Recruitment is the first step for any organization to reach the potential candidates and make them the best fitting employees of the company. These employees are the ones who will be the brand ambassadors of your business. But usually recruiting department is kept hand tight on budgets to roll-out job advertisements.

To make things happen in such situations, recruiters end-up using means and mediums of advertising a job opening which is either not relevant or cannot reach to the relevant candidates they are looking for.

With technology advancing day by day it is crucial for the recruiters to be updated on how they can carry effective hiring in limited budget. These 5 tips mentioned below should be thoroughly analyzed by the recruiters and implemented in their hiring process.

Shift to Online mode of Job Advertisements

Posting a job online is much cheaper than posting it on any other medium. Online jobs target only the relevant candidates which helps you close a position fast. Conventional method of advertisement spreads everywhere and recruiter end-up wasting time on unwanted profiles. The cost of resume received from online advertising is less than Rs.10, while a conventional method might cost you around Rs.50 per resume received.

Look for One-click Job Posting Software

In usual practice of recruitment, companies purchase accounts on individual job sites available in the market. The cost of posting a Premium Job or Hot vacancy on all major job sites sums up to Rs.4000 per job posting. But on the other hand, the same job posted from an Applicant Tracking System will cost you only Rs.750 and posted on all major sites. The best time saving factor is you don’t have to login on each portal and upload the same information again and again; an online job application software will post your job at-one click.

Focus on receiving Resumes from your Website

Most of the companies are ignoring the importance of their website. Any applicant who understands the importance of your brand would like to apply on an opening with you. It is observed that recruiters are less willing to display an opening on the Careers page on their website. Dependency on an IT resource might be another hindrance. An opening created via Applicant Tracking System is automatically displayed on your website. Job seekers visiting your website can apply directly there.

Avoid giving your Job Opening as Data posting Task

Most of the recruiters hire freelancers to share the job openings as data posting tasks. And they pay these freelancers a good amount to work on. But freelancers are unable to differentiate between a job site and a regular site. They simply post the job description on whichever website they are allowed to do so like they do for a data posting project. Such practices makes your job opening posted on non-relevant sites. Receiving application is a far-fetched talk, your target audience are nowhere near to such places.

Look for a Pre-screened Database

The usual notion among recruiters for the next best replacement of purchasing job postings from job sites is to access their database. There is no filtration on this database as to their relevancy with the job opening you have. In most cases, 90% of the resumes are getting rejected by your managers or by your clients. This is the biggest waste of time and money on unwanted profiles. An online job application software provides you with pre-screened profiles that are made relevant to the openings you are looking for. These candidates are ready to appear for further rounds of interviews with your company.

Have you ever lived in a condominium unit? If like me you grew up in a house with a garden then chances are you have no idea what factors and features to consider when looking at condos for sale. Not being aware of key aspects that could affect your quality of life as well as the unit’s resale value could leave you with a condo you can’t live in or sell.

What to prepare before checking out condos for sale

When a person decides to try buying a condo unit the first thing they do is look through adds, this is one of the most common mistakes buyers make. Prior to looking at units, preparations have to be made which can make looking for a condo easier and in the end more advantageous for you.

Down through the ages people have always said information is the key and looking at condos for sale is no different. Prior to visiting different units hire an experienced realtor. He or she will be able to give you invaluable advice plus his or her services are free since the seller will pay the commission. Another person you need on your side is a lawyer. “Legalize” is a language not everyone is familiar with and it’s always a good idea that we understand everything we sign, trust me on this my siblings are lawyers. Next, crunch the numbers and look through mortgage requirements. Being ready on the financial front will give you a realistic view on what you can and cannot afford.

What to avoid while looking at condos for sale

Unfortunately not everyone is able to realize that small details can make a big difference in ones’ quality of life. The following are some things you may not have thought to take into consideration:

• Steer clear of units that overlook the entrance to the garage or where vehicle traffic is if you value peace and quiet.

• Once again for peace and quiet do not choose a unit across from or beside an elevator.

• Make sure your suite does not look over the area where garbage is picked up; this is self-explanatory but is a detail most people will miss.

• Make sure most of the condo’s occupants are owners not tenants.

• Avoid condo buildings that are not easily accessible by any number of public transport services. Trust me you’ll need the service one of these days even if you do have a car.

