As you can probably tell already I am a big believer in having a blog that is targeted to your industry. I always say that it will make placements for you. I keep pointing to WirelessJobs.com I own the domain name but Dennis Smith is the recipient of all the placement money. It’s a deal we have that is paying off for both of us.

I did a search on google for recruiting and Valentines Day. The great thing about blogs is that Google for the most part starts indexing them quickly. As a result, a great Valentines recruiting post appears at the top. This sort of thing is important.

Tim Ahern ( I don’t know him) wrote this post February 13/08. It’s a great example of a blog post. It’s geared towards getting business. It shows he has a handle on what’s going on and that he talks to his clients.

If you can write an original post 2 times a week and then point to 5 interesting things twice a week, you can have the 5th, 6th and 7th day off and you will have a great blog.

intersting post # 1

interesting post # 2

interesting post #3

interesting post #4

interesting post plug #5

What matters more in a job candidate, experience or personality? In my opinion, it s
personality, hands down. There, I said it.

Because of the current lack of skilled workers, the days of strapping strict, lengthy
requirements on applicants are gone. It wasn t long ago that when clients asked for
seasoned, highly educated candidates with Excel skills, technical expertise, a proven
track record, solid work history and a great deal of energy, you could supply them.
Today, though, you re lucky to find a small handful of warm bodies with even a few of
these sought-after qualities.

The trend, therefore, should be to recruit and hire people with personalities showing
potential to be productive, comfortable and fit for a specific job. They may not have the
ideal years of experience, advanced degrees and strong technical expertise, but they can
exhibit clear signs of aptitude and drive — and these are two traits that often breed
success.

It s important to think outside the box when recruiting. Keep in mind an applicant s most
dominant traits and probable response to situations before making any recommendations,
one way or the other. How do you really know, for example, if the person you re
interviewing is not geared toward sales? If he or she displays an outgoing demeanor,
speaks enthusiastically and has a proven track record, is this person a safe bet? Could the
more staid, introspective applicant be the producer your client needs? Maybe or maybe
not!

It all depends on whether your client is looking for an emotionally based, persuasive sales
personality or one who takes on a more consultative approach. The desired level of
assertiveness also comes into play, as some salespeople will naturally press hard for
results while others project a more subtle business style.

Know your client’s objectives! The most qualified candidate may not be best for the job.

A Recruiting Ecosystem is a combination of multiple elements connected together in order to achieve ongoing results for common goals.

For those that are interested in the origin of the term “Business Ecosystem”, below is a link to the Wikipedia definition.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_ecosystem

But what defines a truly self-sustaining ecosystem? One where the Ecosystem Architect can walk away for a period of time and still have the ecosystem continue to evolve and grow on it’s own.

So what the heck does that all really mean? Let’s break it down.

As a Recruiter and Ecosystem Architect, you must first become a Subject Matter Expert (SME). If it’s software development, find out everything you can about the key language(s) your company uses. You aren’t trying to become a programmer though. The idea is to be able to tell what time it is, not how the clock works. Once you have an understanding of the solutions, it’s time to start building your ecosystem.

As a Corporate Recruiter, your core ecosystem could include:

Hiring Mgr

Sourcer

Corp HR/Staffing Mgmt

Professional Contacts

Personal Contacts
Now, expanding your ecosystem could include:

Hiring Mgr – Trade Shows, Industry Events, Dir/VP, Peers, Direct Reports, Professional Contacts, Personal Contacts

Sourcer – Peers, Internet (Job Boards, Social NW’s, Business NW’s, Boolean, etc.), Professional Contacts, Personal Contacts, Industry Events, Prof Org’s

Corp HR/Staffing Mgmt – Internal Candidates, Employee Referrals, Careers Page, Career Events, Creative Advertising (mobile billboards, movie house, professional journals, etc.)

Professional Contacts – Referrals, Recommendations

Personal Contacts – Referrals, Recommendations

Let’s go one level deeper on the Hiring Mgr for Trade Shows and Industry Events. Whatever their expertise (let’s assume it’s User Experience Design), get them known in the industry as a leader and innovator. Because you are a SME for UX Design, you understand these professionals are very creative and social in nature. Sending them an email with the job description then drilling them over the phone about their skills isn’t going yield good results. Have your HM and her teams attend and speak at key Trade Shows and Industry Events such as the annual DUX Conference. Have your company sponsor these events. If nothing exists, create it! Find out where the leaders in a respective field gather and get your team included and noticed. Get your UX Design team known for creating the most compelling solutions in the industry.

Once the buzz is created about your solutions, people will begin to take notice and will want to know more. Have a way to capture their contact info, but be discreet. This solution should not be a thinly veiled attempt at Recruiting. It should add value to the industry as a whole.

The self-sustaining professional ecosystem is the holy grail of Staffing. Having a constantly refreshed pool of talent to access when needed is something many companies strive to achieve.

