Guest Blog!! Common Sense Rules for Recruiters!!

I'm excited to have a guest blogger this week!  My dear friend Nell, she pretty much rules and is a ton of fun.  Like I said last week, I'm hoping to have more guest posts and this is the first.  With that, I'll let Nell tell you about a few basic rules for recruiters....needless to say, I love the last two.  Enjoy!

 

Common Sense Rules for Recruiters

One of the advantages to being a “senior” member of a recruiting team is that I have a lot of years (i.e. I’ve been doing this for a LONG time) from which to glean my knowledge and experience. I also recognize that the means with which we can now do our job has changed drastically and will continue to evolve as technology improves (sidenote: I remember when a former boss finally agreed to fore go the Rolodex for a desktop computer for each of us and watching her point her mouse at the screen like a garage door opener) but common sense and basics of how we do our job and conduct ourselves as recruiters should not.  

Far too often I hear stories from candidates and hiring managers about recruiters who more closely resemble used car salesmen or glorified paper pushers than professional recruiters and it absolutely makes my skin crawl.  Here are just a few of the common sense/basic rules that we should all be following:

• You are often the first impression a candidate has of the company. Just like you are passing judgment on their skill set and experience, a candidate is assessing if the way you treat them is indicative of how employees are treated within your organization.  So regardless of their qualifications, always be respectful. Always.
  
  
• When you are interviewing (phone or in-person) pay attention to THEM.  Don’t multi-task just because they can’t see you, and don’t check your email or take a call while they are sitting in front of you.  Ever.
  
  
• If a co-worker or hiring manager isn't returning an email or if you are going back and forth over email and not getting anything resolved, pick up the damn phone and call them OR walk to their office and actually talk to them.  It’s amazing how well TALKING to someone actually works.  Technology is awesome but not always the best means to communicate.
  
  
• Follow through with your candidates and hiring managers. If you say you are going to do X, then do it. Duh.
  
  

• Pay it forward. Every week you should do something or help someone else find a job or make the one they’re in better.  When I was unemployed several years ago I was shocked at the number of people who went out of their way to help me. I was equally as shocked by the number of fellow recruiters who didn't return my calls or emails. 
  
  

and last but not least…

• If you don’t enjoy recruiting or being a recruiter, then get a new job -- you’re making those of us who love it, look bad.

Find me at google.com/+NellThayerHeisner11 or on Twitter @nellthayer

Why recruiting is harder than you think...

I write a lot about recruiting tips and tricks and little nuggets I’ve learned over the years.  Here is one I don’t usually share...recruiting is a REALLY hard career.  It’s amazing if you’re into it, even better if you’re good at it.....but it’s hard.  No joke, it’s harder than it sounds and here are a few reasons why:

Sell the candidate, sell the company - Recruiting has a lot in common with Sales, tons of grinding and prospecting to find business (or candidates if you’re a corporate recruiter) so you spend a ton of time of time on the phone.  No big deal, the phone is fun.  The challenge is this....you are ALWAYS selling.  Sell the candidate on the role.  Sell your client on the candidate.  Sell the compensation.  Sell the benefits.  Negotiate the agreement. Sell, sell, sell. You’ve got to have that mindset from the start.

Most recruiters don’t last - Little know fact, most people who start a career in recruiting are out of recruiting within 3 months.  If they make it past that...maybe two years but most people get worn down over time because all they do is hammer the phone when the get started.  What they don’t realize, great recruiting is more than just hammering the phone...but when you first get started you usually can’t see the forest from the tree.

The numbers don’t lie - My first boss in recruiting taught me many lessons, this one has really stuck.  “If you play baseball and hit .300 you’re an All-Star, in recruiting if you hit .200 you’ll do really well...but what that means is 80% of the time you’ll fail.  Hiring metrics, pass thru rates, submittal numbers etc etc don’t lie......recruiting is a game of failure and how well you can keep your eye on the wins....and the wins will come.

Most of the tools suck - Yeah, I said it.  Most of the tools you'll use suck so when you pull a report...that data sucks too.  Recruiters are many things, great tool builders....meh

You’re always on the chopping block - Look, hard truth here.  Recruiting is always the first function to feel a slow down.  We are the ultimate cost center.  Not only are we expensive...but we hire people who are at least as expensive as we are and add to the bottom line.  So, when revenues are down or the market crashes who gets laid off first?  Recruiters go.....sad but true.

