Sendouts Blog

Positive; The Word Of The Week

It is vital that recruiters are efficiently using every minute of their jam packed work week that starts Monday morning and lasts until Friday afternoon. Are your recruiter's first 60 minutes of their week being effectively utilized and setting the tone for a positive and successful week?

David Szary from Ere.net wrote a phenomenal article about efficiently and successfully running your weekly recruiting meeting titled "Logic Prevails At Well Structured Weekly Meetings." It lays out exactly how to run and what to cover in your weekly meeting. It helps you to ensure that everyone's time is optimized and they leave the meeting ready to have an extraordinary week. You will notice as you read through his agenda that almost all of it is focused on highlighting the positive while still discussing any issues. His recommended meeting agenda follows.

Trouble at the Office – Generational Tension; Work/Life Balance and BusinessWeek

BusinessWeek gets high marks for its special report on Trouble at the Office.  Aside from HR and operations effectiveness group heads, recruiters and staffing companies should take note of lessons learned about generational tension and the work/life balance. 

The incredible insight garnered on Gen X and Y are detailed meticulously throughout the special report.  And, it’s directly from surveys and in-depth interviews from the proverbial horse’s mouth, so to speak.  Gen Xers are unhappy at work, so what can recruiters do to help?  Just read What’s Eating Gen X.

Any staffing firm working with long-term temp assignments or any recruiter dealing with “I’m an actor, but still need to pay the bills” candidates should read Tips from a Bitter Temp, an enlightening and hilarious look at how to survive a bureaucracy.

And any firm looking to grow, should look at Ram Charan’s thoughts on getting around roadblocks to build business in his Stop Whining and Start Thinking article.  Mr. Charan outlines five simple steps on how to help cut through the red tape:  “Spring Cleaning”, Streamline, Coach or Remove Indecisive Managers, Make Information Transparent and (last, but most importantly) Celebrate Success.

And there are a multitude of articles about the generational differences, wants, needs and how to communicate to each group.  Starting with A Boomer’s Guide to Communicating with Gen X and Y to Don’t Treat Them Like Baby boomers to how Unilever is trying to painfully bridge the tech divide in Go Ahead, Use Facebook.

Can Your Clients Admit Weakness?

Simply put, a recruiters' goal is to find top talent to fill positions for their clients and make a fee.  But what happens when a client can't admit they have a need or worse yet, don't know they have a need. After reading an article on Business Week about a company called Bonobos, I realized how the mentality of some CEOs needs to change in order to propel their businesses forward.  In the Business Week article, Andy Dunn details his company's rapid growth and success followed by declining profit margins and workforce shortages.  Dunn came to the realization that in order to grow his business he needed to step back and let the "plumbers do the plumbing".  He did this by hiring a recruiter to find the missing pieces to his business and ultimately grow.  

By helping a client or prospect identify what they don't know, you can create an opportunity to not only make a placement but to also transform your client's business by finding the right talent to fill the void.  Asking your prospects or clients "what are you not good at" may ruffle some feathers, but keep in mind you're doing this to help them and ultimately help the business.

The $50,000 Recruiting Makeover

Not so long ago we sat down to discuss the current economic climate, the recruiting industry and how we can launch a "stimulus" of our own (though on a much smaller scale) for the recruiting world.  It's a tried and true concept - bring industry leaders together, donate services or products and give them away...very simple. 

The "Recruiting Makeover" was born, then launched and features the recruiting industry's most innovative and dynamic companies all working to help one recruiting firm overcome obstacles and provide them with a fresh start consisting of tools, training and advice. 

This years sponsors are Sendouts, Careerbuilder, Broadlook, Buzz Recruiter, Good as Gold Training, SGA Executive Tracker and TFI Resources.  All the sponsors have donated services and time to help the winner achieve their goals and dominate their desk.

To learn more or register for the "Recruiting Makeover" visit www.recruitingmakeover.com.

Branding: Hi, Who Are You Again?

Branding is a word that is bandied around these days like Web 2.0, social media, etc. People are constantly using the word to say “oh, that’s branding” or “we need branding” or “that’s great branding,” but do they know what branding really is or what it means?

