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I’ve had many recruiting bosses, sometimes in large organizations, sometimes in small. I’ve been privileged to have had a few who have been exceptionally good. Here’s what the good ones had in common, and the sorts of things they would and wouldn’t do. keep reading…

The cost of hiring someone bad is so much greater than missing out on someone good. — Joe Kraus, partner, Google Ventures

Each company for which we recruit has a special set of circumstances and a unique story to tell. Large organizations like Raytheon sit and sell differently then giant fast-food places like McDonald’s. Google had its own special place and unique environment in terms of hiring, and hot Cambridge-based SasS startups like Quant5 also have their own set of challenges that require thoughtful navigation if hiring is to be successful. (Define successful as hiring the people you need, when you need them, and they do the job for which they have been hired.)

Like myself, those of you out there who have hired for startups know that even though a candidate might fit the bill in terms of qualifications, they still might not be the right DNA to be the right fit.

With this in mind, lets look at 12 factors that will address the people part of the equation in terms of the recruiting: keep reading…

You have read all about what to ask in an interview as well as magic questions that will solve all your hiring problems. What about what not to do?

Make no mistake. An interview is not an opportunity to GetToKnowYa, but rather a verbal test. It has subject matter, questions, and answers that are scored. But you need to ask yourself: just exactly what are you testing for? The ability to answer silly questions? Whether you want to be friends? Whether you can trip up or intimidate a candidate? Haven’t you seen the thousands of books candidates read to fake their way through an interview?

How about learning whether the candidate has the right set of job skill s? You know, so you don’t have to waste everyone’s time?

If You Don’t Know What You’re Looking for, Any Question Will Do keep reading…

Remember when the talk was about the great future that was available for people working in plastics?

Fast forward about 45 years, and now the discussion is about the huge changes coming to the workplace because of another trendy and cutting edge concept — robotics.

Attorney Garry Mathiason, chairman of the board of mega law firm Littler Mendelson, kicked off Day 2 of the Spring 2013 ERE Recruiting Conference & Expo in San Diego talking about Advanced Workplace Robots and Implications for Recruitment Strategies. While I admit that the title doesn’t sound like something you want to sit though early in the morning on the last day of a conference, Mathiason quickly said a few things that really got my attention.

Here’s one: “By 2025, robots will have taken over half of the jobs in the U.S.”

Robots Are Reshaping the Workplace keep reading…

A problem common to most recruiters and human resources professionals today is a lack of understanding the actual job they are trying to fill. It’s really a fine line a recruiter toes, because understanding the role itself is not only imperative for sourcing talent but is also a huge advantage for closing that top passive candidate. The overall understanding of the role itself starts with the job title. If the job title is not a good fit for what you seek, you are likely in big trouble. keep reading…

As major brands like Goldman Sachs and Zynga have stumbled into PR crises, I thought it might be useful to help your company avoid the most common employer branding mistakes.

Three suggestions: keep reading…

Writing job descriptions or (the new term) job ads, is a big part of a recruiter’s day. In fact, I have a candidate contact me recently about this article and point out specifically that the job advertisement or “req” was a huge reason why he would take (or not take) a new position.

His email got me to thinking. What elements need to be in a job description to make it attractive to candidates? Here are some tips to ensure that yours gets read and (hopefully) clicked on! keep reading…

Today’s ERE conference kicked off in San Diego with preconference workshops, including one from ERE.net author David Lee and Diana Oreck, a Ritz-Carlton VP.

Here are two short videos from them, one telling a short story about package deliveries, and what is says about the hiring process; the other about the tooth fairy. keep reading…

The concept of “corporate coworking” is among the boldest corporate people management concepts of the decade. If you’re not familiar with the concept, it varies from traditional coworking, which is a well-established concept where a group of startups and entrepreneurs share a facility that supports their getting launched.

There is a new model, which I call “corporate coworking,” where the employees of a major corporation share a facility that also houses startups and/or employees from another corporation.

The primary goal is not to save real estate costs, to provide space for expansion, or to provide remote work options. The objective is to generate and test new and innovative ideas.

On the Surface, it May Appear to Be a High-risk Approach keep reading…

From Life on Demand ROI Research

It appears that social recruiting is here to stay. The social recruiting site options are growing in number (I pity the person managing a global social recruiting campaign) and the expectations for a great candidate experience are mounting.

