in STEM.

Develop mentorship packages for underrepresented agencies.

Streamline Interview Processes:

Introduce pre-interview technical checks to lessen the wide variety of rounds.

Train interviewers to make approaches more green and candidate-friendly.

Reduce Time-to-Hire:

Optimize historical past tests by partnering with reliable verification groups.

Use online scheduling gear to decrease interview delays.

Strengthen Employer Branding:

Showcase the corporation’s culture, innovation, and career increase possibilities on social media and professional networks.

Share success stories of present-day personnel to inspire capacity applicants.

[elmaestrostan]

Text under the ✂️

Aston Villa help organise a regular charter flight from Birmingham to Spain whenever Unai Emery wants to take a trip home.

Emery books and pays for it himself and often goes during an international break, allowing a couple of days of rest and an opportunity to refresh.

Yet, four days after Villa’s 2-0 defeat at Anfield, a fourth consecutive loss, Emery was pictured at Bodymoor Heath, clipboard in hand, alongside the players who had not gone away with national teams, back in training.

Sources — who spoke on the condition of anonymity, like all in this article, to protect relationships — describe the work undertaken over the last 10 days as “huge”. Emery is resolved to arrest the acute decline in form, having entered uncharted territory himself after losing four straight matches for the first time in his 1,026-game managerial career, according to Opta.

Although training has been regarded as positive, the biggest focus and effort has been the sheer volume of analysis. Coaching staff believe that in parts of the losing run, Villa have been on the right track at certain points — aside from the 1-0 loss to Club Brugge, arguably the nadir of Emery’s tenure — but lost the smaller, key details. The Liverpool game served as a case in point; Villa restricted their opponents to little in open play but were punished ruthlessly on transition, from their corners in the 2-0 loss.

To underline the attention to detail, Villa have two staff members focusing solely on defensive and attacking set plays — Austin MacPhee works in tandem with set-piece analyst Jose Rodriguez Calvo, who compiles dossiers of opponents’ dead-ball approach.

Emery’s work ethic is renowned. His commitment, doing 12-hour days (and sometimes longer), has delighted internal staff and members of the dressing room, who have recognised the improvements made during his two-year tenure.

Meetings are typically long and results had been vindicating his methods. His lengthy presentations are partly designed to test players’ concentration but there remains total buy-in. Since Emery’s arrival, recruits must be viewed as psychologically robust to cope with Emery’s intensity.

“We don’t have to do meetings because we are together all day,” Monchi, president of football operations, told Movistar. “We meet for breakfast, for lunch, we live here, we are here all day, we spend 12 or 13 hours practically together.”

The Villa manager does his own analysis on top of the work his six analysts do in preparation for games, before then comparing notes. Often, he will watch footage of upcoming opposition on the treadmill or static bike, using software to clip analysis footage together. He ensures he prepares in the most granular detail possible.

Last season, one source joked how Emery would work past 8pm on Fridays, which would eat into his staff’s weekend plans.

“He is just so driven,” said midfielder John McGinn after Villa’s 2-0 win against Bologna last month. “I have never met anyone like him. He has a few times, he was an OK footballer but he wishes he had the determination and work rate he has as a manager. No one can question what he puts in, the effort — everything that comes his way and our way is on the back of hard work. You feed off your leader. He is our leader and we feed off that.”

Emery and his coaching staff’s diligence has been doubled down upon over the international break. Sources insist Villa have worked “harder than ever” to overturn their form.

Rectifying the finer details in matches has been among the key points of consideration, especially given Villa’s intense fixture schedule — they will play eight games in 28 days.

Villa’s ‘triangle of power’, comprising Emery, Monchi and director of football Damian Vidagany, lead all footballing decisions. The power structure is in charge of recruitment, squad building, long-term aspirations and general direction.

The roles of Monchi and Vidagany, as Emery’s closest confidantes, are to regulate the environment around the manager, enabling him to maintain his focus, specifically, towards on-field matters. The pair look to provide a robust footballing structure for Emery, one strong enough to withstand downturns in form and quickly rectify shortcomings.

“It’s about keeping us close to success, that we don’t go back to the Aston Villa that was in the middle of the table looking down, even in the Championship,” Monchi told Movistar.

