Bearing Fruit Consulting

Playing In Talent Puddles

I was fortunate to participate in an awesome conversation yesterday on Bill Boorman's Blog Talk Radio show Ready for Lift Off (that's a link to listen to the entire show).  The conversation started as one about what clients expect from recruiters in today's economy and logically, because recruiters were involved, it went off on several tangents.  Bill (@billboorman) did a nice job of trying to corral the wild horde but, just as it isn't easy to herd cats, it isn't easy keeping recruiters under control. 

Alan Whitford (@alanwhitfordfor the Twitterati) of Recruiting Community Europe became my new best friend when he talked about hanging out in "talent puddles" or the shallow end of the talent pool.

Talent Puddles - I love it!

I have always advocated hanging out in pools of talent rather than just with pools of candidates but Alan upped the ante here by talking about the idea of talent puddles.  When you think about it, it makes perfect sense and I want to expound on the concept.  Puddles are much more shallow and scarce than pools so there is less room to hang out.  Not everyone can get into the puddle. Getting in takes effort because there is competition to get there.  Talented high performers are rare.  They are the top 20% of their field and will be more easily found if you look in the talent puddle not the talent pool.  They will stand out amongst the throngs of suspects, prospects and candidates recruiters run into every day because the are in the puddle or at the part of the pool where the water is shallow. 

Embedded into the recruiter training programs we offer at Bearing Fruit Consulting is the idea that recruiters don't have an infinite amount of time so they must plan and execute their day around recruiting activity that generates a recruiting outcome.  A concept we term being RAD or Recruiting Activity Development oriented.  We actually teach recruiters how to build and execute their workday to maximize results based on business goals.  Inherent to executing this well is the idea that you can't have relationships with everyone and getting referrals from anyone but the highest performers can be a mistake. 

Here are three reasons why hanging out in puddles is better than pools.

The Usual Suspects...& Prospects & Candidates

In blog post after blog post I have used three terms that, to some, might seem to be interchangeable.  If you read recruiting articles, blogs and tweets you will see each of these three terms thrown around and utilized with little regard for what they actually mean. 

The terms are suspect, prospect and candidate. 

The latter two are the most often used,  most often confused, most often transposed and the most loosely bantered about.  Looking back over my past posts, both here and in other forums, I may even be guilty of using these terms far too loosely.  Honestly, I think it is lazy of us (those in the recruiting space) to continue to use these terms so interchangeably.  That is especially true of prospect and candidate.  Suspects, prospects and candidiates are not the same and therefore should not be treated the same during the recruiting process.  Continuing to use these terms interchangeably is likely a reflection of a common recruiting mistake - applying the same technique and recruiting process to everyone being recruited. 

Fail! 

Let's define what each of these terms mean.  Once we define them maybe we can talk about building relational recruiting strategies for each as they journey through the recruiting process. 

There Is Nothing Automatic About CRM or TRM

Four Tactics To Make Autoresponders (feel) More Human

The other day on Twitter a quick discussion occurred between me and Todd Mintz (@toddmintz) an SEO, Social Media and Marketing guy in Beaverton, Oregon.  Todd tweeted the following:

@toddmintz Job candidate yells at me for spamming him...the spam was the autoresponder message asking him to make sure to send in his resume.

Nothing about this candidates response surprised me given the result of our recently published survey results on What Prospects and Candidates Think About Recruiting Calls and the soon to be published follow up on what they think about the Recruiting Engagement. 

The autoresponder tactic is theoretically a good idea.  The objective is to help save the recruiter and the recruiting team time and effort while making them more efficient.  The autoresponder should allow candidates to get responses more quickly and efficiently as they reach certain milestones in the recruitment process or if information is lacking or incomplete. 

The false hope of autoresponders, and how they are often sold by the ATS community, is that they are providing some level of CRM or TRM.  Now I won't get into why Candidate Relationship Management shouldn't be your goal nor how the ATS products are terriblesince I have thoroughly examined both in the recent past.  There is nothing relational or Talent Relationship Management focused about autoresponders as they are executed and positioned out of the box with ATS products.

Autoresponders are cold, disingenuous, boring and transactional.  Prospects and candidates hate them almost as bad as falling into the long established black hole of no response that has tarnished recruiting teams and ATS products seemingly forever.  These autoresponders are dreaded by candidates because by their nature, wording and delivery autoresponders put into writing what candidates have always felt about their value to recruiters and recruiting teams.  That is, they feel like they are just a number or another resume/application adrift in a sea of others who are also getting either no response or the dreaded autoresponder.  

