Recruiting Passive Candidates in Tough Economic Times

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 12:00:00 -0800

Consider this as a basic truth: in tough economic times every job looks better, especially the one you already have.

How Fast Can You Respond to Change?

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 09:59:48 -0800

"Even if you're on the right track,
you'll get run over if you just sit there."
– Will Rogers

"If everything is under control,
you are going too slow."
– Mario Andretti

It is a cliché these days to say that the only constant in the business world is change, but that doesn't make it any less true. Here are some great statements about the way conventional wisdom gets turned on its head:

"Everything that can be invented has been invented."
– Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, U.S. Patent Office, 1899

"Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?"
– Harry Morris Warner, co-founder of Warner Brothers, 1927

"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."
– Thomas Watson, Chairman of IBM, 1943

"640K ought to be enough for anybody."
– Bill Gates, 1981

If these guys can get it so wrong, is it any wonder that the rest of us poor mortals have trouble predicting what's going to happen next? Who could have foreseen the depth and breadth of the current housing slump and its affect on the economy 12 months ago? How often do you see a merger or acquisition coming from down in the trenches? How many of us have seen our companies go from a hiring frenzy to a hiring freeze in just a few months?

6 Steps for Hiring the Best Every Time

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 12:00:00 -0800

Over the past 30-plus years, I've been involved in thousands of searches, worked with hundreds of hiring managers, trained 3,000 to 4,000 recruiters, and worked closely with dozens of major companies. Following are some of the common threads among the best techniques, processes, and tools that I have seen and used.

Three Common Sense Secrets to Hiring Outstanding Sales People

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 11:41:02 -0800

Over the years, we've helped many companies apply the principles of Performance-based Hiring^sm to find talented and productive sales people. When we first engage with these companies their conversations often begin with similar words… "Help me find sales people who are aggressive, multitaskers, closers who don't take ‘No' for an answer. It would be great if they came from our competitors and brought with them a few clients, contacts, or knowledge that will help them hit the ground running. And oh, by the way, I need them NOW." At this point in the conversation we have to intervene and help our clients think differently about the process of consistently hiring outstanding sales professionals. Below are three common sense secrets for doing just that:

Abraham Maslow, SPIN Selling, and Recruiting

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:00:00 -0800

Understanding human behavior can help you recruit more passive candidates.

When filling a job order, most recruiters search through virtual stacks of resumes hoping one stands out, matching most of the skills and experiences listed on the job description. When calling a person, the recruiter attempts to gain this same information by first describing the job and then asking the person to describe his or her background. If there's a fit, the selling process begins.

Perfect Candidates and Other Mythical Creatures

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 09:27:06 -0800

Most of us outgrow our imaginary friends. We give up Santa Claus in elementary school, lose faith in the tooth fairy once we have our adult teeth, and stop believing in unicorns and leprechauns well before puberty. Beloved childhood fairy and fantasy tales are put away and saved for the next generation.

The Passive Candidate Recruiter's Scorecard – How well do you measure up on these 10 critical recruiter skills?

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 10:44:01 -0800

Many things have changed in the past few years regarding best recruiting practices, especially with the increased focus on passive candidate sourcing and recruiting. Based on this we decided to create a passive candidate recruiting scorecard. If you'd like to evaluate yourself, just review the following factors and rank yourself on the 1-5 scale described. This will be pretty insightful just to see where you stand if you're a recruiter, or where your team stands if you're a manager or director.

As you review each of the factors below rank yourself on the following 1-5 scale, with a Level 5 representing super star performance and a Level 1 representing absolute incompetence. On this scale a 2.5 would be considered adequate or average.

Level 1: Has no ability whatsoever, or doesn't want to do it under any circumstance.

Level 2: Has some ability, but needs urging or hasn't done it, but has the potential to learn.

Level 3: Has strong ability, has proven results, and is self-motivated to do it consistently.