Those close to Emery draw comparisons between Villa’s setup and how Manchester City have built a team around a figurehead coach. On the rare occasions City experience setbacks, there has been a support network behind Pep Guardiola to find swift resolutions. In some ways, it is fitting that City and Villa are coming out of the international break having suffered four successive defeats for the first time in their managers’ tenures.

“We can create strong structures so that the Champions League is not too far above us, but that we are very much on a par,” Emery told Movistar.

“The Premier League has 20 of the best 50 managers in the world,” Vidagany said to The Athletic in an interview in 2023. “Unai is close to the top level that marks Guardiola. It’s a matter of time to get there for him. I’ve never seen anyone in my life work as hard as him. This is leadership. He also has a good heart.”

Vidagany has repeatedly explained how a robust upward structure tends to elicit success on the pitch and to go from a “medium club to a great club again”. Villa now have a Spanish-speaking contingent running to more than two dozen, all people Emery wanted and knew he could trust.

“It’s the only place where I feel it’s a project, but I can never forget the results,” said Emery to Movistar. “Everything has gone very well. Some teams are stronger than us, but we want to compete and try to consolidate this project with sustained growth so that we can compete in Europe. If it is in the Champions League, all the better. Aston Villa can recover the greatness of its history.”

“You can see the fever for Aston Villa in the school playgrounds,” added Vidagany. “You walk down the street and you can see the enthusiasm. We are talking about one of the six English teams to have won the European Cup and it was too long without Aston Villa being a source of pride. I think people are proud now.”

Villa’s regeneration under Emery has elevated expectations, to the point where the recent run of results is deeply incongruous. Emery’s hard work has provided the foundations for their raised expectation levels. The international break has allowed him to reiterate those characteristics. He will be hoping those long hours pay off against Crystal Palace at Villa Park on Saturday.

[ajeetsgroup]

Bridging East and West: Recruitment Agencies in Bulgaria and the Asian Workforce

Bulgaria, a Balkan gem with a rich history and burgeoning economy, has emerged as an attractive destination for businesses seeking to expand their operations. With its strategic location, skilled workforce, and favorable business climate, the country has become a hub for various industries. A key player in facilitating this growth is the recruitment agency sector, especially in the context of connecting Asian workers with Bulgarian employers.

The Bulgarian Job Market: A Growing Demand

Bulgaria's economy has witnessed steady growth in recent years, driven by sectors like IT, outsourcing, manufacturing, and tourism. This expansion has created a demand for skilled professionals that often exceeds the local talent pool. To bridge this gap, Bulgarian recruitment agencies have become essential in sourcing qualified candidates both domestically and internationally.

The Rise of Asian Workers in Bulgaria

Asian workers, particularly from countries like India, the Philippines, and China, have increasingly become a valuable asset to Bulgarian companies. Their strong work ethic, technical expertise, and language skills make them attractive candidates for various roles.

IT and Software Development: The IT sector in Bulgaria is booming, and Asian professionals are highly sought after for their programming and software development skills.

Business Process Outsourcing (BPO): The country's growing BPO industry benefits from the language proficiency and customer service orientation of Asian workers.

Manufacturing and Engineering: Asian workers, especially from engineering backgrounds, are contributing to Bulgaria's manufacturing sector.

Healthcare: The demand for healthcare professionals is on the rise in Bulgaria, and Asian nurses and doctors are filling the gap.

The Role of Recruitment Agencies

Recruitment agencies in Bulgaria play a pivotal role in connecting Asian workers with Bulgarian employers. They offer a range of services, including:

Talent Sourcing: Identifying qualified candidates from Asia based on specific job requirements.

Recruitment Process Management: Handling the entire recruitment process, from initial screening to onboarding.

Visa and Work Permit Assistance: Guiding both employers and employees through the immigration process.

Cultural Integration Support: Providing support to Asian workers in adapting to Bulgarian culture and work environment.

Challenges and Opportunities

While the partnership between Bulgarian recruitment agencies and Asian workers holds immense potential, several challenges need to be addressed:

Language Barriers: Effective communication is crucial, and language training programs can be beneficial for both employers and employees.

Cultural Differences: Understanding and respecting cultural nuances is essential for successful integration.

Legal and Regulatory Compliance: Staying updated with immigration and labor laws is vital to avoid legal issues.

