When you login to the Big Biller software systems on Monday, May 3, you might notice something different.  That’s because we have a new Web site!  However, don’t be alarmed.  Once you login, Big Biller will look the same—and operate the same—as it has.

As some of you know, Big Biller is a product of Top Echelon.  One of the primary reasons we’re releasing a new Web site is to more easily provide tools, resources, services, and information to recruiters.  Instead of having separate Web sites for the products that we offer to recruiters, we’ve combining them all on one site to more easily accomplish that goal.  When you visit the main page of the site, you’ll notice that the tools and services that we currently offer are broken down into three main categories:

• Big Biller—The leader in online recruiting software.

• Hiring Hook—This is the new name for Top Echelon’s recruiting Web sites.  It takes the place of the current names for our sites, which are Silver, Gold, and Platinum.

• Top Echelon Network—The leading split placement network of recruiters.

So remember . . . new site, but once you login, the software is the same.  If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us at (330) 455-1433.

In this video demonstration, well look at managing a pipeline as well as review the different features that make up the pipeline in Big Biller.  A pipeline is a list of candidates that are linked to a job order that enables a recruiter to quickly see who is being considered for the position and where they stand in the placement process.

Recruitment software for applicant tracking from Big Biller, the leader in online recruiting software.

In this video demonstration, we’ll review how to add people to a pipeline.   A pipeline is a list of candidates that are linked to a job order that enables a recruiter to quickly see who is being considered for the position and where they stand in the placement process.   Candidates are added and worked through the pipeline until theyre either hired, or are disqualified along the way.

Recruitment software for applicant tracking from Big Biller, the leading online recruiting software.

In this video demonstration, we will look at creating and managing Hotlists in Big Biller.  The hotlist feature is like having an online filing cabinet where you can store and categorize records, just like a filing cabinet.  The Hotlists function gives a recruiter quick and easy access to groups and lists of people, companies, or even job orders.

Recruitment software for applicant tracking from Big Biller, the leader in online recruiting software.

In this video demonstration, we’ll review the different email address options that the recruiter will have when adding emails to the software.  The recruiter will be able to set the email type, priority, and to set the email to Do Not Email.  These email fields can be very helpful indentifying the type and priority of emails sent through Big Biller.

Recruitment software for applicant tracking from Big Biller, the leader in online recruiting software.

(By Todd Bossler)

Todd Bossler

We send out a tremendous amount of emails through the Big Biller software, and that number increases on just about a daily basis.  We’re always striving to add new users to the software, and as you well know, recruiters are using email marketing more and more.  With volume increasing like it has, it only stands to reason that there are more instances of “bounce backs,” which are emails that can’t be delivered because of bad or incorrect addresses.  I’m sure you’ve seen these in your email inbox with a subject line like those that are listed below—or ones that are similar:

• 550 5.1.1 User unknown
• 550 No such user – psmtp
• 550 User account is unavailable
• 550 Recipient Rejected: No account by that name here

Read More…

In this video demonstration, we’ll review the Lookup feature that will allow a user to easily access  standardized databases for specific fields throughout Big Biller.    Having standardized data for various fields will help to maintain a clean and consistent database.

Recruitment software for applicant tracking from Big Biller, the leader in online recruiting software.

In this video demonstration, we’ll review the Callout Feature that allows the recruiter to quickly view contact information for people in Hotlists, Call Lists, and other lists throughout Big Biller.  Having the contact information at  your fingertips enables the recruiter to make more phone calls in less time.

Recruitment software for applicant tracking from Big Biller, the leader in online recruiting software.

In this video demonstration, we’ll review the Autocomplete Feature in Big Biller.  The autocomplete feature enables the recruiter to quickly add information to fields in Big Biller without having to type in the entire word.  This is a huge time saving feature.

Recruitment software for applicant tracking from Big Biller, the leader in online recruiting software.