A brand is an image or idea (or collection of images or ideas) representing verbal attributes to a name, logo, tagline or design. A brand captures and conveys the core essence of a company. Two quick examples: McDonald’s brings up the image of “the golden arches” and you immediately think Hamburger. Disney brings up the image of either a castle in the sky or a mouse profile, but they immediately evoke images of happy children or memories of childhood. 

You’re probably wondering what this has to do with recruiting. The simple fact of the matter is that branding helps attract talent and clients. Branding creates an image for companies that are grounded in belief, rather than facts and creates the first link to a loyal customer. An extremely successful recruiting firm who understands and wields branding like a master swordsman is Korn/Ferry. I bet you when Korn/Ferry picks up the phone and calls candidates, they may not know the recruiter, but they know the company. Even passive candidates will take the call to see what the recruiter has to say. And, better yet, the candidate will most likely open up their network and make recommendations.

Two other reasons for branding your recruiting firm:

-          Candidates will start looking for you! 

-          Companies will look to your expertise and, hopefully, sign on as clients.

Branding makes a big difference. It ain’t cheap, but it’s worth the bucks.

Sourcing, Sourcing, Sourcing

We wanted to post some of our favorite articles/resources on sourcing that may be useful. The world of sourcing constantly changes with new places to look popping up what seems like every day. Hope this helps!

Articles:

Seven Days Without Sourcing Makes One Weak

Recruiting Passive Candidates in Tough Economic Times

Reaching passive candidates – the key to a high quality, diverse candidate pool

Passive Candidate Recruiting: Evolving With a Changing Workforce

Resources:

http://www.sourcingcorner.com/

http://www.therecruiterslounge.com

Top 10 Recruiting Trends in 2008

As with any industry, we go through our own up and down cycles.  The emerging trends definitely have an underlying technology core – from social networking to mobile access. Here’s what we think are the top 10 hot trends in 2008, which will continue later in 2009 after the market has sorted itself.

1.       Employment Branding – firms are increasingly trying to build brand recognition to attract top talent. Many are moving to increase their online activity, while others push to develop a more “green” brand.

2.       Referral Programs – employee referral programs are still a great source of quality candidates. More comprehensive incentives are making these programs even more effective.

3.       Social Networks – recruiting on social networks are all the rage this year, with 2009 looking to increase their use by recruiters, as well as the development of new, more niche, social networking sites.  And, this is the hot tool for sourcing these days, but firms are still trying to figure out the how.

4.       Video – corporate videos have been used to attract talent with the increasing popularity of YouTube - a creative video will show candidates just what it’s like to work at your firm and the corporate “personality.”

5.       Blogs – corporate blogging is yet another way for companies to seem more real and approachable to candidates. Employees getting involved, aside from the CEO or top management, are a great way to build a culture internally and externally.

6.       Careers Pages – out with the old boring careers page and in with the new – these include video, podcasts and interactive features to connect with candidates.

7.       Mobile – if you can’t do it on your handheld, well then it’s just not worth it! Employers are realizing how effective targeting candidates on their mobile phones can be. With internet access in your hands – just another place to connect!

8.       Knowing Your Audience – the use of “relationship recruiting” models have become increasingly popular, with organizations using applicant tracking and profiling systems to improve the candidate experience.

9.       Focus on the “Extras” – aside from salary, organizations are realizing, the rest of the “stuff” matters in most cases – more. Flexible work schedules, advancement opportunities and healthn benefits are being sold harder than salary to attract and retain talent

10.   Online Assessment – many more organizations have moved online to perform candidate assessments – this trend will increase with the advancement of online assessment programs and ease of use for recruiters.

Recruiting Ostrich Disorder

I liked this article so much I wanted to share – puts a funny spin on the “dark side” of recruiting! I liked the visual as well – very fitting!

Enjoy.