• Avoid condo buildings where the neighborhood is not as pleasant as you’d like. The building itself maybe top notch but if the location is not at par then think twice.

• Avoid making a decision before going to the condo several times and at different times of the day and night.

• Remember to chat with the neighbors. You’ll need inside information about the area and if you can stand living beside them.

• Do not commit before you have discussed all the monthly fees, maintenance costs, association dues, closing fees and all financial matters. You need to know you can afford it all without breaking a sweat.

• Do not buy a suite with a view you can’t live with, no matter what the building’s amenities are.

Happy hunting.

Now I know a lot of folks have asked me is it possible to make money using twitter.com, and the answer I give them in all sincerity is very simple, yes and no.

You might be wondering why the two answers, and that’s because, there is every possibility of abusing it making the authors or programmers to banning you because of spamming and also yes you can achieve a great lot using the latest social network tool, twitter.

I would like to approach this issue using 10 steps, the strategies used to making money from twitter, the do’s and the don’ts, here’s how.

1. for every first timer if you are new to twitter this is a must for every one, you need to register a twitter account, now the truth is you can have multiple twitter accounts for multiple reasons, you can have a personal twitter account, if you are a niche blogger, like me you can register a niche blog for a different reason if you don’t want the wrong kind of people or to say to follow the right kind of people on that account; I will talk more on follower ship.

2. According to a recent survey about 25% of twitter users don’t use or follow up with their twitter updates as a matter of urgency it is rare to see all your follower coming to using their twitter account about twice or thrice every month. Well there are two ways to gaining followers, like I said earlier you can follow people who have interest in the kind of niche you are interested in for example, car racing or horse racing or weight lose niche. These are different niches people are involved it on twitter a you can search on them using # term first to search. The interesting thing about twitter is that the more you follow, the more people will follow you.

3. once you have sought that out, you need to ask yourself what kind of message do you want to post on your twitter account, but first before you try promoting anything always try to build a positive relationship with your twitter followers, on way in doing this is by retweeting what they say in a pleasant way, retweeting is probably the easiest way in building any relationship with those who you follow or those that follow you. Then just maybe after that relationship has been built you can then tweet on that product of yours.

4. One great thing I love to achieve on my twitter page is generating traffic to my website or blog, you can write great content or articles on your blog and then send a line or two about that post of yours on twitter, if it’s an interesting post you can be sure of gaining tremendous traffic from your twitter friends, who would love to read a post of yours. A great lesson for you will be writing content and building relationships using your contents on your twitter post, this way you can be sure of getting a few pat on the back on every post.

5. Twitter Application tools: Great for business, you can be sure of gaining tremendous follower ship, with such application tools it will be easy for you to find people who you can follow, a good example of such is twellow, mrtweet, grader etc. This tools can help and each with its own unique feature.

6. Twitter competitions: wow! I love this one and I bet you you can bring in a game or two to your followers by asking them to participate in a game, I’ve tried this and honestly that has helped a great lot, you might be wondering what kind of game can you introduce, well lets take this for an example, imagine asking your friends you would love to write a book of not more than 10 words and the rules are no use of the word “that” and any foul language e.g ‘I am about to write a text of about 10 words’, your follwers can follow up with ‘and we hope it will be exciting but didn’t the..’ you get it this will definitely bring in excitement to your account.

7. Send a mail to your mailing list: Most of your mailing list has a twitter account and you can send them a mail inviting them to follow you on twitter and then you can add up an incentive by adding that anyone one who follows you, you will not only follow back but also give them a free gift may be an eBook on a particular niche, that way you are building a lit of potential money making persons to your account.

8. Product recommendation: you can write a recommendation post on your account asking folks on your network to go check out this product or do a one liner product review.

9. Send a greetings message: wow, when is Christmas or Easter coming, you can send them your friends a great season greeting, possibly a URL gift link with it, you are sure to making some resounding efforts on building your followers.

10. Your Product: Alas! The product is ready to be promoted, you can sell your product page to your followers, this will be a better way to gain confidence to your followers after you must have followed these rules

Always be careful not to promote or tweet about products, no one will take you serious and if you build a great time and confidence to your list you can be sure of making money from your twitter account.

No matter what you read, I can tell you bluntly that email lists work. They help you turn leads (“Anyone with a heartbeat”) into prospects. Used correctly, they can also help you turn prospects into first-time purchasers.

