Microsoft's ambitions are anything but small. The world's #1 software company provides a variety of products and services, including its Windows operating systems and Office software suite. The company has expanded into markets such as video game consoles, servers and storage software, and digital music players. Microsoft has reached settlements to end a slew of antitrust investigations and lawsuits, including agreeing to uniformly license its operating systems and allowing manufacturers to include competing software with Windows. In early 2008 the company made an unsolicited bid to acquire Yahoo! for about $44.6 billion; Yahoo!'s board rejected the bid as "inadequate".
I asked Brian Fippinger, Senior Staffing Consultant/Recruiter at Microsoft, if passive candidates really make for better candidates. This is what he had to say:
I believe that there are many myths in recruiting and many times we make the process much harder than it needs to be. In truth, the best candidate for an open role....is the candidate that fits the role best. At times, they are happily working in their current positions and need to be nudged (they are, by definition passive). Other times, they are looking for new challenges (sometime voluntarily...other times not..they are, by definition active).
The good recruiter is the one who can identify the best candidate by looking at all the tangible and intangible factors, sell them on the job and then sell the hiring manager on the candidate. Our job is not to have a bias one way or the other. Passive does not always equal best.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Monday, April 14, 2008
Do Passive Candidates Really Make For Better Candidates?
Pilgrim Home and Hearth was founded over 50 years ago in Northern California. Pilgrim produces grates, screens, toolsets, log holders, wood holders, log carts, and other hearth fashion products for the specialty, catalog and OEM Manufacturer markets.
Our business portfolio includes three primary retail brands: Pilgrim, Smithsonian Institution, and Napa Forge.
I asked Gene Russell, President of Pilgrim Home and Hearth, whether he thought passive candidates really make for better candidates.This is what he had to say:
"Each comes with their own unique characteristics. My very best marketing hire was very active. However, often times they are too aggressive to fill their income gap and will talk themselves and the company into something that is not best for either party. I have also found that 99% of so called passive candidates are not all that passive, especially in today's internet exposed and networked world. The world is full of free agents who are fully employed."
Our business portfolio includes three primary retail brands: Pilgrim, Smithsonian Institution, and Napa Forge.
I asked Gene Russell, President of Pilgrim Home and Hearth, whether he thought passive candidates really make for better candidates.This is what he had to say:
"Each comes with their own unique characteristics. My very best marketing hire was very active. However, often times they are too aggressive to fill their income gap and will talk themselves and the company into something that is not best for either party. I have also found that 99% of so called passive candidates are not all that passive, especially in today's internet exposed and networked world. The world is full of free agents who are fully employed."
Monday, March 17, 2008
Heather Hamilton of Microsoft Talks about Corporate Blogging to Attract Candidates
Corporate recruitment blogs can help build your talent pools as well as paint a real picture of your company culture and what it's like to work there, according to Microsoft's recruitment manager.
Heather Hamilton was one of the first recruitment professionals in the US to use blogging as a means of creating talent pools. She says Microsoft's recruitment blog began as a tool for collecting resumes, "but we soon found that creating a platform for two-way communication with prospective candidates allowed us to be aware of any myths about the company, paint a real picture of what it's like to work at Microsoft, and give people the tools to tailor their resumes, thereby increasing [our] recruitment success rates".
She says companies that haven't started blogging are missing out on a rich recruitment tool that can create a dialogue with potential employees, increase visibility in the online space, and demonstrate an understanding of their target market. Opening the lines of communication has had a major impact on Microsoft's recruitment outcomes, she says. see whole story
Heather Hamilton was one of the first recruitment professionals in the US to use blogging as a means of creating talent pools. She says Microsoft's recruitment blog began as a tool for collecting resumes, "but we soon found that creating a platform for two-way communication with prospective candidates allowed us to be aware of any myths about the company, paint a real picture of what it's like to work at Microsoft, and give people the tools to tailor their resumes, thereby increasing [our] recruitment success rates".
She says companies that haven't started blogging are missing out on a rich recruitment tool that can create a dialogue with potential employees, increase visibility in the online space, and demonstrate an understanding of their target market. Opening the lines of communication has had a major impact on Microsoft's recruitment outcomes, she says. see whole story
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Hard-to-Fill Positions-- JB Smith at Google Inc.
I asked JB Smith, Senior Lead Contract Sourcer/Recruiter at Google Inc. what he does when he has a hard-to-fill position.
This is what he had to say.
"Don’t ever discount any options without trying them first. The best recruiters never take anything for granite. A single search is only a specific step in a larger problem solving process.
Go back and ask yourself the question “Why” were you searching for that position? Either search for something or create a new problem to solve with a different set of searches.
Go back to the HM and review the requisition. What was stated in the requisition, can it be stated a different way. In addition to talking to the HM, talk to others within the group. Set up a casual meeting (lunch or coffee) and brainstorm to find more creative ways in how to find candidates for them.
What user groups do they participate in, associations, clubs, blogs, trade magazines, newsletter, alumni, publications, universities, mergers and acquisitions currently going on with the competition, seminars attended, conferences attended, professional networking, , patent searches, call experts in the industry, dig deeper by sourcing the competition?
Find out what companies local to the client have people with the same skill set and then Google and other techniques to find them? What new technologies are they checking out and where can you find those? Ask the HM how he found his current employees. If able too, review the resumes of the people currently in the group you’re searching for.
You are probably kidding yourself about how systematic and exhaustive you have been. Get a fresh perspective and ask a colleague for their input. Sometimes you just need to change the equation to get the answer you want. Look for requisitions from the competition and job boards that are similar to the position you’re searching for and review how their specifications are written.
Have you looked at companies and tried to find someone trapped by a glass ceiling that would move for a career opportunity? Contact reputable advertising agencies and speak to the account representative that specializes in the industry you are in to see if they can make suggestions. This also can hold true for trade show and job fair representatives.
Look at the familiar first before you try something unfamiliar. Don’t give up; it will eventually come to you. Have you networked everyone? Have you really gotten every name?"
This is what he had to say.
"Don’t ever discount any options without trying them first. The best recruiters never take anything for granite. A single search is only a specific step in a larger problem solving process.
Go back and ask yourself the question “Why” were you searching for that position? Either search for something or create a new problem to solve with a different set of searches.
Go back to the HM and review the requisition. What was stated in the requisition, can it be stated a different way. In addition to talking to the HM, talk to others within the group. Set up a casual meeting (lunch or coffee) and brainstorm to find more creative ways in how to find candidates for them.