The warm and fuzzy HR types out there have even gone so far as to name their autoresponders something that makes them seem more relational or more human.  I have heard everything from TARA (Talent Acquisition & Recruiting Autoresponder) to SARA (Strategic Auto Response Application).  Most often female names are used and if anyone has a clue as to why this is true please let me know.  As if giving this autoresponder monstrosity a human name will cause the unsuspecting candidate to suddenly feel L.O.V.E.D. 

Ridiculous!

The Four Tactics We Recommend Are After The Jump

Research Goddess Invokes Jurrassic Park Analogy For Social Media

Amybeth Hale, affectionately and accurately named the Research Goddess, is a leader in social networking/social media and is adept at leveraging both for the purpose of sourcing talent.  A relative newbie to the sourcing and recruiting game, she started in 2002, she is an important voice and evangelist in our space.  I like her so much I have her on my blog roll over there on the right.  Not to mention she is from Ohio, my home state, so I am showing a little Buckeye love.

I wanted to point you to her post today on whether or not you should be using social media, blogging etc. as part of your sourcing and recruiting strategy.  She uses the quote from the Michael Crichton film Jurassic Park (one of my all time faves) where Jeff Goldblum as Dr. Ian Malcom questions the idea of cloning dinosaur embryo's with frog DNA to create living dino's - "Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think about if they should..."

Amybeth drives the analogy point home with this set of MONEY statements:

• Anyone CAN start a blog. But should YOU?
• Anyone CAN set up a Facebook Fan page. But should YOUR company?
• Anyone CAN tweet on behalf of their business. But are you ready to give up that much official control?
• Anyone CAN decide to implement mobile marketing. But is your audience going to be receptive to it?

The right to do something does not mean that doing it is right. Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. Practice some patience, do your homework, and find out if it’s right for you, your team, and your company first before pressing forward. Otherwise you run the risk of ruining your reputation or your brand image. Look before you leap!

I work with many clients who, the moment I arrive on site, start talking to me about how they need a social media strategy, need a preence on Twitter, need a Facebook page etc. etc. etc.  It like herding cats to get them to slow down and stop talking Buzzspeak and think about what they are saying. 

Amybeth sums up what I feel and think on this topic.  Sheer brilliance from my fellow Buckeye!  Go read her entire piece over on her site...

Oh, and before I forget, here one of my favorite clips from the movie Jurassic Park. 

Recruiting Is Not For You...Or Is It?

Recruiting is a great profession.  I would say it is a calling.  I say this because YOU rarely find recruiting.  Most often it is RECRUITING that finds you. 

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?  Me, I wanted to President of the United States.  Good thing for all of us that didn't happen.  I can promise you this; you probably didn't want to be a recruiter when you grew up. 

Little kids don't grow up wanting to be recruiters.  They don't call their friends and invite them over for a nice game of "Headhunter", "Sourcing" or "Let's Hire Someone Today". 

This is a calling that seeks YOU out. 

It is not for the faint of heart and it's not a place to tread water until something better comes along.  It is also not a place to start your "HR Career", though sadly many do just that.  Many companies throw gas on this misinformation fire by making recruiting the entry level position to human resources when exactly the opposite should be true.  HR roles should be the entry level roles to recruiting. 

So many start recruiting and try it and so many fail to succeed.  It is the Ironman Triathlon of careers. 

Recruiting provides unsurpassed and unlimited opportunity for anyone who is prepared to commit themselves.  This is especially true in third party recruiting. 

In this "opportunity" lies the great trapping of recruiting.  It lures in the uncommitted with promises of large fee's, excitement and adventure; the thrill of the hunt. 

It teases you into "giving it a try".   "I love to work with people so I decided to be a recruiter" are words like nails on a chalkboard to seasoned recruiters. 

Those drawn to this craft without a firm grasp of real commitment, without knowledge of the ups and downs, close their eyes and visualize success as though it has already happened.   

But guess what?  Your degree doesn't matter.  Your profession doesn't matter.  Your title doesn't matter.  Your specific industry or position specific expertise doesn't matter.  Who you know doesn't matter.  What you have read doesn't matter.  Your qualifications and test scores don't matter.  Your resume doesn't matter.  How much money you have made doesn't matter.  None of these will be of help to you in the recruiting world.

