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Straight Talk for the Recruiting Profession


Articles tagged 'recruiting'

The Business of Recruiting

The Anatomy of a Recruitment Coup

by 4 weeks ago


USC logo

USC logoLast week, in a dramatic announcement that reverberated around the world of academia, the University of Southern California announced it hired two of the preeminent neuroscientists in the world, stealing them away from crosstown rival UCLA.

While salary was certainly part of the deal, what convinced Arthur Toga and Paul Thompson to decamp from the University of California Los Angeles after two decades was a combination of bigger and better facilities, a commitment to building a world class program, and considerations of culture and lifestyle.

After being rebuffed for years, how USC finally managed to snag the men and their Laboratory of Neuro Imaging is a case study in recruiting professionals who are among the top in the world in their field. In this case, there’s no indication that either internal recruiters or professional search firms were involved. Still, the methods the school used, and the issues that helped convince the men to make a move, are ingredients of every placement.

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Closing

Arm Yourself and Your Client to Win the War for Talent

by on Nov. 16, 2012


Search for talent

Most executives agree about the importance of having the right talent in place. Jim Collins, in Good to Great, talks about getting the right people on the bus (and getting the wrong people off) as a common strategy of great companies.

Some companies endeavor to apply a ‘best practices’ approach to talent acquisition, development and retention. Schlumberger, for example, continues aggressive pursuit and development of top talent in both good times and bad. This has resulted in deep bench strength and a reputation for the most talented employees in the oilfield services business. Financial results have been strong, and approximately 80% of top management started at the company right out of school. Further, attrition of high potential individuals is treated as a catastrophic event, warranting the same full-blown investigation as a major downtime event on an oil rig.

Many organizations apply various ‘just in time/ lean & mean’ approaches, which certainly have their advantages. But obvious downsides include a thin bench and inability to scale when appropriate. When a key defection or promotion occurs, a very painful and expensive vacancy can result in significant opportunity costs.

And of course, we all know of firms for which the “people are our greatest asset” claims are merely rhetoric.

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How-To

How To Recruit For Today’s Startup

by on Feb. 2, 2012


startup-new-green

Many of our clients are staffing and recruiting firms, and because of this we have a unique perspective on the industry. So when it comes to our own hiring processes, we try to glean best practices from industry leaders, but we also try things our own way. As we iterate and refine our methods, we thought it might be interesting to share what we’ve learned.

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Social Media, Technology

Klout and Recruitment

by on Jan. 31, 2012


Klout-logo

For years employers have been screening candidates based on content on social networking websites. Candidates using poor judgment online may be screened out of the process.  Now employers and recruiters are turning to social media to aid in the selection of knowledgeable and well-connected employees.

Klout measures an individual’s influence across social media entities, such as Twitter.  Data under consideration are network size, amount of content generated, and volume of interaction. That data is processed to produce a Klout score ranging from 1 to 100.  The higher the score, presumably the higher the individual’s social media influence.  Klout scores are categorized into measures, including “True Reach” (size of engaged audience), “Amplification Probability” (rate of action taken on message, such as retweets), and “Network Score” (value of a person’s engaged audience).

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How-To, The Business of Recruiting

From Concept to ROI: How a Recruiter Training Program Paid for Itself

by on Jan. 23, 2012


keith newport

As a physician recruiting agency, we have the usual challenge of any recruiting firm—serving our two different constituencies — candidates and clients — and the challenge of working in a specialized industry, healthcare, which has detailed credentialing requirements that vary based on the state, private versus government, and client to client. Additionally, our agency recruits for six high-demand specialties, each with its own set of expertise and requirements.

To help serve our two customer segments, we divided our account executives into two roles: marketers, who deal directly with clients at healthcare facilities, and recruiters, who work with physicians. Also, each of our recruiters and marketers staffs for a single medical specialty.

About seven years ago, we developed our Research Consulting group, a training program for account executives, to accommodate our unique organizational structure. I took over the RC group about five years ago. I started at the company as an account executive, and I had a passion for sales training. When the opportunity to manage and develop my own sales team presented itself, I was very enthusiastic about it. I am an example of the various career-path options that are available to all associates within our organization. This process guides associates through different stages of their career in a very organic manner by giving them the support and training they need along the way.

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Relationships, Technology

The Best of The Fordyce Letter 2011, #2 — Get Out From Behind the Desk and Network

by on Dec. 29, 2011


man_atdesk

Editor’s note: Paul DeBettignies’ article was the 2nd most popular article on The Fordyce Letter in 2011. It originally ran in March.

I know, I know… smile and dial.