What user groups do they participate in, associations, clubs, blogs, trade magazines, newsletter, alumni, publications, universities, mergers and acquisitions currently going on with the competition, seminars attended, conferences attended, professional networking, , patent searches, call experts in the industry, dig deeper by sourcing the competition?
Find out what companies local to the client have people with the same skill set and then Google and other techniques to find them? What new technologies are they checking out and where can you find those? Ask the HM how he found his current employees. If able too, review the resumes of the people currently in the group you’re searching for.
You are probably kidding yourself about how systematic and exhaustive you have been. Get a fresh perspective and ask a colleague for their input. Sometimes you just need to change the equation to get the answer you want. Look for requisitions from the competition and job boards that are similar to the position you’re searching for and review how their specifications are written.
Have you looked at companies and tried to find someone trapped by a glass ceiling that would move for a career opportunity? Contact reputable advertising agencies and speak to the account representative that specializes in the industry you are in to see if they can make suggestions. This also can hold true for trade show and job fair representatives.
Look at the familiar first before you try something unfamiliar. Don’t give up; it will eventually come to you. Have you networked everyone? Have you really gotten every name?"
Second Life--A Virtual World to Find Passive Candidates
Second Life® is a 3-D virtual world entirely created by its Residents. Since opening to the public in 2003, it has grown explosively and today is inhabited by millions of Residents from around the globe.
From the moment you enter the World you'll discover a vast digital continent, teeming with people, entertainment, experiences and opportunity. Once you've explored a bit, perhaps you'll find a perfect parcel of land to build your house or business.
Companies such as Sony, Wired, Cisco, IBM, Accenture, Microsoft, Verizon, TMP Worldwide, HP, T-Mobile, L'Oreal and others have participated in 24/7 job fairs and have done hiring in this virtual world.
Kevin Singel, a partner at Accenture, affirms, "At Accenture we have been very successful using Second Life to reach more junior level candidates."
Dave Levinson, CEO of Cranial Tap, declares, " Second Life represents a stepping stone to what is coming. It is clear that the mass consumer audience is ready to be entertained, socialize, learn and transact in virtual worlds.
The promise of this space is great and should not be written off due to recent negative press or failure to find something to do one afternoon. Virtual worlds platforms will (and do) support entirely new forms of interactivity and engaging events in ways never before possible ."
Glenn Brown, an organizational development manager, states about Second Life, " It is an opportunity to meet (virtually) a self-selected population (much like LinkedIn in this regard) of highly intelligent and creative people from all over the world.
That isn't to say that SL doesn't also have it's token share of cyber geeks, but I suspect that a lot of them soon tire of it and go elsewhere anyway. I've been amazed at the intelligent, sensitive, thought-provoking real-time conversations that occur in SL between people in vastly different time zones who otherwise would probably never have the chance to meet and exchange ideas."
Randy Rittle, a senior IT analyst, discusses a June 2007 Wall Street Journal article about Second Life. see article Randy states, "The Wall Street Journal had an article about companies doing interviews in Second Life the other day. The article mentioned Verizon, HP and Microsoft being involved in a job fair in SL. One person mentioned they couldn't figure out how to dress their avatar in a suit, so they showed up in jeans and a sweater. One couldn't figure out how to sit in the chair, so they sat on the table during the interview.
Other mishaps have included an interviewer slumping over in a chair as if they were asleep, participants accidentally flying away during the interview and one person in an HP interview handed the recruiter a beer instead of a resume. The recruiters seemed to see it as an adjunct to their more traditional hiring practices; some noted that the candidates were more relaxed, interacting through chat the way they might with friends in instant messaging and the mishaps sometimes act as "icebreakers" for the conversation. HP mentioned that buying the land and setting up in SL for the job fair was less expensive that getting an outside recruiter to hire one experienced candidate.
Zhdan Staruch, Client Partner at Verizon Business, concludes, "Yes. Companies in France are starting to use Second Life. For example: Areva, Atos Origine, Accenture, .... look out, if you're not ready now, you're quickly going to be considered a has-been !"
From the moment you enter the World you'll discover a vast digital continent, teeming with people, entertainment, experiences and opportunity. Once you've explored a bit, perhaps you'll find a perfect parcel of land to build your house or business.
Companies such as Sony, Wired, Cisco, IBM, Accenture, Microsoft, Verizon, TMP Worldwide, HP, T-Mobile, L'Oreal and others have participated in 24/7 job fairs and have done hiring in this virtual world.
Kevin Singel, a partner at Accenture, affirms, "At Accenture we have been very successful using Second Life to reach more junior level candidates."
Dave Levinson, CEO of Cranial Tap, declares, " Second Life represents a stepping stone to what is coming. It is clear that the mass consumer audience is ready to be entertained, socialize, learn and transact in virtual worlds.
The promise of this space is great and should not be written off due to recent negative press or failure to find something to do one afternoon. Virtual worlds platforms will (and do) support entirely new forms of interactivity and engaging events in ways never before possible ."
Glenn Brown, an organizational development manager, states about Second Life, " It is an opportunity to meet (virtually) a self-selected population (much like LinkedIn in this regard) of highly intelligent and creative people from all over the world.
That isn't to say that SL doesn't also have it's token share of cyber geeks, but I suspect that a lot of them soon tire of it and go elsewhere anyway. I've been amazed at the intelligent, sensitive, thought-provoking real-time conversations that occur in SL between people in vastly different time zones who otherwise would probably never have the chance to meet and exchange ideas."
Randy Rittle, a senior IT analyst, discusses a June 2007 Wall Street Journal article about Second Life. see article Randy states, "The Wall Street Journal had an article about companies doing interviews in Second Life the other day. The article mentioned Verizon, HP and Microsoft being involved in a job fair in SL. One person mentioned they couldn't figure out how to dress their avatar in a suit, so they showed up in jeans and a sweater. One couldn't figure out how to sit in the chair, so they sat on the table during the interview.
Other mishaps have included an interviewer slumping over in a chair as if they were asleep, participants accidentally flying away during the interview and one person in an HP interview handed the recruiter a beer instead of a resume. The recruiters seemed to see it as an adjunct to their more traditional hiring practices; some noted that the candidates were more relaxed, interacting through chat the way they might with friends in instant messaging and the mishaps sometimes act as "icebreakers" for the conversation. HP mentioned that buying the land and setting up in SL for the job fair was less expensive that getting an outside recruiter to hire one experienced candidate.
Zhdan Staruch, Client Partner at Verizon Business, concludes, "Yes. Companies in France are starting to use Second Life. For example: Areva, Atos Origine, Accenture, .... look out, if you're not ready now, you're quickly going to be considered a has-been !"