The base of an email list, however, is the automated onboarding sequence. You should have this set up before you post your sign-up form. I’ve developed an outline for a 7-email onboarding sequence, sent over 31 days after a person signs up, that will help you develop a relationship with the list member.

Relationship Building

It’s a hoary old chestnut, but “People do business with those they know, like, and trust.” The whole point of an email list is to build a relationship between each member on the list, and the business. But how do you get there?

Give Without Receiving

Many, many email lists are based on the concept of the “lead magnet.” That is: your business trades something of value – like information, or a checklist, or something else the recipient might find useful – in exchange for adding that person to your email list. And that’s where a lot of businesses stop, which is one of the reasons people quit reading their emails, and fail to develop the relationship.

The best way to build trust and likability is to keep giving. You’re not losing anything, so why not continue to provide value? Make sure at least two emails in your onboarding sequence give the recipient helpful, actionable information. Even if they don’t need that information, they will most likely recognize the value you’re giving them.

Ask Their Opinion

When we first meet someone, our brains love it when they ask about us. What do we like? How do we feel about a topic? What is our opinion of a situation? One of your onboarding emails should ask their opinion of a subject related to why they might have joined your list. You might start your question with –

• What is your opinion of…
• What’s your favorite…
• What do you think about…

The best start: “We need your help.”

Show You’re Listening

Communications experts call this “active listening.” You should reflect back that you’ve heard the thoughts and opinions of the list, and that you appreciate their feedback. You don’t have to agree with or even acknowledge each individual reply. You could show poll results of the aggregate answers, or reflect back that, “Most people we’ve asked think… ” The important thing here is to ask for their input, and show that you’re listening.

7 Emails

You don’t want to beat new members over the head with emails every day. Then you’re that person they just met who won’t leave them alone!

By the same token, you don’t want to leave them wondering if they’re really on your list, or what to do next.

So here are the seven email topics I suggest for building that initial relationship with new members, along with the schedule for sending them.

Note: The schedule starts on the day they sign up – Day 01. It doesn’t matter what month and day is on the calendar when they sign up – this schedule takes care of that. If you have someone who joins your list on May 3rd, then that’s Day 01 for them. Someone who joins on October 14th has their Day 01 on that day.

1) Thank You/Unsubscribe any time – Day 01

As soon as the person confirms that they’ve subscribed (you should always use a double opt-in process), they should get an email thanking them for signing up, and pointing out the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the email. You don’t want them to feel trapped. Besides, if at any point they decide receiving your emails is not for them, you want to make it easy for them to leave. Too many autoresponder lists are choked with people who don’t open the emails sent to them.

2) About Us/Services & Products – Day 02

The next day, send them an email that spells out what your company does. Short and simple is always best!

3) Mission Statement/Philosophy – Day 09

Your next email gives them a bit of background. It might be, “I started this business because… ” or “Here at ZYXCo, we believe that… ” The important message here is, “This is why we do what we do.”

4) Helpful Info/Article – Day 13

As I said near the beginning, too many businesses quit giving of themselves. Here’s another chance to give your new list member something they can use. Maybe it’s a checklist, or a graphic they can keep on their desk, or an article (one of your blog posts) that provides helpful info, and solves one small problem – I like to say that it scratches an itch – that they might have.

5) What’s Your Opinion? – Day 19

Don’t you hate it when you meet someone, and any conversation is all about them? We call them boors – and not just because they’re usually boring!

So, don’t be that person. Create a blog post that’s a poll, or asks a question. Ask people that question in this email, and point them to the post where you encourage them to leave their opinion, or their thoughts on the subject.

This accomplishes several things. First, you’re soliciting their input, and that will make them feel important! Also, when they go to the post, they will see you have several other people who are interacting with you, so they know they’re not alone on this email-centric journey. Warm and fuzzy feelings will abound.

6) Helpful Info/Article – Day 25

Here’s your second chance at providing help to the people on your list. One of my dear friends keeps this in mind with a plaque above his desk – “Be a blessing in peoples’ lives.” Stretch that helpfulness muscle!

7) Direct Sales Pitch – Day 31

I’m on a couple lists where every single email I get is a hard-core sales solicitation. “BUY THIS NOW!!!” I mean, that’s very tiring. I get it: “Buy my stuff, or get off my list.”

