Ok, I’m prepared to take some heat for this post.

First of all, the videos are making some of you crazy. If that’s you, feel free to move on - no offense taken.

Actually, this isn’t a video - it’s slides. But yes, the slides are full of what might be referred to as “shallow ideas” and touch-feely cliches. However, I’m just simple enough to believe that I can take some of this information and share it with the Millennials I recruit. I believe it will make sense to some of them.

Sure, we can nit-pick this thing to death. And, I’m sure we will. For goodness sakes, there’s plenty to nit-pick: it’s “184″ slides long!

So, here’s my warning:

keep reading »

2 comments | Read this post...

Hank Stringer has over two decades of experience as a successful high-tech industry recruiter, entrepreneur, and innovator in the use of information technology in the recruitment and employment process. Today, Stringer is CEO of Stringer Search - www.stringersearch.com, an executive search services and consulting firm based on the philosophies and best practices of his book “Talent Force”, A New Manifesto for the Human Side of Business, and from his life experiences as a recruiter, entrepreneur, speaker and consultant.

Forecasting a talent shortage in 1996, Stringer had the vision to applly his energy and experiences to start Hire.com. There, he and a team of entrepreneurs created an early ASP business model, utilizing the Internet to scale and automate interactive recruiting relationships and processes. Under his tenure, Hire.com dramatically changed the way companies recruit, hire, and retain talent. Today, global companies, such as Federal Express, BP, Allianz, Raytheon, and Prudential, have adopted Hire.com’s revolutionary approach. Hank went on to co-found itzbig, a web 2.0 career board.

Prior to founding Hire.com, Stringer was president and co-founder of Pedley-Stringer, Inc., a high-tech recruitment firm. Stringer previously served as an internal recruiting consultant for Tandem Computers and Dell Computer, where he was responsible for a number of special recruiting projects in the U.S. and Asia.

Stringer has authored many articles about recruitment and the future of talent management in the workplace, and is an accomplished speaker who has appeared at numerous international industry-leading events.

Stringer holds a B.A. in Journalism and Government Studies from Texas State University and currently serves as President of the Advisory Board for the McCoy School of Business at his alma mater. Hank resides with his wife and kids in the hill country outside Austin, Texas.

No comments yet | Read this post...

In the hot and heavy world of executive recruiting, less sometimes is more. Of course, the “more” has to really be more — as in more (and better) candidates with longer staying power. And not all executive-recruiting sites are created equal. (Who hasn’t seen the Ladders tennis ball commercial, after all)?Then there is RiteSite.com, which is to bells and whistles what Sparta was to Greek hedonists. Aimed at C-suite executives, the site is clunky and extremely non-intuitive - especially compared to sleeker, more streamline executive boards like eKornFerry.com or Heidrick & Struggles.

Obfuscation is part of the business plan at RiteSite, which was founded by Manhattan executive recruiter John Lucht in 2001 — about the same time executive-recruiting websites were gaining momentum. Lucht fashioned the site to give C-level execs another option among the job-board scrimmage. Only execs looking for their next $100,000-plus gig need apply. They get membership to RiteSite.com for a yearly fee of $94 — the same amount Lucht used to pay his secretary years ago to put together recruiting lists. For that nominal sum, members get e-mail alerts, job-hunting advice and other free information every week.

It’s tough standing out from the crowd, especially if you’re a niche job site. But RiteSite.com does offer a number of twists. For one thing, membership is not required for an executive to post a resume. RiteSite.com may be the only site to date to separate jobs by both industry and function. Recruiters don’t have to pay to post jobs or review available candidates, and they can post as many jobs as they choose for free.

RiteSite.com actually consists of two databases of executive resumes, with preferential treatment shown to retained recruiters. They get to see an “identity-revealed” database that provides not only list of an executive’s credentials, but also direct contact info.

Contingency recruiters aren’t treated quite so generously. Although they are able to view jobs in RiteSite’s “identity-concealed” database, they are restricted from the more exclusive listings. Still, Lucht estimates half to three-quarters of jobs listed on RiteSite.com are posted by contingency recruiters. This sounds surprising until you consider that RiteSite.com does not charge other sites to republish its internal listings.

