Recruiting In 3D

Why recruitDC?

By Pete Radloff

It’s the end of 2013, and as is customary with December, it’s a time for us to reflect back on the previous year. 2013 was a great year for me professionally and it was also a tremendous year for recruitDC. But recruitDC took on a new, deeper meaning for me this year.

I’m often asked why I participate in recruitDC and what the benefit is for me. It’s never an easy answer, mostly because there are so many reasons I’m lucky and proud to be associated with such a great organization. It’s great for networking, and learning, as well as getting to meet those people that you “only know through LinkedIn”. Earlier in my career, I always hoped I’d get to a point where I didn’t need to put my resume on a dozen job boards, or have to apply to a number of companies that I didn’t necessarily know too much about. I wanted to reach a point where I’d built up a strong enough network to be able to reach out to some key contacts and get introduced to some amazing opportunities. This year was finally the year that all came to fruition.

I was laid off in the summer, and as with anyone going through this, panic is usually the first feeling that sets in. That’s often followed by more panic action, lots and lots of action to keep the pipeline flowing and increase the number of opportunities available to you. With the network I had built over the years, through my past jobs and groups like Project SAVE and recruitDC I was able to get some great leads on opportunities, and wound up landing on my feet. (Yes, there is more to it, but grab me for a beer after the next event and we’ll talk)

So when someone who hasn’t heard of recruitDC or is new to the group asks me what the benefits are, here’s what I tell them:

  • You’ll learn.  A LOT. You’ll get insight and best practices from some of the best folks in the Talent Acquisition field. We’re able to bring in speakers and practitioners from all over the country.
  • You can sell it to your boss. It won’t cost you $5000 to attend recruitDC. It’s local, you’ll be back the same day or the next day, and you don’t have to crush your department budget to get some professional development.
  • You can start implementing right away. What you learn at recruitDC, you can put into practice right away, and start improving how your organization approaches talent immediately.
  • You’ll meet great colleagues. recruitDC gives you plenty of time to mix and mingle, share best practices, and get to know others who can help you along the way in your career.
  • You can build your reputation. By attending events, meetups and mini-sessions, you’ll be able to share your expertise that you’ve acquired over the years. Since we’re a grassroots organization, we’re always looking to promote our own local superstars.
  • Opportunities to “Pay It Forward”. I was fortunate to have some tremendous talent surrounding me early in my career, and probably one of the best mentors I could have ever asked for. recruitDC provides a nurturing culture for people to seek out those who can help them get to the next level. There’s no substitute for great people looking out for your career.

There’s probably a dozen other reasons that I could share, but we’ve all got holiday cookies to attend to, guard, hoard, enjoy. so if you haven’t been active in recruitDC this year, I strongly encourage you to come on out and spend some time with us in 2014. And grab me to have that beer….I love to geek out on some recruiting talk.

Pete Radloff is a member of the recruitDC Board of Directors, and a recruitment consultant with NPR and exaqueo. You can connect with Pete on LinkedIn and on Twitter

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 Posted on December 23, 2013 by

 networking

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Recruiters, Why Don’t We Scrum More?

By Pete Radloff

Timely. Detailed. Manager. Feedback.

When you read that, you have one of two likely reactions. They are probably either “I’m sorry, what did you say? Was that English?” or “Oh, you mean when a manager says ‘hmmm, Not a fit'”. Let’s face it, regardless of whether you are an internal or external recruiter, getting timely and detailed feedback and information is usually a challenge. Feedback and a solid heads up can very much resemble the purple squirrel we’re all always in search of. So what can we do? We’re all at the mercy of the hiring manager who makes the final call, right? Well, what if we turned the feedback model on it’s head?

Many of you who recruit for technical and/or engineering roles are familiar with the Scrum development methodology. Not familiar? NO PROBLEM. It’s not just for engineers! Scrum is a methodology that incorporates the idea of fast development cycles, frequent releases and quick stand-ups versus long, drawn out, “Death by Powerpoint” meetings. Hmm, maybe the developers are on to something here.