But you’re in business, and that’s what businesses do – they sell products and services. Every person who signed up for your list knew that going in. A very good way of looking at sales is that you’re helping each customer resolve a problem they have. You’re providing a solution. True, not every solution fits every problem, but it doesn’t hurt to offer. And your last email in the onboarding sequence is a great time to do that.

And that’s a good onboarding process that will help you develop a relationship with each person on your email list.

It’s common for businesses embarking in internet marketing and social media to think they need to build their strategies around technology and not look at audience needs first. Every business needs an integrated marketing plan. Sometimes businesses see digital planning as a separate thing but ideally your online marketing plan should be integrated with wider business objectives so it is part of an overall marketing plan.

There are two models that provide a framework for writing an integrated digital marketing plan. The first is called SOSTAC® planning model developed by PR Smith. In plain English this approach means breaking your plan down into six parts: –

• S stands for Situation Analysis – which means where are we now?
• O stands for Objectives which means where do we want to go?
• S stands for Strategy which summarises how we are going to get there
• T stands for Tactics which are the details of strategy
• A is for Action or implementation – putting the plan to work.
• C is for Control which means measurement, monitoring, reviewing, updating and modifying.

You can use the SOSTAC® planning model to build a digital marketing template to fit your business needs and customer profiles.

The second model that’s useful for mapping out a social media marketing plan is Forrester’s POST method. The POST method helps define your social media goals, plan and prioritise your actions. By thinking this through you can create a clear purpose and vision, as well as implementing goals, strategies and tools that will help you to reach the people you are looking to connect with online. The POST method in a nutshell looks at:

• People – Start by looking at your customer’s social behaviours and attitudes. Who do you want to attract on sites like Facebook and Twitter?
• Objectives – Next decide on your social technology goals. Do you want to build relationships or, create brand awareness or improve customer service?
• Strategy – What strategies do you plan to carry out and what is your priority? Determine how your goals will change the way you interact with customers through twitter, a blog, LinkedIn or Facebook page
• Technologies – which ones will you use? Pick the most right technologies that will meet your goals you don’t have to use them all!

These methods will ensure your integrated digital marketing plan put audiences and customers first, identifying their needs and developing a plan with the right mix of online and offline channels to build strong relationships,drive leads and generate traffic to your website.

I read in the news that Apple announced it has sold over five million of its new iPhone 5, just three days after its launch and to sweeten Apple’s products demand, more than 100 million of Apple’s latest operating systems devices have been updated.

Apple’s success is an important indication that the Internet has taken over the new economy. The latest trend of using social media to find job has moved to a dynamic speed. Savvy job seekers knows that they cannot solely rely on traditional means in looking for jobs.

Traditional job search includes strategies such as looking in the newspaper classified advertisements, searching through ‘help wanted’ notices on bulletin boards, going to recruitment or job agencies, and write in for jobs opportunities directly to the companies. All these traditional ways of job search involve an individual reacting to a job that has already been publicly offered.

Although, traditional methods are still necessary, creative, well-informed and socially Internet savvy job seekers will take a step further to stay ahead of their competition by creating an online presence to reach out to more prospective employers. That is because they know that more and more recruiters use the web as a place to search for talent and conduct employment background searches. This trend will set to increase over the years.

Here are 3 ways you can use social media to enhance your job search success:

1) Build your online presence on social network sites.

Make employers find you easily online and thus open doors to more job opportunities. Without an online presence, you will not appear to be as relevant as those who has and you will be passed over for more savvy applicants that have online visibility. Creating online presence include

• LinkedIn- A networking tool for professional connections. Also used to recommend job candidates, industry experts and business partners. Employers use LinkedIn as a search tool to find talent, and job seekers use it to leverage their network in support of their search.
• Twitter – Social networking and instant messaging that allows users to post 140- character updates. Employer can use Twitter to post for job opportunities.
• Facebook – A social network that connects people, to keep up with friends and share ideas. Depending on their privacy level, some job seekers have successfully secured a job through their Facebook network.

2) Create a blog to demonstrate your expertise

Another good way to further boost your image and demonstrate your experience, expertise and passion in a particular field is to create an updated blog. Keep it professional, creative and update it with value add contents for readers. The articles that you post may include tips and advice on issues in your area of expertise, also be mindful that everything you write and post online is up for judgement.