Thus, recruiters can toss a dragnet around larger pools of candidates. Lucht boasts: “Nobody has the sorting system that we have. It’s a great benefit to finding the jobs you want” if you’re an executive, while recruiters are able to target specific industries.

Recruiter Larry White of Staffpointe tells me he receives more “measurable candidates” from RiteSite.com than all other Internet recruiting sites combined. He sends these people out for job interviews and almost always gets great results. That’s quite an endorsement. This seems like a more-than-fair deal for recruiting professionals.

It’s too bad RiteSite.com isn’t a little more aesthetically pleasing. That probably would get people to linger longer. As it is now, the heavy black-and-red homepage is forbidding and a bit intimidating to first-time users. Some of the job descriptions also suffer from being a little too generic at times. Also, if you elect to use the site, be prepared for relentless self-promotion of Lucht’s recruiting book. But if you’re a recruiter, it’s at least worth taking a look.

No comments yet | Read this post...

Two years ago I came across this crazy guy named Scott Ginsberg. He’s the Nametag Guy. That’s right. He wears a nametag 24×7. That’s his schtick. Well, I thought it was a schtick. And then I found out that he knows a thing or two about people:

• what it takes to get their attention
• what it means to provide “real” value
• what it means to be “approachable”
• what it takes to provide real CRM

By the time I landed on his web page, Scott was already well on his way to being “well known.” That’s right, just because you don’t know him doesn’t mean he isn’t well known. But I digress.

keep reading »

8 comments | Read this post...

Doug Beabout feels that as the candidate pool shrinks, competition to reach candidates first is fierce, and a Researcher, properly trained, can help recruiting professionals win the battles!

Doug brings over twenty-nine years of expertise in personal top billings, personnel services firm ownership, and industry training. His tenure in recruiting has resulted in his personal success at building four highly successful recruiting and executive search businesses. A board member and advisor to NAPS and many leading recruiting associations; his reputation for training excellence has placed him, repeatedly, as a guest speaker for many state, regional and private recruiter associations, NAPS, ACSESS (Canada), NPA ( U.S., Asia, Australia) and IPA. He trains recruiters worldwide in the unique and leading edge ECourse, Art of the Recruiting Masters at www.RecruiterElearning.com and www.ResearcherElearning.com

Doug’s colleague, Mark Berger will present a class on Technology Focused Candidate Sourcing and Research. This ECourse added feature combines both the traditional and technological tools of research. This powerful combination creates the most unique and comprehensive Researcher Training opportunity in existence!

No comments yet | Read this post...

Every time I talk to Bill Vick I come away with a few things that I can’t shake (translation: he makes me think about what I’m doing and why).

A few weeks ago he was talking about the “collision” that’s going on right now between Recruiting, Technology, and the Demographic issues related to the Boomers, Bakers, and Candlestick-Makers Boomers, X’ers, and Millenials. His videos say it all.

I then experienced it first-hand when I presented at a local IEEE meeting about using LinkedIn as a job-search tool. Don’t get me wrong, there were a handful of attendees who resonated with what I said (and all were kind and very gracious). The rest just thought I was whacko. Well, they are in good company.

By the way, in the video, I refer to Bill’s site as XtremeRecruiting.org …..actually, it’s XtremeRecruiting.tv.

Roll ‘em:

5 comments | Read this post...

SearchPath going public. The company says it is “the nation’s fast-growing talent acquisition professional services firm, with more than 60 offices opened in its first 30 months.”

No comments yet | Read this post...

Doug Haslam just posted about this 30 minutes ago over on his blog (I found his post via Twitter where I follow him).

Doug’s not a headhunter - he’s a technology PR guy. I follow him because he makes me think (I realize that stuns those of you who really know me).

Anyway, I’m intrigued with his ideas of “disconnecting.” Because I rarely do. I’d say this is a trait shared by many in my profession.

keep reading »

No comments yet | Read this post...

