Part Three:

In the previous 2 parts of this Blog series, I’ve covered everything from the communication of shady competitors to the upside and downside of Social Networking tools. I would like to end the 3 part series focusing on the positive by providing my individual professional highlights of the last year as well as my company and colleagues accomplishments using Social Networks.

2011 ended the debate once and for all about the validity of Linkedin as an invaluable IT Recruiting Resource – My Company had an increase of over 400% growth in 2011. While not all of the growth was attributed to just “one thing”, Social Networking for candidates helped us increase our candidate headcount. We saw an astonishing 15% plus increase in candidates that were placed as a direct result of Linkedin and an astonishing 20% plus increase in candidate responses utilizing Social Media posting platforms.

Social Media Postings / Social Recruiting Tools

More tools became readily available last year to help expedite the posting process and making more jobs accessible to candidates that utilize Social Media for Job Searches. Most ATS Systems were using Automated Posting features but new “Social Recruiting” tools such as Bullhorn Reach and Job Magic made it easier to manage postings either directly or indirectly from your company’s ATS System. I personally benefited from posting more jobs to my Linkedin Network using Social Recruiting Tools. The ability to automate the postings directly from my ATS system  and scheduling the postings to refresh twice a day, gave me more time to actively source, direct recruit and work the “Underground Job Market” that is more networking and referral based.  

Increased Social Media Smartphone Functionality

The best thing about having an iPhone or ANY phone running iOS / Android / Windows is the ability to respond quickly to candidates that are interested in your jobs posted on Social Networking sites. New Smartphone Social Media functionality allows you to post and work with candidates on the go. Our company recruiters are synced to our ATS through our Smartphones and that has allowed us to get candidate information quickly and has enabled us to add Social Networking App functions that may not be readily available to competitors or our clients. If you do not have a Sync function, I encourage you to download Linkedin for your phone OS.

Building Successful Networks

Social Recruiting is only as successful as the networks that you build. The recruiters that have been successful are those that build networks of the candidates that they market. In part 2 of this series, I mentioned that you need to be careful when including other recruiters in your network. I should have elaborated to further state that it is an ABSOLUTE that you grow your network of talent to include .NET / Java / UI / Mobile developers, ERP (Oracle, SAP, etc.), Business Intelligence / Data, Infrastructure, PM’s/BA’s, QA’s.

Today might be a good day to disconnect with a large number of recruiters and send invitations to anyone that you’ve screened, interviewed (Internal and client) and placed on contract/contract to hire /direct hire.

Building a network of technical talent was HUGE for me over the last year to year and a half. This “Push” to secure more talent in my network was one of the highlights of my year in that I saw a bigger return of interest in my Job Shares and Posts.

Going forward in 2012

I encourage you to increase your talent networks, utilize Job Posting and Social Recruiting Tools including the proper software / hardware. I guarantee that you will see similar success in the coming year and, hopefully, less of the Bad and Ugly!

Part Two:

This article will be focusing strictly on 2 topics: Managing Connections and Posting Jobs

Managing Connections

The Good

The great thing about Social Media and Recruiting is that it gives Recruiters access to Passive Candidates, Special Interest Groups, Companies, Contacts and Competitors. The access is not difficult to attain. Linkedin provides us the capability to search by name, current or past title, current or past company, key words, etc. At one time this data would have been proprietary to a competitor’s database, company directories and/or call lists only attainable by purchase and marketing research.  Once you identify the person that you would like to add as a “Connection” on Linkedin, you typically send them an invite to connect. Once the connection is made, that person can receive your network updates and shares.

To maximize your Connections you must first invite prospective candidates to connect with you. It is much easier to gain a connection once you are working with the candidate. I would suggest connecting with candidates that you have submitted to your clients, candidates that are in the process of interviewing and candidates that you have placed at Direct Hire, Contract or Contract to Hire Positions. It might even be a good idea to connect with previous candidates from your database. Connecting with these types of Technical Candidates maximizes the impact of your “Shares” on Linkedin. Remember: If you are connected to a bunch of recruiters it really doesn’t do you a bit of good to share your jobs on Linkedin.

Contacts can be trickier to connect with but easier once you have established a relationship. I wouldn’t send an invite to a prospect that I just met but, once engaged in business, definitely. Some of you may not agree with me on this, but my personal preference is to ask once I’ve started working with the client contact.