3) YouTube and Pinterest Marketing

Internet savvy job seekers are making use of video marketing to promote themselves. This is a creative approach to job hunting that has become increasingly common in the social media arena. You could create a video resume, such as a short and traditional video that include a general rundown of your work experience, educational background and skills.

While Pinterest is not a networking platform, as it does not allow direct communication, it is becoming increasingly popular with businesses. It is a powerful tool to demonstrate your knowledge, organisational skills, and creativity to prospective employers. You can create boards which relate to specific skills-sets you have and use it as a portal to link to work you want to showcase – like an online portfolio.

4) Online Resume

In the new economy, it has changed the way employers review resumes, the Internet has also made it possible for job seekers to post their resumes online, on their own hosted web sites. This change is particular helpful to those persons whose resume presentation will be greatly enhanced by being able to take advantage of the graphics and interactive capabilities that an online resume on a personal web site can provide.

In a nutshell, in these times, a paper resume is not enough. It is essential to be creative and a well-designed electronic, or online version of your resume combined and linked to a strong social media profile, is usually ideal for a successful job search.

With a population of 148 million and the second largest economy in the continent after South Africa, the state of Nigeria’s economy is a bundle of extreme contradictions. The US sources 10% of its crude imports from abundant oil fields in the Niger Delta, a region that is also home to one of the largest know natural gas reserves in the world. Despite these natural endowments, Nigeria is crippled with rampant poverty and depressing macroeconomic indicators and human development indices. Unemployment is endemic and more than 54% of its population lives on less than $1 per day. Decades of political turmoil, civilian unrest and large scale government mismanagement are largely to blame for this state of Nigerian affairs.

The return of democracy in 1999 paved the way for economic reforms and the adoption of an ambitious plan to take Nigeria to the top 20 world economies by 2020. A massive subsequent reprioritisation of economic policy initiatives has brought home tangible results: currency reserves grew fivefold between 2003 and 2006, while GDP growth averaged more than 7%. However, and because of long-standing systemic imbalances, per capita GDP dipped from $444 in 1997 to $430 in 2004, even as poverty levels actually increased.

The bulk of the problem has been Nigeria’s overdependence on oil and gas exports that fetched it an estimated $600 billion in the last five decades, but made little difference to the non-oil sector, which floundered in a climate of policy negligence and inadequate financial and technical support. The thrust of Nigeria’s renewed economic objectives must be on entrepreneurship development, taking into account its mammoth human resource capability, and in a manner that makes inclusive yet rapidly accelerated economic growth possible. Weaning away dependence on non-renewable resources with the simultaneous promotion of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) is crucial to achieving both the 2020 objective and Nigeria’s Millennium Development Goals.

MSMEs have been responsible for the rapid growth of a multitude of economies around the world, historically beginning with the UK and America to gradually Europe, Latin America and lately in considerable parts of South and East Asia. Currently, more than 90% of all enterprises in the world are estimated to be MSMEs, accounting for up to 80% of total employment prospects. In OECD countries, the MSME component is as high as 97% of total business activity, contributing between 40% and 60% of GDP1 in member countries. These statistics hide a wealth of ideas for Nigeria, in the context of its economic development targets.

First among them is the fact that wholesome MSME growth is fundamental to the expansion of rural economies as part of sustained macroeconomic development. MSMEs comprise a diverse mix of agriculture-based, production, services and trade sectors; classified on the basis of asset value and employee base on a given scale of maximum and minimum scores for both counts. They often represent an extreme variety in terms of size and structure, right from rural artisan guilds, through small machine shops to emerging software and IT firms. They are by definition dynamic and comprise a wide range of growth-oriented skill sets, with special needs in terms of innovative solutions, technology and equipment and knowledge up-gradation. The central requirement in promoting them, however, is the development of a viable microfinance industry with built-in ease of access for small and medium enterprises.

At the policy level, Nigeria has taken proactive steps to promote MSME initiatives, the most notable being a legislative amendment that requires commercial banks operating in the country to set aside 10% of pre-tax profits for investment in smaller businesses. Both the IMF and World Bank currently run separate outreach programmes to aid Nigerian micro-financing through tailored procedures for streamlining credit evaluation and monitoring micro-loans. The effectiveness of these measures has been borne out to some extent by recent developments.

