As a recruiter, I find myself wondering why managers often approach the hiring process as though they were ordering fast food at the drive-through. First they scan the menu to see what's offered, then they pick the top three or four things they want. "I'll take one MBA, with a BSEE, a 3.5 GPA or better, and don't forget three years of marketing experience." While ordering this way at local hamburger joint almost always produces exactly what you want, it doesn't work nearly as well for hiring.

Today I'll share with you the inside scoop on Sodexho's first foray into using Virtual Job Fairs in Second Life. I recently interviewed Anthony Scarpino, Senior Director of Talent Acquisition for Sodexho, and Amy Brooks, one of Sodexho's recruiters who participated in their first ever virtual job fair. Amy recently attended our online Recruiter Boot Camp and graciously volunteered to share her experiences using Second Life to attract candidates.

Sometimes candidates say no. Sometimes they say it when you first call. This isn't so bad. When they say it when you're just about to make an offer, or have already made the offer, it is really bad. But don't lose total hope; there are still some things you can do to try to recover from this fateful event. The Science of Recruiting is, after-all, built on sound principles to guide the recruiter through the landmines and pitfalls of hiring top people.

Now we're down to one or two final candidates, and the offer process is about to begin in earnest. If you've uncovered the candidate's key concerns as described in earlier articles in this Science of Recruiting series you know what you have to do to move the process to closure.

The best candidates always require more information as they move through the hiring process. It has been my observation that when a candidate decides they're no longer interested in a job it's because they don't have enough of the right information. The recruiter is responsible for getting it to them.

The best active and passive candidates always have multiple opportunities. As a result they need more convincing that the job you're offering is better than the other opportunities they're considering. Recruiting is not about finding and hiring candidates who need another job. Anybody can do this. Recruiting is about influencing top candidates who don't need your job to consider it anyway, and then keeping them involved at every subsequent step in the hiring process.

The best active and passive candidates always have multiple opportunities. As a result they need more convincing that the job you're offering is better than the other opportunities they're considering. For passive candidates, they need to be convinced that your job is even worth evaluating. Convincing these top candidates to proceed in the hiring process and then to accept a fair offer is what recruiters need to do to be successful. Recruiting is not about finding and hiring candidates who need another job. Anybody can do this. These candidates will do whatever you suggest.

If you want to make Performance-based Hiring a reality, having a steady source of top candidates is essential. Networking is the key to pulling this off. To me, networking represents the difference between good and great recruiting. I don't look at job boards as a primary source of top candidates. Every now and then you'll find one, but not frequently enough to count on this source. However, networking, when properly done, can be the prime source of all your best people. How to do it well is the key. This will be the topic of this edition of the Science of Recruiting. And as you'll soon discover, it most certainly is a science.

Welcome to our new series of articles, The Science of Recruiting. Over the next ten editions, we'll look at every skill and technique necessary to be a great recruiter. At the end of it all, you'll have a sense of what you need to do to take your performance and success as a recruiter up another notch or two, or maybe more.

Part II It is my contention that the only way to systematically hire superior people is to clearly define superior performance before beginning any new job search. In Part 1 of this two-part series, the idea of using a performance profile instead of a job description was introduced as a means to accomplish this. The benefits of using a performance profile include more accurate assessments, a bigger pool of top candidates to choose from, significant reductions in time to hire, and -- by clarifying expectations upfront -- a more highly motivated and competent workforce.