While most of the surveys, statistics, and comments I’ve read from Jobvite, CareerXroads and ERE (there are already 18 articles this year with the tag social recruiting) seem to indicate that the jury is still out on its effectiveness, one thing’s for sure. To do it well takes a passion, a strategy, and a lot of time. And time is a commodity.

There are many lucky companies who have dedicated support people to manage the process, but most of the corporate recruiters in my network either squeeze it in among other tasks, or assign it to their latest intern. In either of those two cases, strategy may fall to the wayside.

As you plan budgets and headcounts, here are two very compelling arguments that you might be able to present to your CFO to get some dollars to support your social efforts. keep reading…

I’ve been working on a program for a hotel group that includes how to onboard new employees and thought I would share with you a modified version of the tip sheet I created for it.

While it obviously doesn’t include the level of detail and nuance to design the perfect new hire experience, it will give you guidance and a framework.

The first list will help you assess whether your onboarding process accomplishes what it’s designed to accomplish. The second list will provide you with specific recommendations for onboarding your new hires “faster, smarter, and better.”

Eight Outcomes An Effective Onboarding Accomplishes keep reading…

I decided to ask 1,582 U.S. company employees how they go their last job. I gave them four choices:

1. Internal move or promotion
2. Some type of proactive networking activity, or referred by someone within the company
3. Contacted by a recruiter or hiring manager who found their resume or LinkedIn profile
4. Responded to a job posting

I also asked if they were actively looking for a job at the time, or not. The results of this survey are shown in the graphic. Here’s a link to the survey itself if you’d like to take it and/or pass it on, and the preliminary analysis. Even though the data is not perfect, here are some obvious conclusions: keep reading…

It seems hard to believe today, but when I started working in the recruiting industry in the late 1990s, people were still faxing resumes to companies for jobs that they found in newspapers. Those faxes were then scanned by hand into the recruiting software of the time, and reviewed individually by administrative staff for optical character recognition errors. Only then, about three days later, could a recruiter review the resume online.

The process was pretty revolutionary for the time, but still slow and fraught with errors. This was before the explosion of online job boards, which increased the volume of resumes that companies were getting exponentially. At that point, employers’ focus shifted from getting enough candidates to dealing with resume overload.

Since then, sourcing specialists have replaced HR generalists, online profiles have replaced paper resumes, and candidates are often the ones deluged by emails from recruiters who found them on a social network. While teams are handling a much higher volume of resumes, a shroud of mystery still hovers over the best way to market job openings and attract the best candidates. Enter the latest way to get a leg up on your recruiting competition (coined in 1997 as the “War for Talent” by McKinsey): sourcing analytics.

Analyzing Recruiting Spend keep reading…

A common mistake I see LinkedIn users making is not keeping InMail and invitations personal. In other words, don’t use InMail as another direct marketing message. It shouldn’t feel like another piece of spam for cheap prescription meds. If it does, you’re doing it wrong.

LinkedIn with its InMail tool does a good job of allowing you to create targeted, meaningful messages and save them as templates for tracking and future use. The following list will help you craft messages that get results.  keep reading…

It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change” — Charles Darwin

There is a great article by Adrian Kinnersley on Why Recruiters Will Be at the Heart of Our Corporate Future. I agree with some of the points. The rumors of our professional death have been always greatly exaggerated since our early ancestor recruiters found the first stone-age axe makers. Our profession, however, will change due to disruptive trends (Doesn’t it always?). These trends and their impact apply to in-house, outsourced (RPO), and  third-party recruiters alike.

My focus here is on two specific disruptive trends and the strategies to adapt and re-invent if needed. This article is more than about skills development, though some suggestions will help you in your recruitment efforts. As a former AIRS trainer and talent acquisition leader having developed training programs for recruiters, I can say that constant learning is what keeps gives us the edge in changing times (it always will).

Trend #1 — Emerging Technology Will Continue to Disrupt Recruitment keep reading…

As senior HR and recruitment practitioners, we should constantly be asking ourselves whether we fully understand our organization’s commercial objectives. We should also be fully enlightened about the clear and measurable role that a carefully crafted, proactive, talent management, and recruitment strategy can deliver.

My colleague Jerry Collier, director of Alexander Mann Solutions, argues: “While we speak to many such enlightened HR professionals, all too often we find that the link between business outcomes and the tactical delivery of recruitment programs just doesn’t exist.”

“Most often, the relationship hasn’t been identified, but we also see that ‘stuff’ — outmoded practices, antiquated IT systems, overcomplicated procedures, and tortuous approvals processes — can get in the way.”