If we start to think and work like the client teams we’re supporting, there’s a greater chance of success of us getting what we need. For our purposes, let’s focus on the quick standup here. Consider these outcomes as part of moving toward a more Scrum mentality when working with hiring managers:

Quicker Feedback
By scheduling 10-15 minute stand-ups on the books with hiring managers, you can get detailed feedback on phone interviews, submitted candidates, and any tweaks they want to make to the profile in real time. Also, with their schedules, 10-15 minutes is easier than 30-60 minutes. Now you can get the info you need to pivot, or to keep the trains moving forward with candidates. And at the end of the day, quick feedback is an integral part of any candidate experience.

Work How They Work
Eternally, recruiters are trying to move to a model where they “have a seat at the table” so that they can be seen as business partners versus order takers. This is an ideal way to show that you get it. You understand how quick they need to move, and you want to work within those parameters.

Client Service & Personal Touch
Scrums are a much more effective way to have a personal touch point with your managers. Seeing their recruiter frequently helps build familiarity, and familiarity breeds trust. Respecting their time, and still getting what you need is a win-win for both sides. And let’s be real…..no one reads emails. A harsh truth, but a truth nonetheless. And isn’t 15 minutes talking better spent than say, 4 hours a week playing email tag?

Stay On Top Of The Needs
In addition to having your Scrum meeting with your managers, try to join in on a couple of the development scrums. Sure, most of what is discussed will not apply directly to recruiting. But during those meetings, occasionally the future needs are discussed, or they talk about where they are bottlenecked and may need additional heads. This my friends, is proactive recruiting at it’s genesis. Again, it’s part of building a sense of trust among not only the managers, but the team as well.

This might be most useful in the technical arena, but it can definitely be parlayed across multiple business units with some modifications. And, since we’re all looking to show that we can help drive the business, this is a potentially helpful way to demonstrate that to you teams.

Have you incorporated this at your organization? I’d love to hear your take on this.

Here are a couple of fun takes on incorporating Scrum in your process:

 

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 Posted on November 12, 2013 by

 Hiring Managers, Recruiting, The Hiring Process

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Counteroffers – Come Together, Right Now…..

I had been thinking alot about how the job market has been rather competitive as of late, and started thinking about counteroffers, as I began to hear more about them. As I was perusing Twitter the other day, I found a gold nugget that brought me back a few years.  Seriously, what did we do before Twitter? I think we waited overnight for news and trends about our respective industries or something like that.

I happened to stumble on a great blog post from Kristina McDougall (I highly recommend the follow on Twitter), about how we’re starting to see the return of the counteroffers and “tire-kickers” in their full glory, a la the great tech boom of the late 90’s and early 2000’s. I suspect that it’s like the infamous killer animals, the Poison Dart Frog and the Box Jellyfish, where people tend to shiver when they hear about these. I digress…..I think Kristina did a great job of walking through the things you should talk to the “tire-kickers” about to vet them out, and do the heavy lifting early on to avoid being window shopped.

And in reality at the end of the day, I think counteroffers will only ebb and flow,  but never disappear. So what’s the fix? The burden of responsibility probably lies with both the recruiter and the candidate. But what can each side do to reduce the chances that a counteroffer will interfere with things?  For starters, both sides need to work together in a relationship-driven, and not a transaction-driven model.  Everyone will feel more engaged. With engagement comes trust.

Here are a few ideas:

Recruiters

  • Be upfront. Talk about the potential pain areas of the role or company, while still accentuating the positive aspects of the organization. Trying to sell everyone sunshine and butterflies only ends up making you look silly, and your candidates know it.
  • Discuss early on the potential that there could be a counteroffer, and discuss this with your candidate. Don’t dance around it. It is an uncomfortable situation, without a doubt. However, it’s not quite as uncomfortable as having to tell a manger or client that the candidate that was hired is suddenly not going to be there for Death By Powerpoint orientation.
  • Don’t badmouth the current company that the candidate works for. It’s cheap and doesn’t make you look any better.