Talent Retention: Retaining skilled Asian workers requires competitive compensation packages and opportunities for career growth.

Despite these challenges, the collaboration between Bulgarian recruitment agencies and Asian workers presents a unique opportunity for both parties. By leveraging their strengths and addressing the challenges, they can contribute to the continued growth and development of Bulgaria's economy.

Tips for Asian Workers Seeking Jobs in Bulgaria

Research the Bulgarian Job Market: Understand the industries and roles in demand.

Learn Bulgarian or English: Proficiency in these languages will significantly enhance your job prospects.

Network with Professionals: Building connections in Bulgaria can open doors to job opportunities.

Partner with a Reputable Recruitment Agency: A reliable agency can guide you through the job search process.

Be Prepared for Cultural Differences: Embrace the Bulgarian culture and be open to new experiences.

Conclusion

The alliance between recruitment agencies in Bulgaria and Asian workers is a dynamic partnership that is reshaping the country's labor market. By effectively addressing challenges and capitalizing on opportunities, this collaboration can drive economic growth, foster cultural exchange, and create a win-win situation for both parties. As Bulgaria continues to evolve as a business destination, the role of recruitment agencies in connecting Asian talent with Bulgarian employers will become even more critical.

[atsmantraa33]

Best Applicant Software for Hiring in 2024

Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) systems assist in aggregating and arranging job applications. It streamlines recruitment processes and secures the ideal fit for your company.

An effective ATS simplifies the hiring process, saving time and resources. Improved sourcing, efficient processes, and customizable features such as career sites, job board distribution, candidate correspondence and more can aid in discovering top talent at a faster pace.

In this article, we delve into the top ATS applications that aid managers globally in locating the perfect candidate for their job opening.

How Does Applicant Software Hire?

The functioning of Applicant Software can be broken down into 4 fundamental steps:

A job requisition is entered into the ATS, providing details such as the job title, sought-after skills, and necessary experience.

The ATS takes this information and formulates a candidate profile that serves as a benchmark.

As resumes pour in, the ATS categorizes, orders, and evaluates them in accordance with the candidate profile.

Hiring managers can effortlessly spot the most competent candidates and advance them to the next stage of the hiring process.

Best Applicant Software for Hiring is atsMantra

We’ve come up with these Best Applicant Software for Hiring that will help you make the best decision on what to use for your organization.

RecruitHire

Streamline your recruitment process with RecruitHire. Upload, import, and review candidate profiles effortlessly. Stay up-to-date on their status and easily gather the necessary data to manage their applications. Job management is made simple, allowing you to:

Create new job listings

Filter applicants

Monitor their status

Activate or deactivate job openings with a click https://atsmantra.com/

[atsmantraaa]

What is an Applicant Tracking System? 

An Applicant Tracking System is a software application companies can use to structure and customize their hiring into an efficient and scalable process. An ATS allows recruiters and hiring managers to attract, source, evaluate, and hire candidates better and faster.

What is the primary purpose of an Applicant Tracking System?

The primary goal of an Applicant Tracking System is to simplify the recruitment process and to make it more effective and efficient. This is accomplished by giving recruiters access to a powerful, centralized platform to collect and view applicants, track their progress, and filter them out based on their qualifications. 

Generally, more powerful ATS platforms are cloud-based SaaS (Software as a Service) solutions, which you can access anywhere and anytime. The scope and complexity of specific ATS platforms and the cost will vary depending on what type of business it caters to. On-site and SaaS solutions will generally be more expensive but offer significantly more features and services than open-source options. 

The three primary business types that an ATS serves are: 

Enterprise-level companies 

Recruitment agencies

Small or medium-sized businesses (SMBs)

[forgotn1]

Antitrust is so underrated. It's cheesy at times and Ryan Phillipe overacts his ass off, but it's still a lot of fun to watch. It's a hacker/thriller from the early 00s that used the sleek Silicon Valley and Seattle tech vibe rather than a cyberpunk vibe like most other 90s hacker films.

It's got Tim Robbins as a sinister Bill Gates/Steve Jobs type tech entrepreneur who is literally having his competition killed and stealing their code to finish his next big innovation. While Ryan Phillippe plays a genius coder who is recruited to the company and mentored by Robbins' character. He leaves a startup he created with his childhood best friend to take the job and several weeks later, the friend is killed under mysterious circumstances.