Collier is taking part in a session next week at the ERE conference, where a wide variety of different people will each give a one-minute tip.

Collier goes on to observe: “If you’ve become bogged down in the detail of hiring transactions, and can no longer relate what you’re doing to commercial objectives which impact the bottom line, make some fundamental changes to both your and your department’s approach. And, if you’re not keyed into the financials around how reduced attrition and increased engagement have a direct impact on earnings well, frankly, it’s time to start working much smarter.”

With U.S. hiring predictions suggesting a near 20% increase in 2013, talent acquisition models need to be more adaptable than ever–– and it means the business impact and outcomes should be clear from the start.

“Case-by-case predictive models now offer HR leaders the analytic tools which can prove that their actions contribute directly to success,” Collier adds. “These metrics are powerful, causing the board to take notice, and pre-empting the usual ‘awkward’ questions from the CFO.”

One reason I get a kick out of reading business books is because their themes frequently come to life and smack you right in the nose at work the next day. Recently I read “The Energy Bus” and underlined this passage: Negative people often tend to create negative cultures whereas positive corporate cultures are created by positive people.

It’s almost a ridiculously obvious statement, but how many companies act like this isn’t true? When the corporate higher-ups get word employees are complaining, they’ll email an all-employee survey, post motivational quotes on bulletin boards, roll out a new contest, and maybe even treat the team to lunch.

That would be like your plan to slim down for the summer centers on wearing vertical stripes while you keep eating your stash of Twinkies and Ding Dongs. You’re masking the problem instead of actually solving it.

One company with an amazing culture is regional supermarket chain Wegmans, who regularly appears near the top of Fortune Magazine’s annual 100 Best Companies To Work For list. Wegmans has the friendliest staff I’ve ever encountered while pushing a cart, and their attitude has little to do with formal training. First and foremost, Wegmans seeks to hire friendly people who are inclined to help others. Its people smile a lot because they can’t help it, not because of some corporate edict.

Experiencing a positive atmosphere when shopping for bananas is great, but more gratifying is interacting with upbeat people Monday through Friday at your workplace. Before I describe one method to hire positive people, let me share with you some specifics about Connor, a sales rep we hired less than a year ago. keep reading…

According to a recent Facebook blog post, “Half of employers (50 percent) are using Facebook in their hiring process. A majority (54 percent) already using the social network anticipates Facebook becoming a more important part of the talent acquisition process in the near future.”

Job candidates are also infusing their job search with Facebook activity. In a recent study conducted jointly by Facebook and Carnegie-Mellon University, results revealed that job seekers with strong ties who shared private messages, commented on each others’ posts, or posted directly on each others’ walls found new jobs at a rate of 33.2 percent over the three months. Those with weak ties found jobs a fifth as often, at only a 6.5 percent rate.

This data suggests two things: The first is that we are hiring people who are spending a lot of time on social media. (Let’s hope they’re not doing it while on the job!) And second, Facebook is a powerful tool for active, hands-on users. Like job seekers, recruiters need to do more than just jump on to the Facebook wagon — they need to learn how to drive it and not to forget to use the phone along with it. keep reading…

Plan your flight and fly your plan. That is the adage that aviators use before setting foot into an aircraft. The same should apply to a recruiter making a call to either a client or a candidate. So many of us filled with the urgency to get our message out and connect with clients/candidates just pick up the phone and start gabbing when a real, live person answers. Similarly, and more often than not, when we get an answering machine we stumble and stagger in terms of what to say. It doesn’t make us appear to be or sound professional.

Recruiting is a profession, and recruiters serious about their profession are always seeking ways to improve their skills, message delivery, and overall success in the business. Success not only translates into income but overall job satisfaction.

When calling a candidate or potential candidate, lay out in your mind what you would like to accomplish with the call and your desired outcome. For example, we generally want to know three things: keep reading…

I came across a new and hard-driving CEO of a billion-dollar private retail company who loved a CTO candidate after the first meeting. The candidate came from a top-notch external search firm. The external recruiter worked with the CEO in past and was an industry expert in retail, but not with this new industry. The CEO championed the candidate to all his reports, fast-tracked the interview process with little HR involvement, and candidate was eventually hired. The CTO lasted two weeks.

Little to no HR involvement in selecting the best outside recruiters for your company; no defined process; and when headhunters are the strategy — that’s when hiring goes rogue. I’m going to talk about how to handle these situations. keep reading…