What an incredible career and success story  Jeff Skrentny, CPC/CTS has had. After his first deal in 1987 fell off, and after he was voted least likely to succeed in his training class he went on to become the firm’s top producer. From top producer, to manager, to entrepreneur, Jeff has grown his IT practice from contingency placement to engaged search as his practice has matured. During his 21 years in recruiting and search, Jeff has worked hard to learn the profession, to bring its best practices to his desk, and then share the vetted best practices with the more than 16,000 search, staffing and recruiting professionals from 32 nations who have attended the over 400 training presentations he has made since he began sharing his insight and inspiration with other recruiters and staffing professionals since 1996.

3 comments | Read this post...

In each new issue of The Fordyce Letter I like to include feedback from the subscribers and the community at large about what they are seeing in their day-to-day lives.

I would appreciate your feedback on the following topic, and will be using it for an upcoming article in the June issue of The Fordyce Letter.

No one can actually tell whether we’re in a recession, about to enter a recession or have already had one and are pulling out of it. Most of the conversations I’ve had with readers indicate that there has been little or no impact on the recruiting business. This may be because there are a number of specialty areas that are recession-resistant.

My question of the month is simply this:

How have you noticed the economic chatter affecting your recruiting business? How do you think the recruiting business will be impacted between now and the end of the year and how do you propose dealing with any real or projected outcomes?

Leave responses in the comments - or email me privately at TheFordyceLetter@aol.com with or without attribution and we can get a discussion going between us all..

Thanks and I look forward to hearing from you.

5 comments | Read this post...

Bill Vick has a video with Shally kinda’ buried in his RB.com group. It might be other places but that’s where I saw it. This ought to be available to everyone.  I heard about the guy for a few years and finally saw a presentation when we both did The Fordyce Forum last year. I asked a question and he tossed off a response that I may have judged too harshly. When I recently saw a  presentation one of his guys, Glenn Guttmacher, did at a Pinnacle Society meeting I decided I’d better take another look. What I saw was a vision many people need to see keep reading »

4 comments | Read this post...

My peers extended three offers last week. In all three situations, the offers (on paper) provided better career opportunity and increased “compensation” (ok - a couple were modest increases but none the less… an increase).

Observing their discussions, it is/was interesting how a candidate’s mindset evolves during the recruitment process.

keep reading »

1 comment | Read this post...

When I was 18, I stopped by a search firm on John Street in NYC.  I was greeted by a friendly, smiling recruiter.  She sat me down and we talked for a little bit before she told me about an opening at an actuarial firm.  I must have looked a little nervous, so she told me not to worry, just to go in there and give them a big smile.  Then she added that one of the earlier candidates who had interviewed for the position had a terrible smile with missing teeth; she shuddered as she mentioned this detail.  I left the agency, walked over to the actuarial firm, interviewed for the position, and got the job!

Years later, I thought about this incident and realized what this recruiter had been doing when she mentioned the ghastly candidate.  There most likely had been no previous candidate with missing teeth to shudder about.  This recruiter had invented this appalling candidate or character to instill confidence in me; she had fluffed her candidate.  And yes, it had seemingly worked. But had it really and if so, should fluffing be considered a best practice or an unprofessional/unethical one?

Although fluffing is a widely accepted practice in recruiting, some individuals might frown upon it, saying it is insincere or unnecessary.    But isn’t it a recruiter’s job to prepare candidates for interviews?  They need to tell the candidate about the position: job description; requirements; performance expectations; location; salary range; and dress code.  Yes, some recruiters do go further, giving extra information about the position, perhaps even advising candidates on what to say or wear.  Some recruiters take candidates to lunch or tell a creative tale to plump up a candidate’s ego.

If the recruiter I met years ago had not told me that story about the horrific candidate, would I have gotten the job anyway?  Perhaps, I would have.  However, going for the interview would have been a lot more stressful and worrisome.  So maybe fluffing your candidate is like fluffing your pillow.  It just makes everything better…

2 comments | Read this post...