In this video demonstration, we’ll review several of the basic navigational features in Big Biller that show how easy and friendly the software is to navigate.

Recruitment software for applicant tracking from Big Biller, the leader in online recruiting software.

In this video demonstration, we’ll review how lists are displayed throughout Big Biller recruiting software.  There are several different formats of lists that a recruiter can have displayed depending on what information is needed to make a decision.  This video will review each list and show how to quickly toggle between each.

Recruitment software for applicant tracking from Big Biller, the leader in online recruiting software.

In this video demonstration, we’ll review the Inline Editing feature in Big Biller.  Inline editing enables the recruiter to update information such as phone numbers, emails, salary requirements, employment history, and much more on the fly.  Updating information has never been easier.

Recruitment software for applicant tracking from Big Biller, the leader in online recruiting software.

In this video demonstration, we’ll review Adding People Records and Resumes to Big Biller.   Adding prospects and candidates is quick and easy with Big Biller’s smart parser.  The smart parser scans and reads the resume, and then automatically extracts the appropriate information out of the resume and places it into the resume data sheet (RDS).

Recruitment software for applicant tracking from Big Biller, the leader in online recruiting software.

In this video demonstration, we’ll review how the Boolean Builder search feature can help the recruiter build a more accurate search string for better results in less time.

Recruitment software for applicant tracking from Big Biller, the leader in online recruiting software.

I can’t count the number of times I’ve suggested getting multiple monitors to folks in the recruiting industry and gotten the “but I hate technology crap, how is TWO screens going to make me more productive?” And, I’m not all the great a salesman. I just sort of stop and stare at them and say “How can it not?!”

Being a geek, a went after and secured dual monitors very early. So early that I used a slightly different approach to talk my boss into “the company needing them.” At that time we were attending a lot of industry trade shows and we were renting LCD panels at them so that we could show our software to attendees. This was extremely expensive. So I made the pitch that it would be much cheaper if we bought and shipped them to every show and instead of them sitting in boxes between show, I stepped up and volunteered to “take care of them” while we were back at the office. It worked! And I haven’t looked back. As a matter of fact I don’t know how I’ve lived without them both.

It really is productivity, but just saying “trust, me, you’ll be more productive” doesn’t cut it! So I contacted a few Recruiter friends that I know use multiple monitors and ask them to give me a few thoughts on how multiple monitors makes them more productive.

Friend #1 – Bill in Indiana

• When interviewing I can keep a copy of the resume open on one screen and my interview form on another
• When talking with a client I can have a copy of the presentation open on one screen and the job order on another. Same thing when I am pitching a position to a candidate.
• Most of use laptops anymore and many of us are supposed to wear glasses. I am willing to admit I often move items to the larger screen to make them easier to read.
• I can multi-task easier.

Friend #2 – Philip in New Jersey

• Productivity is a no brainer, used in conjuncion with Autocopy (a FireFox Addin), you highlight what you see on one screen and copy to the other.

Friend #3 – Steve in Indiana

I went to a two monitor setup with my laptop about three years ago and I would never go back. It has reduced paperwork on my desk and enhanced my efficiency considerably. If the past I would have a hard copy resume that I would use during the screening of a candidate. Most of the time, I would end up capturing the information on the resume. I would then have to transfer the key points into BigBiller. Now, I can have a candidate’s resume open on one screen and Big Biller / candidate form open on the other. I can type much faster than I can write plus it is much more legible. There are several applications for multiple monitors. You can utilize one for video chat and the other for capturing notes, referencing a job order, etc… It is also great for reconciling online banking to your financial software. The possibilities are endless. If it was not for desk space, I would go to three!

With the rapid pace of technology in monitors, the cost of fairly good sized LCD monitors is pretty affordable so if you’ve been thinking about it, not might be the time! Here are a couple of how to set up dual screen links [eHow, LifeHacker]

I love “best of” lists when it comes to technology.   I ran across this list of devices and think that is its interesting because only a couple of them are “traditional. “  With as much as computer technology advances, sometimes it’s tough to keep up with the latest and greatest machines to hit the market.