There's even an impromptu allergen check before dinner to see if his girlfriend is trying to kill him with sesame seed. It's got a lot of interesting twists and turns along the way and it's an entertaining watch. It also advocates for open source software, which is pretty cool.

[aryacollegeofengineering]

Breaking Into Tech: A Computer Science Student's Guide to Internships, Hackathons, and Networking

Entering the tech industry as a computer science student involves more than excelling in coursework. Gaining hands-on experience, building a professional network, and participating in real-world challenges are crucial steps toward a successful tech career.

1. Internships: Gaining Real-World Experience

Why Internships Matter

Internships bridge the gap between academic learning and industry practice, allowing you to apply theoretical knowledge to real projects and gain exposure to professional environments.

They help you develop technical and workplace skills, enhance your resume, and often lead to full-time job offers.

Types of Internship Roles

Software Development: Coding, testing, and debugging applications using languages like Python, Java, and C++.

Data Analysis: Analyzing datasets using SQL or Python to extract insights.

AI & Machine Learning: Working on model development and algorithm improvement.

Cybersecurity: Assisting in securing networks and identifying vulnerabilities.

Web & Cloud Development: Building and deploying applications using modern frameworks and platforms.

How to Find and Apply for Internships

Use platforms like LinkedIn, Glassdoor, Handshake, Internshala, and GitHub repositories that track internship openings.

University career centers and dedicated programs (e.g., IIT Dharwad Summer Internship, Liverpool Interns) offer structured opportunities.

Prepare a strong resume highlighting relevant coursework, projects, programming languages, and any open-source or freelance work.

Apply early—many top internships have deadlines months in advance.

Standing Out in Applications

Demonstrate proficiency in key programming languages and tools (e.g., Git, GitHub, Jira).

Highlight teamwork, communication, and problem-solving skills developed through class projects or extracurricular activities.

Include personal or open-source projects to showcase initiative and technical ability.

Interview Preparation

Practice coding problems (e.g., on Leet Code, Hacker Rank).

Prepare to discuss your projects, technical skills, and how you solve problems.

Research the company and be ready for behavioural questions.

2. Hackathons: Building Skills and Visibility

Why Participate in Hackathons?

Hackathons are time-bound coding competitions where you solve real-world problems, often in teams.

They foster creativity, rapid prototyping, and teamwork under pressure.

Winning or even participating can boost your resume and introduce you to recruiters and mentors.

How to Get Started

Join university, local, or global hackathons (e.g., MLH, Dev post).

Collaborate with classmates or join teams online.

Focus on building a functional prototype and clear presentation.

Benefits

Gain practical experience with new technologies and frameworks.

Network with peers, industry professionals, and potential employers.

Sometimes, hackathons lead to internship or job offers.

3. Networking: Building Connections for Opportunities

Why Networking Matters

Many internships and jobs are filled through referrals or connections, not just online applications.

Networking helps you learn about company cultures, industry trends, and hidden opportunities.

How to Build Your Network

Attend university tech clubs, workshops, and career fairs.

Connect with professors, alumni, and peers interested in tech.

Engage in online communities (LinkedIn, GitHub, Stack Overflow).

Reach out to professionals for informational interviews—ask about their roles, career paths, and advice.

Tips for Effective Networking

Be genuine and curious; focus on learning, not just asking for jobs.

Maintain a professional online presence (LinkedIn profile, GitHub portfolio).

Follow up after events or meetings to build lasting relationships.

Conclusion

Arya College of Engineering & I.T. has breaking into tech as a computer science student requires a proactive approach: seek internships for industry experience, participate in hackathons to sharpen your skills, and network strategically to uncover new opportunities. By combining these elements, you’ll build a strong foundation for a rewarding career in technology.

Source: Click Here

[mgcounsultinggroup]

A Guide to Finding the Best Recruitment Companies in the Middle East for Your Hiring Needs

The Middle East remains one of the fastest-moving and most diverse areas for business expansion and recruitment of talent. With continued investments in infrastructure, healthcare, renewable energy, IT, and finance, the need for talented professionals is higher than ever before. As businesses vie to acquire top-notch talent, it becomes a crucial strategy to collaborate with the best recruitment companies in the Middle East for effective hiring.