Join Special Interest Groups that will help you and are applicable to the types of talent that you are looking for. If you are an IT Recruiter in DFW, you need to join groups that are specific to skills such as C#, .NET, Java, Sharepoint, SQL Server, Business Intelligence, Mobile Applications, SAP, QA, Oracle, Salesforce.com, Silverlight, Mobile, UI/UX, Unix, Project Management, etc. These groups will provide you access to IT Talent and you are allowed to share “Discussions” within the groups in the form of a Job Posting. Remember to look for groups with a large number of members. If you are looking for talent primarily within DFW, try to join the local groups.

 Regarding connections with Competitors – I have one rule. Keep as few of these folks connected as possible and try to connect with competitors that you know. It’s good to keep up with “Friendly” competitors (if there is such a thing) but you must know that your connections can see MOST of your activity which brings me to…….

The Bad

Connections to Competitors can have a HUGE negative impact. For instance, every Candidate and Client Contact that you connect with is visible to your connections. If you are connected to a competitor they will have access to the same candidates and client contacts. I have had recruiters give me “Real World” examples of getting contract and direct requirements simply by viewing Network Updates on Linkedin and contacting the connection of a competitor. The same holds true for candidates. I have personally viewed competitor connections and added candidate prospects to my network after viewing recent recruiter connections on Linkedin network updates.

Bottom Line – BE CAREFUL connecting with competitors.

Posting Jobs

The Good

If you have the right connections, posting jobs on Linkedin can be an invaluable service. Whether you are posting a “Share”, Using Job Posting add-ons such as Bullhorn Reach/Jobmagic or even posting to Groups within Bullhorn, Linkedin gives you access to a larger pool of Passive Candidates.

The key to good “Shares” is providing enough info about the job to generate interest but not too much. Your goal is to generate candidate interest and get them to contact you.

Using add-on products can increase the info that you provide to your network with more specific descriptions and you can schedule the add-on products (Bullhorn Reach / Jobmagic) to automatically post your jobs directly from your ATS on a daily or even hourly basis.

Personally, I have had great success joining Groups within Linkedin and posting jobs to those groups using the Discussion feed. It is somewhat limited but like the Share function but the goal is to generate interest.

The Bad

There is only one Bad thing that could happen posting jobs on Linkedin or posting in general but it’s a BIG negative. Your competition could discover your client, contact the same client, and get your job order/requirement.

1^st – Be careful when you post Share’s, Jobs or Discussions in Groups. Make sure that you do not provide enough info for your competition to determine the company that has the requirement. For example, Let’s say there is a company that needs .NET Developers in Allen, TX and they are a major Card Processing company. You post in the description that you are looking for a .NET Developer with Card Processing experience. Sounds harmful right? WRONG. The problem resides in the fact that the client may be the ONLY credit card processing company in Allen, TX. If you are worth a damn in this business, getting the rest of the info will not be a problem.

2^nd – DO NOT, let me repeat, DO NOT have the company name in the description. Review all requirements and shares before posting. This holds especially true for add-ons such as Bullhorn Reach or Jobmagic. These tools allow recruiters to automate job postings from either an internal or public description.

There will always be positives and negatives in using tools, processes, applications….whatever. Just be aware and try to focus on the upside. Personally, I love using as many tools as possible to find people and get an edge on my competition. When I can, I try to avoid pitfalls and/or scumbags that might work for some of my competitors. My general feeling is that there is plenty of business to go around and I wish anyone that has the energy and desire to succeed in this business the best…….just not at my expense.

Next article will be the final in the Good, Bad and Ugly series. We will focus only on the Good and Positive of the last year in using Social Networking tools. Wish everyone continued success in 2012!

This is the first of a 3 part series.

I have learned many tricks, rules, tools, lessons, Do’s and Don’ts using Social Media over the past 5 or 6 years. I am by no means an expert but I can give you bits and pieces of my history for you to make an educated decision.

Part One….DO NOT POST ANYTHING THAT NEEDS A BACK STORY or something that can be twisted.  This is probably my most recent encounter with social media. I posted a picture of a competitor while they were in the lobby of my client site with the following statement attached:  “Here is a picture of one of my competitors that insist that they are not a competitor……..the picture was taken at one of my clients. Maybe they’re right, between doing business with this person and The Horn…………. there really is no competition!”  