The most notable is that desktop computers these days are really desktop.  The CPU is no longer a bulky box that takes up space and is quite ugly.  The desktops in this review have the CPU built right in the back of the monitor, so there is really just a monitor, a mouse, and a keyboard (and they are wireless).  This makes for clean desk!  I’m not sure about multiple monitor capabilities (a must have in my book), but I would be surprised if they can’t handle at least one additional monitor.  Another cool thing is touch technology.  It has been gaining more and more ground, thanks largely to iPhones and other mobile devices.  You may not even have the need for a keyboard or a mouse (I’m not sure I’m ready for that)!

If you’re the more mobile type, you’re likely looking at laptops, notebooks, or even perhaps a tablet.  The key to getting the right system is knowing what you need.  Recruiters and their software needs are largely email and browser based… you really don’t need a super computer for that!  A modestly powered laptop would be plenty fine for most online applicant tracking systems and email (especially if you steer clear of Outlook… very resource intensive!)  Tablet computers, like the newly announced (and not yet available) iPad, are turning a lot of heads and look intriguing.  If I was on the road a lot, I would be very tempted to go that route.  They are touch driven, and supposedly have an unbelievable battery life.  Netbooks and notepads in my opinion are the least attractive option at the moment.  They are more focused on being small than remaining powerful enough to do what we need them to do.  I don’t have one myself, but from everything I’ve read, they’re not cutting the mustard, and have pretty poor battery life.

Be sure to check out Digital Trends’  “Best Laptops and Desktops of 2010″ list and reviews if you’re in the market.  They rated models on price, ease of use, and overall power and versatility.

So what have you heard?  Do you own any of the computers on this list? Are you planning to purchase a new computer any time this year?

In the recruiting business, referrals are king in two facets . . .

• The more candidates that visit your Web site, the better the chance that one of them is someone that a clients of yours wants.
• The more  people tell their friends how professional you are and how you upgraded his/her career and life, the chances that those friends will seek you out greatly increase.
• When you fill an opening for a client quickly and perfectly, those hiring authorities also talk to other business folks, and other companies seek you out

Referrals drive our business! Fresh and relevant copy and/or content drive search engines.

Every time you help a person (place a candidate) or a client (fill an order), get a testimonial from them and get it on your Web site.  Think about it . . . they are usually extremely happy with you at that moment and will almost always give you a “glowing review.”  But capturing that info right then and there ensures a good review and getting it right to your Web site will give Google (and the other search engines) new and relevant content that only improves how and when you come up in the search results.

Aside from the most frequently asked question “What is Twitter?,”  many people ask me “How do I source people from Twitter?”  You can use search.twitter.com, but it doesn’t search Twitter bios, which is where people tend to write who they are and what they do.   I recommend using the power of Google’s almost instant indexing of Twitter to search these bios.  Here is an example of a very powerful search term:

site:twitter.com “bio * java developer|programmer” [click here to see the results]

Copy it and paste it into your Google (or whatever your favorite engine is).  All you need to do is tweak the criteria after the bio * with keywords that match the people you’re looking for.  Now, you may not find phone numbers or email addresses on those bios, but 9 times out of 10 you’ll find a link to a website, or at least more information that will lead you to some contact info.

I learned this and many other hints and tricks from some great industry trainers at Recruiter Training.  Go there to get access to a library of over 80 recruiting 60 minute webinars…

Twitter Training Session for Recruiters
LinkedIn Training  Sessions for Recruiters

In terms of computers, VPN stands for “Virtual Private Network.”

A VPN was used by a great many people who were working–and recruiting–from home because of the recent snowstorms in the Midwest and Northeast. A Virtual Private Network is often used by a select group of individuals or employees who can’t be in the office, for whatever reason. Since they’re accessing information remotely that can be sensitive in nature, an encryption system is often used with the VPN to ensure the safety of the data.

