Keeping Toronto Entrepreneurs Connected

How the Shift to Mobile is Impacting Recruiting Needs

How the Shift to Mobile is Impacting Recruiting Needs

By Marc Belaiche, CPA, CA and Nicole Paloucci

The number of job seekers using their mobile device to search for jobs has risen significantly over the last few years. By converting your job postings to a mobile-friendly version, you can increase the number of potential applicants. Following are tips for attracting qualified candidates by making job postings mobile accessible.

Mobile Devices

Ensure that job seekers can access your job postings on their mobile devices. This ensures greater convenience for those seeking jobs and will increase traffic on the recruiters’ site.

Your job postings should still be easily accessible using conventional computer searches since not everyone uses mobile devices. Job seekers who use their mobile can save job postings and apply later using their computer. As a result, the URL on both the mobile and the computer versions need to match.

It’s predicted that in the next year 75% of job seekers will use their mobile device for job searching, and 44% will apply using their device.

Job Postings

Job seekers require the ability to quickly view available positions and their accompanying job descriptions. If potential candidates can’t easily find this information, they will look elsewhere.

Easy to Apply

The application process should be short and easy to use, otherwise it may deter applicants from applying. Ideally, the candidate should only be required to upload or email their resume and add a minimal amount of information.

Use Social Media

Both employers and job seekers use Linkedin, Facebook, and Twitter. These sites can be used for both employer branding and promoting open positions. Links to job postings can be added to your company’s social media pages to attract more applicants.

Job Apps

Job seekers can easily search for jobs using an app on their smart phone. As an employer or recruiter, you can create an app for your company’s job postings or you can use a job board that already has an app. This will help increase the number of job seekers who have access to your postings.

Millennials

Millennials account for a large percentage of the workforce and many of them found their current job through social media. This generation is the force behind the increasing number of job applications using their mobile devices to seek and apply for jobs.

Mobile-Friendly Algorithm

Google has implemented a ranking system and the algorithm rewards sites that are mobile-friendly, and penalizes sites that aren’t. Your Google ranking can have an impact on the number of visits to your site.

Search Engines

Job seekers prefer job boards that have a large and steady number of job postings and they also want the option of refining their searches. It can also be difficult to go through numerous job postings without an advanced search engine on your mobile. The inconvenience of not having this feature may deter potential applicants.

Conclusion

Mobile-friendly sites are needed to accommodate job seekers who use their mobile devices to search and apply for jobs. These job postings should be readily accessible and easy to apply to.

Social media and job search apps are useful for branding your organization by improving your image and making your company a desirable place to work. Make a plan to convert your site to a mobile-friendly version to increase the amount of qualified candidates you’ll receive.

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Marc Belaiche is a CPA, CA and is President of TorontoJobs.ca, an Internet recruitment business and recruiting firm located in the Greater Toronto Area. Marc is also the author of the book “Tales from the Recruiter”. Marc has been in the recruitment industry since 1995. TorontoJobs.ca allows companies to post their positions online, search a resume database to find candidates, provides full temporary and permanent recruitment and outplacement services. TorontoJobs.ca also allows candidates to search and apply to positions directly online and get career, interviewing and resume tips all at no charge. Marc is also President of TorontoEntrepreneurs.ca, an organization geared towards business owners (seewww.TorontoEntrepreneurs.ca) and has the annual Toronto Entrepreneurs Conference (see www.TorontoEntrepreneurs.ca/conference). You can reach Marc at marc.belaiche@torontojobs.ca and check out TorontoJobs.ca at www.TorontoJobs.ca.

Nicole Paolucci, HR and Marketing Intern for TorontoJobs.ca. Nicole is a graduate from York University. To contact Nicole, please email nicole@torontojobs.ca.

Ten Tips to Simplify Your Life in a Complex World

As I’m sure you all know, life seems to be getting more and more complicated. Between running a business, kids, trying to stay fit, aging parents, looking after the house and trying to save a bit of money along the way, it’s not an easy battle! Many entrepreneurs think about the idea of creating a “simpler life”, but most are not even sure where to begin.

I think these days, many entrepreneurs feel trapped. Money is tight, work hours are long and free time seems to have disappeared. Important decisions are made on sudden impulses (houses, renovations, cars, cottages, vacations) with the end result of higher stress levels when the bills arrive in the mail. People then work hard to pay these off for the next few months or years, and then the cycle begins again. Life feels like a treadmill, with no significant progress.

