Category Archives: Software

Review Of Kenexa, Supercandidate, Brainbench & Articulate

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It is a known fact that any useful HR department or employment agency have tools to test a persons skill set. This could be a practical skill, technical skill or behavioral skill. However, has time changes, a flexible HR department or employment selection agency, will need to move forward with more powerful technologies that help them further in their area of expertise, candidate selection! In the early 90s online filtering was not really appreciable and the technologies employed were generally a database full of resumes from which to select people for possible interview.

Late in the 90s LMS (Learning Management Systems) broke like wildfire and many corporate firms started to see the logic in a organized approach to employee training, recruitment and retention.

As the 90s went by and the Internet started to reach a larger audience, many of the firms being reviewed were formed to try and offer solutions to firms from an outsourced net solution. These firms continue to improve products with technology and these firms reviewed are no different. However here is our review of their current state of play and how you could benefit from reading the review and finding which one suits your corporate or small business environment.

We reviewed several factors that are to our opinion ( Having worked both in HR and employment in large industries), very important in choosing the best tool for you.

The factors were:

Price.

Ease of use

Features against uses

Integration to your own platform

Server based storage, result notification and record filtering

Some of these features are easily comparable while others have variations that make it more difficult to quantitatively give you a clear result. When this happens, explanations will be around the similarities or differences from a customers hiring and practical perspective.

PRICE

As price is an important factor we discuss it here. Obviously people tend to gauge this first before feature looking at what is under the hood.

A cost comparison was created based on what might typically happen with a job post on the internet ( where 99% of firms now actually post jobs). Please note we stated one job post. Obviously you will need to multiply that by the number of jobs you target each month to get a realistic estimate of your actual costs.

So for the one job, what was done, was the actual cost of running similar test platforms over a period of a month using the minimum of 50 tests. This would be a fair representation of just one job placement that a HR or employment firm with approximately 50 possible applicants. Again this may be very conservative to the number of people who reply to your job posts but let us use it for reference sake.

Testing Firm Cost

Kenexa Proveit $1250 for 50 tests

Supercandidate $29.99 for unlimited tests

Brainbench $2500 for 50 tests

Articulate $499

Comparing these price factors, we see that Kenexas Proveit is the most expensive while Supercandidate is the least expensive by over 97%. This could make a major difference to who can afford the services. Overall Supercandidate is significantly less then any of the others reviewed. We will go into further detail about features shortly to see if that has relevance to pricing.

Ease of Use

When looking at ease of use, we took into consideration:

The GUI (Graphic User Interface)

Learning curve time.

In looking at the GUI we found that only Supercandidate had a built in video tutorial which allowed for step by step learning. The other three did not have this so the learning curve increased. With Proveit and Brainbench, we found that the dashboard was often confusing with many features leading to places that left us confused. This definitely could do with a training session which is offered by the firm at an additional cost.

Articulate was the hardest of all to understand as you needed to have experienced Adobe Flash style products before to easily work with the interface. Our opinion is, that someone without that knowledge would have to spend about 2 days to learn this product.

Features against Uses

This is a very important factor as it determines exactly how the products will benefit you in the real world. Having worked with HR and recruitment, we understand that there are many products out there with so many features to impress. However like many software products, you only really use certain features which work productively for you.

Proveit, Brainbench and Supercandidate offer the most number of useful features, such as premade test banks of Relevant tests, easy reporting features essential to fast decision making. Provit and Brainbench offered some more tests but we found that many were not relevant to the majority of users. Supercandidate offered direct access to create own questions which technically meant that you could add, remove and integrate your own questions in. This is ideal for customizing any job spec. This made this product more relevant for practical use as by integrating your own questions, you could keep up to date with any skill you choose making its test making limitless.

Articulate and Supercandidate offer the most media integration, allowing for video, sound and various media files such as image files, pdf documents(Supercandidate). These you can add directly to the questions. As the age of video integration is here with large bandwidth being the norm ( as seen by the likes of popular sites e.g. YouTube), it offers greater accuracy in job areas that require in-depth skills knowledge, these two products really shine above the others here. Of the two, we think that Supercandidate approach of browse click integration, rather then add to interface using a menu and several steps offered by Articulate, makes it the preferred choice for the majority of users, who look for ease of use and fast integration.