Yet, with the numerous agencies out there, picking the best recruitment partner proves to be difficult. This manual provides tips on how companies can determine the top recruitment companies in the Middle East that suit their particular recruitment requirements.

Understanding the Role of Recruitment Companies in the Middle East Before diving into how to choose the right agency, it’s important to understand the value that recruitment companies Middle East offer. These firms act as intermediaries between employers and candidates, streamlining the hiring process through services such as:

• Talent sourcing and headhunting

• Candidate screening and background verification

• Skill assessments and interviews

• Salary benchmarking and market insights

• Compliance with local labor laws and visa regulations

In the Middle East, where regulatory contexts and labor market conditions vary by country, recruitment agencies serve the important function of facilitating smooth, compliant, and efficient recruitment processes.

Why the Right Recruitment Agency Is Important Not every recruitment agency has the same degree of industry awareness, network coverage, or professionalism. The incorrect selection could result in wasted time, suboptimal hires, or failure to comply with local labor legislation. However, using the best recruitment companies in the Middle East can

• Decrease time-to-hire

• Enhance candidate quality

• Guarantee legality and cultural fit

• Grant access to passive networks

• Facilitate strategic workforce planning

The recruitment partner you select should not only fill jobs—they should assist you in creating high-performing, long-term teams.

Key Factors to Consider When Selecting a Recruitment Company Following are the key factors to consider when selecting a recruitment agency in the Middle East:

Industry Specialization The top recruitment companies in the Middle East often specialize in particular sectors such as oil & gas, healthcare, technology, finance, or construction. Industry-specific agencies have a deeper understanding of required qualifications, certifications, and market expectations, which leads to better candidate matches.

Regional Knowledge and Compliance Every nation in the Middle East has its own labor laws and visa policies. Your best recruitment partners will have excellent knowledge of nationalization plans such as Saudization, Emiratization, and Omanization, making your hiring practice compliant as well as effective.

Recruitment Process and Methodology Ensure that there is an open and detailed recruitment process. Find out how the agency recruits, screens, and submits candidates. Leading agencies employ the latest software like applicant tracking systems (ATS), AI-powered matching, and video interviewing to speed up recruitment without compromising quality.

Candidate Network and Talent Pool Access to a big and current pool of talent is one of the principal competitive differentiators. The best recruitment companies in the Middle East have strong networks both of active and passive job seekers and of candidates who are not on public sites.

Client Feedback and Track Record A good agency will have a record of successful placements and happy clients. Though you're not seeking endorsements or promotions, it's still useful to go over case studies, testimonials, or third-party feedback that point out their quality of service and success rate.

Questions to Ask Before You Work with a Recruitment Agency During your assessment process, it may be useful to ask the following:

• What sectors and positions do you deal with?

• How do you validate candidates as the right skills and culture fit?

• Can you describe your screening and interviewing process?

• What is your typical time-to-hire for comparable positions?

• How do you deal with unsuccessful replacements or placements?

• Do you have knowledge of local labor laws and visa requirements?

The responses will assist you in evaluating the agency's competence and alignment with your needs.

Advantages of Hiring the Best Recruitment Agencies in the Middle East Once you get the correct match, the advantages are immense. Here's how high-quality recruitment agencies can improve your recruitment process:

Quicker Hiring Cycles Top agencies decrease the average hiring duration by screening out candidates, keeping prepared talent pools, and rapidly shortlisting profiles that meet your requirements.

Exposure to Specialized Talent For hard-to-fill specialized positions, the best Middle Eastern recruitment agencies tend to have access to hidden talent unavailable on open job boards.

Enhanced Candidate Quality With systematic screening techniques and comprehensive evaluations, best-in-class companies ensure that only the best candidates end up at your desk.

Lower Hiring Risk By knowing your company culture, project objectives, and team dynamics, a good agency reduces the risk of bad hires and expensive turnover.

Strategic Workforce Planning Top agencies not only fill positions but also provide future hiring trends, salary comparables, and talent availability data to inform long-range planning.