In the end, I think entrepreneurs really want to simplify their lives. They’re just not sure where to start. To help people with a starting point, we developed the below list:

Ten Tips to Simplify Your Life in a Complex World

1. Success in life is about progress not perfection, understand the difference.

2. Eliminate clutter, both physical and emotional.

3. Learn how to take care of yourself and say no!

4. Understand your strengths and focus energy towards them.

5. To be most productive, work less and take more time off.

6. Invest time in relationships.

7. Move to the front of the line and pay yourself first.

8. Educate yourself on the power of time, compound interest and impact of taxes.

9. Sleep better at night by insuring risks to protect your family and business.

10. Develop a Simple Life Vision, determine your goals and continuously refocus.

In future articles we look forward to expanding on these points individually. In the meantime, we encourage you to educate yourself on these concepts and use them in your daily life. We also offer our Simple Life Vision Session. This is a free, 90 minute, one-on-one session where we help you come up with your own Simple Life Vision and a starting point for an action plan to achieve it. Please feel free to visit our website for any further information. www.simpleplanprogram.com

We appreciate your interest and hope this information was of value to you. Have a fantastic day and always remember to keep things simple!

BIO

Mark Landers is the creator of The Simple Plan Program and has been helping entrepreneurs simplify their lives for over 10 years.

Success in life is about progress not perfection, understand the difference.

I feel very fortunate to be able to participate in Dan Sullivan’s Strategic Coach Program. This is an amazing program built for growth minded entrepreneurs to assist them in building self-managing companies. There are a number of breakthroughs I have experienced through participating in their sessions. One of these breakthroughs was experienced after I read Dan’s book, Learning How to Avoid the Gap. This book depicts the undermining strategy for building lifetime happiness through taking a different look at the measurement of progress in life.

There are a number of things that we measure in our lives. Some of these include: physical appearance, wealth, intelligence, relationships, possessions, etc. Many of us have a vision or an ideal around what life would be like if we were more confident in any of these areas. Personally, I have fought with my weight for a number of years and often think about how I would feel at the perfect weight. These visions are often the inspiration for goals. In my case, to eat healthier or to exercise more frequently. The excitement then begins!

Most significant goals take time to accomplish. When developing goals, most of us start with a review our current situation. We then figure out what our target is and what success looks like. We begin moving forward with an action plan and making progress. We then typically hit a few road blocks and progress slows down. This is often the point when we review progress compare it to the desired end result. In my personal example above, let’s say my goal is to drop my weight from 220 to 200 pounds. I’m one month into my new healthier regime and I’ve lost 4 pounds. Only 16 more to go! I then begin thinking about how tough it was to lose the first 4 pounds? How am I going to be able to do this for the next 6 months? What about my upcoming vacation? How am I going to stay on track at an all-inclusive resort? The conversation then goes on and on. This often leads to unhappiness, a lack of confidence and may result in you even abandoning the goal itself. Dan Sullivan calls this type of thinking “getting stuck in the GAP”.

If we take a different approach to measurement, we can often change the feelings and confidence around progress. Let’s say we focus all of our progress measurement against our starting point. We know that getting to 200 pounds (loss of 20) is our end goal but let’s try to forget about that for a moment. Our starting point was 220 and now we are at 216! This is something to be celebrated. Think about all the new health habits you have changed to get there. Think about how many times you have exercised in the last month. The point is that this style of measurement is much more fulfilling. It helps build much more confidence and is much more likely to keep you focused on the eventual achievement of your end goal.

Throughout life we will set thousands of goals. Some as small as getting to work on time to goals as large as paying off our mortgage or having enough money to retire comfortably. The sooner you begin measuring progress from your starting point vs. the end result, the sooner you will begin building confidence and will become happier in life.

In the event you need additional assistance in simplifying your life, we also offer our Simple Life Vision Session. This is a free, 90 minute, one-on-one session where we help you come up with your own Simple Life Vision and a starting point for an action plan to achieve it. Please feel free to visit our website for any further information. www.simpleplanprogram.com

We appreciate your interest and hope this information was of value to you. If you happened to miss our Top 10 list, please let us know and we will be sure to send you a copy. Have a fantastic day and always remember to keep things simple!

BIO

Mark Landers is the creator of The Simple Plan Program and has been helping entrepreneurs simplify their lives for over 10 years.