Provit, and Articulate offer the most question types, e.g. multiple choice, true false, checkbox. Now this initially seems an obvious reason for choice. However consider this, 85% of firms and institutions use the standard multiple choice format above all else, so it is likely that you can easily get by asking questions in that format and be well respected in your questioning techniques. If you compare price, the amount you pay is significant for these other question types even though the majority of tests will not need them. Besides tools like Supercandidate offer other options to create those question types using its strong media integration features.

For example, if you use the integrated media types such as a word doc, or jpeg, you can literally add whatever question feature you want. For example you ask a question that requires several answers (typical of a checkbox answer), you could open up your MS word doc and type in the different variations upload that to the question to offer a question that asks them to choose which set of options is best similarly you could have created a image file to do this.

Integration to your own customer facing platform

Kenexas Proveit, Articulate and Brainbench do not allow you to host the tests directly from your site. For example you will still have to send your clients to their site for the test e.g. provit2/acme (say if your name was acme). Not very professional for branding purposes.

Supercandidate does offer the testing platform to be integrated to the clients own site with a small charge associated. So if you are Acme company , it integrates straight to your site e.g. acme/testarea

This consideration is needed for those who want to keep applicants on their own site rather then going to another companys website. It also portrays the firm as a bigger firm due to the cost associated with such technologies which only the largest of firms can afford.

Server based storage, result notification and record filtering of results

All the products reviewed offered some sort of storage based setup. However not all storage are the same. While Supercandidate, Proveit and Brainbench offer tests based on their limits:

Supercandidate unlimited assessments including premade assessments Provit 900 assessments Brainbench 600 assessments

Articulate allows up to a maximum of 100 assessments.

With respect to result notification all firms offer instant notification of results to the administrator. On this review only Supercandidate, automated a serialized certificate to the test taker if they passed.

The record filtering is key to many who want to administer tests as it is the reason for the tests to see how someone performed in tangible ways.

All products offer filters. Proveit and Benchmark offer many unnecessary filters, where single tasks are broken down into several report formats. Supercandidate offers by group, by individual test results, with simple point and click methods.

All products offer CSV export features of the data on the online reporting point. Supercandidate and Proveit allow full data transfer to even email accounts.

A key reporting feature we believe is important for the HR person is based around reducing time. All of the products help HR and employment agencies reduce time by using tests to eliminate unqualified candidates. However, only Supercandidate takes into consideration that a live person does not always sit at their desk and has other things to do. For this they offer Cell Phone notification, which actually rings your cell when the best candidate is matched. You just head back to your desk and then call them up.

This is a very practical approach to free you from your desk and get on with other client calls, visits etc

Conclusion

Well our review looked at what we believe is key areas based on our 15 years working with HR, recruitment and the I.T industry related to the area of candidate selection. These 4 tools can definitely give you a step up in making sure you reduce time spent from tracking a candidate to placing one to a firm job.

Proveit and Brainbench seem to offer too little for those who want value for their money while utilizing a filter that will meet much of their needs. They have some fancy assessments but neither allows you to create your own tests or add to theirs. Any customization costs you even more if actually allowed.

Important features such as video and sound will play a more dominant role in tomorrows candididate selection as bandwidth increases and some features that were impossible outside face to face interviews, are now available to us via these elements. Both Supercandidate and Articulate allow these features.

Supercandidates cost of at least 90% less then all others, understanding of the need for quick learning, forward thinking features such as video in questions or cell phone notification on the go make this a really worthwhile product.

There is very little compromise with Supercandidate for those who want a effective filter to reach 95% of applicant testing. For this reason, we recommend the newer, more robust technology offered by Supercandidate Inc for the majority of users thinking of adding prescreening, or selection technology to their recruitment process. Also if you currently are using other forms, its time for an upgrade, especially when you are likely to heavily reduce your downtime and current spend.