That’s the question posed by Seth Godin some time back while contemplating this whole job-interview-thing.

If you’re of sound mind, your answer is, “Absolutely NOT!” Well, at least for most of us.

However, Seth’s take is that’s exactly what many of us do when it comes to the job interview process.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m a big fan of the interview done well. In fact, I’m a fan of Lou Adler’s performance-based-hiring (posted about it recently) and have implemented this in our hiring practices.

But I just might be interested in following Lou’s advice, and then doing a follow-up with what Seth calls a “measurable event.” Lou’s performance-based hiring is, in my opinion, THE tool for determining job fit based on performance. The past performance should be a strong predictor of how somebody will perform today. In turn, Godin’s real-time-measurable-event should confirm the interviewees convictions about their ability to perform in the past today.

Translation: their ability to get in the cage and tame the lion. Today.

Curious to get your thoughts after you read the post by Godin.

keep reading »

3 comments | Read this post...

This topic is ripe for diverse feedback as most everybody in our profession has a strong opinion about “customer” related issues.

Is the customer always right? No.

But Seth Godin believes that “you’re right” is the most productive response to critical feedback or a response from a customer. Do you agree?

It will take you about 45 seconds to read this post.

Agree or disagree, it might make you think twice about how you respond to customers if you are in the business of providing a “service” to the mass of humanity.

keep reading »

2 comments | Read this post...

My friend Dave Staats is one of those people who just seems to get it. He understands that you give before you get and he freely gives of his time in any number of groups but his efforts as a board member in The Pinnacle Society and The Tennessee Recruiters Association stand out in my mind. I recently interviewed Dave for XtremeRecruiting.tv to better understand what makes him who he is as well as to pick up a tidbit or two on how a Big Biller runs his business. Although a self professed curmudgeon I find his directness, candor and above all pursuit of excellence refreshing.

2 comments | Read this post...

Darth Vader didn’t come up this afternon at NAER but these things did …

Joe McCool, amped about his new book, jokes that specialist recruiters are in such demand nowadays that a generalist recruiter should call themselves a “multispecialist” … McCool also has some interesting stuff (which he goes into more detail about in the book) to say about diversity, namely that the glass ceiling for women and minorities is partly to blame on search firms’ lack of diversity, since they’re the ones who fill so many high-level jobs … Jay Arnold, SVP of HR at DB Schenker Logistics, says he’d like to see third-party recruiters bring him great candidates more often even when there’s no job apparently open for them, as he wants to find a way to pass along good resumes to hiring managers regardless of whether there’s an official opening … Kensington International’s Joel Dant jokes that “race, sex, even disability” are becoming commonplace discussions in politics, “and that’s just the lieutenant governor”  … a couple of healthcare recruiters tell me the physical-therapist shortage is just dreadful, and that PTs are the equivalent of techies about eight years ago…the big search firms get bashed a bit for providing weak service, blowing off candidates who aren’t picked for jobs, and sometimes just riding high on their brand names vs. blood, sweat, and tears.

No comments yet | Read this post...

Not going? You’d better think twice.

2 comments | Read this post...

Chris Murdock, executive sourcer & knowledge manager, Yahoo!, shared some of his thoughts on popular sourcing tools today at the NAER conference in Redondo Beach (a good place for a weekend afternoon but a pain in the kiester to get to on a work day).

ZoomInfo: Murdock notes that he has seen Darth Vader listed as a VP of marketing for ABC on ZoomInfo. “A lot of people think it’s crap, but it’s a great tool,” he says, particularly in conjunction with LinkedIn; you can sometimes find a name on ZoomInfo, and more information on them from LinkedIn.

Broadlook: Diver is “a good tool for resumes” if used with search strings, says Murdock.

Capital IQ. “Incredibly expensive,” he says. Murdock recommends pooling a few people together to share access. “Capital IQ wants to take care of the independent recruiters as well as the small firms.” Murdock also says of Capital IQ, “they don’t delete information,” so you want to make sure you only search for current companies, if that’s what you’re looking for. The company offers great customer service, he says and is willing to offer free trials.

