The Recruiting Edge

Guerilla Recruiting Strategies and Methodologies

2009-04-11T05:51:00.006-05:00

I belong to several social networks and also run a couple. More and more I notice membership increasing with more and more members from around the world. This morning I came across one such "new" member in one of my networksoffering a link to his blog. The information sounded interesting, so off I went. And here's some of his advice that I found:

"Guerilla recruiting is not for the faint of heart or those not adept at dealing with corporate politics. Guerilla recruiting is about hiring to hurt, about knowingly and purposely inflecting harm on a competitor's ability to do business. Therefore, the primary action that must be taken when building a guerilla recruiting force is to recognize the political nature of the activity and make sure that everyone involved can stomach the gore that will ensue until victory is reached." ~Balaji Govindarajan, India
To read Balaji's entire post on guerilla tactics in recruiting go here.

That aside, what do you think about this? Do you think America can continue to compete in a flattened world with tactics like these? Do you think the word "competition" in America is vilified and, as a result, gone “soft”?

“Competition is the keen cutting edge of business, always shaving away at costs.” ~ Henry Ford.

What Is a Man?

2009-04-11T04:08:00.003-05:00

A man is good at his job. Not his work, not his avocation, not his hobby. Not his career. His job. It doesn't matter what his job is, because if a man doesn't like his job, he gets a new one.
You might enjoy this; here.

China's birth limits create dangerous gender gap

2009-04-10T11:47:00.002-05:00

China has 32 million more young men than young women — a gender gap that could lead to increasing crime — because parents facing strict birth limits abort female fetuses to have a son, a study released Friday said. More here.
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What did they think would happen? Or were they thinking?

Are jobs the new assets?

2009-04-10T04:59:00.003-05:00

John Sumser seems to think so, here. And a couple recent discussions in the Recruitosphere seem to hint at it.
What do you think? Will job holders come to view their jobs as "assets"?
Will this make them more willing to "invest" in themselves to maintain and improve that "asset" value?
What forms will that "investment" take?
What will the new employment landscape look like? Or will there be a new employment landscape?
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Things are picking up! Soon you may not have time to phone source to fill your hard-to-fill positions. When that happy event happens in your world, call the phone sourcing experts at TechTrak 513 899 9628

Character

2009-04-10T04:11:00.007-05:00

How is "character" built? Can it be developed or is it something one is "born with"? What part does it play in our daily lives?
Open LinkedIn question with some interesting answers here.

Job Promotions Unhealthy, Study Finds

2009-04-10T03:28:00.003-05:00

While some 13 million Americans are out of work these days, those still with jobs might have a strange new thing to worry about - getting a promotion can be bad for you, a new study suggests. British researchers found that when people get promoted, they suffer on average about 10 percent more mental strain and are less likely to find the time to go to the doctor.

Other research has found stress can be deadly, raising the risk of everything from the common cold to cancer. Other recent revelations about stress:
Stress makes us forget things.
Happily married women suffer less stress.
Job stress in particular has been shown to fuel disease.
More here.

Company Names - the Skinny?

2009-04-09T13:05:00.004-05:00

I see all sorts of interesting-sounding company names that readers belong to/own. If you have a history behind your company's name, I'd be interested in hearing about it!

Mine? TechTrak - we got started sourcing in the mid-90s during the height of the boom in Silicon Valley and we were sourcing a lot, (I mean a lot!) of technical titles. After the bust, we segued into just about every other industry out there - and that's where we are today - telephone sourcing across a broad spectrum. I thought a while back about changing the name to reflect that - asked for advice in the cloud - heard a resounding "no way!" (but you might consider updating your website) they told me. So we did that instead and kept the name.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it. What's yours?

By the way, Bryan Chaney is responsible for the new look of our website. If you like what you see and want to contact Bryan about yours, here's his email:
bchaney@reachingtalent.com

Half of Workers Who Were Laid Off in the Last Three Months Found Jobs

2009-04-09T08:27:00.002-05:00

Despite it being one of the most challenging hiring environments in the nation's history, 41 percent of workers who were laid off from full-time jobs in the last three months reported they found a new full-time, permanent position while another 8 percent found part-time work. This is according to a survey from CareerBuilder that included 807 workers who were laid off from full-time jobs within the last 12 months. The survey was conducted between February 20 and March 11, 2009.

Workers reported taking pay reductions and adjusting hours to keep a steady paycheck. Nearly half of workers (49 percent) who were laid off in the last 12 months and landed new positions took a job with less pay; 15 percent were able to negotiate higher compensation. One-in-five (20 percent) took a job with less hours while 12 percent took on more hours.More here.
Sign-up may be required - it's FREE and easy!

Facebook Update

2009-04-08T12:25:00.002-05:00

Growth
More than 200 million active users
More than 100 million users log on to Facebook at least once each day
More than two-thirds of Facebook users are outside of college
The fastest growing demographic is those 35 years old and older
More Facebook update.