2 Year Search for Transportation Engineer at McMahon Associates
I talked with the General Manager of McMahon Associates in Florida about a senior transportation engineering job in Ft Myers, Florida, that had been impossible to fill. For 2 years it had remained open.
Having built an enthusiastic, dedicated team of more than 150 professionals along the East Coast, McMahon Associates, Inc. offers unrivaled breadth and depth in experience in all transportation engineering and planning services. McMahon Associates is a trusted advisor in traffic, highways, transit, structures, signals and more, from concept to design and construction services, including helping the client find the transportation funding it needs to implement its plan.
I took on the job and went to research, so to speak. I surveyed the market, building a list of all competitors within a 20 mile radius. Why 20 mile radius? That's usually as far as someone local will drive to get to work.
For the next two weeks, I called into companies and got the names of all the transportation engineers at the competitor firms. These professionals were passive candidates.
Ft. Myers is a small area and everyone knows each other. So, once I had my list of 50 passive candidates, I started to call and profile them. I introduced the opportunity, too.
I found a number of qualified candidates but they didn't want to leave or were in the midst of long projects. But I did find one passive candidate open to the idea.
I turned over the information to the General Manager of McMahon and Associates. He took it from here. Interviews were arranged.
With some fairly straight forward negotiation, a deal was cut and this new candidate switched firms and gave McMahon Associates new breadth in their business offerings for the Ft. Myers area.
Sam Medalie
Telephone Names Sourcer
Sam@longfellowsearch.com
Having built an enthusiastic, dedicated team of more than 150 professionals along the East Coast, McMahon Associates, Inc. offers unrivaled breadth and depth in experience in all transportation engineering and planning services. McMahon Associates is a trusted advisor in traffic, highways, transit, structures, signals and more, from concept to design and construction services, including helping the client find the transportation funding it needs to implement its plan.
I took on the job and went to research, so to speak. I surveyed the market, building a list of all competitors within a 20 mile radius. Why 20 mile radius? That's usually as far as someone local will drive to get to work.
For the next two weeks, I called into companies and got the names of all the transportation engineers at the competitor firms. These professionals were passive candidates.
Ft. Myers is a small area and everyone knows each other. So, once I had my list of 50 passive candidates, I started to call and profile them. I introduced the opportunity, too.
I found a number of qualified candidates but they didn't want to leave or were in the midst of long projects. But I did find one passive candidate open to the idea.
I turned over the information to the General Manager of McMahon and Associates. He took it from here. Interviews were arranged.
With some fairly straight forward negotiation, a deal was cut and this new candidate switched firms and gave McMahon Associates new breadth in their business offerings for the Ft. Myers area.
Sam Medalie
Telephone Names Sourcer
Sam@longfellowsearch.com
Friday, March 14, 2008
The Boston Consulting Group--The Hunt for the CFO
It was late afternoon when I called The Boston Consulting Group. I talked with one of the decision makers in the Worldwide Human Resources department. The company was looking to
fill their open CFO position. It had an internal candidate, but it wanted to see all the good passive talent that was out in the market before making a decision.
The HR decision maker had met with the top search firms, Korn Ferry, Russell Reynolds et al. In the time it took for them to prepare their proposals, I had already conducted research, screened and interviewed/profiled candidates.
I started with 50 passive candidates and then narrowed it down to 22 CFO's in the United States. They were at the top 22 management consulting firms in terms of gross revenues. Each were top-notch and met The Boston Consulting Group's success criteria.
After 5 interviews, The Boston Consulting Group narrowed it down to two CFOs. These were the only external candidates.
It took about 4 weeks to do the research and the interviewing for a $700,000 job.
My research was good; it gave my client the impetus to hire the internal candidate with confidence that this was the right decision.
A great research project.
fill their open CFO position. It had an internal candidate, but it wanted to see all the good passive talent that was out in the market before making a decision.
The HR decision maker had met with the top search firms, Korn Ferry, Russell Reynolds et al. In the time it took for them to prepare their proposals, I had already conducted research, screened and interviewed/profiled candidates.
I started with 50 passive candidates and then narrowed it down to 22 CFO's in the United States. They were at the top 22 management consulting firms in terms of gross revenues. Each were top-notch and met The Boston Consulting Group's success criteria.
After 5 interviews, The Boston Consulting Group narrowed it down to two CFOs. These were the only external candidates.
It took about 4 weeks to do the research and the interviewing for a $700,000 job.
My research was good; it gave my client the impetus to hire the internal candidate with confidence that this was the right decision.
A great research project.
Microsoft--A Corporate Recruiter's Perspective on Finding Passive Candidates
Gretchen Ledgard, a corporate recruiter at Microsoft, wrote in her blog about how she finds passive candidates. This is what she had to say.
When I approach the Passive and Somewhat Passive Job Seekers, I do so carefully. First, I want to gauge their interest and see if I can get them to give me just 5-10 minutes of their time.
Most of my initial communication is done via e-mail. I know other recruiters who cold call (instead of cold e-mail), but I’ve found a simple introductory e-mail remits far higher results than a phone call. (I should note I think this trend has to do with my target candidate set. A Marketing candidate may love to get a weird phone call out of the blue, but honestly, how many Developers do you know who are willing to talk on the fly with a stranger … let alone even answer their phone!) :)
An e-mail is much less intrusive, and personally, I know I’d be more willing to return an e-mail with “tell me more” then return a strange person’s phone call.
That said, I want to be really careful about my wording since I’m putting my request in written form. Usually the passive job seekers are working in a similar field or technology so I’ll say something as simple as:
Hi– My name is Gretchen Ledgard, and I work at Microsoft. I read a little bit about your experience (on the internet, via your whitepaper, through a colleague etc). My team has some current career opportunities based in Redmond, WA, that I believe you may find very interesting given your experience, and I wanted to contact you to see if you might be open to learning more.
Although my response rate is really high, if I don’t hear back from the person within a week, I’ll usually send a quick follow-up note just to ensure he received my first message.
Often, respondents aren’t interested in talking to me. That’s fine … they may know others who are. I’ll say something like: “Since you seem to be well-connected XYZ industry, please feel to forward my name and contact out to your colleagues and associates.” Good people know other good people.
If respondents are interested in learning more, I want to get them on the phone for about 10 minutes, but I want to tread very lightly in my “assessment.” I usually don’t have a resume to review, and since this is a “soft sell,” I don’t need to jump in with, “So why do you want to work for Microsoft?” I know what the answer is going to be, “Um… I don’t. You called me.”