It’s always a hiring problem - Final hard truth but it’s something you’ll find at most companies.  Companies always blame recruiting.  Attrition high?  Hire more people.  Miss revenue?  Recruiting didn’t hire enough sales people.  Expenses too high?  Recruiting over hired and drove up expenses.  Can’t hire enough engineers?  The candidate pipeline is too small.    Honestly, I’ve seen all of these examples in real life.  What’s funny, is it’s almost never JUST a recruiting problem.  Sometimes it is sure but usually it’s a bigger issue about the culture or the way the company operates it’s just easier for everyone to point at us recruiters than it is to say there is a culture or management problem.

There are a million other things that make recruiting hard but this is just a quick short list...for those of you getting started or considering a career in recruiting I hope it helps.  My blog can be a lot of puppy dogs and ice cream and I wanted to make sure I keep it real.  I love recruiting and will probably spend my entire career doing it but don’t think it will be easy.  Chances are you’ll work longer hours and have more ups/downs than most of your friends......but that’s ok, we can handle it.

What's the difference between a good recruiter and a great recruiter.....

I've been thinking a lot about what really makes a great recruiter.  A lot of my friends and colleagues are looking to add folks to their teams and they all want great talent, not just good talent.  (Frankly, I'm trying to do the same thing on my team but that's not the topic of this blog)

So, what really makes someone great?  I mean.....do we even know?  I don't think anyone has the magic bullet for finding a great recruiter but here are a few of my thoughts between good and great recruiters.

1)  Good recruiters fill jobs, great recruiters build the organization - This one is crystal clear to me.  Most recruiters fill jobs and move one.  Weak.  Great recruiters partner with the business to help build the best organization the possibly can.  Now, this is hard.  You can't always be your managers friend.  You've got to push back on things and speak your mind when you disagree with a decision.  Which leads to #2.....

2) Good recruiters work on their headcount, great recruiters drive headcount and are vocal about hiring decisions - Honestly, any knucklehead can fill a job....seriously, what we do is not rocket science.  But a great recruiter finds talent that forces the business to hire opportunistically and get creative.  Great recruiters find so many great people that they business has to think outside of the box in order to get as much talent as they possibly can.

3)  Good recruiters leverage programs, great recruiters build programs - Again, not rocket science here but lots of really good recruiters who can leverage all kinds of recruiting programs to build candidate pipeline...now the great recruiters dream up new programs and build them to fill a business need. 

4) Good recruiters sell the job, great recruiters over-communicate the opportunity - This sounds like a subtle one but trust me the different for your organization is crazy.  Good recruiters know their roles and can sell candidates on the job.  Big deal.  Great recruiters over-communicate with the candidate and can explain the opportunity (not just the job).  Truly great talent doesn't take a job...they look for exceptional opportunities to grow.

5)  Good recruiters have all kinds of tricks....great recruiters share their tricks and make everyone better - This is probably the most important.  Plenty of recruiters have little tips and tricks they use to get the job done but the great ones are share and collaborate with team to make everyone better...thus creating a great team.

Clearly this is an incomplete list but it's a start.  I'll do a follow up post on a few more things (general smarts, creativity, etc etc) that make a great recruiter.  But for anyone out there trying to hire a team or build a recruiting function you can't rely on "good" folks to take you to the next level.....you've absolutely have to find great recruiters who are smart, can get things done and move the needle for the organization.

Good luck out there this week and more soon before I go on vacation!

It's time for a recruiting Trafalgar

Ok, crazy busy week for me but I had this weird inspiration and wanted to share....so, hang on.  As you know, I’m a History dork.  I’ve got a degree in History and pretty much only read historical books....very little fiction.  This weeks inspiration comes from Lord Horatio Nelson and the Battle of Trafalgar.  

If you aren’t familiar w/ Nelson or this battle, I’d highly recommend giving it a little study (I can even recommend a book in comments if you’d like!).  The moral of the story here is that Nelson won this amazing battle due to dramatically changing normally accepted tactics....and revolutionizing the art of battle.