In June this year, the Nigerian government announced the disbursement of $20 million2 in small-scale industry loans. This is a significant achievement considering it multiplied out of the $8.4 billion initial World Bank grant to the sector in 2006. Policy makers negotiated the habitually poor access to loan and equity capital in Nigeria with the introduction of new micro-financial institutions that afforded wider and deeper funding solutions.

Despite this initial euphoria, the overall Nigerian MSME productivity and growth potential remains acutely constrained. Business development services continue to be generally underdeveloped in terms of projected potential, and especially poor in rural areas outside the major urban focus centres. Besides inherent infrastructural deficits, MSME growth rates are being further affected by lack of entrepreneurial knowledge, especially the ability to identify rewarding business opportunities.

In view of Nigeria’s past and present ground realities, an appropriate environment for rapid growth in this key sector calls for certain basic enforcements, including:

* Effective government regulation and oversight of microfinance institutions (MFIs) and operations.

* MFI reinforcement through constant evaluation of best practices and sustainability.

* Capacity enhancement of loan disbursement schemes for wide-area applicability.

* Greater coordination between the various agencies involved – public, private and donor.

There is for sure no short cut or panacea to the enterprises endeavour. The World Bank outlines the broader perspectives of the MSME development programme in Nigeria with five priorities3: enhancing the breadth and depth of finances available to MSMEs, creating markets for business development services, providing technical and capacity building support, resource allocation for access to global best practices, and lastly, funding for execution, review and monitoring of individual projects.

The existential value of MSMEs derives from the fact that they provide products and services that their larger counterparts do not or cannot do. Recognising and leveraging this potential is only half the job. The real challenge for Nigeria does not end at achieving the fullest prospects of MSMEs, but on then integrating their success to create a more inclusive economy that is without the flaws that have nagged the widest majority of its populace for the better part of half a century.

The Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) has made a case for the appointment of the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Ibrahim Magu as the substantive chairman of the Commission.

Wilson Uwujaren. head, media & publicity for the anti-graft agency stated in a statement that the endorsement of Magu by PACAC was made on Wednesday, November 20, 2019 by PACAC’s Chairman, Professor Itse Sagay when he led his team on solidarity visit to the EFCC boss at the Commission’s Headquarters.

While declaring that Magu deserves appointment as the substantive chairman of the EFCC, Sagay said “When something is good; when you see high quality, merit, dedication, and somebody who is courageous in the fight against corruption, I think it will be stupid to say you are looking for something outside.

“This is not a turn -by-turn thing. It is a thing of merit. You must work for it and achieve it. In our view, the Acting Chairman deserves everything including his being given a substantive appointment.

It is true one man cannot make a forest, but it takes a good man, a man of quality to bring out the best in any organisation, and that is what he represents-an uncompromising person.

“As far as corruption is concerned, no one have the courage in this country to offer him a bribe, because he or she knows the result will be a disaster. We are solidly behind Magu and the EFCC.”

While expressing support to the Commission, Sagay stated that “EFCC deserves continued support so that it will know it is being appreciated.

You cannot pick up a newspaper any day without you reading EFCC’s achievement in terms of charges, forfeiture of assets, convictions, among others. The ICPC has done very well too, but there is no question that EFCC has been outstanding.”

Speaking further, Sagay expressed optimism that the 9th Senate will do the right thing by confirming Magu when his name is forwarded to it by President Buhari, saying there would not be any reason for the legislators to reject Magu’s confirmation.

Magu, who thanked the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration for giving him every support he had required to achieve the successes recorded by the EFCC, assured the PACAC delegation that he and the EFCC team will continue to give their utmost in the fight against corruption.

“I assure you that so far as I am here as the chairman of the Commission, I will continue to do the right thing, and we will ensure the things we do are within the ambit of the law. We are trained to kill corruption,” Magu stated.

When it comes to anything found on the shelves of the feminine hygiene aisle, ignorance is bliss. The same cannot be said for the systems in your vehicle. For example, components found in the air intake system are responsible for delivering performance and fuel efficiency by streamlining the delivery of air to your engine. Of all the performance upgrades, it provides the most noticeable boost in power. But to get the most from your car or truck, there’s so much more you need to know.

Intake manifolds supply the fuel/air mixture to the cylinders, evenly distributing the combustion mixture to each intake port in the cylinder heads. This even system of distribution optimizes the efficiency and performance of your engine. Further streamlining this process, an air intake increases horsepower and the overall efficiency of an internal combustion engine by drawing in cool air.