 Back Story

The competitor mentioned above had recently met with the CIO of one of my clients and tried to convince the CIO to stop doing business with my company (WHO DOES THAT?). The end result of that meeting was that the client continued to do business with my company and the person that I had posted, along with their company, was dropped as a vendor. Additionally, the posted person’s Branch Manager had been emphatically stating that my company was not a serious competitor, nor did we work with the same clients. So….you can imagine how funny it was to get a picture of the Branch Manager’s salesperson at my client site and it was the very same salesperson that had tried to bad-mouth my organization and lost.

Now for the spin  

Unfortunately, a co-worker of the posted salesperson saw the share on my Facebook page and attempted to spin the message and picture posting as an assault on the salesperson’s appearance. The co-worker went even further by disclosing that the person had previously battled a serious illness. Just as an FYI, that is a documented and serious violation of HIPPA laws (SHAME ON YOU! WHO DOES THAT?). I immediately removed the posting because of the ugly spin that the competitor was trying to put on the posting and the attempt to re-cast my image as a bad guy. The competitor actually contacted at least one of my clients to further their agenda and put a negative spin on my posting (REALLY? WHO DOES THAT?)

Lesson learned on what NOT to do

What did I learn?

1. DON’T EVER post a share that needs a back story
2. Do not post something that can be taken out of context
3. Don’t post something that needs further explanation

In addition to the example above, there are more examples on what NOT to do. I have shared a couple below (yes, I am a little slow and it takes more time for me to learn lessons than most people):

Example I:  Let’s say you are a candidate that has been interviewing for a Project Manager position with a large company and the position requires a great deal of responsibility. You decide to post a share of you and a group of friends at a party having a great time using multiple pictures of the event. Whatever your intent may be, your posting could give the perception that you like to party and could call into question your ability to perform. Your future employer may not know that it was only the second time in a year that you have gone out to have a drink or that it was a party for a college friend that you haven’t seen in 5 years, etc. etc. It’s unfortunate that a scenario like this could be true but it actually happened to a candidate that I was representing.

Example II:  You post a job that states “Still looking for a C# Developer with Agile experience and eCommerce.” The problem is perception and the platform of communication. A Linkedin or Facebook share only allows for so many characters to convey your story.  The post above could tell me that you are having trouble finding someone for your position by using the word “Still”. I would have no idea that you have been looking for only 1 week and I may have already determined that if you are “Still” looking for someone, your environment must be terrible. Once again, no Back Story.  I posted the statement above on Linkedin and had more than one person respond to the negative.

Another valuable lesson that I learned is that you need to be aware of your connections. I made the mistake of having a competitor as a connection on Facebook. This is a mistake I will not make again and I will NEVER share a post that needs the All Important Back Story. I’m lucky enough to have a forum to squash any negative spin or agendas that other people may have. I sincerely hope that everyone can take something from my experiences, positive or negative, and learn from them. Social Media is a great tool for recruiters, candidates and hiring managers to get jobs and messages to a wider audience.
In upcoming articles I will touch on additional experiences.

Coming Soon…Part Two: The upside and downside:  Managing Connections and Posting Jobs  

Being a Recruiter can be a lot of fun…in a very bad way.  Most Recruiters have a few horror stories that are hysterical, though maybe they didn’t seem so at the time.  In a business where we deal with people day in and day out, most often strangers, there are a number of variables at play.  As Recruiters it’s our job to identify the unknown, address it and quantify it.  But sometimes something slips by even the most experienced Recruiters.

While each Recruiter has a hand full of entertaining anecdotes about a ‘crazy’ candidate, the truth is that little things slip by us a lot more often than the big ones. I’ve had candidates show up in teal tuxedos to an interview (it was his only formal attire.)  I’ve had a candidate climb out of a bathroom window prior to an interview (No one knows how he got out unseen).  I’ve even had people show up to tell the hiring manager they couldn’t take the job because they didn’t trust the people they knew they might be working with.  (I’ve clearly been in the recruiting business for too time.)  But most often, we get a laugh out of those situations.

The real problems are the more common candidate problems faced by Recruiters on a semi-regular basis.