Understand your insurance coverage, and sleep better at night

There are no guarantees in life, but purchasing adequate insurance is one concrete way you can eliminate some of the uncertainty about what would happen to your family or business in the event of job loss, illness, death, or other unforeseen occurrences.

After all, life these days is not as stable as it used to be. Things were different just a few generations ago. People seemed to enjoy much more stability and security with their careers, relationships, and finances. Now things seem to change at a head-spinning pace, causing us to adjust on a yearly basis to what we used to adjust just once a decade.

That difficult conversation

Unfortunately, most people are reluctant to think, let alone talk, about the possibility of being unable to work because of becoming disabled, or not being able to provide for their families because of death. Often neglected is the impact on a growing business if its key people are unable to take part in daily operations. These are very difficult conversations to have, and the natural inclination is to avoid them and simply hope for the best.

But it’s better to take the time now to think through these adverse scenarios and educate yourself about the insurance coverage options available. With confidence built from learning as much as possible about insurance, you’ll be better prepared for the future.

How much coverage do you need?

The starting point for building confidence in your insurance plans is to determine how much coverage that you need. Let’s use life insurance as an example. When considering your personal situation, here are a few things that impact coverage amount; do you have a mortgage, do you have an emergency fund, do you plan to help your kids or grandkids with their education or do you have any charitable organizations that you would like to leave funds to? When considering your business needs, here are some things that impact coverage amount; would your company need access to liquid funds for operations, are there any business debts, are there any tax liabilities that will be triggered or is your shareholder agreement properly funded? By working through questions like these, you will be in the best position to determine the proper amount of coverage to own. Depending on your circumstances, there may be many more questions to ask, however the questions above are a great starting point.

What’s your current coverage?

The next important step is to take a closer look at the insurance benefits you already have through your group benefits, your personal insurance plans, and insurance owned through your mortgage or attached to any associations you belong to. Take some time to understand these products, and you’ll feel much better knowing more about the insurance protection you already own. Often the terms and conditions of these policies may be difficult to interpret. A qualified insurance advisor can be a great asset in helping you understand the fine details of the various plans. Similar to many other things in life, the devil is in the details, so make sure you understand them!

Close the gaps in your coverage

Once you’ve determined the amount of coverage you need and surveyed the insurance products you currently have in place, the next important step is to implement a plan to insure any shortfalls. For instance, you may have purchased insurance a number of years ago, but since then you have purchased a cottage or possibly gotten married again. Or, your company may have changed insurance carriers and you no longer have disability insurance. These types of changes can lead to gaps in your coverages. A qualified insurance advisor can be a great asset to assist in helping you secure coverage to close these gaps.

Life is full of opportunities and interests. Why not clear some worry off your plate so you’ll be in a better position to take advantage of those opportunities and ultimately sleep a lot better at night?

Free online resources

Get started today by checking out some of the resources online that can help you determine your insurance needs. One excellent resource is at: www.lifehappens.org

Find out what is right for your needs, and give yourself one less thing to worry about in today’s ever-changing environment!

In the event you need additional assistance in simplifying your life, we have developed a free report that identifies implementable tips that you can act on immediately to begin simplifying your life. Visit www.simpleplanreport.com to download today!

Have a fantastic day and always remember to keep things simple!

Mark Landers is the creator of The Simple Plan Program and has been helping entrepreneurs simplify their lives for over 10 years. He can be reached at Mark R. Landers, CFP CHS, The Northridge Financial Group Ltd. at 416.705.6640 or mark@nrfg.ca.

To be more productive, take more time off

There are two ways to tackle a long-distance hike. You can do it as fast as possible, going all out every day, blasting along the trail without stopping until the end of each long day, and dropping into bed exhausted.

Or, you can take more time, perhaps a couple of extra days, and build regular breaks into the schedule so you can enjoy the scenery, eat, rest, and refresh yourself. The whole experience will be more fun and memorable.

Life is like this too, especially when it comes to how much time we spend working to exhaustion versus taking time off to recover and rejuvenate.

For most of us, we are typically told at a young age that to be most successful in our careers, we must work harder than everyone else. It’s drilled into us that the “time and effort” we expend will eventually be rewarded with income and status.

Over the last 20 years, however, our professions have shifted to a model where we are rewarded more for the results of our work—and less for the “time and effort” we put into it.

