This month, StarSearcher welcomes its newest partner, Ascentis. A leading provider of HRIS solutions to small and mid-sized organizations, Ascentis is the home of HROffice, an easy-to-use suite of applications that integrate and automate critical HR processes. A perfect complement to StarSearcher's robust applicant tracking system, HROffice offers vital functionality such as benefits management, payroll connectivity, workflow automation and provides tracking and support for the hiring process.

In addition, HROffice's Self-Service module gives employees immediate, online access to personal HR, benefits and payroll information. Self-service allows employees to manage time-off, submit leave requests to management, and more. The simplicity of
self-service reduces employee call volumes and frees HR for more strategic tasks.

A Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, Ascentis' recently earned Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Front Runner status from Microsoft Corp. Ascentis continues to invest in the latest technology advancements that support the security and stability of HROffice. Congratulations to Ascentis and we look forward to a successful partnership!

Contact Ascentis at 1-800-229-2713 or visit www.Ascentis.com.

The OT Technologies Summit and Year End 2006 conference serves the needs of Executives, accounting, finance, IT, marketing, sales, human resources/ corporate recruiting and customer services. Enjoy two days of tips, tricks and informative presentations, including a lunch presentation by StarSearcher, highlighting the future of Human Capital Management and how you can stay ahead of the recruiting competition!

This year the event will feature Executive, IT, Great Plains, Solution Developers and Microsofty CRM tracks. Special Featured guests include Keynote Speaker Anna Maravelas (Self-Defeating Habits of Otherwise Brilliant People - Skills That Restore Trust, Reduce Stress and Resolve Conflict) and Closing Remarks Speaker Jeff Young, Vice President, Microsoft Dynamics - US, Microsoft Corporation.

When: November 14-15

Where: DoubleTree Park Place Hotel, Minneapolis

Note: This is the final part four of a four-part series.

Sharon Miller has an extensive background in Microsoft software, including Microsoft Dynamics GP, and has played a lively pace with Microsoft GP recruiting roles throughout her career. Since early 2006, Sharon has found success as an independent recruiter consultant for The Partner Channel, a creative and marketing management resource for Partners who specialize in business solutions software, such as Microsoft Dynamics. Sharon is very active in workforce activities in and around her community, often being asked to appear as a key-note speaker to recruiting events such as the Upper Great Plains Technology Expo.

In late June, Sharon purchased her first applicant tracking software system. She's already learned many of the benefits StarSearcher has to offer. Lately, she's discovered the benefits of the EnTAKE online application, just one of the many useful components of StarSearcher. With anticipation for the installation of web interface into her system, Sharon is excited for "great work" ahead. The online applications will ease her busy schedule and drastically cut down on data entry.

"I am announcing the StarSearcher ATS application at an important conference this week called The Partner Event/Microsoft BBC. I couldn’t be more pleased to offer this wonderful job posting and resume management solution to my clients. Connecting people is my job but it is also my passion – Starsearcher ATS is helping make that happen!"

By Fay Hansen, a Workforce Management contributing editor

Résumé flow is strong and time-to-hire is fast in Asia’s largest labor pool. Broad statements in the U.S. media about an impending talent shortage in China are not borne out by more granular data on the labor supply and direct reports from companies engaged in heavy recruiting.

San Francisco-based Freeborders reviewed 25,000 job applications in China last year, conducted 3,400 first-round and 800 second-round interviews, and hired 251 new employees for its IT outsourcing services facility in Shenzhen. Recruiting is proceeding at roughly the same pace this year, with more than 2,000 résumés flowing in each month for 30 to 50 positions.

Gomez Inc., another U.S.-based high-tech firm, moved from no presence in China to a fully functioning R&D facility for new-product development in less time than it takes many companies to hire a single advanced-degree engineer in the United States. The company posted positions in May and opened its new Beijing office in July.

Despite widespread predictions of looming talent shortages in China, where GDP growth is now clocking in at 10.2 percent...

Could it make a difference? You finally found the perfect candidate you were looking for to fill that Director of IT position. Now, how do you make sure that candidate actually accepts the position? Chances are, if the individual is perfect for that position, he/she is probably perfect for other IT positions at your compeition as well. Would a signing bonus make the offer that much more appealing and ultimately convince him to play for your team? You might not ever know, but survey results do peg IT jobs as most likely to receive a signing bonus.

2006 survey results released from Mercer Human Resource Consulting shows the percentage of U.S. companies who use signing bonuses, broken down by job family.

• IT- 67%
• Accounting/finance- 52%
• Sales/marketing- 50%
• E-commerce- 40%
• HR- 32%
• Internal auditors- 31%
• Customer service- 21%
• Security- 15%

Taken from The Economist

As brainpower becomes the great differentiator, the hunt for talent is hounding companies and nations alike.

These are heady days for most companies. Profits are up. Capital is footloose and fancy-free. Trade Unions are getting weaker. India and China are adding billions of new cheap workers and consumers to the world economy. The Dow Jones industrial average has set record highs.

But talk to bosses, and you discover a gnawing worry: the supply of talent. “Talent” is one of those irritating words that has been hijacked by management gurus. It used to mean innate ability, but in modern business it has become a synonym for brainpower (both natural and trained) and especially the ability to think creatively. That may sound waffly; but look around the business world and two things stand out: The modern economy places an enormous premium on brainpower, and there is not enough to go around.

The best evidence of a “talent shortage” can be seen in high-tech firms. The likes of Yahoo and Microsoft are battling for the world’s best computer scientists. Google uses billboards bearing a math problem: solve it for the telephone number to call. Companies of all sorts are taking longer to fill jobs – and say they are having to make do with substandard employees.

Ever more money is being thrown at the problem – last year, 2,300 firms adopted some form of talent- management technology – and the status and size of HR departments have risen accordingly. Some of this panic is overdone – and linked to the business cycle: There was much ado about “a war for talent” in America in 1990s, until the dot-com bubble burst. Eventually, supply will rise to meet demand and...