Time Management Tips for Recruiters

I just got off the phone with a recruiter – Todd (last name withheld) – that specializes in the healthcare industry – anywhere from research scientists to physicians to positions in big pharma companies.  A 30-something, web-savvy Big Biller who admits to having ADD (not really, but he definitely has a hard time focusing), Todd loves juggling a multitude of projects, but admits that he could be a bit more focused at any given time. Like many, Todd is easily distracted by that email or IM popping up, a ringing phone or his partner sticking her head in to ask a question.  So, I shared with him my time management tips:   

1-      Daily “to do” list: Simple, but highly effective and not used enough

2-      Block out time and do anything else, but a single task: Too often, we start a project and then jump to react to something else. The initial project gets pushed to the wayside and doesn’t pop up again until the deadline is upon you or you are reminded by someone of that task. Block out time to start and complete a task. I’ve heard from many recruiters that their days are scheduled as such (to be most effective):

ü      2 blocks of time in 15-minute increments to manage online social networks throughout the day

ü      90 minutes of sourcing (if you don’t have an internal or external resource already)

ü      3 blocks of time in 20-minute increments to manage email

ü      2-3 hours for client and candidate facing time (either on the phone or in-person)

ü      1 hour for new business development

And, I can’t resist, but if you have a great applicant tracking system (ATS), you don’t have to worry about re-typing data, manually importing email correspondence or any of those pesky administrative tasks. That should all be automated in some way to save you time.

3-      Outsourcing your sourcing.  If you haven’t done so already, hire someone to do your sourcing for you!  As a recruiter, your time is best spent making placements by vetting candidates, business development and client relations. You shouldn’t be working on hours of hunting and finding candidate info. If you’re reluctant to hire someone, there are many other resources out there that can be helpful.

4-      Don’t let interruptions be the norm. The biggest time killer is when you veer off track from your current activity. It’s easy to do. You’re pulling together a candidate profile for an open job and your phone rings. You pick it up. About 10 minutes later, you’ve started to work on the action items from your phone call and the candidate profile remains open on your desktop. By the time you get back to the candidate profile, you’ve completely lost your initial train of thought and you spend another 10 minutes getting back into the groove. Don’t let those interruptions be the norm. When you actually block out time, just focus on the activity at hand. Unless a real emergency comes up, keep that focus. You can always return a call after the task has been completed.

Managing Your Time Will Help You Source and Social Media Strategies

Emails, Tweets, IMs, LinkedIn, Facebook….when does the madness end? Though sourcing is not limited to social networks, it seems to have become a large part of a recruiter’s day. We talk to a lot of recruiting and staffing rainmakers who seem to have mastered the art of balancing their day. On the other hand, for every single recruiter-turned-social-maven, we hear another 6 recruiters sound bewildered and frustrated about managing their sourcing strategies. Here are some simple, but effective strategies that can help you through your day and the social media maze:

-          Find a social aggregator tool – such as FriendFeed (my personal favorite) – that allows you to manage many of your social networking tools. There are so many aggregators today that are easy to find and use. Read 20 Ways to Aggregate Your Social Networking Profiles to see what other tools can effectively help manage your social media mix.

-          Outsourcing your sourcing. If you haven’t done so already, hire someone to do your sourcing for you!  As a recruiter, your time is best spent making placements by vetting candidates, business development and client relations. You shouldn’t be working on hours of hunting and finding candidate info. If you’re reluctant to hire someone, there are many other resources out there that can be helpful.

-          Be selective. You don’t have to be on ALL the social networks. LinkedIn is a good place to start.  After that, I would look to your vertical industry to see if there are any social networks that could be useful. 

-          Make sure you have a good applicant tracking system to capture all the info. I promise, I’m not selling here, but any good recruiter must have a system that can easily track all connections and communications. An ATS should be making your life EASIER, not creating more work!

-          Instant Messaging is popular, but can quickly become a disruptor. Do yourself a favor and only turn on your IM at select times during the day and only if you’re using IM for work. If you find that 90% of IMs are your friends seeing “how you’re doing”, turn it off during work hours. This will make you about 40% more efficient. If you need IM for work, then use an IM aggregator, such as Trillian. (Note: The same applies to Twitter).