Avoid Common Pitfalls When selecting a recruitment partner, be aware of these common mistakes:

• Selecting based on price, not capability

• Oversighting the agency's specialty or local expertise

• Oversighting openness in communication or unclear steps

• Overseeing and reviewing previous performance or client comment

• Hurrying into agreements without clarity of terms or guarantees

Steering clear of these blunders ensures easier partnership and improved hiring outcomes.

The Changing Role of Recruitment in the Middle East As the Middle East experiences economic transformation, the position of recruitment agencies is evolving to become more strategic. Digital transformation, remote work patterns, and increased focus on diversity are reshaping the patterns of hiring.

Recruitment companies Middle East now needs to move beyond conventional staffing and provide value through talent advisory, employer branding, and digital recruitment solutions. Companies that evolve with such changes—and collaborate with partners who do so as well—are poised for growth.

Conclusion It's not about outsourcing to find the best recruitment companies in the Middle East—it's about creating a partnership that moves your business forward. By emphasizing industry focus, local market knowledge, transparent processes, and robust candidate networks, you can pinpoint the top recruitment companies in the Middle East that suit your requirements.

Selecting the proper agency will not only improve your talent acquisition strategy but also assist with your overall business objectives within a region that keeps shaping and growing.

[fromdevcom]

Recruiting skilled developers through job boards can make a lot of difference in developing tech teams. However, navigating job boards to attract developers is not that easy. It requires good strategic planning and knowing what works best to attract top talents. With the right approach, you can access a global pool of highly qualified developers on job boards. Here are key factors to consider when using job boards for developer recruitment. Crafting an Attractive Job Description A good job description clearly states precisely what a candidate needs to fulfill all the requirements. Job descriptions highlight the developer's various responsibilities and the skills that would appeal to the developer. This should not be a generalization to parrot what becomes standard; rather, it should highlight how that developer's contribution will impact the whole company's success. Developers like to know that what they do fits into the whole. Be explicit about salary, remote working, and other perquisites that separate you from the rest. Many developers are more interested in flexibility, development opportunities, and work-life balance than traditional perks.  Providing clear and straightforward information will help you reduce the pool of unqualified candidates and invite those who align with your company values. A checklist for hiring software developers can make recruitment easier. Career growth opportunities and the projects they will work on are also strong selling points. Highlighting Company Culture and Tech Stack Developers invest most of their working hours in the organization to dig into an environment that complements their values and interests. Presenting your culture and tech stack in your job post goes a long way in attracting the right talent. Share insights into your work style, team structure, and collaborative processes. Developers seek companies that inspire innovative thoughts, promise career growth, and welcome open-source contributions. Clearly outlining your tech stack will give developers insight into whether their skill set would work in your company. Cutting-edge technology or new skill training gives you the advantage of attracting developers. You can also share testimonials from existing team members or a day-in-the-life view, giving the candidates an immersive experience. Select the Right Job Board Not all job boards are created equal for developers. Choosing the right one ensures reaching the right person for the right job. Various job boards target different expertise levels; Turing and Topcoder offer work for highly skilled developers, whereas one might look at Upwork and Fiverr freelance positions. Knowing where your ideal candidates look will hugely impact the quality of applicants you get. Geographic preference also determines the choice of a job board. If remote developers are on your list of recruits, check out the global job boards. If you wish to hire local talent, local job boards may serve your purpose well. You must match the channels you're hiring from with the candidates you seek to have a higher chance of accomplishing desired outcomes. Multilingual job boards can take this a step further for global companies. Keywords and SEO Optimization Most job boards will use search algorithms that prioritize optimized job listings. Including relevant keywords in your job title and description makes them much easier to find. Research into the standard terms that developers tend to search based on their specific role, like "React Developer," "Python Engineer," and "Full-Stack Developer." A clearly articulated job listing is likely to attract an ideal candidate. Trying out keyword variations and using synonyms will enhance your searchability. Efficient Candidate Screening Job boards will be a source of many applications, so an efficient screening process is necessary. Using an ATS will allow for the scanning of CVs, facilitating further filtering of the skilled candidates from the application list.