• The No Show: This one is self explanatory. I think every Recruiter has had at least 1 candidate blow off an interview.  It’s absolutely maddening.  As a Recruiter we want to have an answer for our client.  Or we want to throw the candidate under the bus.  Or we want to call the candidate and let them have it.  But we don’t.  Because there might be a plausible explanation. No shows are always tough to deal with because the Hiring Manager feels more let down and frustrated than even we do. They usually get ticked off at the Recruiter who scheduled the interview. Indeed, the Hiring Manager tends to believe that we should have known the candidate was a flake in the first place. Most people that that a flaky person is wearing some sort of sign.  But the truth is that sometimes, people put on a great game face and slide one by us.  Even a Recruiter can be fooled.
• The ‘I Wish He Didn’t Show’:  Recruiters are busy people and while this often strikes debate, they don’t always have time to meet candidates in person before an interview.  A lot of the time a Recruiter must rely on their skills, their history and their professional knowledge to help them interview and qualify candidates virtually.  Most of the time it works.  Sometimes it doesn’t…big time.  I think everyone has had an interview go off and waited for that Manager feedback to come rolling in.  But sometimes you wish you hadn’t picked up the phone.  Case and point; the guy who showed up in a teal tux.  Candidates can do a lot of strange things during an interview and unless you’ve met each and every candidate personally beforehand, it’s easy to miss some of the non-verbal issues.  Dealing with a bad interview isn’t always so bad, particularly if you’ve been open and honest with the client about not always meeting each candidate.  If you have let the client think you meet everyone prior to the interview, you’re in for a rough ride.
• The Personality Disorder: That brings us to the great candidate you did meet and interview. The candidate was spot on, interviewed well, and was well met and personable. But then Dr. Jekyll called out and sent Mr. Hyde in his place.  Have you ever had a candidate do a complete 180° from submission to interview?  These are the times that the Hiring Manager’s feedback legitimately stumps the Recruiter.  The stumped Recruiter will then pick up the phone to see what happened on the interview to cause the Hiring Manager to miss the mark so badly.  And voila! You call the previously friendly and personable candidate only to get a different guy on the phone…surly, difficult and trying rush you off the phone.  Just another day as a Recruiter eh?  This one is a lot easier to explain than either the previous two, mostly because the Recruiter is undeniably confused and shocked.  Sometimes letting a Manager know that you have no idea what the heck happened in the last 48 hours is a real plus.  Other times candidates can do great and get the job…only to do something ‘off’ at the Client.  For instance, why would a working consultant tell everyone that she lost her toothbrush and hadn’t brushed her teeth for 3 days?  And why would the client call and ask the Recruiter to talk to her about her hygiene problems?  Oh boy…

Being a Recruiter can be a lot of fun but part of the fun is the constant change and variety that we get to deal with day in and day out.  It’s a fun profession, but sometimes the crazy stuff and wild candidates can give you some white hairs.  But hey, they make for great stories once they’ve had a chance to age a little.

You can find this article and others like it at  www.recruiter.com

For this particular article, I would like to share 10 thoughts with you in the hope that you can learn from my successes and failures.