Resolving Unknown Error 1436 In Ipod

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iTunes is an application used in iPod that organizes and plays digital music and video files. It provides sync between an iPod and a computer. Sometimes, while formatting or updating an iPod in iTunes, the iPod encounters certain error messages that demands its restoration. After restoring the iPod to its default settings, you can retrieve your lost data using an updated data backup. But, in cases where the backup is not available, absent or incomplete, there it is recommended to use a third-party application known as iPod data Recovery Software.

For instance – sometimes, when you plug in your iPod, you might encounter the below error message:

An unknown error occurred (1436)

This error message states that the iPod is corrupt and is needed to be restored. But, when you try to restore your iPod, the process fails and you further encounter the following error message:

iPod could not be restored

When this error message appears, the data stored in the iPod becomes inaccessible and you encounter this error message each time you try to restore your iPod.

Cause:

The most prominent reason for the above issue is corruption in iTunes.

Resolution:

You can try to update the latest version of iTunes in the iPod to resolve the above problems. The new version of the iTunes might assist you. But, if the problem persists, then consider the below measures:

Replug your iPod.

Disable or Enable Disk used on your iPod.

Try to connect your iPod to a different USB port.

Disable or remove third-party USB devices, if any.

But, if the problem still continues, then you need to format the iPod disk. Formatting your iPod will delete all your important data from the iPod. In such situations, a powerful iPod Recovery Software will enable you to recover and restore all your lost data comprehensively. The iPod Recovery application employ advanced scanning methods to recover your data completely. The interactive graphical user-interface of the iPod Recovery tool makes it easily understandable.

Stellar Phoenix iPod Recovery is an exceptional iPod Recovery utility that recovers your lost or inaccessible data quickly and systematically. The non-destructive software recovers all kinds of music files, documents, graphics, audio books, and other files. This recovery application is compatible with most of the generations of iPod like, iPod Shuffle, iPod Nano, iPod Touch, iPod Classic and iPod Mini. This software is available for both Windows and Macintosh operating systems.

Manage expenditures with ease using the expense management software by ExpenseWatch.

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To many businesses, expense management software has become a much needed tool to be integrated into their management systems. A fully automated and electronic system, the expense management software enables companies to effectively handle and manage how they spends their money. The expense management software eliminates paper-based, time-consuming and costly manual expense report creation processes. This software also greatly assists in the deliberation and approval processes for company expenditures. The ExpenseWatch.com expense management softwareis designed to be used by all employees of a company. Executives, approvers, and expense submitters can all easily access the software to manage their role in the expense management process. This is possible because the software is Web-based. As such, by having an Internet-enabled device, anyone within the company can easily access the tool on a browser wherever they are. Expense report submitters can easily create expense reports. Integrated data from travel itineraries and personal and corporate credit cards can be dragged-and-dropped onto the report to create line items. Submitters can also use their smartphones to create expense line items and to attach receipts. The software then sorts the information and creates a report which is then submitted to the approver or executive for approval. With the ExpenseWatch.com expense management software, approvers have an easier time deliberating on the expense reports being submitted for approval. The software also enables company executives to see where company money is being spent, how much is being spent and on what. This way, they can approve or disapprove expenditures with ease and confidently release funds for payable expenses being met. ExpenseWatch.com gives you more privileges as the executive. You are given the authority to dictate how your company’s money will be spent. By setting up spend policies and compliance rules, the ExpenseWatch.com expense management software ensures that all expenses are within company spending rules. This way, you get to eliminate chances of wanton expenditure, fraud or double entry. About the Author: Expense Management Software – ExpenseWatch.com delivers spend management products & services for businesses that automate manual, time consuming paper-based processes for company purchases, payable invoices and expense reports, while enabling visibility and control of all company spending. Expense Watch ExpenseWatch.com 620 W. Germantown Pike Suite 175 Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462 8663992824 http://www.expensewatch.com

Use A Decision Making Software Application And Manage Decisions Better

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Loss of patented knowledge is a nightmarish situation for any organization. Imagine losing all your customer and critical business data to your competitor. Can you even think in your worst nightmare the implication of something like this happening? Organizations worldwide are competing in an environment that is getting tougher with each passing day and this is why everyone wants to hold their data close to their heart. Investment in a cloud based knowledge management system seems to be a rather prudent option in this scenario. I would rather you invest in an application that can double up as a decision making software application.