The challenge of shifting gears

Shifting into this different gear can be challenging if we are used to thinking that the harder and longer we work, the more our business will grow. With work styles built around long hours, doing everything ourselves, and that feeling of accomplishment after a 12 or 14-hour day or working over the weekend, we end up focusing more on the number of hours we work than on the quality of our work. It’s easy to fall into the trap of feeling like a hero because we put so many hours into our businesses.

Overtime and overwork, though, can often result in a decline in the quality of work and the ability to maintain focus. It also takes time away from other important parts of life such as our health, family, friends, and personal interests.

Anthropologists have long noted that tribal people in remote parts of the world have much more leisure time than modern Western working people like ourselves. They work hard in short bursts, but they also spend a lot of time just hanging out talking, laughing, playing with the kids, and feasting. Their verbal communication skills are often extremely well honed because they talk to each other face to face so much.

We can definitely take a page from these more relaxed lifestyles.

Keep results in the forefront

To be most efficient and effective, we need to keep “results” in the forefront, employing delegation and teamwork, and keeping ourselves extremely sharp.

One of the best ways to stay sharp is to schedule a sufficient amount of time away from work to look after all the other “stuff” in our lives. That includes staying healthy through exercise and diet, and visiting our doctor regularly for check-ups.

And it means spending time with our partner, children, family and friends; pursuing our most important personal goals and hobbies—and of course spending time relaxing!

Personally, after a great long weekend, or an excellent family trip, I usually come back to work refreshed and full of energy and creative ideas.

Build vacation days into your calendar

When owning a business, it takes some planning to ensure we have free time away from work. As a starting point, grab a 12-month calendar, and talk to your partner about what dates are ideal to book as time off from work. Try to block off at least a few vacation days every quarter.

And the final point: guard those days off like a hawk! It’s okay to exchange your planned vacation days for other dates if things come up—just don’t cancel them.

Next time you are feeling stressed and overworked, or it seems like nothing in your life is making sense, try taking a day off work. Plan that day for yourself, and see how much better the time off makes you feel!

Have a fantastic day and always remember to keep things simple!

Take care of yourself and learn to say no!

Athletes spend a lot of time stretching and extending their bodies. But over-extending can cause injury. It’s the same outside of the athletic arena: We can stretch ourselves and discover new ways to feel fulfilled and make our dreams come true. But we have to be careful not to over-extend ourselves.

The truth is that half of the troubles in life can be traced to saying yes too quickly and not saying no soon enough. We rush in impulsively without considering the consequences to our own health and well being.

In Canada where we live the good life, so many of us are stressed from being overcommitted and pulled in a million different directions. It’s shocking how stress sabotages health. Scientists tell us that around 50 per cent of all serious illness is directly caused by stress. It’s been called the scourge of the century.

What are you getting yourself into?

Think about those situations--even people—that drag you down and “zap” your energy. You may be exhausted but still say yes to extra volunteer work, working overtime to cover for your staff, attending social events, or doing favours for friends. Or what about that needy employee who backs you into a corner and monologues about their personal problems while your work sits unfinished? Your impulse may be to run away but you allow yourself to become drained by their bad energy.

These are all ways you may let your good nature overtake the need to look after yourself. All your efforts may not even be appreciated, and the result is that you feel even more tired and run-down—which makes you vulnerable to insomnia, colds and flu, and other stress reactions.

Saying no is a skill

For us people pleasers, it’s a real challenge to draw the line and say no. And yet we need to make our own happiness the top priority and try our best to leave the guilt behind.

Just remember, saying no doesn’t make you a bad person. It doesn’t make you insensitive or a bad leader. Rather, it means you are strong and confident with your boundaries and limits.

Practice saying “no” in front of the mirror, and smile when you’re saying it. You can actually learn to feel good about saying no, instead of guilt-ridden.

Your YES and NO list

A super-simple method for learning to say no is to make a YES and NO list. Jot down all the things you love doing, things you are passionate about, and things that give you energy. This is your YES list.

Then make a list of things you dislike doing, things that frustrate you and drain your energy. This is your NO list.

You can then use these lists as tools to help you make decisions. If it’s in the NO list, it’s probably something you should avoid. If it’s in the YES list, it will likely enhance your life.

The awesome thing is that there are probably many people in this world who have a lot of the items on your NO list at the very top of their YES list. Your YES and NO list enables you to figure out people’s strengths and work together to assign roles on projects. This can be great at the office, around the house, and in community organizations.