Once again, employees and recruiters don’t need the weather as an excuse to use a VPN. Some people log a few extra hours at night or on the weekend, especially if they’re trying to wrap up a project or close a deal. One of the only drawbacks with a VPN is that sometimes the connection speed is not as fast as if you were in the office. However, new software and hardward advances are working toward getting rid of that problem.

. . . from their appointed rounds.

If you live and work in the northeastern part of the country, you’ve experienced one of the worst stretches of weather in recent memory–especially in terms of how much snow has fallen. BUT (there’s a but on my lips) technology came to the rescue for many of you, since there’s a good chance that you could work from home. Many companies, not to mention recruiting firms, have software programs that allow employees to access their computers from home. This allows for “business as usual,” no matter the weather conditions. The only difference is that you might be recruiting in your pajamas!

That’s one of the great advantages of online software like Big Biller: you can access it from anywhere. All you need is an Internet connection. You don’t have to be in the physical office space in order to get your information. Actually, there are some firms that already have remote recruiters, those who work quite a distance away from the main office and tele-commute every day. For them, the snow was no big deal. They weren’t going anywhere, anyway!

How about you? Have you been working from home as a recruiter because of the weather? Has it hurt your activity?

One of the biggest wars that’s raging in technology right now involves the one between the wireless phone companies.  That battle revolves around the phones that these companies keep releasing.  Of course, there’s the Blackberry, the iPhone, and now the Droid.  They all have their pros and cons, and it’s difficult to say that one is out-and-out better than the other.  What it all really boils down to is personal preference.

For those of you who own an iPhone, though, you might be wondering what some of the best apps are for that particular phone.  I can help you with that.  Click here to access a gallery of the top nine iPhone apps for 2009, as voted on by the readers of the review site 148apps.com.

If you own an iPhone, what are your favorite apps, both free and pay?  If you don’t own an iPhone, what do you like about the phone you do have?

Google certainly seems to be busy these days.

On Tuesday, the Internet company released “Google Buzz,” their new social networking project.  In simple terms, Buzz is a social media platform that’s integrated into your Gmail account.  If you already use Gmail, then you don’t have to do anything in order to install Buzz.  There should already be a Buzz tab beneath your inbox link.  If you don’t use Gmail, then . . . well, this really doesn’t apply to you!

I’ll be posting more blogs about Google Buzz in the near future.  There are numerous facets and tools associated with the platform.  If you already use Gmail and would like some basic information, click here.

If you’ve already dabbled with Google Buzz, what are your thoughts?  Was it a good move on Google’s part?

If the Internet giant isn’t at the forefront, it might be in the near future.

Google officials said today that it will soon be testing a new broadband network that will be up to 100 times faster than traditional broadband speeds.  That’s not a typo—100 times faster!

Google Product Managers Minnie Ingersoll and James Kelly posted a blog on Google’s website about this new broadband network.  In the post, they described “universal, ultra high-speed Internet access” that could quite possibly allow a user to download a high-definition, full-length movie in less than five minutes, among other things.

Exactly how fast are we talking about?  In geek terms, about 1 gigabit per second.  Take it from me, that’s screamin’ fast.  The end game is that Google wants to build a fiber-optic network for consumers and then test it around the country.  The end-end game, of course, is that the company wants to sell this ultra-fast broadband service and make a profit.

What about you?  Would you be interested in this type of service?  For your home?  At work?  Would it help you recruit better or faster?

For those of you who use Facebook, you might be interested to know that the social media site turned six years old on Thursday. If not, then what might interest you is the fact that FB is re-designing its home page for the occasion. According to the site Inside Facebook, about 80 million of the social media site’s 400 million users currently have access to the re-design.