Cloud computing is the current technology application that everyone is talking about. Cloud computing is a network system that works as a standard network system apart from the fact that the network is established over the internet. So, when you invest in a cloud based knowledge management system you save lot of money on hardware. There are no expensive server machines required and you dont need to spend on network cables and network engineers. You can outsource the entire networking management and have an experienced partner take care of your secure networking requirement.

With a cloud based knowledge management system you can allow collaborative decision making. If your employees are spread across the country or globally they can log into the server using secure credentials. You can save all your data on the cloud server that everyone can access and this helps everyone make the right decisions.

All this while we thought that decision making is a behavioral process but now there are partners that are offering decision making software applications. A decision making software application helps decision making by making available precedents, historical records and data on future trends. When a group of employees knows that they have data to make decisions they forget internal spats and instead focus on making the best decisions for their organization. In the process an organization can also identify the best decision makers working for it. Its a win-win for everyone.

With the right kind of partner you can get knowledge management system and a decision making software application as a single application. The process is absolutely simple there is no need to download anything or install any application. The moment you decide to start you can start. You will find prospective partners that offer free trial periods so why not make use of this facility? You will find that managing data is as simple as it can ever be. You dont need any credit card for the free trial signup and there are no contracts to sign or commitments to make. If you are happy with the product, as you would be, you can sign up at the end of the trial period.

Try decision making using a state of the art knowledge management system and you will instantly see the benefits. Your decision making software application will facilitate decisions for your organization for both short and long terms.

D 5c81 Error Message In Olympus E-300 Digital Camera

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The Olympus E-300 is second ever 8 mega pixel Single Lens Reflex (SLR) digital camera which is based on the Four Thirds System. Some of the impressive features of Olympus E-300 include supersonic wave filter, 1445mm ZUIKO DIGITAL zoom, True Pic TURBO image processor, Digital ESP and tele centric optics construction.

An Olympus E300 digital camera uses a compact flash memory card to save pictures. Corruption in compact flash memory card can occur due to memory card pin malfunctioning, read/write errors etc. In such conditions, the pictures saved in the memory card become inaccessible and the software shows an error message. If no updated back up is available, to access the pictures you need to use a third party application known as Photo Recovery Software.

For example, when you use Olympus E-300 digital camera to take some pictures, you may encounter the following error message on the camera LCD display:
“D: 5C81”

Once the error message appears on the Olympus E-300 screen, the user is unable to store any new pictures in the memory card. The user receives the same error message every time he tries to click pictures from the Olympus E-300 camera. When the user attempts to connect the flash memory card to the computer system, the pictures saved in the flash memory card do not get displayed.

The main reason for the above error message is that the camera is unable to perform any read/write operation on the flash memory card. To resolve this error, the user can insert another flash memory card. If another memory card works successfully, then the previous memory card has been corrupted due to bent memory card pin(s). The user needs to repair memory card pins and again insert it into the digital camera. But, if the above resolution fails to take care of the situation and remove the error, then the flash memory card has been corrupted due to some other logical reasons such as rough handling of memory card, erroneous card insertion or removal operation, virus infection etc.

To recover the data from the corrupted memory card, the user needs to restore it from a recent back up. But if the user has not maintained any back up, then he needs to use efficient Photo Recovery Software.

Stellar Phoenix Photo Recovery is the most reliable Photo Recovery Software, which provides complete and systematic recovery of all pictures from a corrupted flash memory card. This Picture Recovery application provides intuitive and interactive user interface, which makes it easily understandable. It is a read only application that provides secure and non-destructive Photo Recovery for complete piece of mind.

This Photo Recovery application comes in two versions to support Microsoft Windows and Apple Mac OS. The Windows version supports Windows Vista, XP, 2003, 2000 and NT. The Mac OS version supports Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, 10.4 Tiger and 10.3.9 Panther. This Photo Recovery application also supports a wide array of audio and video file formats.