Layoffs not an option for some businesses

2009-04-08T07:59:00.002-05:00

Revenue may be down and the pressure to slash costs intense, but some companies say job cuts are not an option.

Companies that have avoided layoffs amid this recession are the exception, not the rule. Employers have cut 5.1 million jobs since the recession began, including 663,000 last month alone. But some are looking to shave costs while keeping their work forces intact, so that when the economy does turn around, they'll be ready to ratchet up production again.

Economists say that's a wise move. More here.

Putting a Price on Social Connections

2009-04-08T07:44:00.003-05:00

Researchers at IBM and MIT have found that certain e-mail connections and patterns at work correlate with higher revenue production.

The results represent an early attempt to understand the value of the broadening variety of personal connections afforded by the Web. Users of social media rack up LinkedIn contacts, Facebook friends, and Twitter followers by the hundreds, if not thousands. But figuring out how big a difference all those contacts make in a person's life, financial or otherwise, is a far murkier matter.

That's why leading tech companies, including IBM, Microsoft (MSFT), and Yahoo! (YHOO), are hiring economists, anthropologists, and other social scientists to map and classify new types of friendships—and put a value on them. More here.

Some job seekers invest in plastic surgery to compete

2009-04-08T05:02:00.002-05:00

When the going gets tough, some of the tough get going to the plastic surgeon's office. The recession clearly took a cut out of plastic surgery in 2008 with U.S. cosmetic surgeries down 9 percent to $11.8 billion, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).

But some surgeons and patients are now citing increased interest in surgery among people wanting to look younger and "fresher" for the ever-competitive job market.

"I'm 56 and I've been in the music business for 35 years. We're not having a good year and I know I'll soon have to interview," said Jeff Grabow, a music marketing executive in Los Angeles, who recently spent $17,000 on a facelift. More here.

Wanna be a billionaire?

2009-04-07T03:49:00.003-05:00

Some of the most common professions among the parents of American billionaires (for whom we could find the information) were engineer, accountant and small-business owner. More here.

Good News?

2009-04-06T07:45:00.002-05:00

RESTON, Va. – Sallie Mae says it will be bringing 2,000 jobs to the U.S. within the next 18 months as it shifts call center and other operations from overseas. More here.

How do our interests shape our work?

2009-04-06T04:05:00.004-05:00

I asked the following question on LinkedIn:
I was watching a Smithsonian piece on Eudora Welty's early photography and how it informed her writing. It got me to thinking about what informs my work. What about you? What informs your work?

One of the answers remarks:
"Artists best illustrate 'what informs their work' and the streams of influences, which allow them to create beyond delivering a product to 'sell' on the market. For example, Picasso acts as a conduit not just for his uncanny ability to see but to redefine the perception of painting by drawing on interests, which at one level have nothing to do with painting such as mosaics or bull fighting. Great minds in business and thought leadership do likewise, which is why they serve as templates and inspiration for others to examine not just what informs their work, but what work gives depth and meaning to their lives." ~ Andrew Scharf

How does your perception refine/define your work? What interests do you draw on that may have "nothing" to do with your "work"? The same author above hints enticingly at a subject when he declares, in another part of his answer, "...not everyone has discovered or will discover what this means" when referring to what experiences drive an individual. What do you think he means? Read the original question and other answers here.

You ain't lived 'less you been flagged...

2009-04-04T06:19:00.003-05:00

Interesting discussion on free speech
and flagging on LinkedIn here.

Fishing in a Small Pond

2009-04-04T05:41:00.004-05:00

I asked the crowd what the heck telephone sourcing meant to them, anyway. Some interesting answers are coming back, here.
Aproximately 2.3% of the US labor force use LinkedIn, and of those less than 1% has more than 500 connections. That's not a whole lot of coverage. When you consider the large percentage of LinkedIn members who are in HR and Staffing (over 810,000), you get a feeling there’s a lot of people fishing in a small pond, not unlike the experience of trolling solely with Monster, CareerBuilder, or Hotjobs. ~ Steve Delaney, here

MagicMethod News

2009-04-03T07:45:00.000-05:00

Tuesday’s MagicMethod Phone Sourcing Class Chat suffered from some of ning’s most recent changes but we got partially way in before the lights went out! RyanHaire and Celiaten were able to give us a partial glimpse into how they build company directories. You can read through the first twenty or so minutes of the Class Log here.

There's some great new content posted on the MagicMethod site that you might find interesting. Among it:

Recruiting on Twitter
Animal rocked the house out on his April Fool’s Day show!

What is telephone names sourcing exactly?
Let’s get it down right once-and-for-all!

