David Talamelli is the Principal Recruiter for Oracle in the Asia Pacific region.  He will be speaking about blogging and recruitment at RecruitTECH 2009.  David has created and run Oracle’s Global Recruitment Blog (http://blogs.oracle.com/jobsatoracle). This blog is instrumental in Oracle’s Web 2.0 Recruitment Strategy and has grown to over 1500+ subscribers in the last 12 months.  We caught up with David to find out a little more about him…

Your position/title?

Principal Recruiter APAC for Oracle Corporation

Where do you live?

Melbourne, Australia

Give us a quick elevator pitch for your business…

Oracle is the world’s largest business software company, with more than 320,000 customers including 100 of the Fortune 100 representing a variety of sizes and industries in more than 145 countries around the globe. Link to the corporate profile: here http://www.oracle.com/corporate/information-powers-profitability.pdf

Oracle Corporation has a dedicated Global Team of Recruiters who are responsible for identifying and bringing talented individuals into Oracle of which I am part of.

How old is your business?

Oracle’s timeline as a company can be viewed: here http://www.oracle.com/timeline/index.html?origref=http://www.oracle.com/us/corporate/index.htm

Why are you passionate about your business?

I recruit for Oracle and have brought a number of people into our business. When I talk to people about opportunities at Oracle and they ask me what it is like to work here - I let them know that I truly believe Oracle is a great place to work. This is a strong message to convey to people and when the message is genuine it is that much more powerful a statement. From a recruitment perspective I enjoy the challenges of searching for, identifying and talking to the talented people who may potentially work here. It is always interesting to talk to people with such a range of skills and experience.

Name your three favourite business-related websites - the sites you visit religiously in your business…

I visit a range of websites on any given day, three websites I currently read or use (this changes regularly) are: http://linkedin.com, http://zdnet.com and http://gizapage.com

Name your three favourite websites - the sites that you visit in your spare time…

I have RSS feeds to a number of blogs including blogs from many of the presenters at RecruitTech, currently I am enjoying http://outspokenmedia.com/, http://mashable.com/ and http://aviary.com

How many hours do you work in a typical working day and do you work weekends?

My work hours are variable as I work across various time zones - I would say anywhere between 8-10 hours a day. I find myself working at times on the weekend and outside “normal working hours”, however I try to keep this time balanced.

What do you do in your spare time?

Spending time with my wife  and three kids, I also enjoy writing and try to get out for a run 2-3 times a week.

How many followers do you have on Twitter?

1300+

How many friends do you have on Facebook?

I am not too sure of the exact number somewhere between 200 and 400.

Do you blog?  Where is your blog located?

Yes I do blog, I am a big blogging fan. I have been blogging for the past 12+ months on http://blogs.oracle.com/jobsatoracle to share with people the things I find interesting about Oracle, Recruitment and life as an IT Recruiter in general

If you were able to invite any three people to dinner, who would they be and why?

Michael Jordan - to see what drives his competitive mindset, Seth Godin - to differentiate between the person and the hype and Arj Barker - as he is one of the funniest comedians I have seen.

Do you have a business mantra or favourite saying?  If so, what is it?

I have always liked the sayings “you create your own luck” and “treat people like you would like to be treated” - I think these are both important to remember in business and in life in general.

What is the biggest mistake that you have ever made in your business?

I have made numerous mistakes in the past, however I think the important thing is to learn from your mistakes and avoid repeating them.

In your eyes, what are the three top trends in the recruitment and technology space?

1) Web 2.0 technologies will continue to gain acceptance and usage in the Recruitment Industry as a viable means of sourcing and connecting with candidates. I believe many Recruiters are on the periphery of many of the Web 2.0 technologies with LinkedIn now being the common online social tool used by Recruiters. The uptake of Web 2.0 Technologies in the Recruitment Industry will expand into deeper and more meaningful conversations as we utilise the technology available (blogs, facebook, twitter, branding).

2) Recruitment will be a much more transparent function than it has been in the past. Recruitment is still about connecting with candidates and hiring managers. In today’s world however both candidates and clients alike have access to much more information about each other than ever before. We need to change our mindset to one where we share information about our processes and company (yes – the good, bad and ugly) rather than holding onto this information.

3) Our role as Recruiters is becoming a progressively more proactive service to our clients it will not only incorporate searching for and identifying talented individuals for our organisation but it also will include connecting with and engaging individuals/groups on employment branding, building communities, etc… We will still be measured by hard targets such as number of placements, time to hire, candidate/interview/offer percentages, etc… however there will a growing focus on soft targets such as employment branding, indirect hires, etc….

What are you going to talk about at RecruitTECH and why is it important?

Blogging and Recruitment. I will talk about blogging from a recruitment perspective and share the journey Oracle’s Recruitment Blog has had over the past 12+ months. I started the Oracle Recruitment Blog in 2008 as a chance to give people an insight into what it is like to work at Oracle and provide an avenue to explore opportunities with us. For me blogging has been a great way to connect with candidates and learn more about each other. Blogging is not meant to be an avenue to just fill open roles, it is about sharing and talking with your readers which can help grow your recruitment brand.