Instead, I want to tell the person about the job opening and gauge his/her interest. If interest exists, I ask more about the candidate’s experience and career goals. A lot of times I find these don’t align with my opening (after all, I contacted them rather blindly – usually only with knowledge of a job title). From here, I tell them honestly my job doesn’t sound like it would suit their interests, but “Since you seem to be well-connected XYZ industry ….” These folks are also great people to include on a future contact list. They are well connected and at least somewhat interested in a future role with the company.
If we do have a mutual match, I’ll try to get them on the phone with the Hiring Manager as quickly as possible. I do this for two reasons: 1) I’m currently playing the role of good cop so I don’t want to jump into interview mode and scare them away, and 2) the HM can sell the opportunity a hell of a lot better than I ever could.
I should note that having a well known and mostly respected corporation behind me helps in the sell. I’ve never been anything but a corporate recruiter so I’d love to hear how independent recruiters approach this situation. The Microsoft name (most of the time) assists tremendously in getting the passive job seekers on the phone … the hard part is finding them.
When I approach the Passive and Somewhat Passive Job Seekers, I do so carefully. First, I want to gauge their interest and see if I can get them to give me just 5-10 minutes of their time.
Most of my initial communication is done via e-mail. I know other recruiters who cold call (instead of cold e-mail), but I’ve found a simple introductory e-mail remits far higher results than a phone call. (I should note I think this trend has to do with my target candidate set. A Marketing candidate may love to get a weird phone call out of the blue, but honestly, how many Developers do you know who are willing to talk on the fly with a stranger … let alone even answer their phone!) :)
An e-mail is much less intrusive, and personally, I know I’d be more willing to return an e-mail with “tell me more” then return a strange person’s phone call.
That said, I want to be really careful about my wording since I’m putting my request in written form. Usually the passive job seekers are working in a similar field or technology so I’ll say something as simple as:
Hi
Although my response rate is really high, if I don’t hear back from the person within a week, I’ll usually send a quick follow-up note just to ensure he received my first message.
Often, respondents aren’t interested in talking to me. That’s fine … they may know others who are. I’ll say something like: “Since you seem to be well-connected XYZ industry, please feel to forward my name and contact out to your colleagues and associates.” Good people know other good people.
If respondents are interested in learning more, I want to get them on the phone for about 10 minutes, but I want to tread very lightly in my “assessment.” I usually don’t have a resume to review, and since this is a “soft sell,” I don’t need to jump in with, “So why do you want to work for Microsoft?” I know what the answer is going to be, “Um… I don’t. You called me.”
Instead, I want to tell the person about the job opening and gauge his/her interest. If interest exists, I ask more about the candidate’s experience and career goals. A lot of times I find these don’t align with my opening (after all, I contacted them rather blindly – usually only with knowledge of a job title). From here, I tell them honestly my job doesn’t sound like it would suit their interests, but “Since you seem to be well-connected XYZ industry ….” These folks are also great people to include on a future contact list. They are well connected and at least somewhat interested in a future role with the company.
If we do have a mutual match, I’ll try to get them on the phone with the Hiring Manager as quickly as possible. I do this for two reasons: 1) I’m currently playing the role of good cop so I don’t want to jump into interview mode and scare them away, and 2) the HM can sell the opportunity a hell of a lot better than I ever could.
I should note that having a well known and mostly respected corporation behind me helps in the sell. I’ve never been anything but a corporate recruiter so I’d love to hear how independent recruiters approach this situation. The Microsoft name (most of the time) assists tremendously in getting the passive job seekers on the phone … the hard part is finding them.
A President's Perspective--Finding Passive Sales Candidates
I asked Jeffrey Paunicka, President of Insight3, Inc., how his company looks for top passive sales candidates.
Jeff's company is Insight3, Inc. and it serves the Lottery, Gaming, Airline and Manufacturing industries around the globe. Insight3 offers bar code equipment, data collection systems, cleaning card products, thermal printers, labels and ribbons.
"Combing through both active and passive candidates is a must when looking for the right person. I agree that they must have a passion for what they are going to sell, if its not ingrained to their professional fabric it might be someone you want to pass on.
With that in mind, I always make a point in building new contacts with reps of my competitors and other companies offering tangent products in the industry, you never know when you may want to call on them. Besides looking for the right person with the primary skill sets, I also take into consideration 3 other factors in finding the right person. These are motivational characteristics I have found to be essential in placing the right person to any job.
1. Do they see the job as a challenge to their capabilites to excel in the position?
2. Do the future opportunities to move in their career path with what I am offering them exist?
3. Is the compensation relative to the risks they are undertaking to do the job correct and market competitive?
If these motivational characteristics are not met, expect their duration to be short or their attitude to be mediocre at best.
Jeff's company is Insight3, Inc. and it serves the Lottery, Gaming, Airline and Manufacturing industries around the globe. Insight3 offers bar code equipment, data collection systems, cleaning card products, thermal printers, labels and ribbons.
"Combing through both active and passive candidates is a must when looking for the right person. I agree that they must have a passion for what they are going to sell, if its not ingrained to their professional fabric it might be someone you want to pass on.
With that in mind, I always make a point in building new contacts with reps of my competitors and other companies offering tangent products in the industry, you never know when you may want to call on them. Besides looking for the right person with the primary skill sets, I also take into consideration 3 other factors in finding the right person. These are motivational characteristics I have found to be essential in placing the right person to any job.
1. Do they see the job as a challenge to their capabilites to excel in the position?
2. Do the future opportunities to move in their career path with what I am offering them exist?
3. Is the compensation relative to the risks they are undertaking to do the job correct and market competitive?
If these motivational characteristics are not met, expect their duration to be short or their attitude to be mediocre at best.
Now That You Have Your Passive Candidate, Listen to Joe Kennedy, VP of State Street Bank
I asked Joe Kennedy, VP of Technology, at State Street Bank about interviewing top passive candidates. This is what he had to say.
Flexibility and a positive attitude are the most important qualities to look for. Jobs change, environments change and having people who can change with the times is critical. A positive attitude makes for a positive working environment. People who are "happy" work longer, harder and produce better results than those with a negative attitude.
Even more importantly one negative person can bring down the morale of an entire department.
I have made a hiring mistake in my life - possibly 2. The tales are too long to go into... To correct the problem... Take every responsibility you have under you - write them on a white board. Bring the person into your office and state simply. Look things are not working out with you in this current role. Here is the extent of my responsibilities - please identify the items on the board that you both have an aptitude for and that you enjoy. This is my own method and although I don't have a masters in organizational development, it has worked for me every time. What I have experienced doing this is nothing less than amazing. Short story: I had a developer that wasn't working out - I did this simple exercise and she picked all the documentation/project management tasks which all my developers hated anyway - She was happy that she was contributing and had some say in her Job ( and that I didn't fire her ). My developers were happy because they didn't have to do the Project Management tasks or documentation any more and all in all my entire team became happier and more productive.