For me...I’m feeling like it’s about time for a whole new take on looking for a job and hiring top talent.  A “Recruiting Trafalgar” if you will.  Here’s what I mean:

Nelson Bucked the Trends - At the time, opposing fleets would basically sail next to each other in parallel lines and blast each other to pieces.  Although this sounds manly and tough....it’s pretty dumb.  Rather than take his smaller force and face certain death...Nelson rethought the problem won via innovation.  If we are going to truly change the way people get hired we need to stop lining up in parallel lines and blasting away.  It’s time to think outside of the box, get nimble and build innovative solutions that work for you (or your organization).

Maximizing Fire for Maximum Results - To defeat the French and Spanish fleet, Nelson took his fleet and attacked them perpendicularly...thus allowing his fleet to maximize fire and devastate the enemy.  See below:

The analogy here is that if you’re looking for a job or trying to hire a bunch of folks...you HAVE to maximize fire and generate as much activity as you can.  The only way to “win” the battle is to focus your attention as much as you can and develop overwhelming activity.

Hindsight is 20/20 - Ok, last point on this and it’s a good one.  Hindsight is 20/20 in recruiting and history. Nelson died in the Battle of Trafalgar and became a national hero.  So, if you are on the edge and pushing the boundaries of hiring/recruiting/job search you may not even know it....but, history will look back on you.  Whether it’s a good new job, a great new team or amazing advice to a friend/colleague who’s looking around....it will be easy for you to see your success with the benefit of hindsight.

That’s it this week, my daughter put a copy of my favorite Nelson book in my laptop bag today and told me I’d need it for work....ironically, she was right.  I’m pretty sure in 1805, Lord Horatio Nelson had no idea he’d be inspiration for a recruiting blog in 2012.

Good luck out there this week.......and keep thinking outside the box.

Recruiting thoughts from the London Olympics

Ok, so by now we’ve all gotten started watching the Olympics and it got me thinking...as recruiters, hiring managers or candidates we can all learn a TON from the Olympics.  With that...a few thoughts:

Practice is golden - I was reading a thing on Michael Phelps and what really stuck me was how much that dude practices.  He works out 6 hours a day, 6 days a week.  Holy crap!  No wonder he’ll likely go down as the greatest Olympian of all time.  So, to be the best you need to practice.  Why when it comes to recruiting do we think we can just show up and ace the interview? Or pick the best people with no training?  Blows my mind....practice people!

You don’t need to be a powerhouse - Ever heard of Venuste Niyongabo?  Probably not.  He’s the only gold metal winner from Burundi.  Crazy to think about but pretty cool.  The moral?  You don’t have to be at some powerhouse company (or country) to do amazing things.  You can “win gold” at any organization or on any team.  Channel your inner Niyongabo and rock it.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder - Ok, work with me here....I’ve been fascinated by some random Olympic events...specifically cycling.  I mean, really, I could care less about dudes on bikes but it’s been pretty compelling.  How does this relate to a job search?  Easy.  Something that might seem boring to me....might be the greatest job on earth to you.  Totally depends on your perspective but really it’s true.  Don’t worry about what other folks have to say, if you think a job or projects sounds good....go for it.

Ok, that’s it.  I start my new job this week so we’ll see how much time I have for blogging but hopefully I can find time to put something out there.

Good luck this week, the economy seems be to slowing so be extra diligent.

Job Tip of the Week - Have a plan

I realized that it's been a while since I've done a "Tip of the Week"....talk about a slacker.  Thankfully, I've got one this week.  I hope it helps.

One of the most important things you can do during your job search or career really....is have plan.  Now, I'm not talking about having your life scripted out so you much that you feel like the Truman Show but you've got direction.  During an active job search this especially important so you can not only keep making progress but keep motivation.

Wonder what a "plan" would look like?  Here's an idea:

- Submit 3 resumes a week online
- Contact 1 (or 2) former colleagues or classmates a week for networking
- Contact 1 person OUTSIDE of your network a week for networking
- Attend 1 networking event a week (month?) to meet additional people
- Meet with 1 recruiter a month to develop a network of people looking at roles for you
- Find a mentor who can help advise you on your search

Now, this is pretty aggressive but  if you think about it....this is what, eight hours of work?  If you're looking for a job or between jobs eight hours is nothing.  Get it done.