Level 4: Has very strong ability with proven results and does it faster or does a lot more of it. Often trains others.

Level 5: Is one of the best in the business in this area. So good, in fact, is sought out to train others.

Four Trends Affecting the Future of Recruiting

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 12:00:00 -0800

This past week I spent time with a major recruitment advertising agency, a large direct marketing organization, and the top-performing office of one of the largest temp-to-perm employment agencies in the country.

These meetings revealed some trends that might help you develop your future recruiting strategies.

Recruiting Darwin Awards – Not Everybody Evolves

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 11:24:06 -0800

Several years ago my children introduced me to the Darwin Awards. We've had a lot of fun reading some of the stories of the winners (or should I say "losers"?). These awards go to members of the human race who do something so dumb that they end up removing themselves from the gene pool – hence the name. For instance, take the guy who had a fuse in his car blow out on a long trip. He had the bright idea to use a bullet to replace the fuse. The logic was sound – it's made of metal and conducts electricity, doesn't it? Everything was going fine until the bullet heated up and exploded, leaving a big hole in his chest. As we travel the world talking to recruiters and recruiting organizations, I've become aware of some practices that, while not quite as deadly as the above example, do cause one to wonder what people are thinking. In the interest of brevity, I'm going to list just a few of the more egregious examples. I'll stop short of naming names, but know that every example is real.

The Uneven Evolution of Corporate Recruiting

Fri, 09 May 2008 12:00:00 -0800

Much of the hiring process from sourcing to closing to onboarding has changed significantly over the past 20 years. Much hasn't. And therein lies the problem.

Your Recruiting Success Depends on How Well You Manage Managers

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:00:00 -0800

In a recent ERE article I made the case that a tipping point was close at hand for converting recruiting and sourcing into a scalable and systematic business process.

Get Ready for the Recovery - Now Is the Best Time to Build a Proactive External Talent Pipeline

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 11:27:52 -0800

Now is the time to get ready for the recovery. It may sound strange, but if you have been in recruiting for any period of time, you know that hiring fluctuates—it goes up and down, expands and pauses. These cycles come with the territory. Some shifts are more dramatic than others, and currently it appears we are in a more profound slowdown than we would like. The signs are all around us with the housing crisis, gas prices, and layoffs recently announced in some industries. Some leaders may be quick to question what recruiters are doing when there is little or no recruiting going on. Be ready with this answer: creating a proactive pipeline of great candidates for future openings.

The Recruiting Tipping Point

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 12:00:00 -0800

I've been a judge for the ERE awards for the past three years and have attended numerous recruiting conferences around the world. As part of this, I've seen great ideas come and go, and some not so great, somehow hang on. So I'm a bit cynical with most of the hype and the emergence of the next great hope.

Building Your Personal Recruitment Brand

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 11:29:53 -0800

When your clients or hiring managers think of you as a recruiter, what words come to their minds? Reliable? Insightful? Unresponsive? Bureaucratic? Whatever the words, these concepts define our personal recruitment brand. Hiring Managers may not communicate these directly to us in formal meetings, but they definitely share their opinions among their peers. Below is a short quiz which should help you get a jump start on where you stand with your personal recruitment brand. Ask yourself each of the following questions and be honest in your answers. No one’s looking, I promise.

Effectiveness of Recruiting Tools/Techniques

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 09:55:08 -0800

It seems like every day you hear about a new recruiting tool or technique. The question is how many of them are really being used by recruiters? And more importantly, how many of them are effective? We asked that question on the Adler Group's Recruiting and Hiring Challenges Survey of 2008 to try to get some sense of how recruiters rate the tools and techniques they are using. The actual question was, “On a 1-5 scale (5 is best) how would you rank the effectiveness of these recruiting tools?” A rating of 3 means pretty effective, 4 means animportant resource, and 5 means an invaluable tool. In analyzing the results, a tool needs a rating of 3 or higher to be considered effective.