Lastly about attitude... The resource below is a power of positive thinking resource: if you have a person with a negative outlook on your team... recommend it to them... Even if they don't use it - you will get the point across...
Links:
http://www.uboodle.com/
Flexibility and a positive attitude are the most important qualities to look for. Jobs change, environments change and having people who can change with the times is critical. A positive attitude makes for a positive working environment. People who are "happy" work longer, harder and produce better results than those with a negative attitude.
Even more importantly one negative person can bring down the morale of an entire department.
I have made a hiring mistake in my life - possibly 2. The tales are too long to go into... To correct the problem... Take every responsibility you have under you - write them on a white board. Bring the person into your office and state simply. Look things are not working out with you in this current role. Here is the extent of my responsibilities - please identify the items on the board that you both have an aptitude for and that you enjoy. This is my own method and although I don't have a masters in organizational development, it has worked for me every time. What I have experienced doing this is nothing less than amazing. Short story: I had a developer that wasn't working out - I did this simple exercise and she picked all the documentation/project management tasks which all my developers hated anyway - She was happy that she was contributing and had some say in her Job ( and that I didn't fire her ). My developers were happy because they didn't have to do the Project Management tasks or documentation any more and all in all my entire team became happier and more productive.
Lastly about attitude... The resource below is a power of positive thinking resource: if you have a person with a negative outlook on your team... recommend it to them... Even if they don't use it - you will get the point across...
Links:
http://www.uboodle.com/
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Multi-Billion Dollar Financial Services Firm and Telephone Names Sourcing
I am President of The Longfellow Search Group and we specialize in calling into target companies to find truly passive candidates. We also do organizational charts and candidate profiles.
I was on the phone the other day with a decision maker in the Human Resources department of a multi-billion dollar financial services firm. We were talking about telephone names sourcing.
She told me that her company wasn't comfortable calling into other companies. They left that up to the telephone names sourcers that they hired. It was a necessary service in her opinion.
We talked about internet sourcing of candidates. And here is where it got interesting. I asked her if she had a team that was expert in internet research. She said she did have that kind of team. I then asked her if she got resumes from outside recruiters that matched the resumes her team would find on the internet. She laughed and said that she did. Shows you that internet research is not as valuable a tool since everyone can do it.
The fact is that internet research skills are easily duplicatable, and many organizations are adopting these techniques to source candidates from the internet. However, a good telephone names sourcer who can do the right kind of research and go into companies to find the truly passive candidates is hard to find.
That is why this decision maker in the HR department of a multi-billion dollar financial services organization goes to telephone names sourcers on the hard jobs and when truly passive candidates are required.
Sam Medalie
Telephone Names Sourcer
sam@longfellowsearch.com
I was on the phone the other day with a decision maker in the Human Resources department of a multi-billion dollar financial services firm. We were talking about telephone names sourcing.
She told me that her company wasn't comfortable calling into other companies. They left that up to the telephone names sourcers that they hired. It was a necessary service in her opinion.
We talked about internet sourcing of candidates. And here is where it got interesting. I asked her if she had a team that was expert in internet research. She said she did have that kind of team. I then asked her if she got resumes from outside recruiters that matched the resumes her team would find on the internet. She laughed and said that she did. Shows you that internet research is not as valuable a tool since everyone can do it.
The fact is that internet research skills are easily duplicatable, and many organizations are adopting these techniques to source candidates from the internet. However, a good telephone names sourcer who can do the right kind of research and go into companies to find the truly passive candidates is hard to find.
That is why this decision maker in the HR department of a multi-billion dollar financial services organization goes to telephone names sourcers on the hard jobs and when truly passive candidates are required.
Sam Medalie
Telephone Names Sourcer
sam@longfellowsearch.com
Passive Candidate Recruiting--Building Your Competitive Advantage
Amitai Givertz, Principal of AMG Management Advisors has written extensively on passive candidate recruiting. This excerpt comes from an article at Zoominfo.
Ami is a contributing editor on Recruiting.com and sits on the Advisory Board for Kennedy Information's Recruiting Trends.
"Many employers view passive candidate sourcing as beyond their own recruiting competency or comfort zone, and are willing to pay a premium for it, often in addition to what they spend on print ads and postings...
A pool of both passive and active candidates to draw from is key to reducing the time-to-fill and the cost per hire. Yet moving "passive' candidates along is different from engaging and developing "active" candidates. Just as passive candidates need to be "sold" and active ones need to be "vetted," so too must organizations adapt their internal processes to meet the expectations of each group.
As a result many employers have decided that passive candidate sourcing and active candidate development require separate teams and resources. Others continue to support a full-cycle approach, arguing the pay-off is in consistency, workflow, and recruiter accountability. Either way, those organizations that consistently pursue both active and passive candidates will ultimately have access to a wider pool of candidates to choose from...
The real challenge for HR management and leadership is twofold:
1) Define the differences between active and passive candidates, understanding how to develop winning strategies for recruiting the best candidates, whoever they are; and
2) Develop recruiting strategies that address the organization's hiring needs, now and into the future; and
3) Develop recruiting strategies that address the organization's hiring needs, now and into the future."
Ami is a contributing editor on Recruiting.com and sits on the Advisory Board for Kennedy Information's Recruiting Trends.
"Many employers view passive candidate sourcing as beyond their own recruiting competency or comfort zone, and are willing to pay a premium for it, often in addition to what they spend on print ads and postings...
A pool of both passive and active candidates to draw from is key to reducing the time-to-fill and the cost per hire. Yet moving "passive' candidates along is different from engaging and developing "active" candidates. Just as passive candidates need to be "sold" and active ones need to be "vetted," so too must organizations adapt their internal processes to meet the expectations of each group.
As a result many employers have decided that passive candidate sourcing and active candidate development require separate teams and resources. Others continue to support a full-cycle approach, arguing the pay-off is in consistency, workflow, and recruiter accountability. Either way, those organizations that consistently pursue both active and passive candidates will ultimately have access to a wider pool of candidates to choose from...
The real challenge for HR management and leadership is twofold:
1) Define the differences between active and passive candidates, understanding how to develop winning strategies for recruiting the best candidates, whoever they are; and
2) Develop recruiting strategies that address the organization's hiring needs, now and into the future; and
3) Develop recruiting strategies that address the organization's hiring needs, now and into the future."