1. Always do more than what’s expected of you. Without fail, the most successful recruiters in our business work extra hours. If you are an 8 hour a day person and quality of life is important to you….good for you BUT I will kick your ass in the end because I will work harder. I will reach candidates after hours and on weekends if I have to. I will enjoy my quality of life when I retire. Until then, this is a competition and I will do what I can to win. The easiest thing that you can do is to put in the extra time. If you don’t agree, I don’t give a s### because it’s true.
2. If a competitor is talking trash about you or your company, you’re doing something right. Listen… I have had many competitors talk trash about my company, co-workers, consultants, software, clients, etc….we call these people “Haters” and for good reason. I’ve found that the more successful you become, there is a tendency for competitors to try and take you down a few notches. Whoever heard of a competitor talking trash about a company that WASN’T successful….doesn’t happen. Don’t get mad…….get successful. The best vengeance is a successful company.
3. Spend your time on your performers. I have found that a number of leaders, managers, mentors, etc. spend an exorbitant amount of time on team members that aren’t performing. Unfortunately, this is not where your time should be focused. I understand that, as a leader, you want to build a team and that you feel obligated to fix the “weak link” but your time is better spent with the performers. At the end of the day, these are the individuals that will contribute the most to your company.
4. Clients are the last to know if the candidate market is hot or not. It is your job to educate them. If you are a Business Development/Account Manager/Recruiter your clients will respect your guidance. I’m sure most of you in the DFW IT Staffing market are aware that C#/.NET and Java Development resources have the shelf life of Oysters on a hot day. It is your duty to “drive” the process and educate your clients by shortening the interview and offer life-cycle. I understand that some of your clients and prospective clients still don’t get it and, if they are unwilling to change with the time, maybe it’s time to get new clients….I’m just saying.
5. Invest in tools that will generate clients and candidates. I know that most of you reading this blog understand the importance of a good ATS, Job Boards, Advanced Linkedin memberships, Sales Tools (Discoverorg.net, Hoovers, Lead Generation, Sourcers, etc.) but are you making a significant investment?  Remember, sales and recruiting tools are the type of investment that provides your company a direct and measurable ROI.
6. You should always be interviewing top talent. It doesn’t matter if you have maxed out your head count on your Business Development/Account Management and Recruiting teams. You must have a pipeline of candidates to insure that you will hit your numbers. You never know when that top producer may get restless or your best recruiter may experience burn out. Be prepared.
7. Relationships, relationships, relationships. Whether you are a Business Development/Account Manager or a Recruiter, you must have a pipeline of established relationships….a “go to” if you will. The relationships that you build can help you when the market is up or down. Example: If you are a recruiter, a pipeline of IT Professionals with marketable skills will provide you with referrals of passive candidates that are not readily available to your competitors or clients. Think about it, would you rather have a candidate that you found on a job board that has countless IT Staffing Service companies contacting them about multiple jobs OR a referral from someone that you trust? The referred candidate is likely to be more selective and you will have more credibility since you were referred by a friend.
8. Prep your candidate for the interview and get feedback from the candidate as soon as the interview is complete. I cannot stress the importance of these simple processes. If you are in a candidate market, it is even more important. You need to prepare a candidate for the interview by providing information about the company, culture, project, team, technology, management/leadership, hot buttons, processes and compensation. After the interview, you need to get immediate feedback while it is fresh in the candidates mind. Ask the candidate some of the following questions: Who did they interview with, What is the role, What technology will they be working with, What questions were asked during the interview, How does the opportunity compare to their current position or other opportunities that they are interviewing for, Is the client interviewing other candidates, Did the client ask when you could start. Most important, ask the candidate if they would like an offer from the client and, if so, will they accept an offer at (insert salary or hourly rate here). Even if the candidate did not do well or the candidate is not interested in moving forward, you have information to prep the next candidate.
9. It’s a small world after all………the IT market is smaller than you think. After being in this business for close to 20 years, I have ran across the same people for a number of years – clients, hiring managers, HR, Procurement, Competitors, IT Professionals…you name it. Remember that something you do today can, and most likely, will come back to you. Be careful how you treat people and be consistent. Always try to do the right thing no matter how difficult. You can’t make everyone happy and, if you read number 2, sometimes it doesn’t matter what you do. STAY TRUE TO YOURSELF. Once you find great people to work with hold on to them and surround yourself with the best people you can find.
10. Finally……be yourself and embrace your uniqueness (if that is a word). There are a lot of people in the IT Staffing business and a great number of them operate the same way and adhere to the same doctrine. Do what you can to set yourself apart. There will be a number of competitors, co-workers, talent, clients, etc. that will try to place you in the same box as everyone else. It is our differences that can set us apart from our competition. Whether you are a Staffing professional or an IT professional, let your freak flag fly.

It is my hope that you have at least one take away from my list above. I have spent many years in the IT Staffing Services business and I absolutely love it. I have been lucky enough to ride a few waves of success and meet challenges head on. After 20 years, I still get excited to drive into the office. If you are part of this business, I am truly happy for you.

Originally posted on the SmashFly Recruitment Marketing Blog.

If you are in the business of recruiting, you have got to be plugged in to Social Networks, Special Interest Groups and Industry Bloggers. I also believe in being plugged into the technology that supports our industry Software as a Service (SAAS) / ATS, Job Boards and Smart Phone Technology.