The above example provides over 30 different possible resource solutions. Building a successful ecosystem will make your job as a Recruiter much easier and will allow you to exceed the expectations of your Business Partners.

About Paul Davenport:

Paul Davenport is an Executive Sourcer/Researcher with over 13 years of experience in the high-tech field. His drive for world-class solutions has given him the opportunity to work within Cisco Systems, Microsoft, Intuit and other industry-leading organizations.

He has focused the past several years specifically in the Sourcing world where he finds the greatest challenge in Recruitment…the ability to find and engage the right talent. While at Cisco Systems, he recognized the importance of Employment Branding while working with Michael McNeal. While at Intuit, he refined the Recruitment Ecosystem model as the leader of Technical Sourcing. While at MS, he was part of a Sourcing All-Star Team including Shally Steckerl, Glenn Gutmacher, Rob McIntosh and Jim Stroud. He currently provides Executive Research & Sourcing consulting through his company, Pacific Enterprise Group, Inc.

1. Gary Stauble gives us 14 great questions to ask potential candidate as well as the fatal assumption

2. Matt McMahon talks about extending offers. It’s a good read and one you should read. We don’t always get to make offers for more money. Sometimes it’s for less and sometimes they are accepted

3. Joe Kreiss says, along with every other recruiting expert that you should plan today for tomorrow. You should have a plan.

4. Wendell Williams talk about Ignorance and the Human Condition.

You know it’s hard sometimes to stay motivated. When you look at your board and know you need to wipe off all those face-to-face interviews that resulted in no money. Sometimes you want to quit. Sometimes you want to jump. The funny thing is though is that when you look at your board and every one of those face-to-face interviews resulted in mucho money, you never want to quit.

The thing to remember is that if you do what you are supposed to do. There will be plenty of examples in your recruiting career where it all goes south and other times, it all turns to gold. In this business there is more gold to be had for those who recruit with a plan. Remember that. It makes the drive home easier.

I think the best way to approach a candidate you know has the skills for a client of yours is to never come flat out and make the purpose of the call to recruit them. If that candidate says “no I am not interested,” I have always found that they will probably refuse to give you any other information you seek. It’s referrals that you seek because come hell or high water, you will ultimately get someone who does refer you to the right person.

The idea is to paint a picture where the person on the phone with you is involved in the solving of the problem. In case anyone is wondering what the problem may be, the problem is that there is a check made out to you for a placement fee and the thing missing from it is a signature. The solution to the problem is the right candidate. I do believe that people generally want to help others so I feel the purpose of that first call is to get some help. The help in this case is a referral to someone else that may or may not be right but you will keep moving down the line until you fill the order.

Engage in a conversation and make sure you convey to them that you know what is going on in the industry they are involved with. Let that potential candidate know that you run a real successful desk and hand pick your clients. I hope you do handpick your clients. It’s a shame if they pick you. Make them feel like they are really helping.

The thing about referrals that you need to understand is that of course most people working in your industry can refer someone you seek. When you ask for a referral and they say “I don’t know anyone,” it’s not true. They are telling you they don’t want to help you with the problem you have. The important thing here is that they know who you can talk with so you need to get the info.

There is nothing wrong with after a few minutes of dialogue to let that candidate know that you know they must know someone who is right for your client. Maybe sneak in the fact that the reason you identified them as someone you should speak with is because your research has shown them to be the right person to talk with.

There is so much you can talk about to build the trust without having to come out and ask for something right away. Searches for the most part take a while so take your time, paint some pictures in your candidate’s minds and let them come to you with “I am interested”.

Of course, if you get referred to someone who you know is right for your client and you know they are interested in a new opportunity now, the phone call is much different.

At the end of this month, a good friend of mine named John Sumser will be taking his Recruiting Roadshow to Vegas. It’s the fourth show he has done so far and he plans a total of 10 for 2008. The show has been put on in Minneapolis, Dallas and Atlanta.

John focuses on a local recruiting community as the attendees and local recruiting leaders as the speakers. So far, each and every one of his shows has been a success with over 100 people at each show.

I was at the one in Atlanta and I met a number of great people. I would say that if you are only interested in third party recruiting, you may not find this of interest but if you are looking for some new perspectives and interesting discussions, you should sign up. It’s free. Attendance is limited so please confirm sooner rather than later.

I’ll be there so if you confirm, please let me know and we can meet and say hello. I like Las Vegas.

Here is a great article by Paul Hawkinson called Revenue Options II. It was written a while ago and to get the new stuff you need to subscribe. The good news is that if you choose not to subscribe, that article I linked to should put extra dollars in your recruiting pocket. It’s also real good to think about these things from time to time.

Another great article by Paul is this one called Consistent Marketing. It was written in 2004 and all you need to do is add in the part where a blog can do a lot of what he talks about.

An the last from Paul today is on Fee Cutting

Thats it.