The difference between a stock system and its aftermarket counterpart is huge. Stock systems are primarily focused on eliminating engine noise and are often highly restrictive in regard to performance. They’re constructed with numerous twists, turns and chambers that muffle sound, greatly restricting airflow in the process. In contrast, performance-enhancing cold air intake systems, like the AFE intake and Volant air intake systems, provide an increase in the amount of oxygen used for combustion with fuel. Similar to the human body while under exertion, think of your engine as a combination of heart and lungs. The more air the body receives, the more optimal the performance you’ll achieve.

Intake systems are available in many different styles and sizes and are relatively simple to install in comparison to other performance upgrades. The components in a cold air intake system completely replace your stock components, delivering an averge boost in horsepower that ranges between 5 – 11hp. Plus, a cold air intake can be coupled with throttle body spacers to produce an even higher level of performance by placing a high-velocity spin on incoming air, further improving your air/fuel ratio.

While the installation process differs considerably from vehicle to vehicle, most installations can be completed in about an hour with some mounted and ready to roll in as little as 10 minutes. Intake systems come complete with step-by-step instructions and parts that are manufactured specific to your unique make, model and year. Many can even be installed using only a socket and screwdriver set, making them the ideal performance upgrade for the do-it-yourselfer.

A number of reports have highlighted the rapidly growing popularity of mobile apps. With more and more enterprises launching mobile applications, the users now have option to choose from millions of apps available at various app stores. So it has become essential for businesses to attract, impress and engage users by launching apps that work flawlessly across multiple devices and operating systems.

That is why; the QA professional has to use advanced test frameworks to assess the look, feel, functionality and performance of the mobile app across various devices and platforms in a faster and more effective way. Both Appium and Robotium are popular open source mobile test automation tools. But the two widely used mobile testing frameworks differ from each other in terms of features, usability and performance.

Robotium is designed with features to speed up Android application testing. It supports almost all versions and subversions of Google’s mobile operating system. The huge worldwide market share of Android makes it one of the most widely used mobile testing frameworks. Appium, on the other hand, comes with features required to test cross-platform mobile apps. It supports popular mobile operating systems like Android and iOS, along with Firefox OS. Thus, testers can use this framework to test apps developed by targeting multiple mobile operating systems.

Robotium focuses only on Android application testing. So it supports only one programming language, i.e., Java which is what developers use while developing Android apps. But Appium supports several programming languages including Java. It includes a WebDriver interface that supports a number of popular programming languages including Java, C#, PHP, Ruby, Perl, Python and JavaScript with Node.js. It can therefore effectively test mobile apps developed using commonly used web technologies and programming languages.

As Robotium supports a single programming language, it becomes difficult for QA professionals to write platform-independent test scripts. They further cannot modify and reuse the test scripts as they are written for the Android platform only. But Appium makes it easier for QA professionals to write platform-independent test scripts in their preferred programming languages. They can even reuse the same test script to test the application across multiple platforms.

Nowadays, enterprises have the option to develop native, hybrid, and mobile web apps. So testers need tools to assess different types of mobile apps within a shorter amount of time. As Robotium supports only Android, it can be used for testing native and hybrid apps developed by targeting Google’s mobile operating system. On the other hand, Appium can be used for testing native, hybrid and mobile web applications. In addition to testing iOS and Android apps, the testers can also use Appium to check how the mobile web app works on web browsers like Chrome, Safari and Firefox.

Both the mobile app testing frameworks do not have inbuilt “record and play” functionality. But the QA professionals have the option to use Robotium Recorder to record unit tests while interacting with the Android device. However, they have to incur additional expenses as it is a licensed software. The framework still comes with features to help testers write system, function and acceptance tests. But it requires testers to access the source code during mobile app testing automation. Again, it does not allow testers to run tests across multiple devices in a parallel way. But Appium enables testers to automate their mobile testing efforts without recompiling or modifying the mobile apps. So they can test the app as it will be shipped or delivered to the client.

Both the frameworks are supported by large and active communities. But many professionals feel that members of the Appium community are more proactive and stronger that the Robotium community. On the whole, the QA professionals can take advantage of the features provided by Robotium to test Android applications thoroughly and effectively. But they have to use Appium to effectively automate testing of cross-platform mobile apps.