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Archive for November, 2007

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Will you Mr. Recruiter be extinct too?

In Social Media on November 26, 2007 at 7:03 pm

Here is a great article written by Dr. John Sullivan. I believe this should be a required screening tool for all current recruiters. If they meet these requirements of the top 10….well……then set them free to roam! ex

10 Signs of an Old-School Recruiter

Here is a simple list that can be used by hiring managers to determine if the recruiters assigned to them are decidedly old school.

  1. They don’t use text messaging.While only 20% of the adult population utilizes text messaging, over 50% of the younger generation uses it. In fact, they prefer instant or text messaging over email by a significant percentage. If you don’t utilize text messaging to communicate with your candidates, you’re likely missing a significant portion of this new mobile phone-reliant population that doesn’t require a laptop to communicate. If you’re not aware of the new IM applications and jargon, IMHO, you are so last year! In fact, the mobile phone is becoming the next must-use recruiting platform for those smart enough to successfully utilize permission-marketing techniques.
  2. They don’t blog.Having your own blog is no longer unusual, but it’s still a great way to communicate your message to potential recruits. Blogs by corporate recruiters give potential applicants a chance to get a real, unfiltered message about the recruiting process and what it’s like to work at the firm. They also provide an opportunity to make comments and ask questions before a formal application to the firm is made.
  3. They don’t have a MySpace or Facebook page.If you are a corporate recruiter and you don’t have a profile of yourself as a recruiter (and as an individual person) on a social networking site like MySpace or Facebook, you are a relative dinosaur. Most old schoolers are afraid of MySpace because they’ve heard about the lurking molesters who can be on it (molesters can also use telephones, but that’s no reason why recruiters shouldn’t use them). Some think that these sites are for only young people, but the average age range of a user on MySpace is in the 30s. Facebook is the fastest growing of the two, but there are many other social networking sites that allow individuals to learn more about you as a recruiter and as a source of potential recruits. It used to be that you had to have your own personal website in order to be new school, but it’s becoming okay to use social networking sites to display your individuality.
  4. They are not using LinkedIn.Business-oriented social networking sites like LinkedIn might themselves be well on their way toward becoming old school, but for now, they’re still an effective way for recruiters to become known and get referrals. Other non-resume based search approaches that new schoolers are likely to use include ZoomInfo, Plaxo, Jigsaw, Spoke.com, Passado, or GoLeads.com.
  5. They don’t use news alerts.As the amount of information that’s available to potential prospects and corporate recruiters expands, you need electronic help in order to keep up with the latest news and what bloggers are saying. If you’re not using Google alerts (or a similar service offered by Yahoo!), you’ll never be able to keep track of the activities (and then comment on them to build the relationship) of your targeted top prospects. Old schoolers don’t visit Google trends or digg.com to keep on top of what’s hot.
  6. They only use English.As the U.S. becomes more diverse, and recruiting from around the world becomes more common, only old-school recruiters recruit 100% of the time using the English language. Yes, even though the job itself requires English, it’s often still a good idea to begin the conversation in the recruit’s native language.
  7. Videos are too difficult.If a picture is worth a thousand words, think how powerful a “moving picture” would be. A significant portion of the world’s population is hooked on visual means of passing information and telling stories (TV, streaming videos, and/or films). New-school recruiters, at the very least, periodically visit their websites like YouTube in order to keep up with the latest trends. The very best new-school recruiters either post their own online videos that visually demonstrate how great their company is or they actively encourage others at their corporations to post their compelling videos. Although new schoolers love all forms of video technology, old schoolers would never consider using online video interviews or reviewing portfolio or video resumes.
  8. They don’t use podcasts or jobcasts.The majority of new-school recruiting prospects probably don’t even know what a Walkman is. Instead, they love MP3s or iPods (if you don’t know the difference is you’re probably old school). If you think they’re just for music, put yourself in the old-school category. Even Walgreens is utilizing podcasts as a recruiting tool. If you haven’t made a recruiting-oriented audio or video message available for download on these devices, you are missing a great opportunity to communicate.
  9. They’ve never tried contests.What better way is there to create a buzz than to offer online contests. The top firms have found that these contests not only allow you to identify and hire previously unknown talent from around the world, but they are also a great source to gather ideas and innovations.
  10. They don’t use nonrecruiting places or websites.While old school recruiters frequently attend job fairs, new-school recruiters, much like their targets, like to hang out for hours at places that have never been recruiting venues, like Starbucks. They see recruiting at these places (especially ones located close to major employers) as an opportunity, whether it means recruiting in person or by placing messages on the protective coffee sleeves that fit outside the coffee cups (Accenture, Sun, FlipDog, and LAPD have all used coffee sleeves in this way). Other prime recruiting venues for new schoolers might include concerts and industry conferences, as well as alumni, sports, charity, and community events. Places where well-paid people (and thus, likely top performers) frequently dominate the crowd. Old schoolers also see no value in spending time in electronic forums or placing recruiting links and banners in frequently visited nonrecruiting websites.

Looking Ahead to the Future

If you’re old school, there’s really no need to look ahead and anticipate recruiting tools that, while now used by only a handful, may soon become typical. Some of these trends that new-school recruiters need to plan for include using video games (the Army and the MITRE Corporation already use them) and TV shows (Donald Trump with The Apprentice and Southwest Airlines with Airline have already led the way) for recruiting.