A lot of the changes in the re-design are directed at making the Facebook experience easier and more enjoyable.  (Makes sense, don’t you think?)  Some of these involve moving some of the most-used features of Facebook—notifications, bookmarks, the News Feed, etc.—to more accessible parts of the software. Depending on if you have a FB account and whether you use it more for personal uses or professional ones, you might consider checking out the new re-design before it hits your Profile Page in the near future.

Or maybe you’ve already seen the new design and worked within it? If so, what’s your take?

There are number of different ways to do this, and I’ve found that many recruiters put links to their various social media accounts in their email signature files. This makes sense because that way, every time you send out an email, you’re potentially picking up a new follower. This is especially good when you’re emailing candidates and clients.

As I mentioned in my first post about Twitter, though, if you do this, you have to follow through with it. You can’t set up a Twitter account (or other social media account) and then let it sit there. That’s not gonna work. You have to actually do something with it. For Twitter, that means tweeting and tweeting about stuff that your followers will be interested in. No tweeting about what you had for breakfast. That won’t fly.

Like I said, if you have a blog, you can tweet about your latest blog entry. As an added bonus, some blog sites like WordPress—the one I’m using—have plug-ins that will send a notification to Twitter once you post a blog. That way, you don’t have to take the extra time to login to your Twitter account and tweet. It does the work for you!

Also like I said, though, if you set up a blog and direct people to it, you have to blog on a regular basis. Once a month won’t cut it. People’s attention spans are short enough as it is. Getting people to follow you is great . . . but convincing them to keep following you is even better. That’s a rule you can’t forget when it comes to Twitter.

Do you use a blog in conjunction with your Twitter account? If so, is that working for you?

The thing you have to understand about Twitter is that it’s the latest step in the evolution of communication. If you want a starting point, think of smoke signals as being the first step (or something along those lines). Then there was the Pony Express, telegraphs—yeah, I skipped a few steps—all the way up to the telephone, fax machines, cell phones, email, text messaging . . . and now Twitter.

People use Twitter a lot like the way they use test messaging, except that it’s more like a broadcast text message, depending on how many followers you have. The key again is to communicate with a large group of people within your sphere of influence automatically. For example, if you have a hot job that you want to let your candidates know about, you might consider tweeting that job in 140 characters or less. And example is below:

Opening for Search Engine Optimizer with 5+ years experience in Web site optimization, social media, search engine marketing. Relocation $.

The tweet above is 139 characters, one less than what it allowed by Twitter. As you can see, you must be concise and to the point. But the point is that with Twitter and other social media tools, you can communicate what you want to communicate a bunch of different ways.

If you use Twitter, do you tweet job openings to your followers?

Yeah, right!

If I had five cents for every time somebody asked me that question, I’d be living in the Bahamas right now… never been there but I hear it’s lovely. First, here are some “official definitions” from around the Internet:

Twitter.com—Doesn’t even have one on its Web site! (Not that I could see, anyway.)

Wikipedia.org—Twitter is a free social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read messages known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the author’s profile page and delivered to the author’s subscribers, who are known as followers.

Tweeternet.com—Twitter is a social networking and microblogging service that allows you to answer the question, “What are you doing?” by sending short text messages 140 characters in length, called “tweets,” to your friends, or “followers.”

Okay, here’s my take: trying to define Twitter is almost futile. The only thing you need to know is that Twitter is yet another way to communicate with people within your sphere of influence. The perks are that you can do it instantly and all over the freakin’ planet! But it’s different for everybody. What a recruiter would use Twitter for is different than what Crest or Johnson & Johnson would use it for. The end result is connecting with people more easily, one of the big features of Web 2.0.

There’s a catch, though. More than one, actually. First, you have to get people to follow you, for whatever reason. And second, you have to “tweet” on a consistent basis and tweet about things that are of interest to your followers. If you don’t follow through with these two things, then Twitter won’t be much use to you.