Depending on the pre-screening question related to the skill sets and experience, lessening the pool interests many job boards since it grants them time to check out some screening tools. Additionally, introducing a few very short ice-breaking interviews would help gauge cultural fit as a starter, thus allowing for the progression of only the serious and most capable candidates onward. Then, artificial intelligence will screen resumes, which would streamline the process. Connect with Passive Candidates Many developers on job postings are not actively searching for jobs but are flexible at the right opportunity. Connecting with passive candidates builds a larger talent pool. You should consider direct messaging developers whose bios tick boxes for you. Personalization is key. A personalized message about why this opportunity is different can spark some interest. Building a short rapport, even with those not actively looking at jobs, opens up the door for later opportunities. Maintaining a pipeline of candidates can add efficiency to future hiring cycles. Engaging talent in developers' communities and online forums also builds engagement. Offering Competitive Salary The demand for developers is so high that salaries are crucial for attracting talent. Job postings that fail to include a salary range usually receive fewer applications. Research the market rates for the location and position and offer a fair and desirable package. Adding bonuses, work-from-home options, and training stipends will make your offer more attractive. Salary expectation transparency avoids wasting time on misfit candidates while instilling a sense of trust. It also helps avoid any potential roadblocks in negotiations later in the hiring process. Ensuring a Smooth Application Process Long or complicated application questions can discourage developers from applying, while a streamlined process would produce better-quality applications. Do not ask people to fill in endless forms or repeat the same information that is present on resumes or LinkedIn profiles.  Keeping applications short and sweet minimizes the chance of discouraging a candidate from applying altogether. Allowing developers to substitute long application forms with GitHub links or coding samples could give a true insight into their potential, with a flavor of engagement in the process. Replying Quickly Speed of communication is important to keeping applicants engaged. Since many developers get more than one offer, not responding fast could cost you the chance to attract top talent. Quickly acknowledge applications and give expectations for the next steps. Even if a candidate asks for a decision more than once and is ultimately not selected, send them a courteous response to leave a positive impression. Setting up automated responses and scheduling tools for communication can help maintain efficiency. Informing candidates throughout the process will create a professional and respectful recruitment experience. Effectively Assessing Technical Skills Evaluating a developer's technical competencies is essential to the hiring process. However, conventional coding tests can occasionally seem detached from actual job requirements. Rather than relying on standard algorithm challenges, it may be beneficial to implement task-based evaluations that mirror real responsibilities encountered in the role.  Assigning take-home coding tasks or conducting live coding sessions provide more precise insights into a candidate's problem-solving methods. Permitting developers to utilize their preferred tools and work environments during assessments fosters a more authentic and equitable evaluation of their capabilities. Endnote To effectively leverage job boards, it is essential to blend strategy with optimization and engagement efforts. Organizations can attract outstanding developers who share their objectives by carefully choosing appropriate platforms, crafting engaging job advertisements, and simplifying the hiring processes.

Persistent refinement of recruitment strategies using data analysis and feedback ensures sustained success in forming a robust and skilled technology team.

[savvyhrms01]

Transforming HR in the Digital Age: Why It’s Time to Embrace an All-in-One HR Software Suite

Let’s be honest — managing HR today is a lot more complex than it used to be. It’s no longer just about processing payroll or keeping employee files in order. HR is now considered the backbone of company culture, compliance, and growth. Many organizations still use outdated tools to manage it all, or take their HR to the next level with a collage of disconnected systems.

If this sounds familiar, you aren’t alone. But here’s the thing: there’s a better way to run your HR — and it starts with bringing everything together under one roof.

Why Juggling Multiple Tools Doesn’t Work Anymore

A lot of teams are using one platform for recruiting, another for payroll, a third for time tracking — and still resorting to spreadsheets for everything in between. It may have worked out for a time but it likely has begun to resemble more of a circus act than an answer.

The seams show quickly - duplicate data, incorrect records, missed deadlines, and endless back and forth. It slows your team down and adds unnecessary stress. Worse yet, it makes it hard to see the big picture of what’s really going on with your workforce.

One Platform, Countless Benefits

Now imagine everything you need — hiring, onboarding, time tracking, benefits, performance reviews, and employee data — all in one place. That’s what an all-in-one HR software suite delivers. It connects every HR function, so your team isn’t wasting hours piecing information together from different sources.

With one source of truth, everything is more accurate, more efficient, and far easier to manage.

It’s About the People — Not Just the Process

Let’s not forget: HR is ultimately about people, not paperwork. When your systems are clunky or disjointed, it doesn’t just impact your HR team — it affects your employees too.