Third Party Recruiters vs. Corporate Recruiters
What do you think are the real differences between third-party recruiters and corporate recruiters? Is Ron Pobuta, a third party recruiter, right?
"Passive...active...who really cares? Our job is to fill a vacant position with the best person available. Our clients don't really care where the candidate comes from. What IS kind of funny is how many of you are corporate recruiters and don't employ passive recruiting. Reason behind that is that you don't have a sales mentality.
You're an HR person who works in the recruiting department. Your approach is not nearly as agressive as a TPR's approach would be. What is even funnier is how many times I find a candidate that is right under your nose, on CB or Monster and you didn't even bother to search. You ran an ad and waited for them to respond to you. Every time that happens I laugh and laugh.
Oh and please don't change. My income depends on your inability to not do your job. Just keep spending time on here, clicking away on your keyboard. While you are doing that, I am making money."
Ron Pobuta
General Manager
Protocol Executive Search
"Passive...active...who really cares? Our job is to fill a vacant position with the best person available. Our clients don't really care where the candidate comes from. What IS kind of funny is how many of you are corporate recruiters and don't employ passive recruiting. Reason behind that is that you don't have a sales mentality.
You're an HR person who works in the recruiting department. Your approach is not nearly as agressive as a TPR's approach would be. What is even funnier is how many times I find a candidate that is right under your nose, on CB or Monster and you didn't even bother to search. You ran an ad and waited for them to respond to you. Every time that happens I laugh and laugh.
Oh and please don't change. My income depends on your inability to not do your job. Just keep spending time on here, clicking away on your keyboard. While you are doing that, I am making money."
Ron Pobuta
General Manager
Protocol Executive Search
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Maria Colom-Moreno--Her Perspective on Finding Passive Candidates
Maria Colom-Moreno of Timothy James Consulting got back to me with her own comments on her unique way of finding passive candidates, highlighting some of the advantages of hiring a recruiter that specializes.
"For me it's all about talking to people. For example on average I speak to around 40 Project/Program Managers and CTO's a day, to find out what is important to them in a role and what may interest them in terms of a new position. Internet research and referrals from existing candidates have also proved incredibly useful in this.
Networking and building relationships with people whether or not they are currently looking, allows me to keep a finger on the pulse of the market and gain access to those essential "passive" candidates, as well as ensuring that I am the first person they come to if they decide to actively seek new employment."
"For me it's all about talking to people. For example on average I speak to around 40 Project/Program Managers and CTO's a day, to find out what is important to them in a role and what may interest them in terms of a new position. Internet research and referrals from existing candidates have also proved incredibly useful in this.
Networking and building relationships with people whether or not they are currently looking, allows me to keep a finger on the pulse of the market and gain access to those essential "passive" candidates, as well as ensuring that I am the first person they come to if they decide to actively seek new employment."
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Build Your "Talent Culture" Save "80%" on Recruiter's Fees
I asked Dan Catlin, a business consultant and talent scout, how a company might go about finding passive candidates. He had an interesting response.
"The companies that seem to work the least on recruiting are often the ones who work the hardest at their "talent culture." If you really do promote from within, actively create positions at the entry level that are designed to grow people, and engage with internships, mentoring programs, etc. to help your existing staff to be always on the lookout for talent, you'll develop that culture over time.
That accomplished, when you're 'surprised' by a growth opportunity or unexpected turn in a key position where there is no in house talent, you can afford to use top executive search support to get you into the people who aren't actively looking. Certainly, you can do your own executive search, but typically people with industry niche or skill focus will have contacts, the time to focus on your search and the techniques of research and approaching people that will bring you better candidates faster.
My recommendation to clients is to build a talent culture, promote from within, and save your money on 80-90% of your hires, then (farm out) the crucial handful of key positions that will drive your success while you keep focused on growing your company."
"The companies that seem to work the least on recruiting are often the ones who work the hardest at their "talent culture." If you really do promote from within, actively create positions at the entry level that are designed to grow people, and engage with internships, mentoring programs, etc. to help your existing staff to be always on the lookout for talent, you'll develop that culture over time.
That accomplished, when you're 'surprised' by a growth opportunity or unexpected turn in a key position where there is no in house talent, you can afford to use top executive search support to get you into the people who aren't actively looking. Certainly, you can do your own executive search, but typically people with industry niche or skill focus will have contacts, the time to focus on your search and the techniques of research and approaching people that will bring you better candidates faster.
My recommendation to clients is to build a talent culture, promote from within, and save your money on 80-90% of your hires, then (farm out) the crucial handful of key positions that will drive your success while you keep focused on growing your company."
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Secrets of Deloitte's U.S. Sourcing Lead--Rob McIntosh
I asked Rob McIntosh, Deloitte's U.S. Sourcing Lead, how Deloitte finds passive candidates for its pipeline.
Rob currently manages and leads the national sourcing function for all of Deloitte's lines of business, plus recruitment agency and online strategy in the United States.
Rob gave me the following list:
"Here are some below from my Master Sourcing Channel Strategy Document:
Employee Referrals (leads)
Networking
Direct Headhunting/Cold Calling
Target Company Lists/Name Generation
HM/Company Leads
Internal Target List Validation
External Vendor List Validation
Offer Declines [Turned us down]
Social Networking Tools
Bebo
Blue Chip
CorporateFriends.com
Doostang.com
Ecademy
FindForward
Freebase
Friendster
Hi5
Jaxtr
Me.com
Multiply
MySpace
Orkut
Passado
PowerMingle
Ryze
Soflow
Spock
Spoke Software
Tribe.Net
Viadeo
Visible Path
Wink
yoName
Ziggs
Search Engines [Deep Web' research = Personal Pages, Alumni sites, etc]
Yahoo
MSN
ZoomInfo
JigSaw
Google Alerts
RSS Feeds
Live Alerts
Jobster
MySpace
2nd Life
Groups, Forums & Lists Search
Yahoo! Groups
Google Groups
MSN Spaces
CataList
Topica
Tile.net
CyberFiber
Publicly Accessible Mailing Lists
BoardTracker
Blog Searching
Bloglines
Blogger
BlogIt
Feedster
Blogdex
Kinja
AOL Members Search
Technorati
Yahoo 360
Argali
Birthdatabase
FEC
Infobel World
IntraNDA
sitefundrace
The Ultimates
Whois
Yahoo! People Search
ZabaSearch
AlfaSeek
Clusty
Curry Guide
Dogpile
Fazzle.com
gimenei.com
gofish.com
IceRocket
InfoGrid
fonetware
Ixquick
iZito
jux2
KartOO
Mamma Metasearch
MetaCrawler
metaEureka
Mozbot
My Excite
ProFusion Resume Robot
Search.com
SurfWax
ujiko
Vivísimo
WebCrawler
ZapMeta
The Biotech Interview--Great Way to Find Passive Candidates
I asked William Beattie how his recruiting firm finds the best passive candidates in the Pharmaceutical and Biotech industries. Bill is the owner of ECI Biotech Recruiters.