More phone calls equal more job orders, candidates and send outs. More send outs equal more placements.

I get it – I really do. But after thirteen years as a sole practitioner, I have learned that I need to get out from behind the desk every now and then, or I fear that the headset will become permanently fixed to my head.

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The Business of Recruiting

Recruiting for Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Companies

by on Nov. 22, 2011


754962309_2dce031cd6

My firm, Clark Executive Search, recruits exclusively for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Since I have a background in science, we further specialize in recruiting only senior-level scientists with PhD degrees and medical doctors in the industries’ research and development departments. I recruit these individuals because they are fascinating, dedicated to saving lives, and are at the peak of the pharmaceutical ladder. Discovering drugs and then testing them with people is a highly technical field requiring advanced degrees. In addition, in order to be in management or lead a laboratory at these companies, a higher degree is a requirement.

The pharmaceutical industry presents unique challenges to executive search firms concentrating in the area. There is a huge learning curve for recruiters working a desk in this niche, and a scientific background is a must. This once-safe industry for recruiters has become much less so as pharmaceutical companies desperately try to solve their drug discovery problems through mega-mergers, buyouts, and outsourcing.

I chose this niche for a reason: I believe recruiting for this area is different from other areas, and I certainly won’t back down from a challenge!

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Entrepreneurship

Are You a Headhunter or an Entrepreneur? Why Not Both?

by on Nov. 17, 2011


entrepreneur-inside

When my husband convinced me to close my recruiting business, I had no idea what might be in store for me. After all, I had been in the recruiting industry for almost a decade. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else. I lived and breathed headhunting—in all its glory. The good, the bad, and the challenging.

Yes…I realize I’m writing this article for The Fordyce Letter — a publication that “delivers straight talk for the recruiting profession…” So why am I writing about leaving the profession?

Do you really think you’ll be a ‘headhunter’ for the rest of your life? Do you think, as I did when my husband suggested I leave the business, “What else do I know how to do?” When I considered closing the doors on my business, I was seriously concerned about finding something that would replace the income I enjoyed as a recruiter.

At the time, I didn’t appreciate that during my years as a recruiter I had acquired business savvy that would serve me throughout the next two decades of starting new businesses. I was unknowingly armed with skills that, in looking back, were remarkable.

So, as you continue on your merry way, take heart. You are acquiring prowess, strategic thinking, and moxie that will serve you well for a lifetime—whether you remain in your current field or choose to move on. No matter what your choice, why not take a minute and bask in all that you know? Want to know just what a smart cookie you are? Consider some of the greatest skills that will carry you through life come from the things you’ve learned along the path to becoming a great recruiter.

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The Business of Recruiting

The Recruiter Chronicles: “The Million Dollar Interview”

by on Nov. 15, 2011


money_bags

The main reason I love writing “The Recruiter Chronicles” is that I do not write from the perspective of being a “big biller” (yet). Consider me somewhere between consistent solid performer and top performer, but definitely not “big biller.” I am an “everyman” type of recruiter and I, like most of you, am scratching and clawing towards “big biller” status. I do feel like I’m on the way though, and this series that I write is a testimonial to the misadventures that have and will happen along the way.

I have two teammates here at The Aureus Group in Omaha, Nebraska that certainly qualify as “big billers,” having both eclipsed the Million Dollar annual production threshold recently and trending to do the same in 2011. Recently, I sat down with both of them and asked for their perspective on what it has taken to arrive at this hallowed ground of agency recruiter production. For the sake of anonymity we will call them, lovingly of course, “Big Biller A” and “Big Biller H.”

Big Biller A has been in the recruiting/staffing business since 1987 holding many different roles, including one as a recruiting franchise owner. Currently, Big Biller A is a Senior IT Recruiter with Aureus Group and also manages a team of three recruiters.

Big Biller H was recruited into our industry right out of college, and has been going strong now for nearly twelve years. Currently, Big Biller H is a Senior Account Manager working directly with clientele of the Aureus Group, and she has been with us for more than four years.

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Industry News, The Business of Recruiting

“The Headhuntress” Airs Tonight on Bravo

by on Nov. 14, 2011


the-headhuntress

Bravo is airing a one-hour special tonight that may do for executive headhunting what Simon Cowell did for talent shows.

In the space of 60 minutes (commercials included), Wendy Doulton dispenses such bits of advice to her six-figure job candidates as “You need to lose the cleavage,” and “You make me feel like taking a nap.”

Born in the U.S., educated in London, Doulton’s blunt, unvarnished advice is delivered, in a clipped British accent. “A résumé should be like a skirt,” she declares. “Long enough to cover the basics, but short enough to keep them interested.”

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