Good luck out there!

Oh yeah, we'll keep your resume on file....

Ok, so by now most of my readers realize this is my personal blog and not that of my employer.  Right?  Ok, got it?  Because this post is absolutely positively 100% Jeff here...nothing more.

With that shameless C-Y-A...I will now discuss the famous (infamous?) “We’ll keep your resume on file” line you hear from many recruiters.  A lot of people assume that means it’s off to the trash...not entirely true.  It’s actually pretty complicated so I’ll address the potential outcomes for you when a recruiter tells you that they’ll keep you on file.

1) They actually do and they call you - I’ve done this SEVERAL times.  Meet a candidate and for some reason the timing is off so we have to pass....for now.  I’ll usually tell the person “I’m not just saying this, we’ll call you back.  I might not be for two years but we’ll call back”.  So, obviously this is the best outcome and it does happen.

2)  They like you but don’t know where you fit - Again, this happens all the time to recruiters and they are keeping the door open for you.  Now they might not be thinking their current company or even an unnamed future company but they want to keep in touch.  Take it for what it is, and hope for the best.

3) They have a really good ATS - Some companies have awesome Applicant Tracking Software...as such, they have great databases of candidates and when they say “we’ll keep you on file”  they mean it.  A new job opens up and the FIRST thing the recruiter does is search the database and call people.  Don’t I always tell you to apply online?  This is why.

4)  They don’t know what else to say - Another common one.  Lots of recruiters hate conflict and don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.  So, rather than just giving you the straight dope and telling you it’s not a fit they come up w/ some lame excuse that ends with keeping you on file.  It sucks, but it happens.

There you go, next time a recruiter tells you they’ll keep you on file ask if you can connect on LinkedIn.  That way you can build a connection beyond the resume, network a bit and maybe if you are lucky move from #4 to getting #1.......

Your cover letter is dead...

Ok, I’ve spoken a lot about resumes lately and so I wanted to quickly hit on the whole idea of a “cover letter’.  Here is a fact, the cover letter as it’s commonly known is dead.  D-E-A-D.  Do you know why?  Because no one, and I mean no one sends paper resumes anymore.  If you do, they probably end up in the trash.  It’s true, sorry.

So, if the cover letter is dead in it’s traditional form what are you supposed to do?  Here are a few ideas.

Send an email - um, duh.....email is the new snail mail (well, it’s not that new) but send an email that would kind of look like a cover letter of old.  You’ll obviously want to be less formal, and word to the wise----craft an email that shows up is only as big as the “preview pane” so recruiters like me can quickly review it and not have to scroll through a ton of text.

Send a resume - You know, apply online.......if you need more than that, nevermind....

Network for a job - This is my favorite and one of the most important.  The BEST way to get a job...networking.  So, do some networking and meet people by leveraging your LinkedIn profile so that you don’t NEED a cover letter.  All you need to do is have a few informational or informal chats about the role...follow up with a resume later....interview.....take the job.

That’s it for now, I should have another post later in the week.  Special thanks to David Rosenthal for the topic...Thanks!!

Jeff

Lessons from the Scott Thompson story

Usually I avoid talking too much about “current events” in recruiting but I think I’ll start doing more blogs that give my views on such things.  So, here we go...first try.

By now you should all know the story of Scott Thompson, the former CEO of Yahoo who resigned because of a discrepancy on his resume.  If not, you can read about it here.  Crazy story, but honestly I think there are a lot of lessons for anyone either looking for a job or involved in hiring.  In no particular order:

Don’t lie on your resume - OBVIOUSLY!!!  Come on man, don’t like on your resume!!!  This is like being a decent human 101.  And while I’m at it...lying about the kind of degree you have?  Really?  I mean, come on people this stuff isn’t hard....

Blaming the recruiter is for jerks - Apparently Thompson blamed the recruiting agency who placed him for the discrepancy...please!  This whole part of the story makes me sick.  Seriously, this kind of thing gives recruiters a bad name and it shouldn’t.  If you get busted doing something shady, suck it up and admit it.