Social Networks

You should have at least 500 Linkedin Connections as a recruiter (Joining LION or Linkedin Open Networkers may help you get started). In addition, you need to join sub-groups that allow you to post your open jobs. If you are a Technical Recruiter, I suggest joining Java, .NET, Mobile Apps, SAP, Sharepoint, etc. These groups will help you in adding candidates with marketable technologies to your network.

Special Interest Groups (SIGS) AKA Networking Groups

Join as many groups as you can locally. Attend their events and sponsor as many events as possible. This is money well spent. SIGS have accounted for my company’s fast growth and continue to be an excellent source of both client and candidate leads. As a matter of fact, ask your candidates and clients about the networking groups that they have joined.

Industry Bloggers

Follow people in your industry that can provide you with updated and valuable information. There are a number of good staffing bloggers – I suggest joining recruitingblogs.com which gives you access to articles that cover just about every recruiting topic.

As far as technology is concerned, there are a few tools that you should have at your disposal.

Application Tracking (ATS) and SAAS

First, whether you are working for a large organization or as an independent, you must have an ATS that is designed with the Software as a Service (SAAS) model. Some of the products that are available include – Send Outs, Bullhorn, Bond/Adapt, PC Recruiter, Acquire, etc. The typical functions of an Applicant Tracking System should include Creating job requisition, Job board posting, Online application, Applicant screening, Applicant scoring and knock-out, Workflow automation, Resume search, Self identification / EEO tracking and reporting, Standard and ad-hoc Reporting.

Job Boards

If you are in the business of IT Staffing, Recruiting, Consulting Services, etc. you must have access to Job Boards. The 3 “must haves” are DICE, Monster and Careerbuilder. There are other additional boards but these are the boards that will help grow your ATS and get you a few placements. I do not recommend using only Job Boards but you must be plugged into at least 2 to compete.

Finally,

Smart Phone Technology

I am not merely suggesting to buy an iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Windows Phone, etc. I am actually talking about integrating your Smart Phone with your ATS or recruiting software. Start by integrating your Smart Phone with your Social Networks such as Linkedin and Facebook. All Smart Phones come with this function and it’s free. Next, and probably most important, make sure that your Smart Phone integrates with your ATS and vice versa. When evaluating an ATS, ask about mobile or Smart Phone integration. I would suggest in only selecting an ATS that integrates with this type of technology because of the competitive advantage that it can provide.

 Most recruiters utilize the tools and technology that I mentioned above, but there are still some lagging behind. If you are working for a company that is not open to getting “plugged in” to at least all of the things that are mentioned in the article above….RUN don’t walk out of the door and find another employer. There are plenty of companies out there on the cutting edge of recruiting and recruiting technology.

Now that I have fed my over-inflated ego I would like to address some of the articles and/or opinions that I have reviewed over the last couple of years and call you on your bulls###.  I have left off the names of the authors of the blogs and articles and address them below in no particular order of importance. Here goes:

Mass Emailing candidates is not recruiting

Guess what genius? Your right!  Mass emailing candidates is NOT recruiting, but no one ever said it was. Mass Emailing candidates a job description is just using a recruiting tool to possibly garner the interest of a passive candidate in your ATS. I don’t condone emailing everyone in your database that has a single keyword in a search string: however, narrowing your search results to a respectable number and emailing prospects your position is an effective way to reach a targeted audience. I would go one step further and add the contacts to a call list and follow up for good measure.

Social Networking Sites are making recruiters obsolete

HAHAHAHA…on the contrary, Social Networking sites are only increasing the effectiveness of “plugged-in” recruiters and adding another tool to the recruiting toolbox. It’s really a matter of Time Allocation. If you are a Development Manager/Director of Business Intelligence/Manager of Infrastructure do you really have time to grow a network of prospective candidates to fill your positions? Do you also have the time to contact each one to determine if they are a fit for the position? Do you have time to develop interest in your projects and sell your company?…and Oh, by the way, do all of the work  that you do as your core competency. Most of the “Buyers” listed above, as well as procurement group that is responsible for those services already complain about the number of Staffing and Consulting services companies that contact them. Imagine these same people managing the entire process. Look, Staffing and Recruiting professionals use Social Networking Sites as another tool to effectively deliver professional talent on a consulting or direct hire basis in order for everyone else to focus on their core competencies.