119 quick cheat sheets for some of the most widely used tools on the web
Courtesy Dorothy Beach on Twitter

Recruitment Businesses Looking to Sell?
Interesting new section in a UK newsletter

Direct-Dial Directories: How to Research Staff via Phone Numbers
Didn’t think you could do that? You can!

MagicMethod Phone Sourcing Classroom Chat Log Tuesday, March 31, 2009
It was short but sweet.

How to Get a Job When No One's Hiring
Good advice

Branding Yourself Whether You Want To or Not
Someone (thing) will do it if you don’t!

Directory of Corporate Archives
FREE info source

Visit today and add your thoughts to the discussions. I look forward to seeing you in there!

Maureen

Recruiting on Twitter

2009-04-03T05:59:00.004-05:00

The Recruiting Animal's done it again! Proclaimed by most, his Wednesday, April 1 show was no April Fool's! Hear it here.

FYI, if you haven't heard the 18 minute version of this, you should check it out. Animal did an amazing job of capturing the high points and creating a solid tutorial on Twitter searching. Thanks again to Animal and everyone who participated in this. ~ Craig Fisher

What is telephone names sourcing exactly?

2009-04-02T12:54:00.003-05:00

There's an excited string going on over on ERE, in fact some are so anxious to say what they need to say they're saying it twice (and three, and four and five) times!

It seems to boil down to what is telephone names sourcing exactly? Is it "garbage" as one claimant seems to state? Is it the build-out of a company's telephone directory without refinement on titles? Is it a product that is a "cut and paste from LinkedIn along with an Excel spreadsheet exported from Broadlook Diver" as another reported? Is it ruse calling? What is it exactly? Here's what I think it is, and this is taken partially from the first module of my MagicMethod telephone names sourcing training.

Names Sourcing is a little understood activity. Simply put, it’s the skillful finding of people who hold specific titles (usually) within (usually) specific organizations so that you, as a recruiter, may contact them and offer them your opportunity. It can be performed in two ways: by using the Internet or by using the Telephone. The use of the latter is many times preceded by the use of the Internet but the use of the Internet is not often followed by the use of the Telephone.

And that, my friends, is what causes so much confusion (and, apparently now, angst) in the profession. That is also the reason there is so much difference in quality of the products being presented today. By the way, TRUE telephone sourcing IS NOT finding the name on the Internet and then calling to see if the guy's "still there" and even if his title is "still the same" as it was when it was placed on the Internet. It's maybe "adding value" if you get the guy's email or direct dial for your customer but it's not really true telephone names sourcing.

TRUE telephone names sourcing is when you call into a company - maybe you have a few names to get yourself started on the inside - and you find out who the players are cocooned inside that organization. MOST of the names you bring out will not and cannot be found on the Internet because you know why? They're NOT ON THE INTERNET in any capacity that would allow you to put their information together in any way that will quickly sort out and help to fill your open requirement.

That's what I think it is. What do you think it is?

11 Most Overlooked Tax Deductions

2009-04-01T06:15:00.003-05:00

Every year, the IRS dutifully reports the most common blunders taxpayers make on their returns. And every year, at or near the top of the "oops" list is forgetting to enter a Social Security number or making a mistake when entering those nine digits at the top of the tax form.You can read all the mistakes here.

Bankruptcy sure ain't what it used to be...

2009-03-31T11:43:00.003-05:00

The embattled Atlanta Falcons quarterback is hoping to earn as much as $10 million a year or more, according to court filings in his bankruptcy case. Under the plan he submitted to the court, Vick would keep the first $750,000 of his annual income over the next five years. After that, a percentage would go to his creditors based on a sliding scale. [...]
I wonder what that "sliding scale" is. Story here.

Monster: Free at Last!

2009-03-31T10:10:00.003-05:00

Free at Last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, it's FREE at last!

A coupla' months ago a recruiter I know asked Monster if he could trial their service for free for a day to see what it was like.

They said "NO WAY!"

TODAY he received an e-mail from Monster telling him they'd be DELIGHTED to have him trial their service for FREE for TWO days!

See what comes to those who wait?

Branding Yourself Whether You Want To or Not

2009-03-31T06:17:00.005-05:00

"The reality is, many of us may not have the option of staying in a company, unbranded. We have to create our own job security, and branding is part of that. ~ Alina Tugend
More here.

Direct-Dial Directories: How to Research Staff via Phone Numbers

2009-03-31T05:22:00.002-05:00

Tricks of the Trade
ERE Article: Direct-Dial Directories: How to Research Staff via Phone Numbers

THAT will be our MagicMethod Phone Sourcing class subject today (T, Mar 31) - how to "listen" for (and interpret) the nuances in research like that. Read the article (it's short!) and then come to class at noon EST at to discuss the variegated ways building out a company's phone directory can benefit you!
~ Maureen
“All meanings, we know, depend on the key of interpretation.” ~ George Eliot