Trying to cram all of my thoughts about Twitter into one blog post would be too much. Too much for me to write and too much for you to read. But I’ll continue to blog about Twitter in the future, so check back on a regular basis.

What about you? What do you think Twitter is? Please limit your comments to 140 characters (kidding).

Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced today at the Yerba Buena Center for the Performing Arts in San Francisco that the new iPad will be released in April of this year. This handheld device and latest in technological tools (or is it toys?) from Apple will have all sorts of snazzy features:

• You can view movies and listen to music (it works with iTunes)
• Surf the Internet
• Play high-definition games
• Photo, calendar, and maps applications
• 10 hours of battery life
• Virtual keyboard
• 16, 32, or 64 GB of storage space

The list goes on and on and on. Will this be the new big thing on the technology front? Could be. A lot of people thought the iPhone was gonna whiff out, but that obviously didn’t happen. Is it affordably priced? I guess that depends on what you call affordable. The 16 GB version plans to retail for $499.

When it comes to the world of recruiting, though, it’s difficult to say how much the iPad will contribute, especially if you already have a Blackberry or some other high-powered mobile device. But if you’re an on-the-go business person like myself, this is the kind of stuff that churns your butter.  Does that mean I would run out and buy one because I think I could recruit better with it?  No, but if I have the extra cash, I’d eventually like to play with one of these things.  Imagine sitting in your living room with a wafer-thin device and being able to access your database, your social networks, and your job boards, and still be able to pick it up and take it to the pool or wherever else you want to go. How cool would that be?

I welcome your thoughts on the iPad and whether or not you think it would be something you’d consider using, either personally or professionally.

UPDATE: Ouch… one techie has done a feature comparison to a rock…

Web 2.0 is a catchy buzzword term that basically describes the major evolution that the Internet has gone through over the years.

The Web is no longer a collection of a few online brochures and one-way communication from seller to sellee.  Instead, it’s a living, breathing, “tweeting” connection between supplier and demander, or friends and family, or boss and minion.  And to top it all off, it’s a connection we can take with us everywhere we go!

The “Technically Speaking” category will be used for giving my thoughts about the buzz words and technologies that we’ve all heard about or read about in the media.

Almost every day, we hear or read about these words and terms, and we really don’t know what they mean.  Some of these words and phrases don’t have a set definition.  They almost mean something a little different to everybody.  So as you might imagine, I’ll be giving my own personal take on these terms, what they mean and what their practical applications are, now and in the future. 

By the way, if you’d like me to blog about a particular topic, I certainly encourage you to send me your ideas.  Shoot an email to blog@bigbiller.com, and I’ll see what I can do about putting it on the schedule.

Welcome to the first entry of the Big Biller software blog! My name is Todd Bossler, and I’m a geek in the recruiting industry.  I work as a software analyst, tech support, all-around tech-geek for the applicant tracking software company called Big Biller. I’ve worked for the company for over 11 years, and during that time, I’ve had the opportunity to work with recruiters and help them incorporate emerging technologies into their firm and into the way they run their desk on an everyday basis. More importantly, I’ve had the opportunity to work for a software company–Big Biller–that provides recruiters with cutting-edge tools they can implement into their recruiting process so they can save time and become more productive.

Recruiters are always looking for an edge, a way in which to beat out the competition, and technological tools are one way in which to do that. My goal with this blog is to provide information and insight regarding these tools–current ones, as well as ones in development–that will allow recruiters to gain the edge they’re looking for. As a recruiter, you know full well that you have to devote as much time as possible to those tasks that produce revenue. You need to close deals, not research the latest and greatest in technology . . . even if that technology might ultimately improve your productivity.

That’s where I hope I’ll come in. I invite you to visit my blog regularly, and also to follow me on Twitter, where I’ll be posting observations, links, and updates. I’ll be posting here on at least a weekly basis, and there’s a good chance it will be more than weekly. Thanks for visiting, and I look forward to providing timely and relevant information that will help you save time and make more placements.