Background checks matter - I’m pretty horrified that neither Yahoo nor Heidrick & Struggles did a background check to confirm degrees on Thompson.  Frankly, what was Ebay doing too?  Now, some of my Exec Search friends might chime in with a “finding a CEO is different” response but I’m sorry...if you’re going to do a background check on a $35K a year entry level hire you’d better be doing it for C-level hires too.

Know your candidates - If you’re a recruiter out there reading this, you have to know your candidates.  Spend the time to check references from when they were in school and get to know them.  Companies are going to pay you big bucks for the service, do them right and take the time to know your candidates.

Admit it - Thompson was outed by AllthingsD.com and then proptly went all Watergate and tried to blame everyone involved....rather than take the blame.  The moral as always here, the coverup is frequently worse than the crime.  When busted, suck it up and admit you were wrong.  People love a comeback and are likely to forgive you.  No one like a lying jerk who digs a deeper hole.

That’s it, sitting here I feel like this could be a REALLY long blog so I’ll cut it short.  Now, I don’t know all the facts (clearly) but from what I’ve read (see the link to the WSJ story) we can all learn a ton from this story about recruiting, HR, a job search and working with an external agency.

Use a customized resume!

Quick job search tip this week.  Make a customized resume!  When you  are applying for a job make sure the resume is relevant.

For example.  Applying for a job at Wal-Mart you'd want to make sure your "Objective" says something like "To obtain a job as a sales professional at Wal-Mart".  Even better...you are sending that to a recruiter at Wal-Mart (call him Jeff) and you'd want to send an email/cover letter that actually addresses "Dear Jeff" with that customized resume you make specifically for Wal-Mart.

Finally, make sure your resume speaks to the job.  If the job requires a certain skill that you have...make sure you MENTION that skill in your resume. Never assume people will think it's there.  Assume they won't, and put it into works.

You'd be surprised how many "To Whom It May Concern" letters I see with a resume that states something like "To get a cool job that grows my skills".  Lame, lamer and lamest.....take five minutes to do a good job an send in a resume that shows you care.

Good luck this week!

Jeff

Job tip of the week - Jan 29th, 2012...Be stupid enough to try

I'm pretty fired up this week so you'll have to just bear with a bit more snark than normal but I really think this blog will do you right.  The advice - Be stupid enough to try....  This might sound like crazy advice but I've been following this advice for ages.  A few examples:

- I moved to Washington DC with "no job and no clue" as I like to say....but knew I wanted to work in politics.  After four months of unpaid internships, crazy night jobs and some excellent connections...I was working on Capitol Hill

- I wanted to work at Google...so badly actually, I applied for a job in Zurich.  After the shortest interview ever (I bombed both questions) the recruiter asked me if I'd prefer a role in Boston....bingo!  Six years later I'm still loving it.

- Just this week....I was looking for Super Bowl tickets.  So, I tweeted out asking if anyone out there had a pair I could buy.  15 minutes later, I'm going to the Super Bowl.  No joke.

See, being a little stupid (or crazy or whatever adjective you'd like) can give you just enough of a push to really try something you'd NEVER try if you were thinking straight...but just might land you the opportunity or job of a lifetime.  Trust me, it's worked for me and it will work for you.

More later this week....

Jeff

Job hut tip of the week - January 19th, 2012 - Show your work!

Hey everyone!  Been a really busy crazy week for me...lots of great work and a bunch of “Hangouts On Air” via the @googlestudents page.  You can find the videos from the HOA's here! Tons of fun! Regardless...I still have time for a tip of the week.

This weeks tip? Show your work.

What do you mean Jeff?  It’s easy.  When you are looking for a job, especially if you are out of work.  You have to keep track of what you are doing.  Make a spreadsheet, list target companies, networking contacts and when you have been engaged with them.  Doing this will give your search a sense of purpose and also allow you to keep track of everything so you can be diligent and deliberate in what you do.

Most people treat their job search like a part time job...it’s not, it’s a major commitment and keeping detailed notes of what you do will make it much more rewarding in the long run.

Until next week...happy hunting

You're looking for a job...but can people FIND you?

Quick blog this week but I think it’s important.  When you are looking for a job, you should make sure to figure out how easily you are found.  Because if you are really actively looking for a job you want to make sure that 1) You’re looking for jobs but also that 2) People can find you if they are out looking for great employees.