What matters is you - how committed are you?  How hard will you work?  Will you focus on recruiting activity development (being RAD as I call it) or just focus on activity?

Only YOU can help YOU.  It is YOU. 

This is what levels the playing field.  This is what separates those that DO and those that DON'T; those that win and those that lose in recruiting. 

It all comes down to YOU. 

How hard are YOU willing to work?  How often will YOU pick yourself help when you fall or make a mistake?  How much perseverance do YOU have?  How thick is YOUR skin?  How willing are YOU to learn and try new things?  How much time will YOU invest in being RAD?  How do YOU value meaningful relationships?   How many times will YOU pick up the phone to build those relationships?  This  list goes on for a while as you can well imagine.

Because it is about you, the individual, so many fail.  So many come here and leave; so many have recruiting on their resume with a date in the past.  They come, they fight and they fail.  They fail because there are no excuses to be made when it is you.  You can't pass the buck, there is no one left to blame, entitlement is out the window and old man accountability is in your face.  You don't eat, pay bills or live unless you perform. 

Do you love it or do you fear it? 

Maybe a little of both? 

It should be a little of both if you are honest with yourself. 

It is YOU!

A Really Goode Job - Great Recruiting In Wine Country

I love it when you can combine several of your passions simultaneously.  This is one of those times when I get to combine my love of recruiting and my passion for wine. 

On several occasions in my recruiting life as a recruiter, recruiting leader and now consultant I have recommended the contest or competition recruiting strategy.  Essentially the idea is to have a wide open contest or competition to determine the best candidate for a particular job.  Sort of an Apprentice (though I can't stand Donald Trump) meets Survivor meets Amazing Race.  This works really well when trying to hire sales professionals or sales leaders but really it can work for ANY job.  There is no substitute for real world measurable results when evaluating talent for a position.  

The folks over at Murphy Goode Winery in Sonoma County clearly get it and are doing  just that.  Honestly this is recruiting brilliance! 

They are having a contest where they are offering "A Really Goode Job" to the winner.  They are looking for a social media whiz to tell the story of Murphy-Goode, their winesand the lifestyle of Sonoma County Wine Country. 

I have never tasted any Murphy-Goode wines so I can't speak to the quality of the product but I am thinking I need to give them a go soon.  Heck, maybe the "Goode" people at Murphy-Goode will send me some bottles to try out and review - are you listening Murphy-Goode?  Shameless I know, but wine is involved so it can't hurt to ask. 

Sorry to have gone off on that tangent.  So Murphy-Goode is asking interested prospects to submit a video that is a maximum 60 seconds in length.  You are limited only by your creativity and normal boundaries of decency so it really is a competition to find the person who can get it done for the winery.  They will then narrow down the competitive field of candidates to 50.  It seems they will be making that announcement 4 days from this writing. After that they will have an interview and selection process.

The official corporate type title is "Murphy-Goode Wine Country Lifestyle Correspondent" but after looking at what the role entails and the culture of Murphy-Goode the title is far too stuffy to be reflective of the role and the winery.  This is a really awesome gig for anyone who knows how to use web 2.0, social media (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube etc.) and loves wine.  You can read the overview and more information here (including the FAQ'S) but here are some of the "Goodes" (get it, Goodes? - Ha!) taken directly from the website: 

Let's Be Direct About Direct Sourcing

Over the last two days I connected with 6 long time friends and former colleagues in corporate recruiting.  A few of them have been clients and a few others are professionals in the corporate recruiting space that I routinely chat with about various issues, challenges, strategies and tactics.  Pretty much these are open discussion sessions where I learn a ton from each of them and I like to think they learn a little from me as well. 

Often these conversations turn to various topics related to recruiting metrics and how an organization evaluates the success, results and impact of recruiting.  I really need to do a series of posts on that.  Anyway, one topic related to metrics that came up continually is how Source Of Hire (SOH) is tracked and what constitutes Direct Sourcing. 

To define it in simple terms, Direct Sourcing is using third party recruiting tactics internally within a corporate environment.  Essentially it is going after candidates who have not applied or might not apply to your company unless contacted and compelled by a relevent opportunity via phone, email (though I think email is bad form when contacting passive candidates) and other forms of communication by a recruiter in your organization. 

