Sunday, October 28, 2012

Build a Candidate Pipeline Like a Top Recruiting Professional



Here are the top five recruiting practices to building a strong candidate pipeline;

11)      Never say never.   While that stellar resume in front of you does not fit your needs today, it doesn’t mean there won’t be some future value in knowing that person.   High caliber candidates are busy too, so no need to offer a 30 minute interview, a quick phone call acknowledging receipt of their resume, and an offer to exchange contact information, can make a lasting impression and offers both parties an opportunity to enjoy more dynamic networking later on.
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22)    Doing reference checks as a matter of course, and sourcing:  Don’t ever miss out on the opportunity a reference check can offer a hiring manager.  Not only is this a critical aspect to your interview process in validating the candidate, it’s a fantastic way to identify another future employee OR employer.  People love to talk about themselves, what they do, and the good work others have done for them.  These conversations can lead to incredible network building.  Not only could this reference be a good potential candidate for you, but you may also find the conversation leads to job prospecting for yourself.  Striking a good rapport with that reference can help you gain early insight or competitive leverage on an interesting role you may otherwise miss out on.  Don’t forget to stay in touch on email or scheduled call once every six months or so. 

33)      Use Social Media to Advertise a Challenging position:   Tweeters and bloggers make a great audience, especially for an industry expert.  But if you don’t use social media to tout your professional thoughts and ideas, you can research relevant tweeters and bloggers who have an active following and ask them to post information about the job you’re trying to fill.  Some may draw a hard line on what they are or aren’t willing to endorse, but it never hurts to ask if they would consider mentioning to their audience a great opportunity for which you’re struggling to source candidates.  With the job market still deep in the recovery phase, most people are willing to help bring people and jobs together.

44)       Use the “3 Touch Rule” to Reach a Strong Candidate:  If your HR department has been unsuccessful in connecting with a “passive” candidate who you know to be a top notch professional in your industry, ask them to be persistent and patient.  Most hiring managers will try only once, sometimes twice, to contact a candidate.  Go for the 3-touch approach; A phone call, followed up within 24 hours by an email, and a follow up call within one week.  Additionally, if that person has a Twitter or Blog, you may be able to get their attention by posting directly to them.  We know people are busy, and even though they have the interest and best intentions to get back to you, they may forget or have put it off until they’re in a position when they can talk to you….like back from vacation or after finishing a project.  Often if they have gone too long without responding, they may not return the call because they expect they’ve missed the window.  Don’t let them get away!  Follow up a fourth time after several more weeks, you may be happily surprised at how glad they are to hear from you again.

55)      Network in Unexpected Places:  In today’s world we often hear a newer cliché “Everyone Knows Everyone”.  While this isn’t physically possible, there is technical truth behind this idea.  We are all connected, one way or another, to a universal network offering innumerable routes for people to reach each other.  Celebrity Kevin Bacon proved this philosophy through his own pet project, Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, demonstrating an intricate web of complete strangers who were but five or fewer people removed from direct contact with him.  Today’s advancing uber networked society allows us to find people in unexpected ways, perhaps through that guy you met at a two day workshop, the twenty-something who details your car, your hairdresser, the woman who makes those great cookies for the church social hour each week, and even the bartender who is the only person in the world you trust to make your martini just the way you like it.  Everyone knows someone.   And sometimes, you get really lucky.   Maybe the right person to know is right now sitting next to you on the train.  Today’s socially-charged recruiting professional knows that the gift of gab pays dividends, and shyness is a liability.  So stop hiding behind your Android and strike up a conversation with your commuting buddy…you never know who she knows!

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Snack on this: Getting the Green Light from your CFO

What do you do when you’ve identified the best candidate(s) but can’t pull the trigger because your CFO suddenly got cold feet?   Hand her a pair of slippers and a breakdown of what it will cost the company if you DON’T make the hire.  There are all kinds of arguments you can make for why you need to fill this critical position, but a smarter approach is to talk dollars, and SENSE.  Show your CFO how increased productivity on your team means faster turnaround on deliverables, a revenue boost, or can result in a less harried and more balanced group…avoiding burnout and a bigger, more expensive problem; resignations.  With the right approach, your proposal to hire will make a lot more sense to your cost conscious CFO.