So, here’s what you might think about doing...

1) Search for your name - Of course you know, “Google” yourself.  What’s funny, I did this and the results were very different depending on the search engine.  On Google, I’m the first or second result for any combination of my name...good.  Yahoo, um, not so much but I’m pretty findable...especially if you do “Jeff Moore Recruiter”....Bing?  Um, apparently I barely exist there.  That gave me a chuckle.  Will have to work on that :)   Anyway, figure out how people can find you and do things to help make it easier to find you.  Blog, tweet, write articles, whatever...get out there.

2) LinkedIn - Get your profile 100% complete and up to date.  Add connections and get some professional references. When you meet with someone...tell them “I’ll send you a connection so we can stay in touch.”  Building your network is the most important thing you can do whether you are in a job search or not.  Finally...LinkedIn is a HUGE recruiting channel now and if you are not there....you’re nowhere.

3) Experiment - Play around with different things. Find ways to contribute to the online world and get yourself “out there”.  Attend industry events.  I have a saying about lottery tickets (don’t ask!) which is “You’ve got to play to win”....the same could be said for your job search.

That’s it this week........get out there, it’s a new year so there are new opportunities!

Building a better recruiting metric?

How do you measure a good recruiter? Metrics of course, but really are the metrics we use that accurate in determaining how your recruiting team actually perfoming? Probably not, most of the metrics I've seen or talked to people about tend to be things like : Time to fill, Cost per hire, Acceptance Rate, Number of hires, Source, etc etc. Some of these are GREAT metrics but can't we do better? I feel like these metrics have been around forever with very little innovation or change.

So, let's dig a little deeper and see if we can find a few better metrics based on the Sabermetrics that they use in baseball. Wikipedia says the following:

"Sabermetricians frequently call into question traditional measures of baseball skill. For instance, batting average is generally considered by them to be a statistic of limited usefulness because it turns out to be a poor predictor of a team's ability to score runs.^[2] A more typical sabermetric reasoning would say that runs win ballgames, and that therefore a good measure of a player's worth is his ability to help his team score more runs than the opposing team. In particular, they tend to emphasize on base percentage."

Ok, so let's think about "recruiting skill" by questioning some traditional recruiting statistics. Let's start with number of hires. You have two recruiters, Recruiter A hires 10 engineers while Recruiter B hires 7 over the same time period. Traditional recruiting metrics would say Recruiter A is the stronger performer. Now, in some ways, number of hires is the most important metric however, if dig deeper there may be more to the story.

If we cross-reference the performance rating of each hire, there may be a different picture. Assuming we rate employees on a 1-5 scale, the average performance of Recruiter A's hires is 3.5 while Recruiter B's folks perform at an average rating of 4.5. You metrics would know look like this:

	Number of Hires	Average Performance Score
Recruiter A	10	3.5
Recruiter B	7	4.5

Now multiply the average score by the number of hires we come up with a statistic we'll call "Total Performance Score", which isl basically measuring not only how many hires your recruiter had, but what kind of a performance impact those hires actually had. The metrics would now be:

	Number of Hires	Average Performance Score	Total Performance Score
Recruiter A	10	3.5	35.0
Recruiter B	7	4.5	31.5

Does these metrics tell you anything? Well yes, Recruiter A hires more people but Recruiter B hires better performers. But there is more here. Recruiter A's scored a 35 out of a possible score of 50 while Recruiter B scored a 31.5 our of 35. So the performance difference is even more profound. Doing the math here we come up with a statistic we'll call "Hire Impact Ratio".

	Number of Hires	Average Performance Score	Total Performance Score	Hire Impact Ratio
Recruiter A	10	3.5	35.0	.70
Recruiter B	7	4.5	31.5	.90

This "Hire Impact Ratio" shows us that Recruiter B hires candidates who have a much bigger impact within the company than Recruiter A. Does this matter? Sure it does! The goal of every recruiting organization is to hire the best people possible! I'm not saying this metric above is the greatest thing ever, but I am sure that we as recruiters can and should do a better job of finding ways to measure our performance than the same old metrics of the past! Thoughts?