In many cases these 6 companies included contacting prospects whose resumes were found in various job board and niche board databases to which these companies subscribe.  I completely reject the notion that this is Direct Sourcing. 

The Sklar Brothers on Recruiting Calls...err...Telemarketers

Yesterday I revealed some of the results from the prospect and candidate survey data we have collected over the last 3 1/2 years.  The focus in that post was on what prospects and candidates really think about recruiting calls.  I had several direct emails and calls asking for more details and I have set up some follow up calls with those individuals to discuss the findings in greater depth.  There is another post coming on what professionals say about their experiences once they are engaged with a recruiter and then at least one summary post. 

One email I received yesterday mentioned a funny video by The Sklar brothers on telemarketing and thought I might get a kick out of it since many of our survey respondents felt like they were getting telemarketing calls from so many recruiters. 

I watched it and thought it was pretty funny so I am sharing it with you.  Enjoy...but realize they could just as easily be talking about recruiters making their calls.

Jokes.com
The Sklar Brothers - Telemarketers
dians.comedycentral.com
Joke of the Day Stand-Up Comedy Free Online Games

What Prospects & Candidates Say About Recruiting Calls

Some of you know I have a Recruiting Call Hall of Shame.  

Essentially this is a grouping of voice mails I have received from recruiters trying  to recruit me or looking to network for referrals.  Let me tell you they are absolutely terrible. 

Embarrassing really.

I really want to post clips of these calls on the blog so that all can join in my  complete and utter disgust with how bad so many recruiters are at making calls.  My attorney tells me that would be a bad idea because if someone recognizes their voice on the call it could mean legal trouble. 

If these calls weren’t real they would be funny. 

Late last week I talked about all the candidate data BFC has been gathering since our founding in 2006.  From this data I introduced a series of posts on What Prospects & Candidates Say about Recruiters.  If you are interested in all the data and the basics of who exactly we gathered the data from please go back and read that introductory post.

There is really no way to cover this topic and the data in 500 words or less so please forgive the length of this post.  I think this information is really important to our industry and I want to try and present the information in groupings that have synergy and context regardless of the length.  That means there will likely be more posts than just two.    

The total survey sample is 2,000 prospects and candidates (500 annually for the last 3 ½ years) across various geographies and industries with salaries over $50,000 annually.  Additionally, we requested survey data from prospects and candidates that were or are engaged with us over the last 3 ½ years.  This adds an additional 349 professionals (those who responded) to our survey data.  The total sample size (for those of you who can’t do the math) comes to 2,349.  I think that is a lot of professionals and represents a significant enough sample size to draw some reasonable conclusions from their responses.  I am not a statistician so someone may take issue with my assertion here.  Let’s get started by focusing on how recruiters are perceived when they first make contact with and attempt to engage a prospect or candidate. We called this the Recruiting Call.  

Are you ready?  If so, you can get the details after the jump.

What Prospects & Candidates Say About Recruiters

Ever wonder what your candidates are saying about you when you aren't there? When they talk behind your back, which they do, what are they saying?

If you are a recruiter or involved in recruiting you sure better wonder and you had best be concerned. There are few things as important as how you are perceived by prospects and candidates. Unfortunately, the news isn't so good when it comes to prospect and candidate perception of recruiters in both third party and corporate.

When I started Bearing Fruit Consulting (BFC) in June of 2006 I thought about this at length and began to collect data from those prospects and candidates we contacted and or engaged with in an effort to improve our level of engagement, service and recruiting technique. In 2007 I decided to continue this practice but then go one step further and actually ask potential prospects and candidates in multiple industries and across different geographies what they think of the recruiters they get calls from and those they engage to assist with their career move. We have done this each year since and recently completed our 2009 sample and survey. Now that we have 3 ½ years of information I decided to share some insights from what we learned. If you have ever been a participant in our recruiter training or if you have been a client we have shared some of this information with you as we collected it but I felt it was about time to share this a bit more publicly.

I plan to share this information in two posts to follow this one. The first post will focus on how recruiters are perceived when they first make contact with and attempt to engage a prospect or candidate. We called this the Recruiting Call.

The second post will focus on what prospects and/or candidates have to say about their experience once engaged with the recruiter. Not surprisingly we called this the Recruiting Engagement.

More after the jump!