You hate coaching kids’ soccer games? Your friend down the street loves it, but has no desire to lead adult hiking trips on Sundays—something you really like doing.

Try it out and see what happens. You might be surprised by the insights you arrive at.

Have a fantastic day and always remember to keep things simple!

Move to the front of the line and pay yourself first

It’s fun to spend money, and, as one of the core principles of economics states, human beings have unlimited wants. So the big challenge in life is maintaining a balance between saving for things you want to buy in the future, and spending on things today.

As certain reality TV shows reveal, most people are really good at spending but not very good at saving. Their approach to finances and budgets is to set a goal that, as of next month, they are going to begin to spend less and save more for the future.

The first of the month rolls around, and they begin to keep an eye on their bank account. They see their bill payments come out, and they commit to taking whatever funds are left over at the end of the month and allocating those toward their retirement plan. Throughout the month, they try to watch their expenses, but amazingly, by the 30th they are only able to get the bills paid.

The net result is no additional funds for savings. They then set the same goal for next month, and the cycle repeats. A few months later, they feel really frustrated that they are making little progress. So, in an effort to feel better, they invest in some “retail therapy” and enjoy a weekend shopping spree on their credit card! They then struggle over the next few months and scrape by to pay it off. The net result is an overall feeling of frustration and no progress toward their savings goal.

This is further complicated when owning a business. The combination of volatile cash flow and the constant need to reinvest in core business needs such as staff, technology and marketing do not make things any easier. This can lead to feelings of even greater frustration and even thoughts questioning the viability of the business itself.

Pay yourself at the start of the month

A simple solution, instead of trying to “pay yourself last” at the end of the month with whatever is left over, is to “pay yourself first” at the beginning of the month—before everyone else gets their hands on your cash. This means having money automatically routed at the beginning of the month to a designated savings vehicle. This works great personally or inside of your business. If you can allocate a percentage of your income into savings this way, it will shock you to see how you can still get your bills paid every month despite having a bit less money to do so. Setting up payments to be automatic is the key!

This can be done in a number of ways:

1. Automatic transfers from your chequing account to savings or extra payments to credit cards, through online banking or telephone banking.

2. Pre-authorized withdrawal programs with investment or retirement savings providers.

3. Extra mortgage/debt payments by contacting your lender and requesting they increase your regular payments (even $100 monthly can make a big difference over time).

4. Payroll savings plans. This one is really easy; your payroll service withholds a portion of your paycheque and directs it towards a savings plan before it hits your bank account.

The great thing about many of these automatic savings vehicles is that they are flexible and can be increased or decreased any time. So if you have a very profitable quarter, adjust your transfer to be a bit extra for a couple of months. Or if your business is seasonal, turn off your savings plan and restart it a few months later.

How much to save

Everyone wonders what the “magic number” to save every year is or “How much do I need invested to retire?” This is truly an individual question, as there are so many different scenarios and goals. For advice tailored to your own circumstances, speak to a qualified financial planner.

A rule of thumb I typically use with my clients is to save 10-20% of your income every month. For me personally, this is what I strive to do….some months more successfully than others. Of course, 20% is a fairly large percentage if you are not accustomed to this type of investing. It’s no different than exercise……if you are not habituated to regular exercise it’s tough to jump off the couch and run a marathon. So, start nice, easy and small: possibly 3% or 5% of your income. Set a goal to increase by 1 or 2% every few months. A few years later you’ll look back and have a nice chunk of cash set aside! Remember, every little bit counts.

Have a fantastic day and always remember to keep things simple!

Toronto Entrepreneurs Upcoming Events

TORONTO EDITION: November 4, 2015: 2015 Toronto Entrepreneurs Conference & Tradeshow at the Chestnut Conference Centre in Downtown Toronto. For more information visit www.TorontoEntrepreneurs.ca.

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MISSISSAUGA EDITION: June 8, 2016: Toronto Entrepreneurs Conference & Tradeshow at the Mississauga Convention Centre. Information at www.TorontoEntrepreneurs.ca.

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Our events are designed to provide entrepreneurs, whether budding or experienced, with the opportunity to expand their professional network, hear from experienced and successful entrepreneurs on tips and opportunities and learn what it takes to become successful and stay thriving.

For more information please visit www.TorontoEntrepreneurs.ca