The last thing I would ever do is offer referral fees. I don't want to encourage this, or some day it could become the norm. Imagine everybody you ask for a referral coming back and saying "how much will you pay me?" If you can build rapport quickly on the phone, getting referrals is fairly easy. I'm in the biotech industry, which has large trade shows in various parts of the USA every month of the year. Each year I pick 8 to go to.
Best place in the world to meet people from the industry. At a large show, such as Pittcon, this year in New Orleans, I will walk out after 3 days with 150 business cards in my pocket and 200-300 cards handed out. And I will meet a large number of Executives and hiring managers. When they see you 2 or 3 times per year at different shows across the country, they tend to take you more seriously and return your calls.
The last thing I would ever do is offer referral fees. I don't want to encourage this, or some day it could become the norm. Imagine everybody you ask for a referral coming back and saying "how much will you pay me?" If you can build rapport quickly on the phone, getting referrals is fairly easy. I'm in the biotech industry, which has large trade shows in various parts of the USA every month of the year. Each year I pick 8 to go to.
Best place in the world to meet people from the industry. At a large show, such as Pittcon, this year in New Orleans, I will walk out after 3 days with 150 business cards in my pocket and 200-300 cards handed out. And I will meet a large number of Executives and hiring managers. When they see you 2 or 3 times per year at different shows across the country, they tend to take you more seriously and return your calls.
Are Passive Candidates a Waste of Time in a Volume Hiring Model?
Let's first agree that no staffing model is solely based on identifying and finding only passive candidates. It makes sense to have a solid strategy built around quick hits, such as candidates in your own ATS or candidates on job boards. Most companies still need an active component to their hiring process, even as they attempt to identify and hire passive candidates.
We have seen many an article about passive candidates, semi-passive candidates, and semi-active candidates, and how the overall passive talent pool (90%) is made up of candidates that are not actively looking. But has anyone taken the time to actually sit down and capture the pre-ATS activities and metrics here?
...Passive candidates might potentially equal better quality talent, but ask yourself if you are ready to pay the price (in terms of cost, resources, processes, strategy, technology, etc.) to get this kind of quality in volume and whether you are structured to successfully deliver on that promise. Do you even know where to start? read whole story here.
We have seen many an article about passive candidates, semi-passive candidates, and semi-active candidates, and how the overall passive talent pool (90%) is made up of candidates that are not actively looking. But has anyone taken the time to actually sit down and capture the pre-ATS activities and metrics here?
...Passive candidates might potentially equal better quality talent, but ask yourself if you are ready to pay the price (in terms of cost, resources, processes, strategy, technology, etc.) to get this kind of quality in volume and whether you are structured to successfully deliver on that promise. Do you even know where to start? read whole story here.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Finding Passives at a Blue Chip Consulting Organization
I asked Marc Couch, an executive search consultant at Integral Search and Selection, how he finds passives and this is how he responded.
I learned from my largest client the other day. They are a very large blue-chip consulting organisation who hire thousands each year, and as such have a mature, organised internal recruitment structure. Their sourcing breaks down as:
30% database recruitment (from their own database of candidates)
30% external recruiters (of which 5-10% retained search)
30% applications via their own website (which also supply their database)
10% job boards such as monster.com
Firstly, using only job boards is a lazy approach to recruitment that severely restricts your reach. And secondly, you need to use an intelligent mix of resources to source and attract the other candidates.
In this case, their brand alone gives them a good flow of individuals that they can store and tap into, and provide resources for individuals to register their interest in the company for future roles (thus giving them a database of warm passive candidates).
Their external recruiter suppliers are a very defined list of experienced individuals (they don't actually care about recruitment company brands, which is also quite interesting), and they use us for more than just giving us vacancies, but also for opinions on the market, mapping of competitors' specific functions etc.
The overriding message though is that you need to be both proactive and intelligent in your approach. There are literally thousands of resources out there and you can spend 80+ hours a day trawling through them all, so look at what you have first (be it a database, a brand, a name-gathering research function, a network), and then build out from there.
I learned from my largest client the other day. They are a very large blue-chip consulting organisation who hire thousands each year, and as such have a mature, organised internal recruitment structure. Their sourcing breaks down as:
30% database recruitment (from their own database of candidates)
30% external recruiters (of which 5-10% retained search)
30% applications via their own website (which also supply their database)
10% job boards such as monster.com
Firstly, using only job boards is a lazy approach to recruitment that severely restricts your reach. And secondly, you need to use an intelligent mix of resources to source and attract the other candidates.
In this case, their brand alone gives them a good flow of individuals that they can store and tap into, and provide resources for individuals to register their interest in the company for future roles (thus giving them a database of warm passive candidates).
Their external recruiter suppliers are a very defined list of experienced individuals (they don't actually care about recruitment company brands, which is also quite interesting), and they use us for more than just giving us vacancies, but also for opinions on the market, mapping of competitors' specific functions etc.
The overriding message though is that you need to be both proactive and intelligent in your approach. There are literally thousands of resources out there and you can spend 80+ hours a day trawling through them all, so look at what you have first (be it a database, a brand, a name-gathering research function, a network), and then build out from there.
Marketing Passive Candidates Internally as a Corporate Recruiter
Maria Booth of The Mitre Corporation discussed marketing passive candidates internally as a corporate recruiter.
"Before you start marketing passive candidates, you need to understand your internal clients business and gain their confidence and trust in you as their recruiter. For example, I had internal customers that will allow me to schedule a candidate without their review of the resume. This is were you need to get with your clients, then selling a passive candidate is no problem. You must know what type of candidate would they consider a strategic hire? What of the skills, education, etc?
Your internal customer must feel that you are a business partner and you understand what they do. If you do not know their business right now, ask them to teach you what is it that they do. Tell them to help you help them."
"Before you start marketing passive candidates, you need to understand your internal clients business and gain their confidence and trust in you as their recruiter. For example, I had internal customers that will allow me to schedule a candidate without their review of the resume. This is were you need to get with your clients, then selling a passive candidate is no problem. You must know what type of candidate would they consider a strategic hire? What of the skills, education, etc?
