sourcing

Sourcing Trends and Predictions 2010

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 12:00:00 -0800

Over the past six months, I've worked with dozens of major companies and some of the latest new recruiting and sourcing technologies. Based on this, it's not a reach to contend that how companies will find, recruit, and hire top talent in 2010 and beyond will be far different than how it's been done in the past few years.

How to Activate the Best Passive Candidates in the Federation

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 12:00:00 -0800

Whenever I need an idea for an article I call Doug Berg, the CEO and/or founder, or something like that, at Jobs2Web. So to meet this week's need, Doug suggested I write about my reticular activator. I thought this was a bit personal, and while initially offended, it turned out to be great advice. I think you'll agree, too.

Back to the Future: January 2010

Fri, 15 May 2009 10:59:25 -0800

Fast forward to January 15, 2010. What are some of the hiring challenges you're now facing?

Adler's Best Sourcing Tip Since the One about Sliced Bread

Wed, 06 May 2009 11:11:21 -0800

"Be found first!"

Two people came up to me after speaking at the SHRM Staffing Management Association (SMA) Conference in Las Vegas last week (April 2009) and said this was the best tip they heard after four days at the conference. Of course, two out of 700 doesn't imply a trend. However, if you were Googling for "best sourcing tips SHRM SMA" you actually might find this article on the first page. And that's what being found first means. Its importance cannot be understated.

Lou Adler's #1 Secret to Sourcing Passive Candidates

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 11:25:25 -0800

Pre-internet, circa 1995, there were three primary means to obtain names of passive candidates: industry guides, cold call ruses, and networking. Today there are at least 30 and the number is growing weekly. Some of these include LinkedIn, ZoomInfo, Broadlook, the AIRS stuff, Twitter, Facebook, Google/Boolean searching, all of the LinkedIn search offshoots, and everything else not mentioned. However, the most important one is getting on the phone and networking.

Because it's now so easy to get names, they become less valuable. Try this string to see how easy it is to get some names of the best pharmaceutical sales reps in New Jersey: "~CV (sales OR rep) awards -reply -respond -yours -jobs -find -results NJ pharma."

How to Do Twice As Much With Half the Recruiting Team

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 12:00:00 -0800

Times are tough. Even those companies that are doing reasonably well are cutting their recruiting teams by a minimum of 30% to a maximum of 90%, and tightening up expenses to the absolute barest minimum.

Recruiting Lessons from 'Fast Company'

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 12:00:00 -0800

The March 2009 issue of Fast Company lists its take on the 50 most innovative companies in the world.

Develop a Recovery Sourcing Strategy

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 12:00:00 -0800

The economy will recover some day. I'll admit I was a bit overly optimistic in an earlier article this year. It must have been the New Year's bubbly.

"Early-Bird" Strategies for Sourcing Top Sales People, or Sourcing Secrets of Top Recruiters - Lessons from a Top Candidate's Search

Wed, 28 Jan 2009 11:49:29 -0800

Performance-based Hiring is about recruiting top performers, and in today's economy recruiters and companies have a chance to pick up some really great talent. The key word here is "chance." One prerequisite to finding and recruiting top talent is that recruiters must understand the mentality of a top performer. If I had to sum it up in one word it would be "Picky"! Top performers want the right job, not just any job. The job has to offer a challenge and be with the right company and the right people, not to mention offering the right compensation and benefits package. While timing is important, top performers won't rush into taking just any job. They are confident in their capabilities, and their job search is part of an overall master plan.

Are You a Web 2.0 Wannabe?

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 12:00:00 -0800

If you don't invest in finding tomorrow's candidates today, you'll become history.

Are You in the Stone Ages on the Sourcing Evolutionary Scale?

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 16:16:31 -0800

Over the past few years I've had the opportunity to work with some of the leading recruiting technology vendors along with a bunch of small and large companies in a variety of industries. What becomes relatively clear as one zooms out is that there is a rapid merging of advanced consumer marketing concepts with recruitment technology. Some might call this Web 2.0 on steroids, or Web 3.0, but it's certainly far beyond the Web 2.0 stuff companies are implementing today.

There are a bunch of common threads that are apparent in those companies that are taking full advantage of these trends. For one, their recruitment leaders are well-versed in the latest technologies and proactively use and support them. Second, these companies tend to be extremely sophisticated on the use of advanced marketing and advertising for their own products and services – this makes the decision to use these same concepts for recruiting top candidates a simple and smooth one, since no convincing is necessary. Third, these companies are relatively flat and not overly bureaucratic – their recruiters work closely with hiring managers, there is a dedicated IT support team for the recruiting department, legal and HR compliance doesn't dominate the decision-making, and the executive team advocates, not merely supports, the idea of state-of-the-art sourcing and recruiting.

The UAW, the Detroit Bailout, and Related Sourcing Issues

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 12:00:00 -0800

A top-down command-and-control structure leads to power grabbing, not power sharing. It prevents people from seeing the bigger picture as groups defend their turfs and fight off change at all costs. This sounds like Detroit, and until Detroit develops and implements a customer-driven strategy with a culture of success before self-interest, the bailout won't work.

A Review of the Los Angeles Sourcing Summit

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 12:57:36 -0800

I know it's a long way to travel to Los Angeles, especially for our East Coast readers, but last Wednesday you missed a great opportunity to attend our first ever half-day sourcing summit. So for the benefit of those who couldn't make it, I'll provide a short summary of some of the "must know" sourcing ideas presented by our panel of experts. When we first conceived of the idea it was an experiment of sorts. Of course, that was also before the economy started heading south, companies like Citibank announced record layoffs (over 52,000 this month), and AIG got its first bailout check. We were a little concerned that sourcing might be at the bottom of recruiters' shopping lists this holiday season, but we were pleasantly surprised to find that interest was still high. While entry-level jobs are a little easier to fill, there is still the issue of weeding through increased candidate flow to find the real gems. Skilled labor is, and will always be, a challenge to find, even in a slowing economy. In fact, recruiters reported that getting skilled labor to move in this market is even more challenging. Recruiters have to use all their skills to make it happen. So our conclusion is that the war for top talent is hardly over, but the battlefield has made some dramatic shifts. In this week's article, I'll share some of the insights and key messages delivered at the summit to help companies build talent pipelines and capture the best passive talent available.

Use a Cross-Functional Perspective to Implement a Just-in-Time Sourcing Strategy

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 12:00:00 -0800

Progressive companies are now implementing Just-in-Time (JIT) sourcing programs to ensure they have a ready pipeline of top talent once the economy recovers. This will provide early adopters a significant competitive advantage and an increased share of the best talent.

2007/2008 Ad Contest Winner

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 11:21:46 -0800

O.G.S.K.S.

(aka Optics Geeks Seeking Kindred Spirit)