Other future trends that old-school recruiters won’t need to worry about include sourcing using data mining of financial and credit card databases and focusing on putting together applicant pools (because nonapplicants don’t have to be tracked according to the commerce and EEOC guidelines). Committed old schoolers also need not worry about how expanding “work from home/anywhere” options will change recruiting forever (IBM, Sun, Best Buy, Cisco, and JetBlue have already jumped on this incredible opportunity) or how to recruit college students remotely without having to go through the career center. Other concepts to ignore might include using matching/dating sites for recruiting, as well as learning from/converting concepts from successful business approaches, including AdWords, viral branding, pattern buying, and capturing innovative product ideas from customers.

Final Thoughts

If you read this (or a friend makes a similar comment on it) and you think, “This is silly. I don’t need any of these modern, flashy techniques to be successful as a recruiter,” then the odds are that you are hopelessly old school. You probably also said similar things when these new wireless mobile telephones came out (you might have remarked, “I don’t see why I would ever need one of those”). In fact, it wasn’t very long ago that a majority of recruiters didn’t see any need to use the Internet to look for candidates or to post a job.

Like it or not, it has become a fact that recruiting all candidates, especially the 5% that are innovators, is closely tied to changes in the way people communicate and learn. As long as those methods keep expanding, recruiters will either adapt quickly or lose their jobs. It’s really just that simple.

Dr. John Sullivan (JohnS@sfsu.edu) is a well-known thought leader in HR. He is a frequent speaker and advisor to Fortune 500 and Silicon Valley firms. Formerly the chief talent officer for Agilent Technologies (the 43,000-employee HP spin-off), he is now a professor of management at San Francisco State University. He was called the “Michael Jordan of Hiring” by Fast Company magazine. More recruiting articles by Dr. Sullivan can be found in the ER Daily archives. Information about his numerous other articles, books and manuals about recruiting and HR can be found at www.drjohnsullivan.com. Dr. Sullivan is also the editor of VP of HR, an e-newsletter providing “out of the box” solutions for senior HR managers. Free subscriptions can be obtained on his website.

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article reviews and discussion

Old School vs. New School

posted 11/26/2007 at 9:50 a.m. PT by Kent Voyles

I really like this article. It reminds me of the story my father tells from his banking days. He was an executive and held loan committee meetings every Tuesday. He would run the meeting with a TI calculator and a 8.5X14 legal pad. All of his loan reps (snot jocks he called them) showed up with their laptops and spreadsheets. My father always achieved the same results in the same amount or less time than his jocks when it came to doing calculations.

My point? Technology is wonderful, especially if volume is your goal. A search is still a search though and the human factor of character and truth will never be identified by technology. I find it hard to believe that ‘New school’ tools produce ‘better’ candidates than ‘Old school’. ‘New school’ is just a different vehicle to get the same result. A covered wagon or a Lamborgini to get to the same place. If time is not the critical issue in a search, usually the candidate being right is, than the pace should not matter.

Who won the race between the tortise and the hare?

Dr. Sullivan seems to have missed something here…

posted 11/26/2007 at 11:48 a.m. PT by Jim Cargill

The good Dr. is not my favorite contributor on ERE, though I do read his articles. I am often left with the question, ‘Is this person really familiar with our industry, and if so, in what venue?’

His subtitle for this article is really where the action is (‘Is your recruiter and his recruiting approach obsolete?’). We are to believe this question was asked from the client point of view. Well, our clients range from $50M revenue to $35B revenue, and not one of them cares how current or outdated our approach is. The only concern they have is results.

I get the feeling that Dr. Sullivan wrote this article as much to display his own hip, contemporary intelligence as to educate recruiters on what they might want to do to update their processes. Certainly, any recruiter who wishes to be effective five years from now would do well to be familiar with blogs, jobcasts, industry news tracks, etc. The same goes for knowing how to cold call, get referrals, and build relationships.

In 2000, the bell tolled for recruiting firms, as many claimed ‘there will be no further need for agencies, once corporations become adept with job boards’. Well, just the opposite has happened. Recruiting agencies are as much in demand as ever, and those who provide results, regardless of how they get there, are more in demand than ever.

We should dismiss neither the promise of new technology, nor the wisdom of ‘old school’ recruiters.

Top 10 Indications That You Are a Dinosaur (Old-School) Recruiter!

posted 11/26/2007 at 1:30 p.m. PT by Mark Tokay

Jim -

I couldn’t agree with you more on your post. It would be interesting to see Sullivan’s resume (documented and verified) that reveals his ‘real world’ experience in the recruiting business. After all, at the end of the week, it’s all about Metrics (people interviewed and HIRED). Text messaging, blogging and other tools are great if they make a person productive – But Recruiters aren’t paid for effort. They are PAID for RESULTS!!! All of the gadgets, software tools, LinkedIn contacts, etc. won’t help if you can’t get someone HIRED.

By the way, I haven’t used a job board in 4 years. Nor do I have text messaging, blogs, MySpace, Facebook, podcasts, etc. But I do have a ‘killer’ database, a phone and the ability to ‘make things happen’ – which brings me a ton of repeat business, referrals, standing offers to contract, incredible reference letters and lifelong clients who have become personal friends.

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