Your internal customer must feel that you are a business partner and you understand what they do. If you do not know their business right now, ask them to teach you what is it that they do. Tell them to help you help them."
The Talent War
Eric Beauford, Director of Business Development, told me the following about the future of passive candidates and why a talent war is coming soon.
..."While it is definitely harder and takes longer to find and recruit passive candidates, I believe epecially in today's market, finding passive candidates is as important as ever. Actually, a term I have seen that I think defines these indiviudals better is, "actively passive", meaning they are not on the boards, probably don't have an updated resume but have their ears and eyes are open and are "willing to listen".
It would be difficult to provide you "hard" objective numbers/metrics when it comes to the advantages of recruiting and ultimately hiring passive candidates. If I were trying to convince my management team, I would focus on the characteristics of today's job market and its workers. On average non-baby boomer workers are changing jobs every three years and according to a lot of industry experts, 70% of those people are finding these jobs through some type of referral. Another trend is that the more talented workers (especially information workers) will not post their resumes any longer and have become more of board watchers. The top talent is also tired of the proverbial "Well if not you know do you know anyone who might be intersted", they know is coming after every conversation with a recruiter who found them on the board. Little known secret in the industry is that although the boards seem to be where recruiting dollars go the most, they are only responsible for about 5% of all hires, and that is why some in the biz consider the boards as today's virtual unemployment line.
The biggie that I would tie in (and the importance of this depends on your industry/company/market) is the coming labor shortage in the next 5-7 years. 77 million baby boomers retiring and only 33 million Millenials to replace them. The term industry experts keep throwing around is the coming "Talent War" and if your organization does not incorporate a plan to find and hire passive candidates...ever hear the saying that if you can't identify the sucker at the poker table, its you? The great thing about today is that Web 2.0 technologies continue to mature well enough to be an effective tool to communicate and establish relationships with various networks out there in order to brand you and your company and tap into the passive pool. Good or bad, we are at a point where candidates can pick and choose where, when and how they will communicate with recruiters and companies.
After saying all of that, I would recommend as a baby step for your management, take some very key positions and put together an employee referral process in order to control the source of your passive candidates and measure the quality of applicants, time to hire, cost of hire, etc...it is my opinion that employees are the best source of referral and again, I have seen some quotes from various industry experts (on this site as well) that indicate if you are not getting 50% of your hires through your employees, you will lose the coming talent war. Whew, my fingers are tired...sorry so long, hope it helps.
..."While it is definitely harder and takes longer to find and recruit passive candidates, I believe epecially in today's market, finding passive candidates is as important as ever. Actually, a term I have seen that I think defines these indiviudals better is, "actively passive", meaning they are not on the boards, probably don't have an updated resume but have their ears and eyes are open and are "willing to listen".
It would be difficult to provide you "hard" objective numbers/metrics when it comes to the advantages of recruiting and ultimately hiring passive candidates. If I were trying to convince my management team, I would focus on the characteristics of today's job market and its workers. On average non-baby boomer workers are changing jobs every three years and according to a lot of industry experts, 70% of those people are finding these jobs through some type of referral. Another trend is that the more talented workers (especially information workers) will not post their resumes any longer and have become more of board watchers. The top talent is also tired of the proverbial "Well if not you know do you know anyone who might be intersted", they know is coming after every conversation with a recruiter who found them on the board. Little known secret in the industry is that although the boards seem to be where recruiting dollars go the most, they are only responsible for about 5% of all hires, and that is why some in the biz consider the boards as today's virtual unemployment line.
The biggie that I would tie in (and the importance of this depends on your industry/company/market) is the coming labor shortage in the next 5-7 years. 77 million baby boomers retiring and only 33 million Millenials to replace them. The term industry experts keep throwing around is the coming "Talent War" and if your organization does not incorporate a plan to find and hire passive candidates...ever hear the saying that if you can't identify the sucker at the poker table, its you? The great thing about today is that Web 2.0 technologies continue to mature well enough to be an effective tool to communicate and establish relationships with various networks out there in order to brand you and your company and tap into the passive pool. Good or bad, we are at a point where candidates can pick and choose where, when and how they will communicate with recruiters and companies.
After saying all of that, I would recommend as a baby step for your management, take some very key positions and put together an employee referral process in order to control the source of your passive candidates and measure the quality of applicants, time to hire, cost of hire, etc...it is my opinion that employees are the best source of referral and again, I have seen some quotes from various industry experts (on this site as well) that indicate if you are not getting 50% of your hires through your employees, you will lose the coming talent war. Whew, my fingers are tired...sorry so long, hope it helps.
The Google Interview--How They Find Passive Candidates
How does your organization find passive candidates? This is the question I put to a member of Google's HR team.
"We use referrals,job portals,consultants,telephone sourcing-- these are all the good means to get candidates, but there is approach, need to grave the ground records of the candidates through alumni associations which provides you the contact details. The strange thing is that it is time consuming but gives a yield and also through popular search engines,professional networking websites."
"We use referrals,job portals,consultants,telephone sourcing-- these are all the good means to get candidates, but there is approach, need to grave the ground records of the candidates through alumni associations which provides you the contact details. The strange thing is that it is time consuming but gives a yield and also through popular search engines,professional networking websites."
The Levi Strauss & Co. Interview--Sales Candidates
I asked a member of the HR department at Levi Strauss & Co. how he finds passive sales candidates for the company. This is what he said.
If you want to tell us how you find passive sales candidates, just reply.
"I have recruited passive sales candidates through a variety of indirect methods. I usually start by scouring the web sites of competing companies for press releases, white papers etc. that discuss particularly noteworthy customer success stories and testimonials.
You know going in that this will have been large sales because the company is not going to use small deals as a measure of their value. At this point I'll either call whomever was quoted on behalf of the customer and see if they'll tell me who their sales rep was on the deal or call that company's Accounts Payable office and ask them.
The folks in A/P can usually look up the sales rep's name on the contract or PO."
If you want to tell us how you find passive sales candidates, just reply.
"I have recruited passive sales candidates through a variety of indirect methods. I usually start by scouring the web sites of competing companies for press releases, white papers etc. that discuss particularly noteworthy customer success stories and testimonials.
You know going in that this will have been large sales because the company is not going to use small deals as a measure of their value. At this point I'll either call whomever was quoted on behalf of the customer and see if they'll tell me who their sales rep was on the deal or call that company's Accounts Payable office and ask them.
The folks in A/P can usually look up the sales rep's name on the contract or PO."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