VMS/MSP Programs are commoditizing agencies and driving down margins

Partly true but, once again, not an absolute. VMS Software as well as MSP Programs are designed to standardize billing, maintain a single point of contact, reduce or eliminate maverick spend and control/manage the number of vendors that provide staffing services BUT… not all VMS or MSP’s maintain standard margin or mark-up percentages. VMS and MSP Programs can be useful to recruiters if correctly utilized. I would encourage staffing companies and recruiters to maintain their contact relationships and develop new relationships within an organization because there are instances where these relationships may be your only differentiating factor. VMS and MSP Programs will continue to flourish at large organizations but, just like any well managed portfolio, should only be one part of your client road map. Small to mid-range companies do not and, in most cases, will not adopt VMS and/or MSP programs.

Job Boards and On-line Resume Databases are no longer effective

Absolutely untrue…and laughable.  Job Boards and On-line Resume Databases such as Monster, Careerbuilder and DICE are still VERY relevant for finding contract and contract to hire candidates that are readily available. Once again, boards and on-line resume databases are tools and should never be used exclusively. These tools can be used to develop client contacts and build up your ATS.  Remember that they may not be as effective as a referral, direct source from Linkedin or a passive candidate from an ATS, but me and my recruiting team at Timberhorn continue to place candidates (contract, contract to hire and direct hire) using these tools.

There can be a HUGE difference when recruiting for the following:  Agency, Corporate, IT Staffing Services, Contract, Contract to Hire and Direct Hire – Too often when I read a legitimate article or blog, the author attempts to generalize statements regarding recruiting without attempting to specifically address techniques, topics or opinions regarding a specific type of recruiting. Whether you are a Corporate Recruiter, Agency Recruiter, Staffing  Company, IT Services Company or recruiting for different types of positions (Contract/Contract to Hire/Direct Hire)…your recruiting approach will differ. One tool may become more important, sourcing may take a backseat to candidate availability, etc.

Bottom line: Every article that I’ve read has had some important and good information but there are no absolutes and none of us can predict the future. The best solution may be the utilization of ALL the options available to us. I hope that we can continue to share information without trying to position ourselves as having the only answer in this business.  Case in point:  even with all my initial arrogance in this article….I know I don’t!

Don’t get caught off guard or surprised by candidates taking other positions. Instead, communicate with your candidates throughout the recruiting process. Notice I didn’t say control your candidates, because that’s a myth and I find people that use the term “candidate control” laughable.

Pre-screen and Submittal

During the prescreening process and before you submit the candidate’s resume to your client, ask the candidate where they are at in the job search. How many companies are they submitted to? Have they interviewed? Are they in the final stages with anyone? Do they have an offer in hand? These questions are the same for contractors or direct hire candidates.

Interview Process

Prep you candidate for any and all interviews. This will help your candidate with the client interview, but more importantly, it is yet another time to find out where the candidate is in their job search. Ask the questions from the Pre-Screen and Submittal process once again and add a few additional questions such as “Where does this opportunity stand in comparison to the others?” (I know that they haven’t interviewed yet but you will want to know). “What is your timeline for deciding?” “If the interview goes well, how soon can you start?”

Post Interview Feedback

Every company and recruiter in staffing should utilize an Interview Feedback Questionnaire and it should be a required step in the process.  After the interview, ask the candidate the same question from the Interview Prep “Where does this opportunity stand in comparison to the others?” (Look for changes from the earlier answer). Ask the candidate if they would like to see an offer from the client. An optional line of questions for your candidate could be “Out of all of your opportunities, where does this rank?” “Who are you in the process of interviewing with and how does my opportunity differ?

This article may seem VERY basic and is covering the “Blocking and Tackling” aspect of recruiting but you would be surprised at how many companies and recruiters that I speak to that get away from the basics. Two of the biggest complaints that I hear lately are “Our start to interview ratio is skewed.” (AKA Too many interviews to starts) and “Candidates have more options and are taking jobs quickly.”

The quickest way to resolve these issues is to communicate with your candidates during the entire recruiting process and getting back to the basics of recruiting: Screening, Interview Preps, Interview Feedback Questionnaires, etc.

Hopefully, some of the things mentioned in this article will help and your numbers will magically increase.