If you've ever been given the task to find a specific software solution for your company, you know the evaluation process can be grueling. It's time-consuming, difficult, and can even feel impossible to accurately compare the features and functionality that each solution offers.

Now, think about recruiting software, specifically, Applicant Tracking Software. If you work in HR or are a hiring manager, you understand the steps involved throughout the entire hiring process. And if you're looking to completely automate that process, you better have a solution that can meet the demands specific to your organization.

At Bond International Software, we created our applicant tracking system to meet and exceed the demands of today's corporate hiring environment. However, unless you can compare the myriad of solutions out on the market, how do you know which is best?

To help in your evaluation process, we've developed a Corporate Recruiting ATS Software Analysis. Simply click here to get your complimentary four- page analysis that will help tremendously in your ATS evaluation process, allowing you to choose the best solution. Whether it's StarSearcher or another software you ultimately select, we understand that your hiring process is important and is getting increasily competitive; we'd like to help you make the most informed decision possible.

It's right around the corner...Convergence 2007. For anyone who sells or uses Microsoft Dynamics GP, it's the event of the year to attend. Last year more than 7,000 people attended, and even more are expected this year.

Convergence 2007 will take place in San Diego, California, March 11-14. This is your opportunity to participate in an exceptional program including a variety of speakers, detailed product demonstrations and hands-on learning sessions. You will learn how to enhance your Microsoft investment now and in the future, and gain a stronger sense of community through interacting with industry leaders, Microsoft team members, partners and other customers.

Take some time to browse through the Expo and stop by the StarSearcher booth (#1200) to learn more about our Microsoft-based Applicant Tracking System which now integrates with Dynamics GP HR. Plus, get a $5 Starbucks Gift Card just for stopping by our booth! We look forward to seeing you there!

This article was recently taken from a leading Minneapolis TV station, Kare 11. The urgency created in this article demonstrates how the American workforce is beginning to recognize the upcoming shortage of workers (across all industries) in the near future.

Help Wanted: Minnesota's Changing Workforce
By Rick Kupchella, KARE 11 News

Minnesota is about to experience a retirement wave unlike anything we've ever seen before. Beginning in 2008 we'll see a 30-percent hike in the rate of retirement.

Those seriously ramped-up retirements will continue for at least a decade and a half. In many ways it will mirror what is happening nationally. The impact will be felt across all sectors of society, most immediately among the workforce.

When we asked the experts where to look today for conditions that mirror Minnesota in the year 2020 - both culturally and in terms of the generational mix - we were told to consider the town of Willmar. That's where Kathryn Duevel - a doctor who delivers babies at Rice Memorial Hospital, has been doing better than most of us at replacing herself on this planet.

The process of delivering these kids hasn't changed so much over the years, she tells us. But the women having the babies have changed a lot.

"I have Egyptian patients, Indonesian, Philippine, Korean, Mexican, Central American," she said. "It's a really wide variety."

The number of non-Caucasian births in Willmar has almost doubled in ten years to nearly 30 percent. Whether it's Elizabeth, whose parents are from Mexico, or Warsame, whose parents came from Somalia - the world in Willmar has changed.

What happened, basically, is this. The town's population aged. There weren't enough locals around to fill all of the available jobs and immigrants came to Willmar from all over the world to fill the jobs. They are now keeping that economy afloat.

That's going to happen throughout Minnesota within 15 years. We'll have a million people in Minnesota over the age of 65 - more than any other age group.

An exodus of retirees is expected to hit Minnesota, much like it hit Willmar. It will change how we live for a long time to come - and it starts next year.

By Fay Hansen, Workforce Management Online Research Center

If you’re in the market for a yacht, you’ll probably be talking to an "A player" salesperson at MarineMax, Inc., the nation’s largest recreational boat retailer, with 2,000 employees in 85 locations.

MarineMax’s record-breaking results for the second quarter of 2006 showed revenue up 25.8 percent to $1 billion, same-store sales up 14.4 percent and net income up an enviable 22.5 percent. During the past five years, its stock price has soared 330 percent.

These high growth rates translate into heavy hiring, but MarineMax does not recruit from competitors.

"It would just recycle mediocrity," says Jay Avelino, vice president of team development, the company’s chief HR executive. Instead, the company only recruits what it considers to be A players— almost always from outside its own industry—to meet new growth targets.

MarineMax upgraded guidance for the rest of 2006 based on second-quarter results, but it needs to fill 130 open positions ranging from sales consultants and administrative assistants to marine service technicians and parts managers. With a formal topgrading policy in place and a mandate to interview only A players, MarineMax relies on a complex process to screen and select candidates and negotiate starting salaries for a constant flow of new hires.

But Avelino refuses to throw money at A-player candidates. Negotiating their starting salaries centers on tapping market data and pushing intangibles.

"Under our topgrading policy, an A player is in the top 10 percent for that position across the galaxy, but at an appropriate compensation level," he notes.

MarineMax’s topgrading process begins with psychometric testing, reference checks and an initial interview to eliminate any candidate who is not A- player material.

"We may start 10 candidates through the process, but end with only one or two who go on to the final stage, which is a four-hour chronological in-depth structured (CIDS) interview," Avelino reports.

"Top performers command higher...

• 71% believe automated search agents will improve sourcing
• a front office sourcing tool fully integrated with Microsoft Outlook would be a welcome innovation
• 43% rely on tools other than integrated front office software
• A fully integrated and synchronized front office solution featuring on-demand, real time access to client orders, ATS, search agents and job boards is viewed as the best available system
• More than half report that having anytime, anywhere access to all client and candidate information would improve placement rates