OneSource: A good tool to find out about compensation packages, particularly related to stock grants. “Nobody else is capturing the stock ownership data,” he says.

LinkedIn: Notes that hiring managers play an interesting mind game with the site. If they see someone with just their current job listed, managers consider that person a passive candidate. If a person lists more jobs, it feels more like a resume, and managers consider them an active candidate. Murdock also showed how people can go to a search engine such as Google, search      site:www.linkedin.com/in      followed by, for example, “chief financial officer” “san francisco bay” to use the power of a search engine to search LinkedIn.

Switchboard.com: “It’s the best website for phone numbers,” he says, noting that it just added work numbers. He suggests searching for “Dav” if searching for the name “David,” because it’ll pick up Dave, Davey, or David.

2 comments | Read this post...

As a kid, I remember watching tv (yep, black and white) while staying up late on the weekends. I’d always get scared to death every time I saw the short commercial that came on and said:

“It’s 10:00pm, do you know where your children are?”

Anybody remember that? I thought the only reason they ran that crazy commercial was to scare all the children. Well, now I realize they were just trying to help the parents keep track of their children.

It got me to thinking about how I keep track of my customers. I don’t need scary commercials, but I do need tools that help me easily track all of the details that are critical for success. I also need tools that help me keep track of them. What are they doing today? What’s going on in their industry? How’s their business?

keep reading »

No comments yet | Read this post...

Staats called me “obsessed” as he commented on my post last night. Wow, in such a short time, he understands me better than most!

Dave - here’s a video just for you, my friend! Since I’m spending way too much time these days obsessing over various recruiting-related things, I thought I’d go overboard on videos. So here’s my video challenge for you:

3 comments | Read this post...

Whether you are an account manager working all sides of the desk or a recruiter focusing strictly on locating top talent, when you start the candidate search process for a job order it is imperative that you cover all of your search bases. How many times have you gone to cover a search where you’ve randomly drifted from job boards to various databases and other tools? It often leads to frustration and lack of productivity. To help avoid this, here is a list of standard targets for generating candidate call lists: 

keep reading »

No comments yet | Read this post...

Addison buys HireSynergy.

No comments yet | Read this post...

I’ve written (talked) a lot about “thank-you’s” lately…guess I just can’t shake this thank-you-thing from my mind.

Our company has an internal position open that’s getting a lot of my attention these days. In fact, I’ve had five face-to-face interviews since last Thursday. Since we spend a lot of time interviewing on behalf of other organizations, it’s been a lot of fun to pursue these candidates knowing one of them will soon be on our team.

But here’s what’s puzzling me about the candidates. For the most part, all five have engaged well in the interview process. Two candidates have successfully raised the bar for the others, based on their passionate, on-target responses to our questions. One candidate sent a thank-you card as a follow-up to the interview.

One.

keep reading »

4 comments | Read this post...

Frustrated by pain-in-the-you-know-what HMOs and the threat of universal care, many doctors are cutting back their workloads or bailing out altogether. The percentage of physicians in part-time practice jumped from 13% in 2005 to 19% in 2007, according to a recent survey by the American Medical Group Association. The same survey notes that young doctors between 35 and 39 make up the highest percentage of doctors working part-time.

One company earning some greenbacks from this trend is LocumTenens.com, a niche agency that pairs physicians seeking part-time or temporary work with hospitals desperate to fill staff positions. The 110-employee company is projecting revenue of $150 million in 2008.

Many of its customers are hospitals or physician groups in rural America, which chronically struggles to attract top doctors. The company also serves community-based clinics, veterans’ hospitals and prisons.  Its recruiters seek out specialists in five hospital moneymakers: surgery, cardiology, anesthesiology, radiology, and psychiatry.

“We made a decision when we opened up the firm 13 years ago to dedicate ourselves to the higher profit, higher demand specialties” that are major profit centers for hospitals, says Pam McKemie, the company’s senior vice president.

keep reading »

2 comments | Read this post...