An easy to use HR platform allows your people to go straight to what they need: pay slips, leave requests, tax paperwork, benefits information - without having to chase someone down. It's one of those things that may sound small, but it builds trust and significantly improves the day-to-day employee interaction you have.

Built to Grow With You

No matter if you are hiring your tenth employee or hundredth, your HR systems should be helping you scale — not hindering your movement. A great HR suite will follow you, and help you maintain constant processes and compliance as you grow. You don't want to be reinventing the wheel each time you open a new office or expand your team.

Bottom Line - Modernize to Trust People

Digital transformation is more than a buzzword, it is a requirement. Your investment in a modern, exclusively all-in-one HR management software suite is not to upgrade your tools, it is to provide your team the time and space to focus on the important work of the team: supporting your people and helping grow the business.

[educationtech]

Tech Career Starter Pack: Internships, Hackathons & Networking Tips for Computer Science Students

Entering the tech industry as a computer science student involves more than excelling in coursework. Gaining hands-on experience, building a professional network, and participating in real-world challenges are crucial steps toward a successful tech career.

1. Internships: Gaining Real-World Experience

Why Internships Matter

Internships bridge the gap between academic learning and industry practice, allowing you to apply theoretical knowledge to real projects and gain exposure to professional environments.

They help you develop technical and workplace skills, enhance your resume, and often lead to full-time job offers.

Types of Internship Roles

Software Development: Coding, testing, and debugging applications using languages like Python, Java, and C++.

Data Analysis: Analyzing datasets using SQL or Python to extract insights.

AI & Machine Learning: Working on model development and algorithm improvement.

Cybersecurity: Assisting in securing networks and identifying vulnerabilities.

Web & Cloud Development: Building and deploying applications using modern frameworks and platforms.

How to Find and Apply for Internships

Use platforms like LinkedIn, Glassdoor, Handshake, Internshala, and GitHub repositories that track internship openings.

University career centers and dedicated programs (e.g., IIT Dharwad Summer Internship, Liverpool Interns) offer structured opportunities.

Prepare a strong resume highlighting relevant coursework, projects, programming languages, and any open-source or freelance work.

Apply early—many top internships have deadlines months in advance.

Standing Out in Applications

Demonstrate proficiency in key programming languages and tools (e.g., Git, GitHub, Jira).

Highlight teamwork, communication, and problem-solving skills developed through class projects or extracurricular activities.

Include personal or open-source projects to showcase initiative and technical ability.

Interview Preparation

Practice coding problems (e.g., on LeetCode, HackerRank).

Prepare to discuss your projects, technical skills, and how you solve problems.

Research the company and be ready for behavioral questions.

2. Hackathons: Building Skills and Visibility

Why Participate in Hackathons?

Hackathons are time-bound coding competitions where you solve real-world problems, often in teams.

They foster creativity, rapid prototyping, and teamwork under pressure.

Winning or even participating can boost your resume and introduce you to recruiters and mentors.

How to Get Started

Join university, local, or global hackathons (e.g., MLH, Devpost).

Collaborate with classmates or join teams online.

Focus on building a functional prototype and clear presentation.

Benefits

Gain practical experience with new technologies and frameworks.

Network with peers, industry professionals, and potential employers.

Sometimes, hackathons lead to internship or job offers.

3. Networking: Building Connections for Opportunities

Why Networking Matters

Many internships and jobs are filled through referrals or connections, not just online applications.

Networking helps you learn about company cultures, industry trends, and hidden opportunities.

How to Build Your Network

Attend university tech clubs, workshops, and career fairs.

Connect with professors, alumni, and peers interested in tech.

Engage in online communities (LinkedIn, GitHub, Stack Overflow).

Reach out to professionals for informational interviews—ask about their roles, career paths, and advice.

Tips for Effective Networking

Be genuine and curious; focus on learning, not just asking for jobs.

Maintain a professional online presence (LinkedIn profile, GitHub portfolio).

Follow up after events or meetings to build lasting relationships.

Conclusion

Arya College of Engineering & I.T. has breaking into tech as a computer science student requires a proactive approach: seek internships for industry experience, participate in hackathons to sharpen your skills, and network strategically to uncover new opportunities. By combining these elements, you’ll build a strong foundation for a rewarding career in technology.