Candidates:

  • Be upfront. Talk to me about why you are really looking. Tell me what you make, and what you want to make going forward.  The more I know about your motivations and what you are looking for, the more I can do in working with managers to get that for you. Skip this, and we’re all just gambling.
  • If you are unhappy now, it’s probably not just about money.  So, more money isn’t going to solve whatever is making want to leave there.
  • Know that if you accept a counteroffer, you are wielding irreparable damage on your relationship with this recruiter. The chances that they will work with you in the future are very slim. If it is a successful and well-networked recruiter, remember that word travels fast.
  • If you accept a counteroffer, know that it is something that will forever be linked with you at your company. Companies rarely give out unexpected sums of money under duress without it being followed by some type of angst.

At the end of the day, if both candidates and recruiters get on the same page with one another from the beginning, we will see fewer  “tire-kickers” and counteroffers accepted.

Feel free to comment on what other things each side can do to reduce the potential for an 11th hour fiasco.

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 Posted on November 17, 2011 by

 candidate relations, Closing the Deal, Job Hunting, Recruiting Life, The Hiring Process, Uncategorized

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Thanks, But No ^#$%&* Thanks!

When you are a recruiter, you get to see all sides of human nature, and all the accompanying emotions. When people get the job, there is elation. When they don’t dejection. You get to see kindness, competitiveness, nervousness and aloofness. While all these things are great and each have their own place, I feel the need to highlight my favorite….stupidity.

I devote a short bit of time (and catharsis) occasionally here at RI3D to the absurd, amazing and usually unbelievable snippets of things recruiters hear. As comedian Ron White says, “You Can’t Fix Stupid”.

Maybe we should have hired that guy after all?
Some of the things that fall into the YCFS category are the things that people write back after being rejected for a job. Look, I get it…..the job market is tough, and you’ve applied to 200 jobs (of which you are qualified for all of them, I know) and I’m just the next recruiter to stand in your way. But there is a graceful way to reply to a rejection, if you feel so compelled to respond to it. Below are two examples of how NOT to respond. Recruiters get hours of entertainment out of these. I hope you get a laugh or two.

  • “LOL I am more than qualified good luck to u”
  • F$ck off – Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

I’d put each of these in context, but, well this is all they wrote. At least I don’t know which cell phone company the first person uses.

Yes friends, the old saying goes, “you can pick your friends, you can pick your nose, but you can’t pick your friend’s nose”. But, you can pick your choice of words.  Aside from the obvious lack of salutations that most professional e-mails tend to contain (what? I embraced my geekdom long ago) and the “sentences” written in “Textglish”, these are pretty funny. I mean, unless you are the angry person who wrote it.

So, if you need to respond, then do so with a little dignity and tact. And maybe one or two less F-bombs.

But then again, those are funny.

If you look close, you can see the Medulla Expletive

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 Posted on November 15, 2011 by

 Bizarre But True, Can't Fix Stupid, candidate relations, Recruiting, Recruiting Life, Uncategorized

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Personal Branding – More than just “vanilla”

I had the opportunity to co-write a post with Susan Strayer on her site about personal branding. I think it’s about time we put what that is into perspective. I think we’ve covered a great deal of bases and I hope you have some time to take a look.  You can find the post here.

If you don’t know Susan, and/or have not had the pleasure of working with or talking to her personally, I can tell you that there are few people in the business that have as deep a scope of knowledge as she does. I’m honored to have had a chance to collaborate with her.  Be sure to follow her on Twitter  – she has two handles: @SusanDStrayer  and @DailyCareerTips


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 Posted on May 17, 2011 by

 Blogging, Branding, Life, networking, Personal Brand, Social Media, Uncategorized

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